David Lytle Clark (26 September 1864 – 3 February 1939) was an Irish entrepreneur who founded the D. L. Clark Company confectioners in 1886 in

Allegheny, Pennsylvania Allegheny City was a municipality that existed in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania from 1788 until it was annexed by Pittsburgh in 1907. It was located north across the Allegheny River from downtown Pittsburgh, with its southwest border formed by ...

, now part of

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

. He was born in

County Londonderry County Londonderry (Ulster Scots dialects, Ulster-Scots: ''Coontie Lunnonderrie''), also known as County Derry (), is one of the six Counties of Northern Ireland, counties of Northern Ireland, one of the thirty-two Counties of Ireland, count ...

, Ireland, the son of Samuel and Jane Clark. He had come to the U.S. with his family from Ireland when he was eight years old, and educated in the public schools. He began making candy in a one-room location in Allegheny City at the age of 19, and later expanded into making gum when learning in 1886 of a new approach using

chicle Chicle () is a natural gum traditionally used in making chewing gum and other products. It is collected from several species of Mesoamerican trees in the genus '' Manilkara'', including '' M. zapota'', '' M. chicle'', '' M. staminodella'', and ...

. This he would use bright food coloring and flavor it with extracts of woodland leaves he had chewed as a boy. He is best known for his creation of the D. L. Clark Company, a confectionary, and for creating some of its best known products, including the

Clark bar The Clark Bar is a chocolate bar, candy bar consisting of a crispy peanut butter/spun Taffy (candy), taffy core (originally with a caramel center) and coated in milk chocolate. It was introduced in 1917 by David L. Clark and was popular during and ...

and the Zagnut, as well as for its spinoff, the Clark Chewing Gum Company with its

Clark's Teaberry Clark's Teaberry is a brand of chewing gum. The D. L. Clark Company of Pittsburgh's north side purchased the patent for it from Charles Burke, who experimented with various flavors of chewing gum in the basement of 533 McClintock Ave, Pittsburgh, ...

gum. Clark also served as president of several additional candy companies in the region: the

Youngstown Youngstown is a city in Mahoning County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Ohio, 11th-most populous city in Ohio with a population of 60,068 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Mahoning ...

Candy Company,

Steubenville Steubenville ( ) is a city in Jefferson County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Located along the Ohio River west of Pittsburgh, it had a population of 18,161 at the 2020 census. The Weirton–Steubenville metropolitan area has an es ...

's LaBelle Candy Company,

McKeesport McKeesport is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States. A suburb of Pittsburgh, it is situated at the confluence of the Monongahela River, Monongahela and Youghiogheny River, Youghiogheny rivers. The population was 17,727 as of the ...

's Jewell Candy Company, and the Fayette Candy Company of Uniontown, also being co-owner of the Beaver Falls Model Candy Company. He would also serve as director of McKeesport's First National Bank. He was also a

freemason Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

. At the time of his death, in his sleep of heart disease in 1939, he was called 'Pittsburgh's candy king'. He married twice, first to Martha Snitger, the mother of his 13 children, of which 6 sons and 6 daughters survived him. Following Martha's death, he would remarry to her sister, Carrie Snitger. His children all shared in inheriting the D. L. Clark Company, before selling it in 1955 to

Beatrice Foods Beatrice Foods Company was a major American food conglomerate founded in 1894. One of the best-known food processing companies in the U.S., Beatrice owned many well-known brands such as Tropicana, Krispy Kreme, Jolly Rancher, Orville Reden ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clark, David L. 1864 births 1939 deaths 19th-century Irish businesspeople Businesspeople in confectionery Burials at Homewood Cemetery Businesspeople from Pittsburgh American Freemasons Irish emigrants to the United States