Category: Candy History

Best Selling Candies in the United States: A Guide from Stutz Candy

As one of the leading candy stores in Pennsylvania, Stutz Candy has been providing best selling candies, as well as quality confectionery treats for years. Our vast selection of chocolates has always been a fan favorite and continues to be a top-seller in the United States. From our corporate chocolate gift baskets to our boxed chocolates and chocolate covered pretzels, we offer a wide range of chocolate options to suit all tastes and preferences. Here, we take a closer look at some of the best-selling chocolates in the United States and why they have become such a hit among chocolate lovers. 

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Candy Trivia for National Candy Month!

It’s no secret that confections are enjoyed by Americans all year round. But as you embark on summer adventures such as beach vacations and road trips, make the most out of the National Candy Month. Wouldn’t you want to be among the 71 percent of Americans who will include these fun treats in their summer adventures? And how about some candy trivia to go along with your sweet snacks? Here are some trivia questions about both classic and popular types of candy!

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Spooky Sweets & Halloween Treats

The Greater Philadelphia area boasts a plethora of Halloween fun: harmless, innocent events for young families; super-scary festivals; and thrilling ghost tours — to name a few. Whether you prefer to be scared out of your wits, participate in a local Trunk-on-Treat activity, or you’d rather skip the crowds and curl up on the couch to watch a timeless horror film at home, the holiday is nothing without its ultimate star: candy! As the shorter days of fall set in, there’s really nothing better to look forward to than mouth-watering, spooky sweets and exciting, delectable Halloween treats.

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Bucks County: The Tale of Fudge and its Sweet Creation

tray of handcrafted chocolate fudgeFudge is one of the most popular candies throughout the world. You’ll also find fudge along with the typical glut of sweets, biscuits, chocolate other candies at any given shop. Despite this popularity, many people don’t know how fudge in Bucks County became a staple confection. 

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Sweetest Day – America’s Forgotten Holiday Tradition

sweetest day emblem

When you hear “October” and “candy,” you probably think “Halloween.”

And why not? Halloween is big business here in the Bucks County milk chocolate world, big business for anyone who makes and sells candy.

But for a brief period in the earlier part of the 20th century, people celebrated a holiday called “Sweetest Day” on the third Saturday in October.

In fact, if you find yourself in Cleveland or Buffalo on that date, you might find an official Sweetest Day celebration happening.

In this blog post, we’ll look at the unusual history of this forgotten holiday.

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How Chocolate Molds Came into Being

Although chocolate has been around for centuries, chocolate molds, like the personalized chocolate molds we sell in Bucks County, are a relatively new phenomenon.

We’ve talked quite a bit here on the history of different candies, but we haven’t really touched on chocolate molds. So in this blog post, we’re traveling to 19th century Europe to explore this unique form of candy-making.

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How is Taffy Made?

In our last blog post, we discussed the history of saltwater taffy and how it got its name, and its origins as a favorite treat among boardwalk visitors.

We’d wager that part of the charm of buying taffy when you’re at the shore is seeing it made. Machinery at work, pulling large ropes of taffy is quite a sight to see.

At first sight, you may wonder “What’s going on there?”

Throughout our history, as we grew to be an iconic candy maker in the Philadelphia area, stories of taffy making at the shore have traveled far and wide. Having candy locations at the shore and just north of Philadelphia, we still hear them.

In this blog post, we’ll look at the hows and whys of taffy making.

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King & Queen of Confection: Fudge at the Shore Festival

Last year, Stutz celebrated a milestone not every business gets to enjoy: 80 years in business.

It’s a fascinating history. We started off making chocolate in a garage in Jenkintown, and now operate three stores: two in the Philadelphia area and one at the Jersey Shore.

We’re proud to be a part of local food history, and no discussion of that history is complete without mentioning two things: fudge, saltwater taffy, and their connection to the shore.

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Paying With Chocolate: A Sweet History Lesson Experience

Spend enough time reading our thoughts on dark chocolate, and you’ll realize that we love talking about the history of our favorite confection.

Regular readers of the blog know that history stretches back to the pre-Colonial Americas, when the Mayans and Aztec enjoyed an unsweetened chocolate drink that they’d flavor with things like hot peppers and corn meal.

In fact, we get the word chocolate itself from the Mayan word for “bitter water”: xocoatl. The Mayans saw cacao – the chief ingredient in chocolate – as a valuable symbol of life.

So valuable, in fact, that they may have used chocolate as currency.

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Easter Candy: What’s the history of these spring sweets Today?

It’s hard to compete with Halloween when it comes to candy, but every year, Easter gives October 31 a run for its money.

In 2018, we as a nation bought more than $2 billion worth of marshmallow chicks, jelly beans and chocolate eggs and bunnies. There’s no reason to think Americans won’t repeat that pattern this year. (At least we in the Bucks County chocolate molds world hope they will.)

But how did this happen? How is it that Easter – which began as a religious celebration of new life and rebirth – become a reliable source of revenue for candy makers?

It’s time for one of our candy-related history lessons. Let’s look at the connection between Easter and Easter candy.

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