Good for you....we always wondered how many licks it took to get to the center of a tootsie roll toosie pop but neither my brother nor myself ever had the patience to actually count it out, let alone average it out. :-)

I saw the commercial for it with the owl in it on TV. The owl would lick it twice and then bite it to reveal the center. I tried to do it but failed. I will stick to licking next time.

I miss the lemon toosie roll lollipops. I remember the yellow wrapper with green print.

Here's the whole lines from the 70s commercial for Tootsie Pops: Boy: "Mister Turtle, how many licks does it take to get to the Tootsie Roll center of a Tootsie Pop?"..Turtle: "I'm not good at Arythmatics..Ask Mister Owl." ..Boy: "Mister Owl, how many licks does it take to get to the Tootsie Roll center of a Tootsie Pop?" ..Owl: "well, let's find out..A one, a two - oo, a three..(CRUNCH!)..A three."..Sponsor: "How many licks does it take to get to the Tootsie Roll center of a Tootsie Pop? ..(CRUNCH!)..The World may never know."(END) ..This commercial used to scare the crap out of me! (it still does at times; especially at night).

Tootsie Pops go way back before the 1970s...in fact, 1931. The Tootsie Pop marketing over the years go way beyond the 1969 animated commercial which has aired for over forty years. Tootsie Pops have had a fantastic niche in the candy industry. The only slow period was WWII, as sugar rationing drastically reduced output (most went to those in service, civilians had to scrape to find any). TV commercials began airing on syndicated cartoon shows like "Farmer Alfalfa" (Terrytoons) in 1954. I found one commercial that featured a brainy kid (playing science teacher) giving a lesson on the anatomy of a Tootsie Pop. This one aired on the "Casper the Ghost" cartoon show (10/12/63, ABC).

From the Saturday morning cartoon vault, the original, minute-long cartoon TV spot. The boy asks Mr. Cow and Mr. Fox about how many Tootsie Pop licks does it take, then to Mr. Turtle and Mr. Owl. This aired on "Super President" over NBC (10/7/67). Ideal Toys, Nabisco and Campbell Soup filled remaining commercial time. A controversial cartoon series for the decade, NBC relented and replaced it with "Cool McCool" reruns (loaded with guns and bombs, also) as 1969 began.

From the daytime Saturday TV vault, cute commercial with a boy, his dad and a shaggy dog. "Want a Tootsie Pop, Pop?" Dad looks a bit confused. Puts one in his mouth. Within seconds, it's all sucked (or bitten) up. The dog reacts with funny faces. This aired during "American Bandstand" on ABC (12/18/65). Dentyne, Dr. Pepper, Noxzema and Nair among other sponsors. Much of commercial time used on network promos. Guest lip syncs were Nino Tempo, April Stevens. Announcer Charlie O'Donnell tries hosting Rate A Record, but bungles it.