ABOUT US
Clear Toy Candy From the Past is a small town business with a big city reputation. Brenda and Daniel Allen started their clear toy candy business after their first year as new restaurant owners. Brenda, a former nurse and Daniel, a printer by trade decided to change directions and bought a local snow cone stand/restaurant in 2004. Their restaurant, however, was only open for six months so they needed something to keep them busy in the winter months. They brainstormed a few ideas and Brenda fell in love with the idea of making candy but what kind of candy would work?
Do you remember receiving clear toy candy as a child for Christmas? Daniel and Brenda did remember and that is how they decided to make clear toy candy. After fourteen years in the candy business and thousands of pounds of candy later, they are ready to launch their candy into the digital world. They've been featured in many local restaurants, craft shows, and even had their own holiday store in the York Galleria Mall in 2016. They are now ready to sell you their own, one of a kind, delicious clear toy candy, fudge, and peanut brittle.
Clear Toy Candy History:
German immigrants are credited with bringing clear toy candy to America. They originally settled in Pennsylvania. Clear toy recipes are traced back as early as 1772. This hard candy was originally called ‘barley candy’ because early candy makers used the cheaper and more readily available barley sugar instead of imported cane sugar. However in 1818, cane sugar became more accessible. With this, barley sugar would soon lose it’s popularity. The literal name ‘clear toy’ was penned because of the candy’s likeness to miniature people, animals, and other images.
That is how the ‘toy’ was created. These toys acquired their ‘clear’ namesake from the clarity of the product. Most of the original molds were produced by Thomas Mills & Brothers (circa 1864) and V. Clad & Sons (circa 1863). They were made from a composition metal shaped from brass.
