Saltwater Taffy Origins
Saltwater Taffy Origins: The Name
As it turns out, the Monopoly streets and senior citizen slot machines aren’t the only thing Atlantic City has given to American popular culture. Saltwater taffy, the chewy candy wrapped in wax paper, found its fame along New Jersey’s southern shores as well. My first guess was that the term “saltwater taffy” developed because it was sold at beaches – not because of its ingredients. I was rightâÂ?¦but as always, there’s more to the story.
According to the James Candy Company, “the” seller of the stretchy substance, the term “saltwater taffy” was bestowed upon this confection by accident. As the story goes, a candy man’s inventory was damaged by a storm which brought ocean water into his seaside candy shack in the 1880s. Supposedly, a young girl wandered into the store and asked for taffy – to which the water-logged merchant snipped something like, “You mean saltwater taffy.” Some versions of the story also involve an eager mother or sister who advises the merchant to start using the term to sell his candy. Like all good legends, the one of saltwater taffy’s good name has been, shall we say, stretched over time.
Saltwater Taffy Origins: Who Invented It?
Some folks believe that the taffy merchant above, David Bradley, can be credited with the recipe that led to the candy’s popularity. But taffy had been in existence as a confection long before the 1880s, so it’s unlikely that the grumpy merchant of lore is the real inventor. Women had been known for mixing taffy ingredients and hand-pulling the substance for a children’s treat well before the 1880s, so there’s no way to pin taffy on one person.
Saltwater Taffy Origins: How’d it get so popular?
While we don’t know for sure who invented the confection outright, we do know that it caught on big time in the 1890s, which is why some people credited the David Bradley character from the previous decade – for novelty’s sake.
But it was the entrepreneurial Joseph Fralinger, a fish-slinger turned candy man, who had the idea of selling saltwater taffy as a boxed souvenir to beachgoers. It was a way for them to take home a reminder of the seashore – candy cut neatly into square pieces and packed in (yuck!) old oyster containers decorated with smiling beach-capped ladies. During the 1890s, the boxes of souvenir saltwater taffy made their way across the country, and Fralinger experimented with flavours, adding to the appeal.
Good old American competition led another saltwater taffy seller, Enoch James, to open a shop in Atlantic City and improve the recipe. James’ legacy includes the now-familiar tube shape, whose roundedness was considered friendlier to chewers’ mouths than Fralinger’s squares. He also refined the aeration through his pulling techniques and crafted smoothness through changes in ingredient proportions. In short, James actually made taffy less frustratingly sticky and thus even more popular.
Saltwater taffy origins are inextricably linked to these two men, whose (largely good-natured) competition eventually led to the mechanization of taffy-making, the inclusion of gooey centers, the appearance of striping colors, and of course – even more flavours. Now, when you visit the James Candy Company, you’ll see that the saltwater taffy for sale bears the names of both gentlemen.
Saltwater Taffy Origins: Where can I buy some?
To taste a piece of Atlantic City history, especially if you live nowhere near the coast, visit www.seashoretaffy.com. In addition to the taffy itself, you can buy “vintage” tins, including a popular metal box featuring a mermaid.
