Much like Nanaimo bars and butter tarts, puffed wheat squares are Canadian treasure, but did you know that they are thought to be invented in Red Deer? In 1913, Maritimer Alfred James Russell settled in Red Deer and opened a candy store. The store was located on Red Deer’s Ross St., not far from where The Hub now sits. A.J. Russell sold popular local treats such as all-day suckers, coconut “ping-pong” brittle, and the ever famous puffed wheat square.

With the start of World War I in 1914, Canadians were advised to find substitutes to using wheat in their everyday cooking and baking. With a large majority of Canadian and American wheat crops shipped to troops overseas, many bakers and confectionaries were left with the task of replacing once common ingredients with similar alternatives. The use of puffed grains, such as rice and wheat, became increasingly popular because it took less product to make more.

A.J. Russell’s original puffed wheat square used molasses, a common WWI alternative to sugar, but over the years chocolate and marshmallows have become a popular substitute.