Candy is one of the foods that made Milwaukee famous.
Today Milwaukee may be known for its cheese curds and custard, but more than a century ago, it was candy. The mass market for chocolate experienced huge growth after 1880, and by 1919, over 3,000 men and women were employed in Milwaukee’s 22 candy factories, making chocolates as their specialty.
The oldest candy factory in Milwaukee was the George Ziegler company, with a seven-story factory and two warehouses, employing more than 500 men and women. The company started in January 1861 as Boll Bros. & Company, and the name was changed in 1874 to the George Ziegler company. Known for inventing the Giant Bar and Candy Raisins, the Ziegler company became one of Wisconsin’s largest candy companies.
Ambrosia Chocolate, founded in 1894, was known as the largest manufacturer of pure chocolate products, furnishing the chocolate coating for much of the candy produced in Milwaukee.
Other notable candy companies in Milwaukee that turned out nationally advertised products included the Robert A. Johnston Company, the American Candy Company, the Badger Candy Company, the Puritan Candy Company, and the Redel Candy Corporation, which pioneered the Campfire brand of marshmallows.
Milwaukee’s many early candy companies, or their recipes, were later acquired by larger food companies, such as the Tootsie Roll, Masterson Company, or Stark, but candy production continues today with an assortment of small batch artisan and traditional confectioners making gourmet chocolates, truffles, and flavored cocoa.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Candy making is sweet part of Milwaukee’s food industry legacy
Reporting by Elaine Rewolinski and Lou Saldivar, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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