Period candies and sweets

[smithjub]

Gentlemen,

I ran a search on period candies and came up with a good thread that listed many, but still had some questions about other period candies.

Mainly I am curious about the type of licorice candies available during the Civil War. I know that licorice has been used for millenia, but in what form would it have been found in the 1860's? Would it have been used as a flavouring just in hard candies, or were there licorice sticks like those available today?

Also, FYI, there's a candy company I found in Salem, MA. that still makes candies called "Gibralters" and "Blackjacks" in the same manner it has been since the early 1800's. I bought some while visiting my family in MA and they really are a nice thing to have in the haversack, and would easily have found their way into packages from home. The company is the Ye Olde Pepper Company, and claims to be the oldest candy company in America.

Thanks in advance.

[Virginia Mescher]

Re: Period candies and sweets

Gentlemen,

I ran a search on period candies and came up with a good thread that listed many, but still had some questions about other period candies.

Mainly I am curious about the type of licorice candies available during the Civil War. I know that licorice has been used for millenia, but in what form would it have been found in the 1860's? Would it have been used as a flavouring just in hard candies, or were there licorice sticks like those available today?

Thanks in advance.

With my research on period candy, I found that liquorice candy was sold as liquorice drops (small, round flat cakes) sometimes called "Pontefract cakes" and liquorice sticks. The sticks were not hard candy but since they were made using a gum, they were pliable cylinders, but I don't have any indication as to how thick the cylinders were.

The recipes in home cookbooks were usually for drops, which could be easily made at home. In the Cook's Own Book (1832) gave directions for making liquorice at home. Liquorice root was scraped and bruised, boiled with water until reduced, the sediment removed and mixed with a gum and sugar to form a paste and the desired shape was made with the paste.

In _The Complete Confectioner, Pastry Cook and Baker_ by Eleanor Parkinson (1864), a guidebook for commercial confectioners, had several recipes for liquorice and the form mentioned in the recipe for refined liquorice made the candy into a pipe. They called for liquorice juice (extract of liquorice sold to confectioners and druggists, sugar, gum arabic with the ingredients formed into a paste. The paste was rolled into pipes or cylinders and then polished. This book also cotained recipes for white or black liquorice paste.

Liquorice was not only a candy but was used for coughs.

[1stMaine]

Re: Period candies and sweets

Comrades,

Interestingly enough, you can still buy licorice "pipes" up here, although they are shaped like a tobbacco pipe, complete with a curved stem and bowl. The shape is more along the lines of an old "tavern" clay pipe. To my mind, that may well be the "pipe" style being mentioned in the recipe rather than a straight hollow "pipe" or cylinder.
respects,

[Virginia Mescher]

Re: Period candies and sweets

Comrades,

Interestingly enough, you can still buy licorice "pipes" up here, although they are shaped like a tobbacco pipe, complete with a curved stem and bowl. The shape is more along the lines of an old "tavern" clay pipe. To my mind, that may well be the "pipe" style being mentioned in the recipe rather than a straight hollow "pipe" or cylinder.
respects,

I've not seen candy in the shape of a tobacco pipe mentioned but they did have candy "segars" in red and white. The instructions for making the liquorice pipes indicated a cylinder shape. The exact wording is "Roll it [the paste] into pipes or cylinders of convenient lengths and polish by putting them into a box and rolling them together, or by rubbing them with the hand, or a cloth."

They also had toy candy was was hard, clear candy made into numerous shapes. The molten candy was poured into metal molds and the shape was thus formed. They may have had a tobacco shaped mold but I can't document it.

[Stonewall_Greyfox]

Re: Period candies and sweets

Mentioned in a previous thread,

http://www.authentic-campaigner.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1432&highlight=necco

about Jelly Beans "Necco Waffers" also existed at our time. They are still available through various companies. I bought mine from the Vermont Country Store.

Paul B. Boulden Jr.

RAH VA MIL '04

[ephraim_zook]

Re: Period candies and sweets

Necco Wafers are more universally available in my part of the world. I often find them in the dreaded supermarket checkout line candy displays, as well as in both KMart and the (shhh!) W-mart.

Ron Myzie

Mentioned in a previous thread,

http://www.authentic-campaigner.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1432&highlight=necco

about Jelly Beans "Necco Waffers" also existed at our time. They are still available through various companies. I bought mine from the Vermont Country Store.

Paul B. Boulden Jr.

RAH VA MIL '04

[gdarrell]

Re: Period candies and sweets

In addition to Horehound and licorice, I believe lemon drops were "period". I'm also fond of crystallized ginger :D and carry some in my haversack when I can find it.

[JohnTaylorCW]

Re: Period candies and sweets

Just to chime in on the "Pipes," I've seen (and chewed) both styles, the pipe shape that Tim mentioned, and a cylinderical shape, not twisted, about 8 - 10 " long, just under 1/2" round, hollow in the center. The cylinder type was in the UK over 30 years ago, and it was quite hard (stale?) It was more of a nibbling thing, so it took a long time to consume it. Would last rather well in a haversack, I think.

Licorice is also a mild laxative, as well as good for coughs.

John T.

[Stonewall_Greyfox]

Re: Period candies and sweets

Don't want to boast this...but I found a ton of crystalized ginger at wal-mart. Not bad but a bit spicy. Also don't forget that people of the time also considered other things, as treats which we might not today. A good bit of sassafras root (for chewing, tea, or various other things), licorice root, spearmints, and other types of roots can sometimes take that sweet tooth away.

Paul B. Boulden Jr.

RAH VA MIL '04

[ohioyankee]

Re: Period candies and sweets

Oh the subject of Neccos. What colors or flavors were Neccos made in? I doubt if they had all the variety in a modern package of Neccos

[Virginia Mescher]

Re: Period candies and sweets

Oh the subject of Neccos. What colors or flavors were Neccos made in? I doubt if they had all the variety in a modern package of Neccos

Period NECCO wafers were called Peerless or Chase's wafers. They were invented by Daniel Chase, brother to Oliver Chase who invented confectioner's sugar (powdered sugar for commercial use). It was a thinner lozenge came in various flavors and colors. The original colors and flavors were; yellow - lemon, orange - orange, green - lime, purple - clove, white - cinnamon, black - liquorice, and pink - wintergreen. Chocolate was not among the original flavors. They were originally sold in bulk and it was not until the late 1880s that they packaged in the glycine paper rolls. The first conversation lozenges were printed on Peerless Wafers. It was not until 1912 that NECCO was printed on the wafers and that was after three candy companies merged and formed the New England Confectionery Company.

[Hank Trent]

Re: Period candies and sweets

They were originally sold in bulk and it was not until the late 1880s that they packaged in the glycine paper rolls.

I'm sure this has been posted before, but do you know off-hand, were they distributed nation-wide in the 1860s, or were they regional or local?

Hank Trent
hanktrent@voyager.net

[Virginia Mescher]

Re: Period candies and sweets

I'm sure this has been posted before, but do you know off-hand, were they distributed nation-wide in the 1860s, or were they regional or local?

Hank Trent
hanktrent@voyager.net

I have corresponded with the people at NECCO and they really can't tell me much about the distribution. I expect that they were more localized than national.

The type of candy (paste lozenge) was a common type of candy and the recipe appeared in many confectionery handbooks so any local confectioner could have made similar candy. Some common candy flavors were peppermint, rose, cinnamon, lavender, ginger, nutmeg, orange, lemon, anise, liquorice, and vanilla. They were also used medicinally.

[Becky Morgan]

Re: Period candies and sweets

By the way, candied ginger is an excellent period treatment for upset stomachs. NASA has tested it against common anti-seasickness meds with mixed results:

http://www.scuba-doc.com/moresea.htm

...but on a purely anecdotal basis, it DOES work for me.

[markj]

Re: Period candies and sweets

Good news: Necco "hub wafers" will be again produced using the original recipe!

http://articles.boston.com/2011-10-25/business/30320949_1_artificial-dyes-chocolate-underbelly-clark-bar