Is Burns tough?
One thing I love about this hobby is how little I really know. Relatively speaking, I know a lot after 40+ years collecting, but compared to the total information out there, not so much. I was roving through eBay and came across this:
I didn't even know he had a candy bar. I am a bit surprised, actually, since the candy products I'd seen before were all related to heavyweights: Dempsey, Ali, etc. Then again, his WWII stature was huge. I researched it a bit and found this from a review of one of his biographies:
"By early March 1943, his beaming, gap-toothed smile was once again on the front pages of newspapers across the nation. He was at a new apex of his fame, the accolades for Corporal Barney Ross (USMC) eclipsing even the glow of his lightweight and welterweight championship glory. His face was on Ringside bubblegum cards; he even had a Barney Ross candy bar."
OK the timing on the Ringside is a bit off but the candy bar as a WWII item is confirmed.
A little more on Ross, from Wikipedia:
He served with B Company, 2nd Battalion, 8th Marines during the Battle of Guadalcanal in the South Pacific. One night, he and three other comrades were trapped under enemy fire. All four were wounded; Ross was the only one able to fight. Ross gathered his comrades' rifles and grenades and single-handedly fought nearly two dozen Japanese soldiers over an entire night, killing them all by morning. Two of the Marines died, but he carried the third on his shoulders to safety; the other man weighed 230 lb (104 kg) compared to Ross' 140 lb (64 kg). Ross was awarded America's third highest military honor, the Silver Star, as well as a presidential citation. As one of America's greatest "celebrity" war heroes, he was honored by President Roosevelt in a Rose Garden ceremony. He was also awarded the Edward J. Neil Trophy as "the outstanding boxer of 1942" by the Boxing Writers Association of New York.