If you were asked to think of a few of your favorite classic candies, what would come to mind Well, if you are like many, then Banana Splits, Canada Mints, Candy Buttons, Conversation Hearts, Clark Bars, Coconut Crunch Peanut Butter Logs, Malted Milk Balls, Mary Janes, Mint Juleps, Peach Blossoms, Sky Bars, Slapstix, NECCO Wafers and Wintergreen Lozenges may be some of your initial thoughts. But can you guess what all of these candies have in common? As it turns out, they’re all made by New England Confectionery Company, better known as NECCO.
A Company that Has Stood the Test of Time
The first of their products to hit the market was the NECCO Wafer. Way back in 1847, Oliver Chase created a lozenge cutter that was to become the nation’s first candy machine–and the equipment that made the NECCO Wafer possible. Chase soon joined forces with his brothers to market their sweets across North America.
Despite two factory fires and the possibility of losing their business entirely, the brothers persisted, forming partnerships with companies local to the New England area. This dedication paid off, and in 1901, over 50 years after the first NECCO Wafer was produced, the New England Confectionery Company (NECCO) was born.
Since that time, the company grew, adding in popular treats of all varieties and expanding its reach far beyond the borders of North America. In its 117 year history, NECCO has satisfied countless sweet tooth cravings, creating cult favorites that candy lovers of all ages could not live without. Simply put, NECCO established itself not just as a candy company, but as an American Institution and household name for generations of candy lovers young and old. Few companies can boast of such a storied history or product line up!
This Candy Giant’s Future is Uncertain
And yet, it seems the old saying might be true: all good things must come to an end. Recent buzz in the candy world indicates that NECCO could be going out of business, and taking its successful candies with it. Having represented so many great brands through its impressive history, the loss of NECCO would certainly be a major upset in the candy world.
After all, what would Valentine’s Day be without Conversation Hearts? And what could possibly replace the goodness and convenient variety of a Sky Bar? If the rumors are true, then fans of the company’s sweet treats may just have to find out.
We never like to be the bearers of bad news and know that this update may hit close to home. So as we consider the potential end of an era, will you join us in “keeping your fingers crossed” and reflecting on your favorite NECCO memories? Which candies have you cherished, and how has the company made your life a little sweeter?
Feel free to let us know in the comments below.
45 Comments
Necco wafers are my very favorite candy! I would be very sad if they were discontinued!
It’s really disheartening (no pun intended) to see a candy staple, one I grew up with, that may need to close it’s doors. I’d be very curious how many would lose their jobs if this happens. I hope, for their employee’s sake, that they can manage to whether this down turn and come out the other side stronger than before. I mean, what would Valentine’s day be without those little candy hearts!!
As both a McKeesporter by birth, and the grandson of your old candy wholesaling neighbor, Henry D. Nill, the loss of Clark bars alone would be devastating. I hope this doesn’t happen. Incidentally, I have a small candy shop figurine that was a NECCO promotion from back in the 40s or 50s. Will locate this weekend and send you a picture.
That would be sweet! What a treasure…
I have been eating Necco wafers since I was a kid, and I am 54 years old. I still enjoy them to this day, and look forward to getting them for Halloween, in the little packs. The candy hearts are a valentines day staple. it would be sad to see this fine institution dissappear.
All chocolate Necco wafers are awesome! And I can’t imagine Valentine’s Day without Necco Conversation Hearts! And Sky Bars are an all time favorite!
I love their candies it will be sad if they go!
I hope this isn’t so. I love Necco Wafers and Clark Bars. I’ve been eating them since I was a little kid, and I’m now 55 years old. 🙁
NECCO wafers have some of my favorite candy for decades. It would be sad to see the company close its doors. Hope it does not happen.
It would be so very sad for necco to close their doors.this has been the favorite candy of mine sense I was a child and still is at the age of 60 .I couldn’t even imagine not being able to buy my favorite candy like sky bars or Clark bars or malted milk balls.i love this candy and I don’t mine paying the price for it.when it’s good the price doesn’t seem to really matter.
OMG!! They can’t close. I remember walking to the store just to by the NECCO wafers. They were always so good. Made the long walk worth it.
It would be so said. One of my favorite childhood memories was buying a sky bar. It was a real treat with great flavors!
NO NO NO!!! My absolute favorite candy bar since childhood and since 5 cent candy machines, has been SKY BAR. It’s the chocolate flavor that is Soooo delicious. I have never liked Hershey Bars, for some reason that chocolate flavor is not as tasty/sweet as the Sky Bar. Please let me know if this is a reality so I can order ALL The Sky Bars that you have left!!!
Neck wafers are one of my favorites
We really like the chocolate Necco Wafers! They are hard to find – so I bought the Necco Wafers Chocolate Bulk – 5 lb. last year. Not as much as Admiral Byrd, but they did last us a long time. The small packages are snack size!! We will have to stock up if they close. Hope they won’t!!
Neccos were definitely a part of my childhood. Our parents used to buy them for us all the time. I remember saving the chocolate ones to eat last. My sisters and I were so excited when they came out with the package that was all chocolate!!! Really, I liked all of the flavors, so good. I still buy them every once in a while just to remember the good old days.
I used to like Necco Wafers because you could keep them in your pocket and have a piece of candy for days if you had a little will power. The Chocolate ones are my favorite but the variety pack had those black ones in there I loved also.
I am 65 and since I was a little kid, I would trade just about any other candy I got on Halloween for NECCO wafers, mint tulips and banana splits. I still get a Christmas stocking filled with that holy trinity and never realized they were all NECCO products. This is a New England tragedy if they cease operations.
I have loved NECCO Wafers since my grandmother used to give them to us as a special treat. Every day, old time favorites are disappearing off the shelves. Please don’t let Necco be included on this list!
I have so many wonderful memories from my childhood and necco wafers are in everyone. My younger brother used to eat his & then go stealing from me. These were his favorites. He has passed away now and I get necco wafers every Christmas & tell my adult children they are from Uncle Steve. Sorry to see them go. We will miss them terribly.
I love the necco wafers, but the chocolate wafers are my favorite. I have been eating them since i have been a kid. Hope they don’t go it will not be the same.
Ohh, just the thought of this makes me very sad. NECCO wafers have been a favorite since childhood. I especially love the chocolate ones. I looked all over for them, and finally found 2 stores in our area that have them. But, those stores don’t always have them in stock. Then I found your wonderful store online and bought the 5 lb. package of the chocolate minis for my fiancee and me. We are addicted to them and frequently feed them to each other when we’re driving or watching TV. It would make us very sad for this wonderful company to close down. I might have to get more for wedding favors, just because they are our favorites. Sigh.
NECCO wafers have been a favorite of mine my whole life(68 years). They cannot be replaced that is not possible. Every candybar today does not have its original flavor or it costs double for a smaller version. Finding a fresh candy bar is difficult. Ordering from this company is one of the only ways to get a fresh and delicious candy bar. Us old folks can verify that.
As a longtime Archivist (retired Librarian) I have always been dealing with ‘preservation of old things.’ Sad to know this may be an end for NECCO and all of *our* memories of the days gone by. I have already kept (fully wrapped) the 150th Anniversary 1997 tube package and now have set aside a tube of chocolate & recent wafers for, when they ever arrive, the g-grandchildren to enjoy. 😀
Some good news. You can still buy Wafers & a few other of their brands on Amazon while they use up their inventory. I don`t know what the price differential is from what you`re paying now. Hope this helps.
Another article I read earlier said that Necco Wafers were one of the most hated candies…really??? How could anyone not like Necco Wafers? I am constantly at Dollar General, the only place I can find them, stocking up on many, many rolls. Along with my other favorite, the big Smarties that come in a roll like the Necco Wafers. Today I bought 10 rolls of each! Hahaha! My family thinks I have addiction issues regarding my candy. Ha! I’m gonna have to start closet eating I guess. Anyway, I won’t survive without my Necco’s. A Zombie apocalypse would be preferable to that. Someone bail the company out already!
It won’t be the same without Necco Chocolate Wafers and candy hearts.
We totally agree but if you act quickly, you might want to purchase a few as we just discovered a case in the basement at http://www.candyfavorites.com!
I was sooo sad to find out about Necco Waffers. I sent my husband to buy me some at the local market last week and that how I found out they are out of production! But the next thing i figured out was actually devestating. I know it’s silly, it’s candy but my absolute favorite candy ever is Mighty malt Easter eggs. I love the mini ones most of all. I anxiously await Easter every year so I can enjoy my favorite candy. Last year I was pregnant right after Easter so I was hunting them down online like a mad women. I have seriously been looking forward to this Easter more than I’d care to admit just to get my hands on that delicious candy. Went to the store after Valentine’s Day and it was nowhere to be found. Still showed OOS everywhere online so I started researching and found out they are made by Necco, I didn’t cry but I wanted too. No other malt balls compare! Whatever “chocolate” they used is amazing, the taste is just perfect. And Iv tried a lot of different malt balls, nope not the same. What do they they use on the outside of the Easter eggs? It’s not regular chocolate. I guess I will have to just stick to plain malt balls with no chocolate covering. I tried buying some on eBay at inflated prices and half the malt balls were bad. I hope the company that bought the rights to the candy decides to make them again and doesn’t change the recipe! I’m just sad everyone here thinks I’m ridiculous. 🙂
When I was in first grade, in 1956, one day at recess, a girl named Sherre pushed me down into a mud puddle. I cried and cried because I was all muddy. A man named Mr. Bush (I don’t know what his position was in the school) came to the playground and led me into the school and into a room from which candy was sold over a divided door with the top half open. He took me past the door and into the room and let me pick any candy I wanted. There were boxes of all kinds of candy stacked in there. I chose Necco wafers. I loved all the pretty colors. I felt well compensated and my tears were quickly ended. And after getting cleaned up and going back to the classroom, I told Sherre that just because she pushed me down I got free candy!
I love hearing memories associated with candy as it is one of those unique products that bridge the gap between then and now! We love Necco Wafers and were truly saddened by the demise of one of America’s oldest candy manufacturers! The candy may be gone but the memories live on forever.
It breaks my heart that NECCO wafers will be gone as well as Valentines hearts. I am 61 and enjoyed these since I was a kid. Keep the MARS bar and make the others again…
..please. I am begging you. I cant eat a lot of other candies. But all the ones I can are being taken away. So not fair
I am looking for a candy from back in the 80’s, it was called PUNCH candy, they were square candies like sweettarts, the wrapper was yellow with different colored polka dots, Anyone know of where I could find these
This isn’t about the loss of Necco wafers but about the loss of Clark Bars! As a child in the late 40’s and early 50’s, the Clark Bar was my favorite. I so loved it. At my age, I have seen many changes in this life and I understand that things change but there are just some things we so hate to see go and the Clark Bar is one of these. So very sorry it had to be.
Very articulately stated! Having been open since 1927, we have seen many candies come and go and more so now than ever. It could be a sign of the times, but that does negate the memories attached to the products. The good news is that Clark Bars and NECCO wafers are due to return to the market in 2020. NECCO may no longer exist, but their formulas have been sold, and we hope that product tastes as good as the original! Go to CandyFavorites.com and sign up to be amongst the first to know when these are available again.
I live my necco wafers that’s why I couldnt find them I want them back I have been eating those for 43 years only real candy I like.
I must be one of the REAL weirdos! Yes, like so many others, I loved NECCO wafers as a kid, enjoyed a Skybar every now and then (one of my dad’s and even HIS dad’s favorites) my very favorite that I miss the most is the dark brown (chocolate) Squirrel Nuts!! I searched and searched for those for a long time only to be offered the blond version by unknowing shop-keepers with quizzical looks. Sorry, there’s just no substitute! I hope whoever bought that recipe will bring them back. Why oh why do things that “ain’t broke” need to be fixed?? As a New Englander, the NECCO Company’s demise was and is a sad occurrence but the memories that their candies brought to us “old folks” would be a little gentler if only some of the candies could be brought back so that we could share our old favorites with our grandchildren.
Me: “NECCO wafers have been around since 1847!”
My pal: “That would explain the taste…”
How sad! I learned to potty with promises of the black NECCO wafers. The caboose man would throw a package of NECCO as the train passed by our house when I was 4-5 yrs old. The Conversation Hearts given at Valentines Day by a shy boy to let me know he liked me…the many memories I’ve enjoyed.
At CandyFavorites.com, we are all about candy bringing back childhood memories! Thanks for sharing your story!
Seventies kid here- My father and I loved Skybars, and ate many over the years. He also liked Necco wafers but I only liked the chocolate ones. What a shame to see these disappear. End of an era.
No one seems to remember that the CLARK bar without the chocolate covering was the ZAGNUT which I liked even better !
Oh, I love the flavors of the Necco wafers! I have also wondered what happened to the really good malt balls and my daughter has had me searching for conversation hearts. Now I know why the really good candy has gone missing! So sad…
I love NECCO wafers.
I love malt balls.