Squirrel Nut Caramel
Squirrel Nut Zipper candies
TypeCaramel candy
Place of originUnited States
Created byAustin T. Merrill Company
Invented1890
Main ingredientsCorn syrup, sugar, peanuts, condensed milk, chocolate, partially hydrogenated soybean and/or cottonseed oil, natural & artificial flavor, salt, and soy lecithin

Squirrel Nut Caramels (chocolate flavored) and Squirrel Nut Zippers (vanilla flavored) were chewy caramel candy mixed with peanuts.

Description

Chocolate Squirrel caramels were the original flavor of Squirrel Nut brand caramels. The ingredients are: corn syrup, sugar, peanuts, condensed milk, chocolate, partially hydrogenated soybean and/or cottonseed oil, natural & artificial flavor, salt, and soy lecithin.

Squirrel Nut Zippers, the vanilla nut caramel variety, were developed in the mid-1920s to complement the chocolate variety.[1]

Squirrel Nut Zippers contained peanuts and were sometimes passed out at performances by a band that shared the same name of Squirrel Nut Zippers. Squirrel Nut Zippers were small and tended to be soft and chewy, hardening quickly when outside of their packaging, while warming them slightly revived their chewy texture.[2]

Manufacturer

Squirrel Nut Caramels were originally made by the Austin T. Merrill Company of Roxbury, Massachusetts in 1890.[3] It was soon reincorporated as the Squirrel Brand Company (1899-1999), which moved to North Carolina in 1903. In 1915, it moved its factory again to 12 Boardman Street in the Area 4 neighborhood of Cambridge, Massachusetts, where it remained until 1999.[4] That year, the company was sold and moved to McKinney, Texas, where a nut-processing operation continues.[5]

However, in 2004 the Necco company brought the Squirrel Nut candy brand back to Massachusetts,[3] where they were produced until Necco ceased operation in 2018.

In 2003, the former factory building in Cambridge was converted to affordable public housing apartments.[4] A public park and community gardening space, named Squirrel Brand Park, is now located next to the former factory.[6]

References

  1. ↑ "WHERE DID THE BAND GET ITS NAME & WHAT IS A SQUIRREL NUT ZIPPER ANYWAY?". The Squirrel Brand Company. Squirrel Brand Company. Archived from the original on 2017-06-09. Retrieved 2014-05-05.
  2. ↑ Squirrel Nut Zippers Snack Memory.
  3. 1 2 Moravek, Natalie. "Squirrel Brand Nuts". The History of Candy-Making in Cambridge. Cambridge Historical Society. Archived from the original on 2014-04-30. Retrieved 2014-05-05.
  4. 1 2 "Squirrel Brand Housing". Guzmãn Prüfer Architecture. Guzmãn Prüfer, Inc. Archived from the original on 2011-03-01. Retrieved 2014-05-05.
  5. ↑ "History". Squirrel Brand. Southern Style Nuts. Retrieved 2014-05-05.
  6. ↑ Benjamin, Elizabeth (Oct 31, 2001). "Sweet Nothings". National Trust for Historic Preservation. Retrieved 2014-05-05.
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