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 = List of sovereign states, Count ...

. Its best-known products include the namesake Tootsie Rolls and Tootsie Pops. 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 tota ...

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 Guate ...

, 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 U ...

owned by the Stern & Saalberg firm. Entr
"Tootsie Roll"
p 271. In 1907, Hirschfeld decided he wanted a chocolate-tasting

candy Candy, also called sweets (British English) or lollies ( Australian English, New Zealand English), is a confection that features sugar as a principal ingredient. The category, called '' sugar confectionery'', encompasses any sweet confection, ...

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 civil ...

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 listed 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 kno ...

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 Tootsie Pop — 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 av ...

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) an ...

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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, 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

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Kings County is the most populous Administrative divisions of New York (state)#County, county in the State of New York, ...

— 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 Bernard Daniel Rubin (February 18, 1893 – July 6, 1948), also known as Bert Rubin, was an American businessman who was the president and chief executive officer of Sweets Company of America, makers of the famous Tootsie Rolls, from 1936 to his ...

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, boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the List of co ...

to a much larger plant in

Hoboken, New Jersey Hoboken ( ; Unami: ') is a city in Hudson County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city's population was 60,417. The Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program calculated that the city's population was 58, ...

, 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 roun ...

, 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 Greater Boston, Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most ...

(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 Andes Chocolate Mints are small rectangular candies. The crème de menthe variety consists of one mint-green layer sandwiched in between two cocoa based chocolate flavored layers. The candies are usually wrapped in green foil and imprinted with ...

* Candy Blox * Cella's chocolate-covered cherries *

Charleston Chew Charleston Chew is a candy bar consisting of marshmallow flavored nougat covered in chocolate flavor coating. It was created in 1925 by the Fox-Cross Candy Company, founded by stage actor Donley Cross and his friend Charlie Fox. The candy was n ...

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 availab ...

* Child's Play assorted candies *

Dots Directly observed treatment, short-course (DOTS, also known as TB-DOTS) is the name given to the tuberculosis (TB) control strategy recommended by the World Health Organization. According to WHO, "The most cost-effective way to stop the spread of ...

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. T ...

licorice candy * Dubble Bubble,

Thrills Thrills is a Canadian brand of chewing gum. It was originally produced by the O-Pee-Chee company of London, Ontario, Canada which was subsequently bought by Nestle in the late 1980s. It is well known for its purple colour and its distinctive ...

, Razzles, and Cry Baby chewing gum * Fluffy Stuff cotton candy *

Frooties 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 Indust ...

fruit flavored chewy candy * Junior Mints * Nik-L-Nip juice confection * Polar Mint * Sugar Daddy and Sugar Babies * Tootsie Rolls and

Tootsie Pops 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 themsel ...

* 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