Susan Benjamin
Candy Historian, Entrepreneur, Award-Winning Author, College Professor, Researcher
Susan Benjamin is one of the nation’s leading experts on how sweets and sugars shaped North America from early history through the mid-1900s. Her subject matter includes teas, medicines, syrups, and spices that became the modern candies and other sweets we enjoy today. Her research also includes the fun foods we enjoy at holidays, parties, and special occasions from cookouts to Thanksgiving dinner. She is founder of award-winning True Treats, the nation’s only historical candy company which sells historical candy, teas, and treats at their retail store in Harpers Ferry, WV, wholesale to museums and other historical venues, and on her online store.
In her long career, Susan was a college professor, a communications strategist for Fortune 500s, and a participant in a White House initiative under two presidents. A former journalist, she has written eleven books, including “Sweet as Sin: The Unwrapped Story of How Candy Became America’s Favorite Pleasure” on Smithsonian’s “Best Books about Food” and "Fun Foods of America: Outrageous Delights, Celebrated Brands, and Iconic Recipes." All her efforts, including works of fiction, have relied on copious amounts of research, an aspect of her work which Ms. Benjamin especially loves.
Since 2010, Ms. Benjamin has been owner of True Treats, with over 600 products from ancient sweets and treats to retro candy. She researches each product, putting the stories on the selection’s tag and label. In addition to selling wholesale to museums and specialty stores, True Treats sells online and in its award-winning store in Harpers Ferry, WV. While True Treats provides a uniquely visceral experience to history, Ms. Benjamin is also delighted that her products evoke wonderful memories for visitors. Above all, they find True Treats fun.
As an expert in historic candy and other fun foods, Susan appears regularly in numerous venues. These include NPR- affiliates, ABC News radio, CNBC, and The History Channel, as well as online and print outlets, including Vice.com, The Atlantic, The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Huffington Post, Bon Appetit, and many more. She also consults with movie and television producers on historically accurate candy. Her business, True Treats, was a question on Jeopardy! Ms. Benjamin has her own YouTube channel, and regularly posts on Facebook and Instagram as well as her Web blog and column, “Susan's Secrets.”
In addition to media appearances, Ms. Benjamin has given presentations at museums, such as the Smithsonian Museum of American History; Deadwood Museum in South Dakota; Black History Museum in Alexandria, Virginia; Museum of the Bible in Washington, DC; and Mount Vernon Hotel and Gardens in New York City, which the New York Times listed as one of the top ten feature events of the week.
