Confectionery

Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)

a general name given to a great number of sweetmeats, as candy, candied fruits, bonbons, caramels, sugar plums, and comfits. Originally the confectioner was a druggist who used sweets to disguise the taste of unpleasant medicines. The first candy then was medicinal, a nature still suggested by horehound, peppermint, wintergreen candy, lemon drops, cough drops, and the like. The next step appears to have been the drying of fruits in syrup or sugar. England led the way in making "boiled sweets." "Sweeties" is still the name used by British children. From England the making of candy spread to the continent. About 1850 candy appeared in Germany and in France, but the Americans inherited a "sweet tooth" from the mother country at an earlier date. While it would be out of the question to enumerate the various kinds of candy, stick and drop, creams and chocolates,--a glance at the growth of the candy industry in the United States is instructive. During the half century elapsing between 1850 and 1900, the 383 candymaking establishments grew to 4,297. Thirty-five million dollars of capital are now invested in factories. These factories use $45,000,000 worth of sugars, syrups, flavors, and other material, and produce $81,000,000 worth of candy a year. At retail prices the American people, counting men, women, and children, pay out about $1.50 per year each for candy. According to the last census 33,888 people were earning wages in candy factories. No doubt twice as many more are engaged the whole or a part of their time in selling confectionery. At a low estimate, one person out of a thousand earns a living by making, shipping, or selling candy. The production of American candy was: 1850 $3,000,000 1880 33,000,000 1905 87,000,000 1907 101,000,000 Americans ate 2.2 pounds of candy apiece in 1880, and over 4.1 pounds apiece in 1907. In 1910 the United States consumed twice as much candy as all the rest of the world put together.