I always wondered who would repeatedly purchase Necco wafers but apparently a lot of people did. This Wall Street Journal article on by-gone candy and regional ones should evoke many memories. An excerpt:
A couple of miles east of downtown Nashville, the Standard Candy Company makes the GooGoo Cluster, a disc of caramel and marshmallow covered in milk chocolate, dappled with peanuts, then drenched in more chocolate. The GooGoo, which lays claim to being one of the oldest bars in America, is considered by most Southerners to be the official candy bar of Dixie.
These companies are the face of what the candy industry in America used to be. Each city or region had its own factories, and people could actually see and smell the place where their favorite sweets were made. Coming from a particular town meant that you ate a particular kind of candy bar. Because there was no refrigeration to speak of, and transportation was expensive, confectioners often used local ingredients. If you lived in a region that produced cherries or walnuts, chances are those were in your candy bars.
3 comments:
Great piece.
Just last night it inspired me to send a note of thanks together with a bit of constructive criticdal feedback to the company in Bristol, Virginia that makes Red Band soft peppermint sticks. I'm a soft peppermint freak from childhood and that is another candy that should be on the endangered species list.
As I admitted to them in my note, I'm no expert on candy making, but I appreciate the critical importance of temperature and accurate measurements when putting the formula together. Small operations cannot afford the manpower and large ones resort to too many short-cuts which compromise something, however small it may seem to the multitude, in the flavor profile. But the afficianado will always know.
Another excellent but tiny market is Kentucky cream candy. Too rich for most blood, but like nectar to someone reared having it during the cold holidays when it has to be made properly. The Ruth Hunt candy company in Louisville makes a pretty good product, as well as a small local operatilon in Lancaster whose name I will not mention because that's where I do business and I don't want them to be overwhelmed.
I have bought many rolls of Neccos. Still do. Love em. Got the kids trained to like em as well. I do agree they are an odd candy.
Having recently tried Neccos for the first time in a long time, I was surprised and somewhat dismayed by how sweet they were. Kids have real sweet tooths.
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