Reed's Candy facts for kids
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| Industry | Confectionery |
|---|---|
| Founded | Chicago, Illinois, U.S. (1893) |
| Founder | William Reed Eugene Reed |
| Headquarters | New York City |
Reed's Candy was a popular type of candy made by the Reed Candy Company. This company started in Chicago, USA. Today, some of the classic Reed's hard candies are still made. They are produced by Iconic Candy Co. in New York City.
Contents
The Sweet Story of Reed's Candy
Reed's candy has a long and interesting history! It was made in the United States for more than 100 years. The Reed Candy Company was an American company that made sweets. It was started by William and Eugene Reed from Chicago. In 1893, they founded the company with their father. Their first product was delicious butterscotch candies.
How Reed's Candy Was Made
The company soon added its most popular product: the hard candy roll. Making these candies was a special process. Workers used large copper kettles to boil butter, corn syrup, and other ingredients. This created the hard candy pieces. Special machines were built to move the candy from cooking right into its packaging. Each roll had eight candy pieces. A cellophane wrapper kept them fresh.
By 1921, the Reed Candy Company was the biggest maker of butterscotch candy in the United States. They also made many other flavors. These included peppermint, root beer, licorice, cinnamon, spearmint, butter rum, and teaberry. In 1941, they even made a safer lollipop called Paloops. These lollipops had a twisted paper rope loop instead of a stick.
Changes Over the Years
Over the years, the Reed Candy Company was bought by different businesses. In 1962, a company called Lorillard Tobacco Company bought it. Later, Lorillard was bought by Loews Cineplex Entertainment. This made Reed Candy Company part of Loews.
In 1972, Loews Corporation decided to focus only on entertainment. So, they sold the Reed Candy Company to HP Hood. The Reed Candy Company then bought another candy maker, the D. L. Clark Company, in 1973.
HP Hood sold the Reed Candy Company in 1981. The company then faced financial trouble and closed down in 1982. However, production started again in 1983! This happened when the company was bought by its former president. In the 1980s, Reed's Candy even worked with Amurol Products, a part of Wrigley Gum, to make gum. Amurol bought Reed's in 1989, but they stopped making the candies in 2006.
Reed's Candy Today
Good news for candy lovers! Since 2012, Reed's candy has been made again. Iconic Candy Company of New York now produces four of the original Reed's candy roll flavors. These classic flavors are butterscotch, root beer, cinnamon, and peppermint. They also sell bags of individually wrapped hard candies in cinnamon, butterscotch, and root beer flavors. So, you can still enjoy these classic treats!
