One of the many fun things about watching old movies is spotting candy in them, especially Necco candy!

Usually candy spotting comes from keeping a close eye on the fleeting images of the backgrounds in scenes---shelves and window displays in drugstores, gift shops, and neighborhood candy shops. Sometimes I get lucky, and the candy plays a role in the story, and this time I hit the jackpot with Necco candy playing a pivotal role in the Our Gang / Little Rascals short, Sprucin’ Up!

​Released on June 1st, 1935, the story revolves around a love triangle. Spanky and Alfalfa are vying for the affections of Marianne Jones, their new neighbor. It isn’t just that Marianne is pretty; she’s the daughter of a truant officer. By getting in good with her, they reason, her father is bound to be more lenient if (and when) they get in any trouble. The entire gang has gathered in front of her house with flowers and candy, but Spanky shrewdly gets rid of them by creating a disturbance, offers Mr. Jones a cigar, then gets inside to woo Marianne with flowers and candy. Unfortunately, he finds his rival Alfalfa already in the drawing room with her.

Necco Sweets’ Chocolate Peppermints are not well known today, but back in the day they sold millions of them. In fact, they were so popular that other candy companies made copycat chocolate mints in boxes that looked like Necco’s iconic design to try to trick consumers into thinking they were buying the delicious Necco “choc pepps.”

Necco debuted the chocolate peppermints in 1916. In the 1920s they touted them as a tremendous value for a nickel, describing them as: “A pocket-pack of eight dainty, creamy mints--so alluring and tasty.”

In 1930 Necco made them “bigger and better” by increasing the size and weight of the cream centers, giving them a stronger mint flavor, and coating them more thickly with chocolate, all the while still selling them for a nickel. In 1931 Necco added a ninth mint to the box. These are the mints being gobbled down by Alfalfa and Marianne.
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In the end neither boy got the girl, but that’s okay---their sights are set on another one when the movie ends.

You can read more about Necco, The New England Confectionery Company and its family of brands in my book Necco–An Epic Candy Tale • BUY NOW

The companion book Necco–The Archive Collection: An Almost Lost history of the New England Confectionery Company is a museum quality catalog. • BUY NOW

Thank you, Historic New England! I have been honored as the winner of the 2023 Prize for Collecting Works on Paper for my lifetime achievement as curator of the Candy Wrapper Museum and my books "Necco–An Epic Candy Tale" and "Necco–The Archive Collection,” which chronicle the history of the New England Confectionery Company and its family of brands from the 19th through the 21st centuries.

Historic New England is the oldest and largest regional heritage organization in the nation. Their prize honors a collector or dealer who has assembled or helped save significant collections related to New England and its diverse communities or to the nation as a whole. I would have never dreamed when I started my collection as a teen that I would receive an honor of such prestige.

I’m proud to announce that I was honored by the Cambridge Historical Commission in their Twenty-seventh Cambridge Preservation Awards on May 25, 2023. They bestowed Special Recognition for my books, Necco: An Epic Candy Tale and Necco: The Archive Collection, for their “contribution to the public’s understanding of and appreciation for Cambridge and its multi-faceted history."

I was unable to attend the awards ceremony. However, Alex Piandes, photographer of historic sites for the book, was able to accept the award in my stead. And although my name is on this award, my husband Joe Lacey shares all due credit for this achievement with his book design, photography, and image restoration. I’m grateful to the Cambridge Historical Commission and everyone who made these books possible.

Check out my article about the Candy Wrapper Museum, Necco, and the importance of collectors to society on the esteemed Zocalo Public Square!

Let me share a word or two about conversation hearts, those tiny candies that we love and love us back. In the wide world of candy, they are the ones that take the time to talk to us, once a year on that day of relationships, Valentine’s Day.

As a kid, Valentine’s Day was right up there with Halloween as a great fun day for candy. Forget about romance---give me some of those conversation hearts! They only came around once a year, and it was so exciting to see what sayings were printed on them. I appreciated the classics like “Be Mine” and “Love You,” but the big giggles came from finding a “Far Out” or “Buzz Off” in the box. For me and my girlfriends, conversation hearts offered a taste of the thrill and hilarity of what we imagined grown-up love would be like. We would dress cool, go to clubs, and talk to guys in the lingo of conversation hearts. Not dissimilar from the young people on Dragnet!

The public immediately adored them. They were perfect for festive occasions and romantic interludes. Along with hearts, Chase & Company made them in all kinds of shapes: watches, horseshoes, postcards, baseballs, baggage checks, bank checks, wedding bells, coins, and animals. Unlike the conversation hearts of today, they were large, large enough to print elaborate messages on them, such as “Come On, You Kid! There’s Two Men Gone – Don’t Freeze on First – Do a Marathon!”

In 1901 Chase & Company joined with two other companies to become Necco, the New England Confectionery Company. With this even bigger and better company, Necco led the market in conversation candies, a variation on their famous Necco Wafers. By the middle of the century Necco had simplified their offerings to conversation hearts. With the Baby Boom in the late 1940s and 1950s, conversation hearts were perfect for classroom Valentine’s Day parties. Other candy companies such as Howard B. Stark, Brach’s, and Edward P. Lewis recognized this opportunity as well and joined in, thus cementing the connection between conversation hearts and Valentine’s Day from that point forward.

The most famous and popular brand of conversation hearts to emerge from the race is Sweethearts. The Spangler Candy Company makes Sweethearts these days, but Necco became famous for them after purchasing the brand from Wisconsin’s Howard B. Stark Company in 1990. Necco had three factories manufacturing Sweethearts ten months out of the year to meet the demand for 8 billion hearts each Valentine’s Day. Necco created themes for the new sayings every year. Throughout the year, hundreds of letters poured in from Sweethearts lovers with suggestions. Reporters flocked to Necco’s annual press event to learn what the new sayings would be. Like the Academy Awards, Necco kept them a closely guarded secret until the event. 

One of the great things about conversation candies is that they lend themselves to creative interpretation, and Necco not only came up with the new themes, they also created (among many other things) Twilight Saga vampire hearts, N’SYNC Cool Candy Hearts, conversation gum, and customizable 24 karat solid gold Sweethearts.

Other candy companies have added to the creative fun, with conversation (jelly) beans, gummi conversation hearts, SweeTart and Smarties tart conversation hearts, and even extreme sour Warheads conversation hearts. The printing on the hearts also varies, with serif and san serif type, flat, raised, and embossed. So much can be expressed in so many ways on conversation hearts.

Despite all the variety, one thing I dearly miss are "motto hearts.” They were larger and thicker than today’s typical conversation hearts, and they had pretty scalloped edges. They were softer and more flavorful than the smaller hearts, and you could print more words on them. Many people preferred them. My mother-in-law loved them. This year, Brach's released Large Conversation Hearts that are very similar in size, but lack the scalloped edges.

Modern-day conversation hearts can be very hard---hard to eat without risking cracking a tooth. You love those delicious Valentine's Day conversation hearts by Brach's and Sweethearts, but wish they were softer? Watch this video for the solution!

Whether you enjoy them hard or soft, conversation hearts bring fun and surprises to us each year. When Necco went out of business in 2018, the world mourned as a Valentine’s Day passed by without Sweethearts. Fortunately, the Spangler Candy Company heard our cries and brought back our beloved Sweethearts as fast as they could. This year they have used an animal theme with sayings like "Honey Bee," "Cool Cat," "Big Dog," "Pawsome," and "Papa Bear"! The world keeps changing, but one thing has remained constant---it just isn’t Valentine’s Day without conversation hearts.

Here's the video I made for Bite Size Candy History. It's a fun little 2-minute look at conversation hearts!

My book Necco–An Epic Candy Tale can be purchased on Amazon.

A roll of Necco Wafers has been described as “the indestructible candy,” and for 171 years its originator, the New England Confectionery Company (Necco), seemed just as indestructible. From its start in 1847 with the invention of the first American candy machine, the company prevailed through two world wars, the Great Depression, and countless trends, changes, and setbacks to become the longest-running candy company in US history until its sudden and tragic closing in 2018.

When the news broke about Necco being gone for good, candy lovers were devastated. People raced out to buy what was left with the fervor of shoppers for bread before a blizzard. I went out and bought a few Necco Wafers, but I still believed that Necco would come back. Sadly, I eventually realized that I was living in denial.

That’s where my Necco tale ended. Or so I thought until one day three years ago when I received a donation to my Candy Wrapper Museum that changed the course of my life. It was a giant scrapbook saved from Necco’s dumpsters by the vice president of R&D during the company’s 2003 move from its historic Cambridge facilities to its new headquarters in Revere.

Within the sooty covers of this scrapbook, I found a time capsule of Necco’s packaging and promotions, meticulously annotated 70 years ago. As a candy wrapper collector, I knew these artifacts had not seen the light of day since when they appeared on store shelves. I also knew that I should share it with the world by publishing a book. As it turned out, I have published two books: Necco-An Epic Candy Tale and its companion  Necco-The Archive Collection: An Almost-Lost History.

These two books are the result of a massive multi-year research, preservation, and restoration effort. While my husband Joe worked each day on photographing, scanning, restoring damaged art, and transcribing all the annotated technical information in the scrapbook, I pored over old books, magazines, trade journals and newspapers for details large and small about Necco’s past. Considering that Necco operated for 171 years, this was no small task, but with every piece of this gigantic puzzle that we put together, the more excited we became. The project grew even larger as members of the candy historical and collecting communities even more rare items graciously contributed images and company lore.

The more I learned through my research, the more I realized that Necco’s history is tied inextricably to the history of dozens of Cambridge and Boston confectioners, all with their own rich histories.  Necco’s  confectionery “family tree” also extends beyond New England to Wisconsin, Louisiana, New York, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Georgia, the United Kingdom, and Canada. Some names are still well-known, while others have faded in fame. With my books, I am ensuring that the names live on. These include Chase & Co., Wright & Moody, Fobes Hayward & Co., Lovell & Covel, The Daggett Chocolate Co., Page & Shaw, F.H. Roberts, Sparrow, Gobelin, Squirrel Brand, the Deran Confectionery Co., the Norris Candy Co., John Mackintosh & Sons, Lowney’s, Cumberland Valley, Candy House, Charles N. Miller, D.L. Clark, the American Candy Co., the Ziegler Candy Co., and Howard B. Stark.

Necco–An Epic Candy Tale chronicles the complete history of Necco and its family of brands and takes you along the inspirational journey of generations of workers who navigated countless trends, changes, and setbacks to become the longest-running candy company in US history. Along with the company’s amazing history, this book includes the stories behind the invention of Necco Wafers, Sky Bar, Canada Mints, Sweethearts, Mary Jane, Squirrel Nut Zippers, Rolo, Candy Buttons®, Slap Stix, and the Clark Bar®.

Necco–The Archive Collection is a companion museum-style collectors’ catalog filled with hundreds of candy and candy related images of Necco and its family of brands: Charles N. Miller, Squirrel Brand, D.L. Clark, Deran-Haviland, Daggett’s, Mackintosh, Howard B. Stark, Lovell & Covel, Page & Shaw, Gobelin, and Norris Exquisite Candies. This showcase of artifacts, much of which have never been seen by the public, will take you a visual tour from 1881 to 2018, providing a view into this almost-lost history of the United States candy industry.

The goal of this quest was to bring Necco’s inspiring story and confectionary creations of the past to a new audience, the people of today and in the future.  And, at last, the quest is complete. I hope these books will leave you with a deep appreciation for all that Necco’s dedicated workers accomplished. To put it in perspective, if a candy company started today, it would need to keep going until the year 2193 to match what the people of Necco did!

Necco–An Epic Candy Tale • BUY NOW and Necco–The Archive Collection • BUY NOW

More about these books can be found at the publisher's WEBSITE

Necco–An Epic Candy Tale • Purchase at Amazon
Necco–The Archive Collection • Purchase at Amazon

More than a history of the former candy giant, Necco–An Epic Candy Tale explores the history of candy, the family of brands saved by Necco, and the people who made it happen. The books are available in hardcover and paperback.

Necco–The Archive Collection: An Almost Lost history of the New England Confectionery Company is a museum quality catalog based on the original 1950s Necco scrapbook saved by Necco’s vice president of research and development, Jeffrey S. Green.

FROM THE AUTHOR: With this project, I have worked hard to fact-check company histories and discover details and stories. I have interviewed former Necco workers and fellow candy historians. My extensive research has required more than 1,000 sources to verify stories, date the packaging, describe long-defunct candies, uncover people’s life stories and explore the larger context of the world while events were taking place at Necco.

You can read more about this project at History Cambridge or visit the publisher's website.
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