April 2022

What’s Mom’s Favorite Old Time Candy? We Asked – Answered!

Posted on April 28, 2022July 12, 2022 by Alvino Sandoval

So, What Candies Do Mothers Really Want For Mother’s Day?

A good question seeing that just about all of us are buying or receiving Mother’s Day gifts now. Is candy among them? Should it be? If so, what kinds? Being a research-based candy company, we decided to dig deep. We looked up stats online, compared sales of clothes, flowers, jewelry and, of course, candy. The findings are clear – flowers, jewelry and candy are at the top. Of course, plenty of other favorites were in the mix… some not presents exactly, but ideas like time off! A day of freedom, as in time away from the kids. That came up a lot.

True Treats for Mother’s Day

For obvious reasons, we decided to focus on candy. So, we turned to our Facebook friends for the most reliable data possible about what their mothers’ favorites. Now remember – we didn’t ask our friends’ ages – or for that matter, their mothers’ ages which may have changed the response. We guessed, given the age of our average customer, their moms are likely in their 50s and 60s.

Regardless – the results were surprising to say the least. Here’s what we found…

Our Favorite Response:

Our favorite response comes from David Mills who said: “She liked everything. Seriously, there was nothing that she didn’t like.” We love knowing that. Melanie Mills, a relative, weighed in, indicating David’s Mom was not only a candy lover, but a candy influencer. Melanie said: “She loved circus peanuts and she was the one who made me try black licorice. She even got my sister to like black licorice. She and my mom would share a box of, I think it was, Good and Plenty.” Hey David and Melanie – did you know Good n’ Plenty is the nation’s oldest brand, made in 1893?

Moms Love Old Time Licorice

Our friends’ list included lots of licorice – a total surprise as licorice isn’t on the horizon of most loved candies for anyone. Good n’ Plenty (circa 1893), as David and Mel told us, plus black jelly beans, general black licorice anything and Twizzlers. When you think about Twizzlers, you probably think 1970s. But this company outdates even Good n’ Plenty. It started in 1845!

Retro Candy – the Big Surprise!

We could have guessed Moms like retro candy – most people lean in that direction. But the kinds of retro were a surprise. For the most part, our friends’ mothers skewed old school. No late 1900s favorites such as Jelly Belly Beans, Zotz or even Gummies (only one mention of these). These Moms went 1800s including the most controversial candy ever – Circus Peanuts, made in the late 1800s for…you guessed it … circuses. Also – Candy Corn, which also started life in the late 1800s. Originally called Chicken Feed, it was a summertime snack at first – not made for Halloween! Gwen Wyttenbach told us her Mom would mix them in a dish with “Spanish” peanuts. Interesting.

What about CHOCOLATE for Mother’s Day?

Industry experts all point to chocolate as women’s preferred flavor. Not so in our Mother’s Day findings. Of all 78 responses, less than half mentioned chocolate and of that number, only a few mentioned chocolate as the only, or most preferred, candy. Is that because chocolate has historically been a man’s food? Remember: chocolate originated as a drink, dating back to Mesoamerica where it was esteemed by men – namely soldiers and tyrannical leaders – who enjoyed the drink for virility and strength. Hmmmm…

Mothers Do Love Chocolate… But Not What You Might Think!

OK – we expected to hear a lot about fancy chocolates – the type that started in the late 1800s when eating chocolate became quite the thing. This line-up includes sumptuous truffles, creams, and other varieties still around today. But our Facebook friends told us about classic candy bars, which got their start as energy bars and part of the first rations in World War I. Among the names named – Snickers, Rocky Road, 1000 Grand, and Almond Roca. Several did mention Cherry Cordials – made popular by the now defunct Brach’s in the early 1930s and chocolate covered raisins, a favorite of yours truly, and a hit in the early movie theater concession stands.

Lots o’ Outliers, TOO!!

We love outliers and are happy to say these included sea foam (from Lucile Allen, a True Treats alumni) and chocolate covered honeycomb – another version of sea foam; halva (we carry this – ancient and Middle Eastern); the gummy-esque Wisconsin Raisins from, that’s right, Wisconsin, little known but shouldn’t be; and my friend and neighbor Karen McMullen’s mom’s favorite – Bit O’ Honey from the 1920s.

Our Facebook friend Peg Norton Foster told us about “…white nougat things with little pieces of gumdrops in them. Peg added: “I know mom had them around a lot in the late 50s and 60s. I am a chocolate freak so she got them mostly to herself.” Peg – we actually carry your Mom’s favorite, although the gum drops have been replaced by it’s candy cousin, jelly beans!

We Asked Some of Our True Treats Employees… What’s Mom’s Favorite Candy?

Susan Benjamin, True Treats President – “My mother actually didn’t like candy! But if I had to pick, I’d say the peanut butter cup. She ate one maybe every other year!”

Alvino Sandoval, Web & Distribution Manager – “Peppermint patties and Rolos. My grandma loves butterscotch hard candies and starlight mints… typical grandmother!”

David Bussard, Strategic & Creative Director – “Dark chocolate nonpareils and three color coconut bars.”

MaryAnn Fisher, Social Media & Outreach Coordinator- “Hershey Milk Chocolate Bars!”

Jackie Woods, Packer – “My mother’s a donut and cookie person… but I’m a momma and I love anything chocolate or All-American Caramel.”

Pam, Packer – “Hershey kisses, Hershey with almond… Always Hershey. My favorite candy is Payday, but I love Mounds too.”

Jess, Packer – “Peanut M&M’s and that’s about it!”

Here’s the Full List of Mother’s Day Favorites From Facebook

THANKS EVERONE!! We LOVE your Feedback. And Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers out there!!

French gums, gummy hearts, chocolate covered raisins, and halva. – Andrea Blavat
She liked everything. Seriously, there was nothing that she didn’t like. Hilarious… she loved circus peanuts and she was the one who made me try black licorice. She even got my sister to like black licorice. Her and my mom would share a box of I think it was good and plenty, and I always got the good and fruity for at the drive in. – Melanie Mills
Believe it or not … circus peanuts! – Jennie Gist
My mother’s favorite “of all things” … Candy Corn at Halloween! – Gwen Wyttenbach
My mom would mix them in a dish with “Spanish” peanuts (in reference to candy corn) – Jan Rayl Kierstead
It’s candy raisins from Wisconsin and I’m blessed that she’s still around! – Jennifer Wyatt
Caramels and those white nougat things with little pieces of gumdrops in them. – Peg Norton Foster
Almond Joy – Denise Braithwaite
10000 Grand candy bars. – Laura Lee Bear Lemmon
Probably those cream drops, my mother loved them – Angela Zimmerman
Moth balls (cream filberts) and Opera Creams – Claire Mojave
Black Licorice – Dwayne Richards
Godiva. If they weren’t available Hershey Special Dark. She was a dark chocolate fiend.- Krissi Bainbridge
Almond Joys and chocolate – Heidi Rohrer
Russel Stovers Caramels in particular – Suzanne Healy Barnhart
Black licorice – Mary T
Coconut cream egg – Shelly Williams
Lemon drops and chocolate covered raisins. – Nell McCollum Tedder
Bit o Honey – Cathy Kisovec Rodgers
Chocolate. Just, all of the chocolate. – Crystal Cruz
I still get her dark chocolate and heath bars – Jennifer Bortman
My mom wasn’t a candy person. Black licorice, I suppose, or Coffee Nips. My dad had the sweet tooth. – Amy Wax Storyteller
Chocolate covered cherries – Josephine Ann Calderone
Black Licorice and black jellybeans! – Brenda Sue Payne
Peanut Brittle – Tabitha Falls
Almond Joy maybe – Kelly Preziosi
Black licorice – Rick Doty
Almond Roca – Randy Hanenburg
Chocolate, peppermint, & lemon drops.- Sandra Lewis
Chocolate-covered cherries and sea foam – Lucile Allen
Snickers candy bars was her favorite. She’s not really a candy fan. Ice cream is where it’s at – Elizabeth Bennett
Snickers but can’t eat them unless it sugar free which I don’t they have it n take one if sugar low due to I am a diabetic – Selina Dion
Black licorice – Marylouise McKillip
Fannie Mae turtles – Anne Marie Trumbla
Chocolate covered cherries. – Karen McMullen
Mary Janes and Fannie May turtles. – Allison May
Rocky road or those mountain bars if she could find them – Jaye Ahkinga
Heath bars… black jelly beans – Patricia Smith Violett
Almond Roca – Linda Mitchell
Black Jelly beans – Francine Rybarczyk Clouse
Almond Roca – Debbie Coman
I don’t think she has a favorite- Matthew Ryan Neely
Coconut watermelon slices. – Carla Johnson Kanthak
Chocolate fudge – Karen Schultz
Candy corn and cinnamon gummy bears – Dana Perkins
Whitman’s cream filled candies – Marilyn Hennessey
Chocolate gingers and cherry cordials – Elizabeth Ford
Starlight mints – Julie Burke
Chocolate covered honeycomb – Bella Kittrell
Hard candy – Betty Jagodzinski Rybarczyk
Baby Ruth – Larry Berkman
Circus marshmallows – Natalie Kreitzman
Chocolate covered cherries, marshmallow peanuts, creme drops, and orange slices – Mary Earp
Chocolates! – Pam Howard
Butterfinger – Marchia Kirkland
Reese’s peanut butter cups – Victoria Ordonez
Butterfinger – Debra Hatcher
Orange slices – Patsy Dickson
Anything Fannie May – Dave Mead
Three Musketeer Bar – Lia Rock-Wright
Butterscotch – Libby Wilson
Reese’s Peanut butter cups – Nancy Shaffer Thiele
Caramels with white filling! (Goetze’s Caramel Creams!) – Rodney Thomas
Everything – Linnet Guidry Lewis
Malted Milk Balls – Karen Lynne
Mike & Ike – Lee Andrews Lawson
Satellite wafers – Sarah Côté
Nestle crunch – Peggy Lynch Verville
Cordial – Amber Nichole
Scorched peanuts – Gail Hart
Wintergreen – Elaine Moore
She is alive, and at last check, a big fan of Whitmans Samplers. – Jasmyn Dawn
Orange Slices – Donnette Sligar Sibille
Hershey bar – Jeannie Clement
Cherry cordials – Donna Marie Reynolds
Twizzlers – Ellen Patterson
Fudge – Martha D Clark Balser

The Remarkable Story of Mother’s Day

Posted on April 21, 2022May 25, 2022 by Alvino Sandoval

Mother’s Day – most certainly not the commercial Hallmark event most people think. It’s about history, controversy, war and peace – and women’s role in all of it. It also underscores the reality of women and, in particular, mothers, as more integral and significant to our nation’s history, whether in the home or on-the-road, than women get credit for.

Grafton, West Virginia – Birthplace of Mother’s Day

The story began for me years ago, when I traveled to Grafton, West Virginia, the home of Mother’s Day. I took a stomach-flipping albeit beautiful mountainous road to get there, ending in a small former railroad town. My meeting was in a modest Methodist church on a modest street with one decent place to eat. Things may have changed in Grafton since I visited 20 some odd years ago, but one thing remains: the church was where Mother’s Day began. The women of the community were proud of that fact and had plenty of literature and stories to prove it.

Ann Jarvis & “Mothers’ Day Work Clubs”

The primary player in the story was activist Ann Jarvis. Initially, Ms. Jarvis helped start “Mothers’ Day Work Clubs” to teach local women how to properly care for their children. This was around the time of the rising Domestic Science movement – a women-led initiative to ensure food was clean and properly prepared, and the household managed with mathematical precision. If you cook anything that requires measurements, timing, and specific cooking utensils, you have Domestic Science, later called Home Economics, to thank.

Mothers’ Day Work Clubs During the Civil War

When the Civil War hit, West Virginia was part of Virginia. The state succeeded in 1863, less because of conviction and more because they went with the presumed winner. West Virginia remained torn in its identity during that time and, at some levels, still is today. Regardless, during the war, women of the Mother’s Day Work Clubs shifted their focus to bettering the sanitary conditions for Civil War soldiers in encampments on both sides of the war, stricken by such devastating problems as typhoid outbreaks.

Gifts From Home – Mothers of the Civil War

At home, women cooked food according to availability, which they sent to their sons and others fighting the war. What exactly they sent is hard to say – the goings on of women during war time, or, in fact any time, is hard to come by. We do get clues, though, from such places as Godey’s Lady’s Book, a popular 19th century magazine. The magazine sought out recipes from women on both sides of the war which they published in an effort to unify mothers with a common, excruciating concern. Other clues come from the diaries of soldiers and the odd letter that surfaces now and then.

Godey’s Lady’s Book

Sugar was certainly part of the equation – it was a critical component of medicine and a core ingred ient in preserving life. So, molasses in various form, including pulled molasses, a version of taffy, was likely among these sweets as was cane sugar in various forms. Godey’s Lady’s Book contains a recipe for candied orange peels and mentions sugar-rich fruits as varied as coconuts and strawberries. These foods were certainly sent to the soldiers when supplies held out. Whether the intended recipient received them is another matter.

“Mother’s Friendship Day”

After the war, Ann Jarvis established a “Mother’s Friendship Day” to reunite war-separated families and create reconciliation between Union and Confederate soldiers. She was determined to create a national Mother-based holiday but died in 1905 before she achieved it. Enter her daughter Anna Jarvis – a single woman who never had children but was intent on making her mother’s vision a reality. Among her early efforts was to receive funding and support from John Wanamaker, whose Philadelphia department store was the first in the nation. Wanamaker’s participation in the event, while welcome, also foreshadowed the future of Mother’s Day as a commercial bonanza for retailers and restaurateurs today.

The First Mother’s Day

In May 1908, Anna Jarvis held the first official Mother’s Day celebration at the Methodist Church which I visited and where Ann Jarvis taught Sunday School. Two aspects of Anna Jarvis’ efforts are lost today but well-worth remembering. First is the spelling of Mother’s Day. Not “Mothers’ Day” for all women, as a group, but the day honoring individual mothers, in particular those who lost sons at war. Then there’s the carnation, long a symbol of purity and faithfulness. Ms. Jarvis sent 500 carnations to the church event – carnations remain a Mother’s Day symbol to this day. The Grafton event was significant albeit modest compared to the parallel event at Wannamaker’s Philadelphia store, drawing in thousands of guests.

Her Mother’s Legacy

Anna Jarvis then launched an aggressive campaign to further fulfill her mother’s vision including establishing the Mother’s Day International Association, publishing letters in newspapers, and lobbing political figures and other influencers. She argued, among other matters, that most holidays focused on men and women deserved a share of acknowledgement and appreciation. Of course, we must acknowledge the irony that Mother’s Day focused on the grief mothers felt over the loss of their sons with no mention of the many daughters who also served in a variety of capacities on the battlefields.

Anna Jarvis’ Surprising Campaign… to End Mother’s Day?

By 1912, numerous states and other communities were commemorating Mother’s Day. In 1914, President Woodrow Wilson established the second Sunday in May as Mother’s Day. Anna Jarvis was victorious. Well…she was victorious but ultimately disillusioned. Anna Jarvis protested the commercial side to Mother’s Day and, by the end of her life, lobbied for an end to the Mother’s Day celebration. In a sense, the road to Mother’s Day was as windy and remarkable as the road I travelled on my trip to Grafton. After I arrived, someone at the church informed me that I could have taken a smoother and faster alternative road on a highway. Not to stretch the metaphor too far, but the ease of Mother’s Day today – and the opportunity to connect families across the country as Ann Jarvis originally intended – is relatively smooth, straight-forward and something to celebrate. Today, Mother’s Day is an international event.

Activists, Abolitionists, and Mother’s Day

As Ann Jarvis and Anna Jarvis were working to make Mother’s Day official, other activists shared their mission. Abolitionist and suffragette Julia Ward Howe, who wrote the poem “The Battle Hymn of the Republic,” was active in promoting a version of Mother’s Day dedicated to peace efforts in the 1800s. Similarly in the 19th and 20th century temperance activists Mary Towles Sasseen and Frank Hering advocated for an anti-war version of Mother’s Day.

For More Information…

For more fascinating information about Mother’s Day, visit The History Of Mother’s Day In The US Is Much Different Than You’d Imagine

Our Facebook Friends Shared Their Mother’s Day Favorites!

Check back next week for a blog featuring your responses!

Redefining Retro

Posted on April 14, 2022May 25, 2022 by Alvino Sandoval

What is Retro Anyway?

These days, we’ve been thinking a lot about retro candy. The reason is pretty simple – people like… make that love… retro candy more than any other category of confections. But what is retro candy? We searched the Web and found that most candy sellers believe retro candy is either a “trip down memory lane” – or a “walk through the 1900s.” In other words, retro old is relatively new.

Make sense? Not to us. So, we took the matter to our Facebook friends and the customers at our brick-and-mortar store in Harpers Ferry. We asked two questions – what is your favorite retro candy? and what date was it invented? The responses varied.

Wait, Pixy Stix Were a Drink Mix?!

Jeremy Butler, for example, said his favorite candy was SweeTarts, circa 1980. The actual date was the 1960s, but close enough. The SweeTart story goes back to the late 1920s and a drink mix that became a candy known as Pixy Stix. In the 1960s, Pixy Stix makers created a neater version of this favorite treat … which was the SweeTart.

NECCO Wafers & Taffy – Older Than You Think…

Others bucked conventional thinking saying the 1800s was the start date for their retro favorites think: NECCO Wafers which originated in 1847. Kirsten Renee Campbell guessed her favorite, salt water taffy, was from the 1800s and she was right. Late 1800s, to be precise. By the way, salt water taffy was never actually made with salt water. It did originate on the Atlantic City boardwalk, but saltwater taffy doesn’t differ much from what you can get, say, in Colorado. Which is a good thing if you happen to live in Colorado.

Is Peanut Brittle Retro?

The answer I love the best, though, is from Andrea Blavat. Her favorite is peanut brittle. As for the date – she said “pre-historic times maybe?” And right she was! Well, more or less. Brittle is one of the oldest candies around, dating back thousands of years to a mixture of honey and sesame seeds. This candy, which originated in the Middle East and Mediterranean, likely contained cane sugar as well, which grew freely in India, an apex of the ancient Spice Trade. As for sesame seeds – yes – but this early brittle likely contained other nuts as well.

Does this make brittle truly “retro”? By the common definition that retro signifies a 20th century treat, probably not. But then, plenty of other candies would be bumped off the list as we said, such as the NECCO Wafer, Kirsten’s taffy, and other “retro” favs such as 1800s candy corn, circus peanuts (keep reading for a retro recipe using this controversial candy), cotton candy, Black Jack Gum, fruit drops, marshmallows, caramels, and more. Some, such as candy sticks and Altoids (yes! Altoids), go back even further (OK – Altoids originated in the 1780s) such as Jordan Almonds which go back to the ancient Romans – marzipan, too.

Spangler’s Circus Peanut Salad

Looking for a new way to eat the surprisingly old circus peanut? Try this recipe, submitted by Mrs. Kay Larson for the 1976 Stump Creek Resident’s Cookbook and let us know what you think!

1 package of orange jello

1 no. 2 can crushed pineapple

2 cups cold water

30 circus peanuts

2 cups hot water

1 container Cool Whip

Dissolve jello in hot water. Cut up circus peanuts and dissolve in this. Drain pineapple and add liquid to cold water. Add to the first mixture. Allow to partially set. Add Cool Whip and crushed pineapple. Chill until set.

Retro, Redefined

So here’s the point: let’s redefine retro and in doing so acknowledge a link to the past that taps all our senses. Taste the candy. Smell it. Hear the crunch and so on and on. With each bite you’ll be connected to lives and locations you never imagined. As for the purpose of eating these treats? Well, that varied, depending on the candy (some, for example, were medicines) but the underlying value was always sweet.

Here’s to Redefining Retro! From 2,000 BC to 2000 AD. Timelessly delicious.