Candy Reviews, Hard To Find Candy, Nostalgic Candy Favorites, Retro Candy

B-O-N-O-M-O, O-O-O-Bonomo(BAHN-uh-moh) [not so] Turkish Taffy

June 11, 2010 by
A vintage Bonomo's Turkish Taffy Wrapper

A vintage Bonomo’s Turkish Taffy Wrapper

Sharability: 7

Denture Danger: 10

Convenience: 8

Novelty: 10

Overall: 10

Once upon a time in the land of Turkey lived a man named Albert J. Bonomo. Al emigrated to Coney Island, New York and founded the Bonomo candy company in 1897.

This candy company made hard candies, but specialized in its saltwater taffy. As delicious as Al’s saltwater taffies must have been, it was not Al, but the son of Al who introduced the masterpiece of the Turkish Taffy that we have all known and loved since we learned to say the word “taffy.”

An interesting thing about this candy that Tico, son of Victor, pointed out is that it is not technically taffy, it would be better described as nougat because of its corn syrup and egg white ingredients. Also the taffy is not any kind of Turkish secret family recipe. It was named Turkish Taffy purely for marketing reasons.

When the candy was first distributed into Woolworth stores it came in school desk size sheets that were broken into pieces with ball-peen hammers. In the late 1940s the hammers were dropped and the bars of taffy took the field. The bars have a unique way of being eaten.

Before opening the wrapper you can smack the candy against the table so that it breaks into bite size pieces. When the taffy is too soft to break, a few minutes in the freezer does the trick to help the candy shatter. Bonomos’ flavors include vanilla, chocolate, strawberry and even banana.

Bonomo was one of the first candies to be advertised on television and it surely wasn’t poorly marketed. The Magic Clown was a character on NBC Television who did your usual clown tricks and gags, but it all depended on the magic word: Bonomo. The commercials had a catchy hook, “B-O-N-O-M-O, O-O-O BONOMO!” that helped to make the candy so successful; they were so successful that in the 50’s and 60’s, 80 to 100 million bars were sold per year.

In 1980 Tootsie Roll industries bought the candy and only nine years later they discontinued it. In 2003, the people who could only feel the melting taffy in their mouth through nostalgic memories began a movement to bring Bonomo back. The Bonomo website lacks information in that particular area, but I had the privilege to chew up some tasty Bonomo, so they must be in production somewhere. The Warrel Corporation claims that the Bonomos that you all love and miss so much will be back in stores and available for purchase this summer in July of 2010.

That, my friends, is the story of the elusive Bonomo.

Patience will prevail as you await the return of this wholesome nougaty Turkish Taffy. The day will come again when we will all hold our Bonomos above our heads and slam them against the table in unison.

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkish_Taffy

http://www.tvacres.com/clowns_bonomo.htm

http://www.candyfavorites.com/shop/bonomos-turkish-taffy.php

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16 Comments

  • Reply Greg Biddle June 25, 2010 at 2:02 pm

    Wonderful! hooray! yipee! allright! Thanks!!! Now, please, please, please bring back the old Ben Hur mints. So many people are looking for these that surely there is a good market for them. I would bet you the Ben Hur mints would sell even better than this wonderful taffy. Won’t you please consider bringing them back too?

  • Reply Lois Giorgetti June 25, 2010 at 4:23 pm

    I remember Bonomo Turkish Taffy. I use to live in Queens. Can’t wait to see it on the shelves again. It was unique in taste and texture.

  • Reply L June 25, 2010 at 6:38 pm

    What about getting Nabisco to bring back Mister Salty pretzels which were the best pretzels on the market? They appear as part of some trail mix but otherwise they are completely gone from the market.

  • Reply Randi July 19, 2010 at 2:53 pm

    Thank Goodness I found this .I ate the one my brother was saving back when we were kids.After that we no longer could find it I am now 54 and am relieved that I was able to replace the BONAMO I ate of my brothers so many years ago. He is also very happy and is going to make a night of a movie and his Strewberry Bonamo Turkis Taffy. Life is good. Hugs Randi *the sister that ate all of my poor brothers candy.

  • Reply Sal (AKA) Sallyboy August 7, 2010 at 10:21 am

    I grew up in East New York, Brooklyn in the mid 1950’s and remember a white building on Liberty Avenue between Elton Street and Linwood Street with a sign that read: BONOMO’s TURKISH TAFFY.

    In all that I’ve read on Bonomo’s so far only Coney Island is cited as the address. Was there an East New York facility also ?

  • Reply Bill August 31, 2010 at 7:17 am

    Mentioning the Bonomo factory in coney Island reminded my wife of some fun times as a child. She lived near Coney Island, and she and her friends used to go through the garbage from the Bonomy factory on West 8th street to find candy.

  • Reply Richard Baker January 26, 2011 at 10:27 pm

    In the ’50-’60s I enjoyed slapping it on a table and eating the pieces. Great candy!

  • Reply Ellen Grove February 13, 2011 at 7:20 pm

    This 60 year-old former Brooklyn kid just received a five pound bag of the new individually wrapped Bonomo pieces and have been smiling from ear to ear.

  • Reply Joan Sergi September 4, 2011 at 10:59 am

    I recently discovered Bonomos taffy at a small candy store in Ocean Gove NJ in August 2011. I was one of the people who has been wishing for its return for many years. I gave up looking last year. It made my day to find it and know that it is back. I have friends who feel the same way and are also thrilled. Thanks to the company!!!!!!!!!

  • Reply Judi October 27, 2011 at 1:40 pm

    I was a child of the fifties and my favorite candy was Bonomo’s turkish taffy, especially the vanilla and banana. My grandparents owned a restaurant in Coney Island called the Clam Bar and Mr. Bonomo was a friend and patron of the restaurant. In those years I would remember hanging out, thinking i was working, and waiting to see Mr Bonomo, he would always bring me plenty of the taffy i loved so dearly. I honestly missed the taffy and salt water taffy was never a substitute! The funny part of this story was that I was talking to my own granchildren about those days just recently and I told them this story and magically I was in a store and there it was! Now they truly will be able to try a piece of my childhood! Thank you for bringing it back, i had a very nostalgic moment as silly as that may seem.

  • Reply Mark January 11, 2012 at 8:31 pm

    Ya -hooo apart of my childhood life is being re-lived in a form of CANDY! I lived in pittsburgh as a boy, my family and I would go to our cottage in Deep Creek Maryland, and we would go to the drive in theater I’d have my CHOCOLATE BONOMOS turkish taffy MY FAVORITE kind, my face would show it, it NEVER left my hands, that was the high light of my visits to our cottage. I went shopping at a hunting store (Cabelas) and while I was standing at the check out line I looked at the racks in front of me and all you heard was a scream oh my God Turkish Taffy, I couldn’t for the life of me believe what I was seeing. A BOX OF MY FAVORITE CHOCOLATE BONOMOS TAFFY. i HAVE TO BE TRULY HONEST HERE, i WAS SO GREEDY I BOUGHT THE WHOLE BOX OF 24. The smile on my face is still there, I just got on line and ordered my wife and I 3 boxes. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU FOR BRINGING IT BACK!

  • Reply Mark January 11, 2012 at 8:33 pm

    thank you

  • Reply patty May 9, 2015 at 12:40 pm

    i am 70 years old and i have ben looking for this candy a long time.use to eat 3bars a day.now i can have all i want.been waiting for someone to realize we had the best candy,in those years.my sister will be happy also.it was a ritiual every day go to the candy store and buy them.you have made one of my bucket list.now i am ording a box of vanilla,choclate,banna,strawberry.and will continue to do so as long as you keep making it.thank you from the child with in who will always be there,now i can go on and order the rest of my favorit candy that.as you can see still a child to my candy.thank you for bring it all back,and my childhood.patty

  • Reply Bo April 5, 2016 at 5:13 am

    I worked at two beach hotels along the south shore of Long Island in the 1970’s…..Victor Bonomo (and his wife) were guest at the Nautilus Hotel in Atlantic Beach (1979)….His company must have been sold because he’d hand out Tootsie Rolls he’d keep in his pockets…I’d ask him where the Turkish Taffy was…he’d smile…Victor was a very likable fellow…Great candy…great memories…..Thanks Mr Bonomo and Thank You Candy Favorites!

  • Reply Jeff Missinne November 4, 2018 at 6:07 pm

    Victor Bonomo’s brother Joe Bonomo was a champion weightlifter and movie stunt man. After enjoying success with selling mail-order body building courses, Joe realized he had an exceptional talent for sales, and became a sort of “liquidation expert,” selling discontinued items ranging from stuffed toys to paint thru stores like Woolworth’s. Joe is credited with developing the idea of selling “cut-out” LP records at bargain prices; slicing off a corner of the jacket to identify them so they could not be returned for a full-price refund.

  • Reply Norm Zierler April 12, 2020 at 10:50 pm

    I remember the Bonomo factory on West 8th Street across from Luna Park Houses and up the street from Coney Island’s 60th Precinct. Loved Bonomo’s salt water taffy growing up and while it was delicious, it was probably a contributing factor to the many fillings I have.

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