WWW.QNS.COM RIDGEWOOD TIMES OCTOBER 7, 2021 23
OUR NEIGHBORHOOD: THE WAY IT WAS
This candy shop is still thriving after decades in Woodhaven
PRESENTED BY THE WOODHAVEN
CULTURAL AND HISTORICAL
SOCIETY
EDITORIAL@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
@RIDGEWOODTIMES
Aft er emigrating from Germany,
the Schmidt family started their
candy shop in 1927, using homegrown
recipes for making chocolate
and hard candies. The chocolate was
hand dipped and made on-premises
by Grandpa Schmidt in the basement
of the store, Schmidt’s Candy, at 94-15
Jamaica Ave.
And if you were to walk into that
basement, you would find Grandpa
Schmidt hard at work making caramels
and dipping chocolates and
mixing hot candy on his big marble
table, readying it to be pulled into
candy canes or ribbons or other
delicate shapes.
Grandpa Schmidt wasn’t alone on
Jamaica Avenue; Buck & Edebohls,
The Muller Brothers, Meyer’s,
Neuenburg’s and Grader’s were
all popular confectionery stores
in Woodhaven at the same time.
But one by one, for one reason or
another, the old-fashioned candy
stores and soda shops began to
disappear.
Walk inside Schmidt’s Candy
today and you’ll find the same display
cases — now antiques — and
arranged inside the cases you’ll
find the same impressive selection
of hand-dipped and homemade
candies.
Nearly 95 years later, the tradition
is carried on proudly by Margie
Schmidt, whose family-owned
business has just reopened after its
traditional summer hiatus, just in
time for two of its biggest seasons,
Halloween and Christmas.
Margie not only uses some of the
very same recipes that her grandfather
used in 1927, she actually still has
some of his original utensils, including
the same marble table that Grandpa
Schmidt used to make the hard candies.
It is this adherence to tradition and the
“good old days” that residents of Woodhaven
are so proud of.
And it is not just the luscious
chocolate packages for Valentine’s
Day or Easter that residents are
proud of, nor is it the homemade and
hand-pulled candy canes they buy
each Christmas. Though Schmidt’s
Candy’s endurance can be attributed
to the quality of their product,
what makes Schmidt’s truly unique
is the feeling you get when you walk
through the front door.
It’s like walking back in time —
the beautiful tile floor, the metal
scales, the display cases; these
features of Schmidt’s Candy aren’t
merely old-fashioned – they’re old,
and they’re original.
Margie Schmidt grew up around
the store, and gladly talks about the
old days, sharing tales of tasting
freshly made candies and learning
the trade. Her father had other
hopes for Margie and encouraged
her to become a pharmacist, but
after a year in St. John’s University
she decided it wasn’t for her and
sought a different destiny.
When her father passed away at
the young age of 64, her mother still
had bills to pay and since Margie
knew how to make the chocolate and
the candies, she stepped in to fill
Photos courtesy of the Woodhaven Cultural and Historical Society
the void. Over 30 years later, she’s
still making the chocolates and the
candies, now the owner of Schmidt’s
Candy, the third generation Schmidt
to make and sell chocolate and
candy on Jamaica Avenue.
Visitors to the store will no longer
find the old neon sign out front. It
had served Schmidt’s well for many
years but it was old and beyond
repair. In its place, now you’ll find
a holiday and candy-themed airbrushed
sign.
But step inside and up on the wall
you’ll see remnants of the old sign
along with other memorabilia from
years past. Walking into Schmidt’s
Candy is like taking a trip through
time, back to when candies were
made on premise, not made by machines
in a factory.
Woodhaven has quite a few businesses
with a number of years under
their belt. Manor Delicatessen,
which sits directly across the street,
is about as old as Schmidt’s. Popp’s
Restaurant opened in 1906. Walker
Funeral home goes back to the late
1800s, as does Ohlert-Ruggiere. And
Neir’s Tavern stretches back all the
way to 1829.
But Schmidt’s is unique in that
there is a direct line of ownership
over so many decades within the
same family, from Grandpa Schmidt,
to his son Frank Schmidt, to his
granddaughter Margie, who carries
on the tradition that says hard work
makes for great candy..
* * *
If you have any remembrances or
old photographs of “Our Neighborhood:
The Way It Was” that you would
like to share with our readers, please
write to the Old Timer, c/o Ridgewood
Times, 38-15 Bell Blvd., Bayside, NY
11361, or send an email to editorial@
ridgewoodtimes.com. Any print photographs
mailed to us will be carefully
returned to you upon request.
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