Necco Wafers
by Beth Ferris Sale
Title
Necco Wafers
Artist
Beth Ferris Sale
Medium
Photograph - Photography
Description
In 1847, a young English immigrant and progressive thinker, Oliver Chase, invented the first American candy machine, a lozenge cutter. After a period of initial success selling his exciting new candy, he joined forces with brother, Silas Edwin, and founded Chase and Company, the pioneer member of the NECCO family.
In 1901, Chase and Company, merged with both Fobes, Hayward & Company and Wright & Moody to officially form the New England Confectionery Company, or NECCO as it is affectionately known. Over the years, NECCO prospered, producing many well known products, but its success was propelled by its most beloved candy: NECCO Wafers.
Due to its enduring popularity, the original recipe for the NECCO Wafer has remained essentially unchanged over the years, and the Wafers today are still made in the same original eight flavors of chocolate, licorice, cinnamon, lemon, lime, orange, wintergreen and clove! The ingredients are simply sugar, corn syrup, gelatin, gums, colorings and flavorings – sweet simplicity!
From the time of their creation, NECCO Wafers have been enjoyed the world over. In 1913, explorer Donald MacMillan took NECCO Wafers on his Arctic explorations, using them for nutrition and as rewards for Eskimo children. Later, in the 1930’s, Admiral Byrd took 2˝ tons of NECCO Wafers on an expedition to the South Pole, which amounted to about a pound a week for each of his men during their two-year stay in the Antarctic.
During World War II, the U.S. Government requisitioned a major portion of the production of NECCO Wafers. Since the candy doesn’t melt and is difficult to break during transit, it was perfect for shipping overseas to the troops!
Though they were first created some time ago, NECCO Wafers have stood the test of time. Every day new fans are discovering their sweetness while longtime loyal fans are still relishing the feelings of nostalgia that come with unwrapping and savoring each Wafer in every roll.
Today, NECCO produces approximately four billion NECCO Wafers on an annual basis. To put this in perspective, if the Wafers were placed edge to edge, they could wrap around the world… twice!
In addition to simply savoring the sweetness, creative NECCO Wafer fans have invented various additional uses for NECCO Wafers over the years. They have been used as poker chips, for First Communion practice and as bulls-eyes at target ranges. If only Oliver Chase could have known back then the imagination of future NECCO Wafer fans!
Uploaded
September 9th, 2013
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Viewed 303 Times - Last Visitor from Fairfield, CT on 04/17/2024 at 11:22 AM
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Comments (1)
Lois Bryan
Outstanding work, Beth ... love the muted tones and truly perfect dof work!!!
Beth Ferris Sale replied:
Thanks Lois! This was a fun find, a warm sun filtered into a candy shop on the boardwalk in Ocean City, NJ. The dof came as I placed my camera down into the clear plastic bin.
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