The History of Brach’s Confections. Brach's Palace of Sweets, Chicago, Illinois.

Emil J. Brach, 22, took a job at Bunte Brothers & Spoehr candy manufacturers in 1881. 

In 1904, Brach invested his life savings, $1,000, in a storefront candy store and kitchen. He named it "Brach's Palace of Sweets," located at the corner of North Avenue and Halsted Street in Chicago, Illinois. With his sons Frank and Edwin, he started with one kettle.

Emil J. Brach, founder of Brach's Confections, in front of his first store, "Brach's Palace of Sweets" at North Avenue and Town Street (Frontier Avenue 1500N-1599N at 642W, Today would be on North Avenue and Orchard Street), Chicago, 1904.

By investing in additional equipment, he could lower his production costs and sell his candy for 20¢ per pound, well below the typical 50¢ per pound his competitors were charging. By 1911 his production had reached 50,000 pounds per week.

Brach's was incorporated in 1916 as E.J.Brach & Sons.

By 1923, Brach had 4 factories operating at capacity. Brach then invested $5 million (Today $69 million in a new factory, beginning construction in 1921. It was built at 4656 West Kinzie Street and consolidated production into one building. 

Brach’s Chocolates of Quality Box, Circa 1923.

At the time, they produced 127 different varieties of candy with a capacity of 2.25 million pounds per week. Over the years, this new plant was expanded, and investments in new processes and equipment were made, including its own chocolate grinding plant and a large panning operation. 

The only incinerator in Illinois had been quietly at work, devouring 20 percent of the garbage collected by city crews and producing high-pressure steam sold to the nearby E.J. Brach's candy factory. The steam was sold to the Brach factory for about $1 million a year, or almost half the cost that Brach would face if the factory made its own steam. The company uses steam to heat its candy kettles.

The expanded complex provided about 600,000 square feet of floor space to consolidate the company's 127 different kinds of candy production. It had "seven acres of smooth concrete floors, solid concrete construction – with steel and glass; walls 50 percent glass – it is, in reality, a 'sunlight' factory; equipped with a large Steam Plant – a Refrigerating Plant – and an electric transforming station; private railroad sidings with a capacity of two train cars; equipped with the latest and most efficient labor-saving machinery of American or European make." 

“When my sons and I opened a little candy store forty years ago, we hoped folks would like our candy. But we never dreamed they’d like Brach candies so well we’d outgrow our little ‘Palace of Sweets’ in just a few brief years. We didn’t dream that soon the Brach candy-kitchens would be among the finest in the world. However, over the years we’ve stuck to this aim—to make the best in candy and sell it at reasonable prices. And we’re proud that every year more people are asking for Brach candies.” —Emil J. Brach, founder and president of E. J. Brach & Sons, 1944.

In 1948, after an electrical spark ignited corn starch, a massive explosion on the plant's third floor killed 11 employees and injured 18. Much of the factory's north side was destroyed. Reconstruction brought the plant's capacity up to more than 4 million pounds of product per year and employed 2,400 workers in 2,200,000 square feet.

It was recognized as the largest candy-manufacturing plant in the world at the time. At its peak, 4,500 employees worked there. The plant was eventually abandoned in 2003 when new owners took over operations, and production was moved primarily to Mexico. An administrative building was blown up for a special effects scene in The Dark Knight Batman movie in August 2007. The rest of the complex is in ruins awaiting its eventual demolition.

Before World War II, Brach's produced several candy bars, including a chocolate-covered, honeycombed, peanut butter Swing Bar and a mint and almond nougat bar. After the war, Brach's concentrated on bulk and bagged candies. It was in the period after the war that Halloween Trick or Treating became a popular activity. Brach's promoted its candy corn and other fall-themed candies, available in single-serve, pre-packaged packets.

In 1958 Brach's introduced the Pick-A-Mix concept. Customers could choose from a wide selection of products, scooping items and paying one price per pound. This was adapted from the barrels seen in general stores at the time. This concept brought the dying experience of buying candy at the local corner store into the new merchants, the supermarkets.

In 1966, American Home Products Corporation purchased the company. In 1986, the last year of ownership by American Home Products, it accounted for two-thirds of the U.S. market for bagged candy and 7% of the $9 billion U.S. candy market. It employed 3,700 and had an estimated pretax profit of more than $75 million on sales of $640 million.

In 1987 Jacobs Suchard Limited, a Swiss chocolate and coffee conglomerate purchased the company for $730 million; by the end of 1989, it was in serious trouble. That year, losses were an estimated $50 million, and sales had decreased to $470 million. By 1993, sales had dropped to $400 million, though losses were reduced somewhat to $26 million. All this occurred when overall per capita candy consumption in the U.S. had increased by 25%. By May 1994, after 7 years of Suchard ownership, Brach's had had 9 different CEOs, moved its headquarters from the plant property to a penthouse office in one of Chicago's wealthiest suburbs, saw a loss of nearly 900 jobs (42% of the workforce), and suffered a loss of key customers and market share.

Klaus Jacobs almost immediately fired Brach's top officers and gutted the leadership of its sales, marketing, production, and finance departments. Some of these positions were filled with executives from Suchard's European operations and people with little experience in the candy industry (see: Favorite Brands above). Former executives cited Jacobs Suchard's autocratic management style and inability to recognize the difference between American and European candy consumption habits. The company's name was changed to Jacobs Suchard Inc., a name few retailers or consumers recognized, and product lines were trimmed from 1,700 to 400 to cut costs. This alienated many of its largest customers, including Walgreens and Walmart, who found other sources, including Farley Candy. In addition to the cuts in product selection, Brach's also chose to curtail holiday promotional activities.

In 1990, Phillip Morris purchased Jacobs Suchard for $3.8 billion, except for its U.S. subsidiary, E. J. Brach Corp. A holding company named Van Houten & Zoon Holding AG was formed by Klaus Jacobs to run Brach and other businesses. Disagreements with Klaus Jacobs on marketing and management strategies continued, particularly over commodity vs. branded (Brach's) products. In 1993 alone, Brach's saw 3 different CEOs and continued to experience a high rate of turnover and dismissals within the sales and marketing departments. Many of Brach's sales personnel left to work for its competitors.

In September 1994, E.J. Brach purchased the Brock Candy Company of Chattanooga for $140 million, a year in which Brock Candy had sales of $112 million and profits of $6.5 million. This was the second attempt by the two companies to join, and the first time had been while E.J. Brach was under American Home Products ownership. The merger attempt at that time was canceled due to concerns of an antitrust suit.

For a time, the new company operated as the Brach and Brock Candy Company, and this was later changed to Brach's Confections.

In 2003, Barry Callebaut AG purchased the new company. The principal owner of Brach's, KJ Jacobs AG, was also a majority stakeholder in Barry Callebaut. As part of the deal, Barry Callebaut agreed to assume $16 million in debt, fund restructuring efforts for 5 years and pay a symbolic $1 (one dollar) for the company.

In 2007, the company was sold to the Farley's & Sathers Candy Company, which merged with the Ferrara Pan Candy Company in 2012 to form the Ferrara Candy Company.

Today, Ferrara Candy Company has an outlet store at 7301 West Harrison Street, Forest Park, Illinois, making Brach's, Sweetarts, Laffy Taffy, Now and Later, Nerds, Red Hots, Lemonhead, Jujyfruits, Boston Baked Beans, Chuckles to name just a few brands.

INDEX TO MY ILLINOIS AND CHICAGO FOOD & RESTAURANT ARTICLES.

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.

A Brief History of Illinois State Capitol Buildings from 1818 to the Present.

The Illinois State Capitol, located in Springfield, Illinois, is the building that houses the executive and legislative branches of the government for the State of Illinois. The current building is the sixth capital of the state since statehood in 1818. Following is a brief history of all six Illinois statehouses. 

№ 1 - The first Illinois State Capitol (1818-1819). Kaskaskia, Illinois, is a village in Randolph County. As a major French colonial town of the Illinois Country in the 18th century, its peak population was about 7,000 when it was a regional center. As a center of the regional economy, Kaskaskia was named the capital of the United States Illinois Territory, created on February 3, 1809. 

State of Illinois Capitol Building in Kaskaskia, Illinois.

In 1818, when Illinois became the 21st state, the village of Kaskaskia briefly served as the state's first capital until 1819. The capitol was quickly moved to Vandalia, Illinois when flooding destroyed most of Kaskaskia in April of 1881. As of July of 2016, the village of Kaskaskia has a population of 14.

State of Illinois Capitol Building after the Mississippi River
Changed Course Naturally and Flooded Kaskaskia, Illinois.

№ 2 - The second Illinois State Capitol (1820-1823; 1st one built in Vandalia). In 1820, with the completion of the new statehouse in Vandalia, Illinois (eighty miles northeast of Kaskaskia) became the official capitol building of the state. The first of three capitol buildings to stand in Vandalia was a plain two-story frame structure. The entire first floor served as a meeting place for the House of Representatives. In contrast, the second floor was divided into rooms for the Senate and the Council of Revision, which consisted of the governor and justices of the Illinois Supreme Court. Executive offices were located in other buildings. The state treasurer transacted business at his home, while the auditor and secretary of state worked in the brick building that housed the state bank. The bank building burned on January 23, 1823, consuming most of the state's financial papers, and the statehouse was destroyed by fire in December of 1823. 

№ 3. - The third Illinois State Capitol (1824-1836; 2nd one build in Vandalia). Vandalia's second statehouse was built during the summer of 1824 by residents who feared the removal of the capital to another town. Like its predecessor, the building served primarily as a meeting place for the general assembly. State executive offices and the Supreme Court seem to have had no permanent quarters. The building had been constructed hastily, and the effects were soon apparent. By 1834 its floors sagged badly, and the walls bulged dangerously. Two years later, people refused to enter the building, fearing it would collapse. Frightened by an 1834 referendum to relocate the capital, Vandalia residents constructed a third statehouse.

№ 4 - The fourth Illinois State Capitol (1836-1839; 3rd one built in Vandalia). It is located at 315 W. Gallatin Street in Vandalia, Illinois, in the center of a city block downtown. It is the oldest surviving capitol building in the state and costs $16,000.00 to build. Work began in the summer of 1836 the third capitol was demolished. Efforts were made to salvage material from the old building. Though workers attempted to finish the building rapidly, much remained to be done when the legislature convened in early December. Plaster in second-story rooms was still damp, and rooms on the first floor were barely begun. Added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.

Illinois' Fourth (4th) Statehouse, Vandalia, Photographs.

This statehouse was of simple Federal design. The new statehouse was larger than any of its predecessors. The building provided, for the first time, space for all three branches of the government. The first floor contained offices for the auditor of public accounts, secretary of state, treasurer, and all members of the executive branch as well as chambers for the Supreme Court. There was no space specifically assigned to the governor. The second floor is composed of a central hall devoted to the general assembly's needs. The House and Senate chambers each contain a visitor gallery reached by staircases. Although the new brick structure was extravagant, the General Assembly ignored the gesture and voted to relocate the capital to Springfield on February 25, 1837. The last session of the Illinois General Assembly to meet in the Vandalia statehouse closed on March 4, 1839. Before adjournment, the legislature passed an act presenting the building to Fayette County and the town of Vandalia. 

In 1856 Vandalia sold its interest in the building for $3,150.00. Shortly thereafter, county commissioners authorized an extensive remodeling, including the addition of the porticoes that visitors see today. On August 5, 1918, the State of Illinois purchased the old statehouse and public square in order to ensure its preservation for future generations. Though owned by the state, the building continued to serve as the Fayette County Courthouse until 1933, when county offices moved to new quarters. In the 1930s and 1940s, the State of Illinois carried out a major effort to restore the building to its Lincoln-era appearance. Spectators' galleries were reconstructed in the Senate and House chambers in the 1970s

№ 5. - The fifth Illinois State Capitol (1839-1876) is in Springfield, Illinois and is preserved as the Old State Capitol Historic Site at Capitol Avenue and Second Street. On July 4, 1837, the first brick was laid for Illinois' fifth capitol, designed by John F. Rague (who also designed the nearly identical Iowa Territorial Capitol).

In 1853, the capital was completed for $260,000.00, almost twenty times the cost of any previous structure. The building was designed in the Greek revival style from stone quarried six miles (10 km) from the site. For many years, it was the largest and most extravagant capital of the western frontier of the United States. Added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1985.

№ 6. - The sixth is the current Illinois State Capitol (1876-present) is also in Springfield, Illinois. The capital was designed by Cochrane and Garnsey, an architecture and design firm based in Chicago, Illinois. The formal laying of the cornerstone occurred on October 5th, 1868.

Two years later, the cornerstone developed large cracks and had to be replaced.  Although still unfinished after eight years of work, the General Assembly moved into the building in 1876. The project was continually plagued with trouble. Corruption was suspected several times, and at least one workman was killed on the job. Construction continued intermittently for twenty years. During this time, a serious movement was afoot calling for the abandonment of the unfinished structure and the Capital's removal to some other Illinois city.

Civil War veteran Richard J. Oglesby was Governor when the building started and served a third term when the Capitol was finally completed two decades later in 1888. Initially, construction costs were limited by appropriation to $3,000,000.00, but expenditures had risen to over $4,500,000.00 at the time of completion. 

The Capitol, situated on a nine-acre plot and built on the highest point of ground in the city, was designed in the form of a modified Latin cross. The facade is classical, an extremely popular style for government and public buildings in the nineteenth century. The French-style Mansard roofs on the north and south wings are indicative of the influence of Piquenard, a native of France. 

The extreme length of the building from north to south is 379 feet, and 268 feet from east to west. The height from the ground line to the top of the dome is 361 feet and 405 feet to the tip of the flagstaff. The red lights on the dome, electronically geared to turn on when visibility reaches a certain low, were installed as guidance for pilots.

The building is the highest non-skyscraper capital in the United States, with a dome height of 361 feet. A Springfield city statute does not allow buildings to be constructed that exceed the height of the Capitol. 

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.