One Hershey's kiss is 15/16ths of an inch wide at the base, 15/16ths of an inch tall.

Treating it like a regular cone, I could multiply 1/3rd of the base area x height (0.215 inches³), but that wouldn't get anywhere close to the correct answer. That's only a fourth of a cubic inch.

The only way 4.65 of these kisses are going to fit into one single square inch is if I melt them down first.

I think the best approach is to try some smaller boxes first, and see how they fit.

A 3"x3"x2.125" box (19.125 inches cubed) fit 39 kisses.

39 kisses / 19.125 in³ = 2.04 kisses per cubic inch.

In this photo, you can probably see that the kisses are packed closely against each other in the center, but are less densely packed at the walls of the box.

A larger box. 

4"x4"x4" box (64 in³) fit 140 kisses.
140 kisses / 64in³ = 2.18 kisses per cubic inch.

As the box size gets larger, the kiss/kiss interaction is more frequent, and the kiss/wall interaction is less common. You can fit more kisses per square inch in a large box than you can in a small box.

The same thing kisses/cubic inch thing goes for nightclubs.

Now, it is time to buy 17 bags of Hershey's kisses, or to make some guesses.

The official box (interior) dimensions are: 11 7/8" x 3 3/8" x 13 5/8, which products up to 546 in³.

However, my own measurements came out a little larger.

I found the box was actually 11.875 in.x 3.44 in. x 13.67 in., the product of which is 558.4 in³.

This size, times the correct kiss packing density, should give us the perfect answer.

This box is a lot bigger than our test boxes, so the density should go up again. Maybe it will go up by another 6%, but I don't think so. I think it will go up 0.10 kisses per cubic inch, for a big-box density of 2.28 kisses per cubic inch.

So, my answer is ( 558.4 in³ ) x (2.28 kisses / in³) = 1,273 kisses in the box.

Please guess close to that number. The correct answer will probably be very close to that number. 

The only unknown is the density of the kisses, which going to be in the 2.25-2.40 kiss / in³ range. (1,256-1,340 kisses in the box)

Now go! Make your guess at the address below and if you win, remember, it was your density.

http://www.usps.com/lovestamp/welcome.htm

I am sorry to report that I was completely off target. The answer was posted on the USPS website, and the correct answer was 1,576.

My guess: 1,273
Correct #: 1,576

Wow. I was completely off! The correct answer was 24% higher than my guess. For anyone that took my advice: Sorry for leading you astray.

Somehow they packed them into the box with a density of 2.88 kisses per cubic inch. That is crazy. They must have carefully stacked them in there as tightly as possible.

Update #2. Demick Boyden, one of the jackasses I went to high school with, sent in some renderings!

Rob

Too bad I didn't see the kiss contest sooner. Your guess was based on randomly
dropping kisses into the container. But an odd shape like this will always
pack tighter if you arrange them carefully. And kisses happen to arrange quite
nicely.

Took me about 5 minutes to get my answer (based on your measurements). First,
model a kiss in CAD (kiss1.jpg). Then make a virtual box, and arrange them
nicely in the bottom (kiss2.jpg). Then nest another set upside down on the
first (kiss3.jpg). Once you stack those 4 high, you have a full box
(kiss4.jpg).

Each row is 13 x 15 kisses. There are 8 layers of kisses in the box (4 right
side up, 4 upside down). And they have pretty well used all of the volume of
the box. So my grand total was 1560 kisses in the box. Not a half bad guess
without ever buying a kiss or getting a box.

Demick

P.S. Barry pointed me to your site a year or two ago, and I enjoy checking it
out now and then. Meant to contact you sooner, but you know how that goes... 

Keep up the great work! My favorite is the torn up credit card application!

Demick Boyden

13 x 15 x 8 layers

1560 kisses!

Thanks Demick. Your guess was a lot closer than mine. 

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March 23,  2007.