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Tag: Sweets

A NYC Candy Maker Extraordinaire

    If you’re a candy lover, you may associate the name Heide with Jujyfruits, Jujubes, Red Hot Dollars, Gummi Bears and Mexican Hats. They also manufactured a candy called Chocolate Babies, which were cloyingly sweet like candy corn with a slight chocolate taste. The figural candies had faces that looked more like Tikis than babies. In their earliest days, they manufactured a candy with such an incredibly offensive racist name that I’m not going to include it in this article.     Jujubes in particular sparked my interest in exploring the history of this company. As a young adult, when I worked at Bronson Coles Photography Studios at the Lincoln Village Mall, my coworker and friend Merle turned me on to Jujubes. She told me that they were a great way to satisfy a sweet tooth, but relatively low in calories if you could eat just a couple. I tried eating just a few Jujubes, but my candy eating restraint tactics rarely lasted. To this day, I still love Jujubes and have a bright green t-shirt with the modern Jujubes logo that Jeff bought me. Trivia: In the 1976 film Taxi Driver Travis Bickle (Robert De Niro) buys Chuckles, among other things from the concessions stand at the adult cinema. He tells the concessions girl that he prefers Jujubes because they last longer. While the original jujube candy dates back to 1709, Henry Heide, founder of Henry Heide, Inc., was responsible for introducing his own unique version to America in the 1920s. The original flavors were lilac, violet, rose, lemon, and spearmint. Today, the flavors are so subtle that I sometimes just refer to them by their colors. The box says: violet, lilac, lime, wild cherry and lemon – I don’t detect violet, but of course, I am used…

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Who Can Take a Sunrise, Sprinkle it with Dew – Cover it with Choc’late and a Miracle or Two

The candy man can, or the candy woman. I was in my glory a few weeks ago when I spent 2 1/2 delectable days at the Sweets and Snacks Expo at McCormick Place. It was a smorgasbord of colors, tastes, and treats that could have easily caused a 5-pound weight gain. I managed to avoid this malady due to all the walking at the convention as well as back and forth to the train station. As a lifelong candy addict, this amazing expo sent me into a sweet-tooth stratosphere. I was delighted to find tried and true candy favorites, discover wonderful new companies, and meet passionate candymakers that rivaled Willy Wonka with their unbridled enthusiasm. One of the secrets I uncovered is that the behemoth companies such as Wrigley (part of Mars since 2008), Kraft, Mars, Nutella, Ferrara Pan, and Hershey’s were incredibly stingy in giving away product samples. Wrigley was giving away diminutive packets of gum that were new on the market – kind of cool, but with just 6 pieces of gum, a rip-off at the suggested retail price of 69 cents. Necco was an exception to this rule and had full-size rolls for the taking. Many of the smaller companies were very generous and gave away full-size products if you asked nicely.

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My Easter Weekend Ode to Rabbits, Bunnies and Symbolism

When personified, there is something about rabbits and bunnies that can be downright creepy … eliciting a similar reaction as clowns do. This morning on ABC7 Chicago News, a viewer shared a shot of her baby crying hysterically on the lap of a human dressed as the Easter Bunny. I cannot say I blame this child – the costumed creature was downright scary. Stuffed bunny rabbits are very cute and Jeff’s daughter, who is now 24 and married, was in love with these until the age of 13 or 14. And dwarf rabbits apparently make wonderful pets, as evidenced by my older sister turning to mush when her little bunny Shana is nearby – my serious, scholarly sister with the PhD! Rabbits have been used effectively and annoyingly in advertising, by film directors and artists, in cartoons, and of course – as a lighthearted symbol of the Easter holiday.

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Ode to My Sweet Tooth – A Candy Lover’s Reverie

I blame my dad – but all of my dentists can thank him. My lifelong love affair with candy began when I was just a youngin, thanks to my dad’s unique love for sweets. I say unique because back in the 1960s when there were no gourmet candy shops in Chicago, my dad would order bountiful amounts of gourmet candy from Russ and Daughters on his annual December business trip to New York City. Among his favorite candies were pastel-colored chocolate lentils and dark chocolate covered raspberry jelly rings . I visited Russ and Daughters the last time I was in NYC and they carry very little candy now. My personal choice for an awesome array of candy in the Big Apple is Economy Candy. I must say we had the best candy in our house when I was growing up. One year my dad ordered a gingerbread house kit complete with gumdrops from B. Shackman Company. Before my sisters and I finished making this wonder, it became infested with ants and my mom had to toss it. My dad told us stories about growing up dirt poor in Brooklyn and saving money so he could buy a broken candy bar for 2 cents at the corner store – he couldn’t afford the whole bars. He certainly made up for this over the years, buying high-end gourmet chocolate from near and far at candy makers/shops including Bendick’s, Fortnum and Mason, Bissinger’s, and a now defunct Ma and Pa candy shop in Chicago called Martha’s Candies. He really didn’t care much for Frango Mints or Fanny May, but would reluctantly eat them if bought as a gift.

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