The Tootsie Roll wrapper with the Indian

Dear Matthew Alice: As you may know. Tootsie Pop wrappers come with scenes printed on them of kids doing various activities. When I was a kid, there was a story that if you got a wrapper with the Indian boy shooting an arrow at a star, you could redeem the wrapper for a free Tootsie Pop. When one would take the wrapper back to the store, however, the storekeeper would just laugh and not fork over a free sucker. What's the story behind the Indian shooting the star? — Don Scoles, La Jolla

That sneering shopkeeper was trying to tell you something. The story’s a hoax, one of those rumors that somehow get started and refuse to die, mostly because we really want to believe them, I suppose. According to Ellen Gordon, president of Tootsie Roll Industries in Chicago, the free Tootsie Pop rumor arose in the ’40s (the candies themselves date from the ’30s) and was still making the rounds as late as the 1970s. They never capitulated to the pressure to give away suckers, but the company did finally make up a story about the Indian boy just so we wouldn't feel completely cheated. Herewith, a condensed version of “The Legend of the Indian Wrapper.”

Once upon a time all lollypops looked alike, sort of flat and ordinary. A candymaker wanted to offer something even better — a sucker with a soft candy center. One night the man awoke to a bright flash of light, and there in front of him was an Indian boy, Chief Shooting Star, with a magical bow and arrow. He told the candymaker he’d show him how to put the candy in the middle if the man promised never to stop making them for people. The man agreed, and the boy walked to the window and shot his magic arrow at a star. With another flash of light, the boy was gone. The candymaker ran down to his shop, where he found that all his flat lollypops had been replaced with round ones with soft candy centers. The legend says that the Indian boy occasionally stops by the candymaker’s shop to make sure his round suckers are still available. The candies with the Indian on the wrapper are the ones he’s personally checked.

Well, okay — what do you want for free, Gone with the Wind?