Utahns have always had a sweet tooth.
That's evident from the number of candymakers who have plied their confectionery trade in the state, starting with William Daw Startup, founder of Startup Candy Company of Provo, which still makes the candy clear toys that Startup sold in his earliest candymaking days in the 1860s.
After all, sugar is one of the few guilty pleasures not proscribed by the Word of Wisdom, the health law followed by faithful members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
As a result, names like Startup, Sweet Candy Company, the Condie Candy Company, See's Candies, Kencraft and Maxfield Candy Company have become a recognizable part of the state's cultural landscape.
Over the years, stories about Utah's candy industry have appeared routinely on the business and food pages of the Deseret News. Many of these photos, some dating into the 1800s, have been retrieved by photo researcher Ron Fox, and can be seen now on the Deseret News Web site at deseretnews.com.
Many Utah candymakers learned the trade elsewhere and brought their knowledge to Utah.
William Daw Startup is a good example. His father, William Startup, cast his first confection in 1838 in Manchester, England. William Daw Startup emigrated to Utah in 1868 after joining LDS Church, bringing with him in an ox caravan, candy recipes, scales and other equipment.
Startup has been making candy ever since.
Perhaps no Utah candymaker had a more appropriate name than Leon Sweet, who started a candy company in Portland, Ore., in 1892, where, according to a June 21, 1999, story by Jean Williams, then-Deseret News food editor, "his handmade candy became known for quality and taste."
In 1900 he moved the operation to Salt Lake City, where he found an avid assortment of candy consumers.
According to a story in the Sept. 17, 1950, Deseret News: "Sweets from the Sweet factory caught on from the start in Utah. Nickel bars became popular. People ate them at the bicycle races at Salt Lake's old Salt Palace, and they munched them as they talked about the new wonder of the age, the horseless carriage. Boys with trays moved through the old Salt Lake Theater crowds, selling Sweet's Opera and Nut Loaf bars."
By the 1940s, Sweet Candy Company was sending candy oversees to support the troops. An ad in the Dec. 19, 1942, Deseret News apologized to readers for a candy shortage:
"We sincerely regret our inability to supply you and other civilians with all of Sweet's candy that you desire. Because of the war, the amount of candy available for civilians is limited. By Government order, sugar for candy is now restricted to 70% of 1941 usage. Chocolate is limited to 60% and many candy materials are entirely restricted from use.
"Sweet's candy is being sent to our fighting men, both in U.S.A. and overseas. And war workers, who make the weapons to smash the Axis, are also being supplied with Sweet's, to the best of our ability.
"We are proud of the fact that our products have been selected to help 'sweeten' the ofttimes bitter task of our men in service and supply them with vital energy so essential in these times."
Candy also has helped to bring the various cultures arriving in Salt Lake City together. The Politz Candy Company was one of many small businesses run by young Greek-Americans in the early 20th century.
The Maxfield Candy Company was started by three former LDS missionaries who all were sent on missions to Norway between 1937 and 1939. After the war, in 1947, the men got together and created Maxfield Candy, which continues to turn out chocolates that now boast a national reputation.
These are only a few of the many purveyors of sweet treats that have made Utah a center for fine candy manufacturing over the years.
e-mail: mhaddock@desnews.com