The Surprisingly Complex History of Candy Corn, Halloween’s Most Divisive Treat

Candy corn might be the most hated Halloween candy out there, but I’ll happily defend it! I love the shit out of candy corn, and I don’t care how many people think it tastes like sugary wax.

Those little orange, yellow, and white triangles are delicious! But beyond the ongoing debate over whether candy corn is actually good, the classic Halloween treat has a surprisingly interesting history, and YouTube channel The Process takes a look at how it all began.

Candy corn is commonly credited to George Renninger, who worked for the Wunderle Candy Company in Philadelphia during the late 1800s.

The candy eventually gained popularity thanks to Gustav Goelitz, a German immigrant who established a confectionery business in Belleville, Illinois. Back then, making candy corn was a seriously labor-intensive process, with workers called "stringers" pouring each of the candy’s three colored layers into molds by hand.

As the video explains: “The process in these early years was entirely manual. Workers called stringers walked backward through the factory, pouring 45 lbs of warm candy from buckets called runners into cornstarch trays stamped with the kernel shape. Three passes, three colors, every piece made by hand.”

Unfortunately, Goelitz's business collapsed following the Panic of 1893. His sons, Adolph Goelitz and Gustav Goelitz Jr., eventually revived the family operation in Belleville before expanding to Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1898.

Their brother Herman Goelitz later joined them. Gustav died in 1901 at just 55 years old, with his family believing the stress of losing his business contributed to his early death.

Herman eventually moved his own candy company to Oakland, California, and the family businesses ultimately merged under the Jelly Belly name in 2001.

These days, machines do the heavy lifting, but the basic candy corn recipe and manufacturing process have remained remarkably consistent for more than a century.

“After polishing, the candy is weighed, bagged, sealed, and boxed. Cook, pour three passes, cornstarch mold, set, polish. The process hasn’t changed since the 1880s. The recipe hasn’t changed.”

It's pretty cool that something so simple has survived for so long with so few changes. Candy corn has been dividing Halloween candy lovers for generations, and I'm firmly on the side of the people who love it. You can keep your complaints about the texture and sweetness. I'll gladly take the candy corn nobody else wants!