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The Curtiss Candy Company was an American confectionery brand and a former company based in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

. It was founded in 1916 by Otto Schnering near

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. Wanting a more "American-sounding" name (due to

anti-German sentiment Anti-German sentiment (also known as anti-Germanism, Germanophobia or Teutophobia) is fear or dislike of Germany, its Germans, people, and its Culture of Germany, culture. Its opposite is Germanophile, Germanophilia. Anti-German sentiment main ...

during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

), Schnering named his company using his mother's maiden name. Their first

confectionery Confectionery is the Art (skill), art of making confections, or sweet foods. Confections are items that are rich in sugar and carbohydrates, although exact definitions are difficult. In general, however, confections are divided into two bro ...

item was Kandy Kake, later refashioned in 1920 as the log-shaped

Baby Ruth Baby Ruth is an American candy bar made of peanuts, caramel, and milk chocolate-flavored nougat, covered in compound chocolate. Created in 1920, it is manufactured by the Ferrara Candy Company, a subsidiary of Ferrero. History In 1920, the C ...

. Their second

item was the

chocolate Chocolate is a food made from roasted and ground cocoa beans that can be a liquid, solid, or paste, either by itself or to flavoring, flavor other foods. Cocoa beans are the processed seeds of the cacao tree (''Theobroma cacao''); unprocesse ...

-covered

peanut butter Peanut butter is a food Paste (food), paste or Spread (food), spread made from Grinding (abrasive cutting), ground, dry roasting, dry-roasted peanuts. It commonly contains additional ingredients that modify the taste or texture, such as salt, ...

crunch

Butterfinger Butterfinger is a chocolate bar, candy bar manufactured by the Ferrara Candy Company, a subsidiary of Ferrero SpA, Ferrero. It is manufactured internationally by Nestlé. It consists of a layered crisp peanut butter core covered in a "chocolate ...

, which was introduced in 1926. In 1931, Curtiss marketed the brand by sponsoring famous air racer, John H. Livingston, 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 i ...

racer in the 1934

MacRobertson Air Race The MacRobertson Trophy Air Race (also known as the London to Melbourne Air Race) took place in October 1934 in aviation, 1934 as part of the 1934 Centenary of Melbourne, Melbourne Centenary celebrations. The race was devised by the Lord Mayor o ...

. 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 & Co. with the merger of: * Fleischmann Company *Royal Baking Powder Company * E. W. Gillett Company of Canada (1929) - Toronto-based baking goods company (maker of Ma ...

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 R. J. Reynolds Nabisco, Inc., doing business as RJR Nabisco, was an American conglomerate, selling tobacco and food products, headquartered in the Calyon Building in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. R. J. Reynolds Nabisco stopped ...

sold the Curtiss brands to

Nestlé Nestlé S.A. ( ) is a Swiss multinational food and drink processing conglomerate corporation headquartered in Vevey, Switzerland. It has been the largest publicly held food company in the world, measured by revenue and other metrics, since 20 ...

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

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Interstate 294 Interstate 294 (I-294) is a tolled auxiliary Interstate Highway in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Illinois. Forming the southern portion of the Tri-State Tollway in Illinois, I-294 runs from South Holland at I-80/ I-94 and Illino ...

curves eastward around the plant, where a prominent, rotating sign, resembling a giant candy bar, is visible. 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 ballpark on the North Side, Chicago, North Side of Chicago, Illinois. It is the home ballpark of Major League Baseball's Chicago Cubs, one of the city's two MLB franchises. It first opened in 1914 as Weeghman Park for Charl ...

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