Weird story there- Altoids were introduced to the US in the late 80s- early 90s the by the much older British firm Callard and Bowser which was known in the US for British-style candies here (butterscotches, treacle, etc), but was at some point acquired by Mars, which was in turn bought by Kraft and then Wrigley. More @Wikipedia
Hover over any link to get a description of the article. Please note that search keywords are sometimes hidden within the full article and don't appear in the description or title.