OTHER MAKERS OF
SALT WATER TAFFY
Taffy is so popular and ubiquitous as an Atlantic City souvenir, that many people have tried their hand over the years.
This 1899 Atlantic City Directory by George Crawford lists 20 Boardwalk Confectioners including Jos. Fralinger, John Cassidy, and Theo. Caswell.
The 1900’s saw the addition of confectioners Nicoli C. Tripician and Wm. W. Phillips.
1905 was the year Enoch James came to Atlantic City with his sons, Lee Grant James, Harry Enoch James, and Enoch Randolph James. They had been selling taffy at State Fairs in the Mid-West and also handled lines of candy machinery. One new item was the mechanical taffy Puller. This modern invention enabled the amount of taffy that could be pulled at one time to increase from 25 to 250 pounds. A great stride for the business man was this wonder, but it eliminated the hand-pulling attraction to travelers from all over the world.
William Shriver opened a restaurant, ice cream, and candy store in Ocean City, NJ in 1898. And in 1910, Rudolph Dolle, Sr. purchased a small salt water taffy stand located on the same property as his carousel, and Dolle’s Candyland was born in Rehoboth Beach, DE.
Most copied the 1 lb box size and many imitated the design of the Fralinger’s artwork. But no one has matched the quality and longevity of
Fralinger’s Original Salt Water Taffy.
This is Fralinger’s original artwork “Atlantic City At Twilight”
created in the 1950’s and graced the mainstay box until the early 2000’s.
Here are some of the other makers of Salt Water Taffy that I have found.
Atlantic City Salt Water Taffy
Unknown maker, early 1900’s
Cassady’s Salt Water Taffy, late 1880’s
Bradley’s Salt Water Taffy, Oct 4, 1936
Caswell’s Salt Water Taffy, 1904
in front of Young’s Hotel
between Tennessee and St. James Place
Later the Alamac, Knickerbocker, finally The Mayflower.
James’ Salt Water Taffy
Tripician’s Salt Water Taffy, Oct 4, 1936
Higgin’s Salt Water Taffy, Oct 4, 1936
Henry’s Salt Water Taffy, July 11, 1940.
Phillips’ Salt Water Taffy, Sep 1, 1941
Newman’s Salt Water Taffy, 1960
The popular box size was one pound or 16 oz. In the 1960’s, Newman’s advertised “3 for $1”, but they were only 8 oz. boxes. The power of marketing!
Brendle’s Salt Water Taffy
The Press of Atlantic City found this photo. No other info available.
Salt Water Taffy Outside Atlantic City, NJ
Salt Water Taffy in Ocean City, NJ
Shriver’s Salt Water Taffy
Salt Water Taffy in Wildwood
Sagel’s Salt Water Taffy
Salt Water Taffy in Ocean City, Maryland
Dolle’s Salt Water Taffy
ahg3rd 