Category: Candy History

Who was St. Valentine & what does he have to do with candy?

This Valentine’s Day, people will give their sweethearts countless sweet gifts, including milk and dark chocolate. Montgomery County is filled with people searching for just the right gift.

And maybe during their search, they stop and ask themselves “Why do we celebrate this day? And who was Valentine, anyway?”

Some people have come to deride Valentine’s Day as a “Hallmark holiday,” but it’s actually a tradition that goes back more than 1,500 years.

This is the story of Valentine’s Day.

Continue reading Who was St. Valentine & what does he have to do with candy? →

Halloween candy: why do sweet treats go with a spooky day?

young girl and dog in costumes, inspecting their Halloween candy

Halloween is a big holiday, one that we’re willing to spend billions of dollars each year to celebrate with costumes and Halloween candy.

It’s also an old holiday, dating back thousands of years to the Celts, people who lived in what is now Ireland and the UK. Many of the things were now associate with Halloween have their roots in Celtic traditions. For example:

Continue reading Halloween candy: why do sweet treats go with a spooky day? →

Chocolate history: the evolution of this sweet treat

chocolate history: cocoa powder, cacao pods, chocolate bars

We may never know who discovered cocoa in the Amazon 4,000 years ago, but we owe them a debt.

Without that person, we might not be here writing this post. The Stutz company might have made shoes or sold insurance.

But how did we get from the cocoa prized by the Aztecs and Mayans to the boxed chocolates we all enjoy today? It’s the start of the school year, so here’s a history lesson on the evolution of chocolate.

Continue reading Chocolate history: the evolution of this sweet treat →

How Salt Water Taffy Got Its Name

wrapped green and blue salt water taffy

Summer is in full swing, and countless people are heading to the Jersey shore, where they’ll seek out the best salt water taffy the boardwalks have to offer.

It got us thinking again about the history of this classic seaside treat, and its unique history. Read on to find out how salt water taffy got its name.

Continue reading How Salt Water Taffy Got Its Name →

Chocolate & Peanut Butter: A Classic Combo

Stutz Peanut Butter Cups

Remember those peanut butter cup ads from the 1980s?

Two people walking down the street, one munching a chocolate bar, the other – improbably – just eating peanut butter straight from the jar.

They bump into each other and then:

“Hey! Your peanut butter’s in my chocolate!”

“Your chocolate is in my peanut butter.”

Then they taste this new combination – one apparently unheard of in the universe of this commercial – and learn something we’ve known for years here at our chocolate shop in Bucks County: When peanut butter and chocolate come together, it’s glorious.

So glorious that Reese’s peanut butter egg is the largest-selling Easter candy in America, accounting for nearly 10 percent of the $1.2 billion in Easter candy sold each year.

Continue reading Chocolate & Peanut Butter: A Classic Combo →