Figure 1 – Sign of the Kendall Confectionery Co, Cambridge, MA, August 19, 2014. (c) DE Wolf 2014.

Charleston Chew, now there’s a name from my childhood, and it wasn’t my favorite by a long shot. NECCO wafers are a totally different story – little chalky disks, of well, of chalky flavor.  And what they both have in common is that they were manufactured in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Cambridge has a long history of candy making going back to 1765 when John Hannon established America’s first chocolate mill on the banks of the Neponset River in Dorchester.  A half century ago candy makers stood tall, exactly where BioTechs now dominate.  Cambridge’s Main Street was sweetly referred to as Confectioner’s Row and the tooth decay of our youth was produced: Junior Mints (my grandfather Louis always had a little box of Junior Mints waiting for me when I visited), Charleston Chews, Sugar Daddies, and NECCO wafers.

So today my photographic goal was more one of archaeology and recording.  Near my office is the faded and chipped historic sign on the façade of the Kendall Confectionery Company, which still produces and distributes candies.  I noticed yesterday that there were painters doing something to the sign.  It doesn’t look ominous, actually, maybe just cleaning it. But just to be sure I took the image of Figure 1.  There is an antique flavor to the sign, accentuated by the fonts and the almost lost art of punctuation.  I might just challenge my pancreas with a Charleston Chew tomorrow.