The History of Todds Bag Candy
McKeesport Candy Co. holds many distinctions, but, perhaps, the one most often overlooked is that we were the first wholesale candy company to offer candy under a private label. As a result, the history of the brand name is sweet but a bit murky. Unfortunately, ommissions happen when your history spans nine decades.
In the 1950s, Gerald Prince, the 2nd generation owner, had a brainstorm. Inspired by children putting unwrapped penny candy in small bags, he thought it would be a novel idea to create our own bag of prepacked candy.
The original selection was geared exclusively to children and was called Todd's Kiddie Favorites. As the offerings expanded beyond children's candy, the brand name was shortened to Todd's Candy in the 1960s.
In the early 1950s before joining his father, Ernest Prince, at McKeesport Candy Co., Gerald Prince served in the armed forces and was stationed at Dugway Proving Ground in Utah, and much of his military service as a chemist was done at the Tooele Ordnance Depot. Our family suspects that Todds was an acronym; however, this remains purely speculative.
In 1955, his first child, Bradley Todd Prince, was born. To further complicate the story, he owned an apartment building on, you guessed it, Todd Street in Pittsburgh, PA.
We also had a long-term employee whose tenure was over thirty years who managed our bagging operation. Her childhood nickname was... Todd!
Sixty years and running, our bag candy line is stronger than ever and it wasn't until 2010 that the name was changed to Candy Favorites to better reflect our growing brand.
Unfortunately, Gerald Prince died in 2018. As a result, the question about the namesake of our bag candy line remains unanswered. Still, despite name changes, there has never been a question about the quality of the candy or the legacy of innovations in the candy industry that Gerald left behind.
