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Bob McCormack's Christmas Candy Canes

Guest post by: Linda Burson

Article Overview: This article appeared in Mazon Associates' December 2010 monthly newsletter, Building Bridges. We all love candy and it was the perfect article for the Christmas season! Enjoy!

Bob McCormack's Christmas Candy Canes

Legend has it that in 1670, the choirmaster at the Cologne Cathedral in Germany handed out sugar sticks among his young singers to keep them quiet during the long Living Creche ceremony. In honor of the occasion, he had the candies bent into shepherds' crooks. In 1847, a German-Swedish immigrant named August Imgard of Wooster, Ohio, decorated a small blue spruce with paper ornaments and candy canes. It wasn't until the turn of the century that the red and white stripes and peppermint flavors became the norm. In1919, Bob McCormack left his job at a Nashville, Tennessee biscuit company to explore the possibility of starting a candy company in Albany, Georgia. He solicited financial help from his former boss, two former co-workers and his uncle (a candy salesman) and started McCormack's Famous Candy Company in May of the same year with a three-person workforce, some secondhand equipment and basic supplies to get started. The company initially made a general line of candies, which included coconut, peanut, stick, and hard candies, as well as taffy,and soon chocolate and pecan candies were added to the product line.

In 1920, Bob married Louise Keller. Within a few years, they produced three children (Anna Louise, Bob Jr., and Bee). While still a pre-schooler, Anna Louise appeared in ads as the company 'mascot," wearing a hat with "BOBS" emblazoned on the front and leaning on a box that proclaims, "I am Pure and Sweet."

Business was brisk from the start. One of his investors, Bob Mills moved to Albany to assist in the business and the name was changed toMills-McCormack Candy Company, changing again in 1924 to Bobs Candy Company. In the second decade of business, the Great Depression delivered economic blows to industries nationwide; the candy industry was no exception, forcing nearly 900 candy makers into bankruptcy. Now known as Bobs Candy & Pecan Company, the company survived the decade-long catastrophe and outgrew its original facilities. The popularity oftraditional candies and its snack line of salted peanuts, peanut candies, peanut brittle and peanut butter candies helped to grow the business.

On February 11, 1940, all of that was lost - both the company's products and its ability to make products. Early in the morning a tornado swept through Albany's business district, killing and injuring more than 500 residents, and completely destroying Bobs Candy & Pecan Company, a company without tornado insurance. It took 256 truckloads to removerubble at the company's location. Using his cash reserves, Bob was able to rebuild his business within six months. The company stopped making chocolate candy after the tornado, but continued with candy canes and other products that made the company money since 1919. Improvements over the following years included: Changes in product line from pecans to peanuts in 1943; the installation of air conditioners in 1946 to de-humidity the company's wrapping room; the introduction of a new machine in 1949 that sealed candy sticks in moisture-proof wrappers;the 1950 invention of the Keller Machine (invented by Bob's brother-in-law, Father Harding Keller) that twisted soft candy into the spiral striping that defined the look of candy canes; break-proof packaging developed in 1956; and refinement of the Keller Machine in 1958 which gave the company the ability to automatically create the crook in candy canes. The company name was changed again in 1956 to Bobs Candies, Inc. By the end of the 1950s, Bobs Candies, Inc.'sannual sales exceeded $3 million, a total derived from the daily production of 1.8 million sticks of candy and 500,000 candy canes.

During the late 1940s, the McCormack children came to work at Bobs. Anna Louise, who was the company's cherubic "Candy Girl" in the 1920s, began work as a bookkeeper, Bob Jr. started work in 1947, and Mary Beatrice (known as Bee) began her long career with Bobs in employee and public relations.

In 1963, after 44 years at the helm, Bob McCormack stepped aside from the daily candy operations and promoted his son Bob McCormack, Jr.to president of the company, while he retained his position as chairman of the board. Bob McCormack, Sr. passed away in 1967, just eight months before production began in a new state-of-the art facilities.Greg McCormack, (Bob McCormack, Jr. 's son) became president in December 1988,leading the company to become the largest candy cane maker in the world, selling its products to discount stores, supermarkets, convenience stores and drug stores, as well as online through three web sites. The company's sales in 2004 were reported at $41.3 million andwith an employee base of over 410. In 2005, Farley's & Sathers Candy Company, Inc. acquired Bobs Candies.

Candy Cane Factoids from the National Confectioners Association:

- For 200 years, the candy cane came only in one color - white.

- National Candy Cane Day is celebrated December 26th in the United States.

- The world's largest candy cane was created by Paul Ghinelli and measured 58 feet 2 1/4 inches.

- Each year 1.76 billion candy canes are made - enough to stretch from Santa Claus, IN to North Pole, AK and back again 32 times.

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Article Tags: anna louise mccormack, bob, bob mccormack, bobs candies, bobs candy pecan company, building bridges, candy, candy cane, factoring, farleys sathers, greg mccormack, keller machine, louise keller, mazon, mccormacks famous candy company, peppermint, santa claus



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