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The Curtiss Candy Company was founded in 1916 by Otto Schnering near

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

. Wanting a more "American-sounding" name (due to anti-German sentiment during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

), Schnering named his company using his mother's maiden name. Their first confectionery item was Kandy Kake, later refashioned in 1920 as the log-shaped Baby Ruth. Their second confectionery item was the

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 ci ...

-covered peanut butter crunch Butterfinger, which was introduced in 1926. In 1931, Curtiss marketed the brand by sponsoring famous air racer,

John H. Livingston John H. Livingston (1897–1974) was an American aviator and Air racing, air race pilot of the 1920s and 1930s. He placed first in 80 national air races. Life John Livingston was born in 1897 in Cedar Falls, Iowa. His first profession wa ...

, in the Baby Ruth Aerobatic Team flying the air-racer Howard "Mike" at airshows, and sponsoring Livingston's

Monocoupe Monocoupe Aircraft was a manufacturer of light airplanes originally produced in the late 1920s and 30s.Richard Harris"Monocoupe: Speed for the Common Man" ''AAHS Journal,'' Vol. 56, No. 4 (Winter 2011), American Aviation Historical Society They in ...

racer in the 1934 MacRobertson Air Race. The Jolly Jack candy was included in army rations during World War II. In 1964,

Standard Brands Standard Brands was a packaged foods company, formed in 1929 by J. P. Morgan with the merger of: * Fleischmann Company *Royal Baking Powder Company * E. W. Gillett Company of Canada (1929) - Toronto-based baking goods company (maker of Magic Bak ...

purchased Curtiss Candy Company. Standard Brands merged with

Nabisco Nabisco (, abbreviated from the earlier name National Biscuit Company) is an American manufacturer of cookies and snacks headquartered in East Hanover, New Jersey. The company is a subsidiary of Illinois-based Mondelēz International. Nabisco' ...

in 1981. In 1990, RJR Nabisco sold the Curtiss brands to

Nestlé Nestlé S.A. (; ; ) is a Switzerland, Swiss multinational food and drink processing conglomerate corporation headquartered in Vevey, Vaud, Switzerland. It is the largest publicly held food company in the world, measured by revenue and other me ...

. The Baby Ruth / Butterfinger factory, built in the 1960s, is located at 3401 Mt. Prospect Rd. in

Franklin Park, Illinois Franklin Park is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 18,467 at the 2020 census, up from 18,333 at the 2010 census. It was named for real estate broker Lesser Franklin who bought acres of the area when it was a maj ...

. Interstate 294 curves eastward around the plant, where a prominent, rotating sign, resembling a gigantic candy bar, is seen. It originally read "Curtiss Baby Ruth" on one side and "Curtiss Butterfinger" on the other. It was changed to read "Nestlé" following the acquisition. A "Curtiss Baby Ruth" sign was on an apartment building across from

Wrigley Field Wrigley Field is a Major League Baseball (MLB) stadium on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois. It is the home of the Chicago Cubs, one of the city's two MLB franchises. It first opened in 1914 as Weeghman Park for Charles Weeghman's Chicago ...

for several decades. Wrigley and the Curtiss plant are both on Addison Street, although more than 10 miles apart.

Curtiss products over the years

In the early decades, Curtiss had a wide variety of candies aside from Baby Ruth and Butterfinger.

Candies

*Baby Ruth suckers *Baby Ruth (1921-1981) *Butterfinger (1923-1964) *Better Creams *Curtiss Butterscotch *Buy Golly *Buy Jiminy *Caramel Nougat *Caramel Smackers *Cherry Pattie *Chocolate Almond Nougat *Chocolate Dipper Mallows *Chocolate Dipped Nut Butter Pillows *Chocolate suckers *Coconut Grove *Curtiss Nut Roll *Dip *Easy Aces *Foxxy *Gypsy *Jolly Jack *Kandy Kake *Koko Nut Roll *Man-O-War *Milk Nut Loaf *Moon Spoon *Nickaloaf *Penny Log *Peppermint Patty *Royal Marshmallows *Safe-T-Pops *Taffee Giraffee *Topper *Wild Cherry suckers

Bite-sized candies

*Butterfinger Chips *Caramel Nougats *Coconut Niblets *Dip-Bits* *Milk Caramels *Mint Patties *Nuggets

Drop and mint flavors

*Assorted Fruit *Butterscotch *Chocolate *Grape *Lemon *Lime *Orange *Peppermint *Root Beer *Spearmint *Wild Cherry *Wintergreen

Gum flavors

*Baby Ruth Peppermint *Baby Ruth Fruit flavored *Bubble Chum *Hawaiian Fruit *Peppermint *Pepsin *Spearmint

Miracle-Aid flavors

(This was a competitor to Kool-Aid) *Cherry *Grape *Lemon Lime *Orange *Raspberry *Strawberry