Tootsie Roll Industries is an American manufacturer of confectionery based in

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. Its best-known products include the namesake

Tootsie Roll Tootsie Roll is a chocolate-flavored taffy that has been manufactured in the United States since 1907. The candy has qualities similar to both caramels and taffy without being exactly either confection. The manufacturer, Tootsie Roll Indu ...

s and

Tootsie Pop A Tootsie Pop (known as Tutsi Chupa Pop in Latin America) is a hard candy lollipop filled with the chocolate-flavored chewy Tootsie Roll candy. They were invented in 1931 by an employee of The Sweets Company of America. Tootsie Rolls had thems ...

s. Tootsie Roll Industries currently markets its brands internationally in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

, and over 75 other countries.

History

In 1896, Leo Hirschfeld, an

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

n Jewish immigrant to the United States, began work at a small candy shop located in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

owned by the Stern & Saalberg firm. Entr
"Tootsie Roll"
p 271. In 1907, Hirschfeld decided he wanted a chocolate-tasting candy that would not melt in the heat, and that would be an economical artificial alternative to traditional

chocolate Chocolate is a food made from roasted and ground cacao seed kernels that is available as a liquid, solid, or paste, either on its own or as a flavoring agent in other foods. Cacao has been consumed in some form since at least the Olmec civ ...

s. He named the candy after the nickname of his daughter, Clara "Tootsie" Hirschfeld. By this point, the company had expanded to a five-story factory. In 1917, the name of the company was changed to The Sweets Company of America. It was reformed and

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on the

American Stock Exchange NYSE American, formerly known as the American Stock Exchange (AMEX), and more recently as NYSE MKT, is an American stock exchange situated in New York City. AMEX was previously a mutual organization, owned by its members. Until 1953, it was know ...

in 1919. The business forced Hirschfeld out about a year later, and he started a new company, Mells Candy Corporation, also known as The Merry Mells Company. Owing to health and family issues, he committed suicide in 1922. * Mells failed in 1924. In 1931, the

— a hard-candy

lollipop A lollipop is a type of sugar candy usually consisting of hard candy mounted on a stick and intended for sucking or licking. Different informal terms are used in different places, including lolly, sucker, sticky-pop, etc. Lollipops are ava ...

with Tootsie Roll filling — was invented, and quickly became popular with

Dust Bowl The Dust Bowl was a period of severe dust storms that greatly damaged the ecology and agriculture of the American and Canadian prairies during the 1930s. The phenomenon was caused by a combination of both natural factors (severe drought) a ...

refugees during the Depression era because of its low price. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, Tootsie Rolls became a standard part of American soldiers'

field ration A field ration (combat ration, ration pack, or food packet) is a type of prepackaged or canned military ration. Field rations are distinguished from garrison rations by virtue of being designed for minimal preparation in the field, as well ...

s, due to the sustainability of the candy under a variety of environmental conditions. In 1935, the company was in serious difficulty. Its principal supplier of paper boxes, Joseph Rubin & Sons of

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— concerned about the possible loss of an important customer — became interested in the possibility of acquiring control. The company was listed on the

New York Stock Exchange The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed ...

, but Bernard D. Rubin acquired a list of shareholders and approached them in person in order to purchase their shares. The Rubins eventually achieved control and agreed that Bernard would run the company as president. Mr. Rubin was able to steadily increase sales and restore profits, changing the formula of the Tootsie Roll and increasing its size, moving from

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

to a much larger plant in

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, and guiding the company successfully through the difficult war years when vital raw materials were in short supply. When he died in 1948, he had increased the sales volume twelvefold. After his death, his brother William B. Rubin became president and remained president until 1962. In 1962, William's daughter, Ellen Rubin Gordon, took control, and as of January 2015, is Chairman and CEO of the company. For many years prior to his death, her husband,

Melvin Gordon Melvin Gordon III (born April 13, 1993) is an American football running back for the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Wisconsin, and was drafted by the San Diego Chargers in the first round ...

, was Chairman and CEO from 1962 to 2015. In 1966, the company adopted its current name of "Tootsie Roll Industries, Inc." The company has acquired several famous brands of confections such as The Candy Corporation of America's Mason Division (1972), Cella's Confections (1985), The Charms Company (1988), Warner-Lambert's candy division (1993; excluding gum and mints), Andes Candies (2000), and Concord Confections (2004).

Facilities

The company's headquarters is located on the South Side of Chicago, in a portion of the former Dodge Chicago Plant where the majority of the company's candy is produced. The company also has a factory in Mexico City where it produces some flavors of Tootsie Pops and other candy products for the Mexican market as well as for export to the U.S. and Canada. There is also a candy factory in The Port neighborhood of

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston ...

(belonging to the subsidiary "Cambridge Brands", formerly home to its predecessor, the James O. Welch Company), and a factory in

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that produces candy for export to Canada.

Brands and products

Tootsie Roll brands and products include: * Andes Chocolate Mints * Candy Blox * Cella's chocolate-covered cherries * Charleston Chew candy bars * Charms Blow Pops and

Caramel Apple Pops Caramel Apple Pops are a brand of lollipops manufactured by Tootsie Roll Industries. The lollipops combine a green apple-flavored hard candy covered with a caramel coating reminiscent of a caramel apple. There are two additional flavors availa ...

* Child's Play assorted candies * Dots gumdrops and

Crows The Common Remotely Operated Weapon Station (CROWS) is a series of remote weapon stations used by the US military on its armored vehicles and ships. It allows weapon operators to engage targets without leaving the protection of their vehicle. ...

licorice candy *

Dubble Bubble Dubble Bubble is an American brand of fruit-flavoured, usually pink-colored, bubble gum invented by Walter Diemer, an accountant at Philadelphia-based Fleer Chewing Gum Company in 1928. One of Diemer’s hobbies was concocting recipes for che ...

, Thrills,

Razzles Razzles are a candy that once chewed, mix to transform into chewing gum. History Razzles were originally introduced in 1966 Razzles > Razzles">Tootsie > Candy > Razzles > Razzles/ref> with an advertising slogan and jingle of "First it's a can ...

, and Cry Baby chewing gum * Fluffy Stuff cotton candy * Frooties fruit flavored chewy candy *

Junior Mints Junior or Juniors may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * ''Junior'' (Junior Mance album), 1959 * ''Junior'' (Röyksopp album), 2009 * ''Junior'' (Kaki King album), 2010 * ''Junior'' (LaFontaines album), 2019 Films * ''Junior'' (1994 ...

* Nik-L-Nip juice confection * Polar Mint * Sugar Daddy and Sugar Babies *

s and Tootsie Pops * Wack-O-Wax, wax lips candy

References

External links

Tootsie Roll Industries web site
{{Authority control Confectionery companies of the United States Food and drink companies based in Chicago Manufacturing companies based in Chicago American companies established in 1896 Food and drink companies established in 1896 1896 establishments in Illinois Companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange American brands Meme stock