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Candy & Chocolate

Chocolate, candy and gum are some of America's best loved treats.  These sweets have been enjoyed around the world for thousands of years.  Early man developed a taste for sweets by digging honey from bee hives.  Recorded history traces several types of actual candy to the Egyptians 3,500 years ago.  Boiled candies were popularized in 17th century Europe. By the mid-1800s, more than 380 American factories were producing candy. Sweet-making developed rapidly into an industry during early 19th century American through the discovery of sugar beet juice and the advance of mechanical appliances. Homemade hard candies, such as peppermints and lemon drops became popular in America during that time.  

Likewise, cocoa has been a decadent treat since the times of much earlier civilizations.  The story of chocolate, as far back as we know it, begins more than 2000 years ago in equatorial Central America where the Mayan Indians held cocoa beans in high regard. Images of cocoa pods were carved into the walls of their elaborate stone temples, and Mayan writings refer to cacao as "food of the gods." It was the Mayans who first created a beverage from crushed cocoa beans which was enjoyed by royalty and shared at sacred ceremonies.

Evidence of gum chewing also dates back to prehistoric men and women who chewed on tree resin for enjoyment. Greek and Middle Eastern cultures routinely chewed resin from the mastic tree to freshen their breath. In Central America, the Mayans enjoyed chewing on chicle sap. This Central American tree resin was the basis for modern chewing gum.  In the United States, Native Americans and settlers first chewed on spruce tree resin and beeswax. In New England, spruce sap was used to make America’s first gum. In 1848, John Curtis used resin to make State of Maine Spruce Gum. He sold two hunks of the gum for a penny.