Curtiss Candy Company

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Box of Curtiss' Baby Ruth candy bars at a general store in Portsmouth, North Carolina

The Curtiss Candy Company was founded in 1916 by Otto Schnering near Chicago, Illinois. Wanting a more "American-sounding" name (due to anti-German sentiment during World War I), Schnering named his company using his mother's maiden name.

Their first confectionery item was Kandy Kake, later refashioned in 1920 as the log-shaped Baby Ruth.[1] Their second confectionery item was the chocolate-covered peanut butter crunch Butterfinger, which was introduced in 1926.[2] In 1931, Curtiss marketed the brand by sponsoring famous air racer, John H. Livingston, in the Baby Ruth Aerobatic Team flying the air-racer Howard "Mike" at airshows, and sponsoring Livingston's Monocoupe racer in the 1934 MacRobertson Air Race.[3][4] The Jolly Jack candy was included in army rations during World War II.[5]

In 1964, Standard Brands purchased Curtiss Candy Company. Standard Brands merged with Nabisco in 1981. In 1990, RJR Nabisco sold the Curtiss brands to Nestlé.

The Baby Ruth / Butterfinger factory, built in the 1960s, is located at 3401 Mt. Prospect Rd. in Franklin Park, Illinois. Interstate 294 curves eastward around the plant, where a prominent, rotating sign, resembling a gigantic candy bar, is seen. It originally read "Curtiss Baby Ruth" on one side and "Curtiss Butterfinger" on the other. It was changed to read "Nestlé" following the acquisition.

A "Curtiss Baby Ruth" sign was on an apartment building across from Wrigley Field for several decades.[6][7] Wrigley and the Curtiss plant are both on Addison Street, although more than 10 miles apart.

Curtiss products over the years[]

In the early decades, Curtiss had a wide variety of candies aside from Baby Ruth and Butterfinger.

Candies[]

  • Baby Ruth suckers
  • Better Creams
  • Curtiss Butterscotch
  • Buy Golly
  • Buy Jiminy
  • Caramel Nougat
  • Caramel Smackers
  • Cherry Pattie
  • Chocolate Almond Nougat
  • Chocolate Dipper Mallows
  • Chocolate Dipped Nut Butter Pillows
  • Chocolate suckers
  • Coconut Grove
  • Curtiss Nut Roll
  • Dip
  • Easy Aces
  • Foxxy
  • Gypsy
  • Jolly Jack
  • Kandy Kake
  • Koko Nut Roll
  • Man-O-War
  • Milk Nut Loaf
  • Moon Spoon
  • Nickaloaf
  • Penny Log
  • Peppermint Patty
  • Royal Marshmallows
  • Safe-T-Pops
  • Taffee Giraffee
  • Topper
  • Wild Cherry suckers

Bite-sized candies[]

  • Butterfinger Chips
  • Caramel Nougats
  • Coconut Niblets
  • Dip-Bits*
  • Milk Caramels
  • Mint Patties
  • Nuggets

Drop and mint flavors[]

  • Assorted Fruit
  • Butterscotch
  • Chlorophyll
  • Chocolate
  • Grape
  • Lemon
  • Lime
  • Orange
  • Peppermint
  • Root Beer
  • Spearmint
  • Wild Cherry
  • Wintergreen

Gum flavors[]

  • Baby Ruth Peppermint
  • Baby Ruth Fruit flavored
  • Bubble Chum
  • Chlorophyll
  • Hawaiian Fruit
  • Peppermint
  • Pepsin
  • Spearmint

Miracle-Aid flavors[]

(This was a competitor to Kool-Aid)

  • Cherry
  • Grape
  • Lemon Lime
  • Orange
  • Raspberry
  • Strawberry

References[]

  1. ^ Smith, A.F. (2012). Fast Food and Junk Food: An Encyclopedia of What We Love to Eat. Fast Food and Junk Food: An Encyclopedia of what We Love to Eat. ABC-CLIO. pp. 33–34. ISBN 978-0-313-39393-8. Retrieved October 29, 2017.
  2. ^ Batchelor, B. (2008). American Pop: Popular Culture Decade by Decade. Non-Series. ABC-CLIO. p. 311. ISBN 978-0-313-36411-2. Retrieved October 29, 2017.
  3. ^ Dennis Hoffman. "Winged Passion Iowa Aviation Legends". The Iowan.
  4. ^ Sport Aviation. April 1959.
  5. ^ Chmelik, Samantha. "Otto Y. Schnering." In Immigrant Entrepreneurship: German-American Business Biographies, 1720 to the Present, vol. 4, edited by Jeffrey Fear. German Historical Institute. Last modified April 04, 2013.
  6. ^ Johnson, S. (2008). Chicago Cubs Yesterday & Today. MVP Books. p. 113. ISBN 978-0-7603-3246-7. Retrieved October 29, 2017.
  7. ^ Wrigley Field. Potomac Books. 2006. p. 254. ISBN 978-1-61234-411-9. Retrieved October 29, 2017.

Further reading[]

  • The Great American Candy Bar Book (ISBN 0-395-32502-1)
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