A Little Corny--Again

It’s that time of year. You know what I mean. You walk into any store that sells anything from prescription medicine to winter boots and you see it. C-A-N-D-Y. It’s everywhere. They entice us to purchase early so we’ll be well stocked when the trick or treaters come to the door. Of course, we eat it and then have to buy more—or is that only me?? Anyway, one of the candies that has lost a little of its prevalence, but was invented back in the 1880’s is Candy Corn. I came across an article about the sweet treat while looking through a copy of History magazine and couldn’t resist sharing a little with you.

Invented by George Renninger in the 1880’s, candy corn was first produced by the Wunderle Candy Co. in Philadelphia. It’s said that when Renninger was testing the candy corn, he went no further than his own backyard. He lived in a rural area where he kept chickens. He would throw some candy corn out to the chickens and figured once he had the chickens fooled into thinking they were eating real corn, he had the right appearance for people. Obviously, those chickens made it work for him. Wonder if their eggs tasted any sweeter.

Making candy corn 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. Placed on gas-fired iron rings, large copper kettles were used to cook the basic ingredients of sugar, water, and corn syrup into a slurry. Fondant was added for a smooth texture and marshmallow for a soft bite. When the right consistency was reached, the hot candy (liquids at more than 250 degrees) would be poured into hand-held buckets called runners. Each runner held 45 pounds of the hot mixture.

Next, men called stringers would walk backward pouring the steaming candy into trays dusted with cornstarch that were imprinted with kernel-shaped molds. Three passes were made, one for each white, orange, and yellow color. I can’t imagine holding a 45 pound kettle of hot syrup and carefully pouring it into molds while walking backwards. I can’t even imagine doing it while walking forward. The stringers had to possess both strength and precision. Many workers were burned and candy factories were considered a dangerous place to work—and remember, this was before the days of air-conditioning or electric fans.

All this strenuous labor wasn't lost on the tiny candy. Its tricolor design was considered revolutionary and people flocked to buy them. Their shape was also a big selling point for the mostly agrarian population of the early 1900's. The candy corn was so popular that companies tried other vegetable shapes including turnips—that one didn’t go over so well. Can’t imagine why.

I’m amazed by the entrepreneurial men and women who have shaped our country—and our candy corn!

May you find joy as you savor the sweetness of the Lord. ~Judy

P.S. The winner of A Bond Never Broken is Amy C. I'll be sending you an email for your mailing address, Amy!   P.P.S.  Yes, this is a repeat of a post from a couple years ago, but I like the story of candy corn so I decided I wanted to post it again.