Hail - candy corn

It is time, once again, to pay homage to our favorite candy - the CANDY CORN. I'm going to post again the history of candy corn. Now, some of you may recognize the following as something I posted last year, but I don't care. I love candy corn.


Candy Corn








For those of us over the age of 25, when you think of Halloween candy you think of candy corn, those sugary little spikes of Halloween cheer. They've been around for as long as I remember and even as long as my grandparents remember but did you know that they were invented in the 1880's? Who the first person to make these tasty treats was is unknown but the Wunderle Candy Company of Philadelphia was the first to go into commercial production. However, the company most closely associated with this wonderful confection is the Goelitz Confectionery Company. Founder Gustav Goelitz, a German immigrant, began commercial production of the treat in 1898 in Cincinnati and is today the oldest manufacturer of the Halloween icon.

Making candy at the turn of the last century wasn't the highly mechanized, year-round activity it is today. Candy was manufactured seasonally from March through November. Large kettles were used to cook the basic ingredients of candy corn, sugar, water, and corn syrup into a slurry. Fondant for smooth texture and marshmallow for a soft bite would be whipped in. When the right consistency was reached the hot candy would be poured into hand-held buckets called runners. Each runner holding 45 pounds of the hot mixture.

Next, men called stringers would walk backward pouring the steaming candy into trays of cornstarch imprinted with kernel-shaped molds. Three passes were made, one for each white, orange, and yellow color. A strenuous job at best before the days of air-conditioning and electric fans.

All this strenuous labor wasn't lost on the tiny candy. It's tricolor design was considered revolutionary for its time and people flocked to buy them. Their shape was also a big selling point for the mostly agrarian population of the early 1900's. So popular was candy corn that companies tried other vegetable shapes including turnips. The Goelitz Candy Company even had to turn orders down for lack of production capacity.

Candy corn was originally sold in bulk containers like most foods products of the time. They were packed in wooden buckets, tubs, and cartons to be delivered by wagon and train over relatively short distances. Perishability prevented widespread distribution.
During WWI, Herman Goelitz, son of Gustav, moved to Fairfield, California to start his own company, the Herman Goelitz Candy Company. Their product? Candy Corn! The fortune of the Halloween treat would rise and fall many times as recession and boom, war and peace, affected the humble confection. Throughout the hard times it was the sale of candy corn that kept the companies afloat. In the sugar crisis of the mid 1970's when the price of raw sugar skyrocketed the company had to borrow heavily to buy sugar to keep production up. After the crisis the market plummeted. Many companies went out of business. It was demand for the candy corn that kept Goelitz from bankruptcy.

Today you won't have to look very hard to find candy corn. Computer and machine aided production have made them a plentiful staple no matter what time of year. So plentiful in fact that according to the National Confectioners Association, in 2001 candy manufacturers sold more than 20 million pounds of candy corn. Roughly 8.3 billion kernels! Very impressive for a product that has remained virtually unchanged for well over 100 years.

Perhaps best of all, everyone can feel comfortable about enjoying tasty kernel or two. According to the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry, candy is no different than a slice of bread, bowl of cereal or a cracker when it comes to causing tooth decay. Any food that contains sugar or starch can cause tooth decay – especially if one doesn’t brush and floss daily. So grab a bag of candy corn and enjoy. Just remember to brush your teeth after.

Hail to you...candy corn!

ROzbeans 18 years ago
HAHAHA old candy corn link

Damned if I didn't post it the SAME WEEK last year!
blazyn 18 years ago
I've never touched candy corn in my life and i have no desire to..It goes right up there with olives as one of the least desireable foods on the planet
ROzbeans 18 years ago
I love green olives. /drool I don't like black olives in my quiznos traditional though. You will obey the sugary gold goodness!
Den 18 years ago
Olives, green and black, and candy corn, in any color...awesome!
blazyn 18 years ago
just the thought of olives literally makes me want to throw up..It took me a long time to even agree to eat at the Olive Garden because I thought they put olives in all their food
Verileah 18 years ago
*twitch*
FyreGarnett 18 years ago
how can you diss olives???? especially kalamata... oh yeah!

back to the original subject... it is just NOT halloween without candy corn!!!
ROzbeans 18 years ago
I bought my pumpkin candy corn, regular and autumn =)
Rikr 18 years ago
Ahhh.....candy corn, and it's shaped cousins...pure sugary goodness. My teeth hurt just thinking about them.
tamaelia 18 years ago
.... we don't have it down here. Send me some?
Calimaryn 18 years ago
That is scary Roz!

...

and I still dont like Candy Corn.
Sarah 18 years ago
It is amazing what one learns in a year's time. I've had to be very careful about my eldest daughter's animal product intake so I have been doing a lot of research.

I had no idea how many things are made using an animal product in some way. Poor kid doesn't get to eat candy corn unless it's just a couple along with anything that has refined sugar or bleached flour. Lucky for her the school offers wheat bread choices and turkey or soy based products, they don't actually use pork or beef even though it says steak nuggets and pork chop sandwhich.


But back to candy corn. I stil think they are just alright.
Rikr 18 years ago
















Ok I'll stop here. I'm tired of googling...
ROzbeans 18 years ago
I wanted to dress catherine up as a candy corn this year, but she begged for SpongeBob. /rolls eyes
Den 18 years ago
lol - that cat is scary looking, but the tot is adorable!
Mai 18 years ago
And for Roz. We will bring back Corny!

Calimaryn 18 years ago
BRACH'S® Candy Corn
Ingredients

Sugar, Corn Syrup, Salt, Honey, Soy Protein, Gelatin, Confectioner's Glaze, Dextrose, Artificial Flavor, Titanium Dioxide Color, Yellow 6, Yellow 5, Red 3, Blue 1.
Rikr 18 years ago
Calimaryn;69111
BRACH'S® Candy Corn
Ingredients

Sugar, Corn Syrup, Salt, Honey, Soy Protein, Gelatin, Confectioner's Glaze, Dextrose, Artificial Flavor, Titanium Dioxide Color, Yellow 6, Yellow 5, Red 3, Blue 1.


Ahhhhh! Everything the body needs!
Just Erin 18 years ago


Candy corn is gross. It smells nice, then you bite into it and it's a bit like eating sweetened dried out ear wax.

I painted some clay flower pots with white/orange/yellow stripes last year and stuck pumpkin spice candles in them, then filled the empty space with candy corn and some glue. They were pretty.
Rikr 18 years ago
Just Erin;69600
Candy corn is gross. It smells nice, then you bite into it and it's a bit like eating sweetened dried out ear wax.


*GASP* Bite your tongue woman!!!