It Happens Here: Salem's Ye Olde Pepper Candy Companie is the oldest in America
SALEM - Salem and Halloween go together. So, it should be no surprise that America's oldest candy shop is located here. The Ye Olde Pepper Candy Companie has been in existence since 1806 and owner Bob Burkinshaw is one in a long generation of candy makers.
"It's not just a company, it becomes part of you. My grandfather bought the original Pepper Companie. He worked for the Pepper Companie when he was 14. He started out cleaning floors and worked his way up to candy maker, eventually bought the company," Burkinshaw told WBZ-TV. "It's a great business to be in. It really is. It's a happy business."
Through the years, the Pepper Companie has seen its ups and downs but serving to a sweet tooth community always brings smiles.
"It's a lot of fun. It's nice to see people remember you and the tradition is going on," Burkinshaw said.
Now the Pepper Companie is famous for two pieces of candy. One is the Black Jack, "which is a black strapped molasses stick candy," Burkinshaw said. "It was the first stick candy manufactured commercially in the country."
Then there is the Gibralter. It's a lemon candy, that I had the privilege of helping to make. It's the same process as it was done hundreds of years ago.
"Prices go up, prices go up. Do not cheapen the product and we have never cheapened the product. We keep it the same no matter what and it makes you feel good," Burkinshaw told WBZ.
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