WWW.QNS.COM RIDGEWOOD TIMES NOVEMBER 30, 2017 25
OUR NEIGHBORHOOD: THE WAY IT WAS
Glendale fi rm’s machine made for
some sweet Ridgewood treats
BY THE OLD TIMER
EDITORIAL@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
@RIDGEWOODTIMES
This week, we have a story that
should appeal to those with a
sweet tooth and an appreciation
for chocolate.
Years ago, when candy chains that operated
their own retail stores had locations
on neighborhood shopping strips, such
brand names as Loft, Barton, Barracini
and Fanny Farmer were easily found.
Of the two photos appearing this
week, the more recent one was taken
by reader George Klos from a Myrtle
Avenue rooft op in 1959. It shows the
Loft store that was located on the
northwest corner of Myrtle Avenue
at Onderdonk Avenue in Ridgewood.
The shop later became a pizzeria.
As we shall see, Loft 's Candy had a
connection to Glendale that involved
something other than a retail location.
On June 10, 1902, the American Grass
Products Company purchased 18.72 acres
of land on the southeast corner of Cooper
Avenue and Dry Harbor Road (80th Street).
It had been the farm of Henri Wulfurst.
The land extended south to the Long Island
Rail Road. A short time later, they began
the construction of a multi-story brick
factory building of 40,000 square feet.
This 1936 photo provides a view
looking north along Dry Harbor Road
(80th Street) in Glendale from about
200 feet south of the Long Island Rail
Road tracks. At right is the Atlas Terminal
Building No. 1, while at left , the
Eagle Coal Co. is partially visible.
This 1936 photo provides a view looking north along Dry Harbor Road (80th Street) in Glendale from about 200
feet south of the Long Island Rail Road tracks. At right is the Atlas Terminal Building No. 1, while at left, the
Eagle Coal Co. is partially visible.
This 1936 photo provides a view
looking north along Dry Harbor Road
(80th Street) in Glendale from about
200 feet south of the Long Island Rail
Road tracks. At right is the Atlas
Terminal Building No. 1, while at left ,
the Eagle Coal Co. is partially visible.
The site later became known as the
Atlas Terminal; today, it is home to The
Shops at Atlas Park complex. Thanks to
the Greater Ridgewood Historical Society,
we have a 1936 view of Dry Harbor
Road looking north to Cooper Avenue.
By the fall of 1903, the owners of
the property had become fi nancially
over-extended and they sold out to
the J.W. Bishop Company of Rhode
Island, who purchased the property
with the intention of using part of it
for a knitting mill and leasing out
the remainder to other tenants. They
built a power plant to supply electricity
and steam to their tenants and by
doing so, they introduced industry
to Glendale.
The demand for this type of factory
space was strong, and in 1906, they
erected another building of similar
size. Over 300 were now employed
in the complex by companies such as
Westinghouse Air Brakes, Eastern
Sales Book Company, Murmount
Photo Paper Company, Samuel Carey
Company, etc.
Our story today is about the Samuel
Carey Company which made chocolate
candy machines for the Loft Candy
Stores and other chocolate candy manufacturers.
Carey also made machines
for mixing paints. Loft , their largest
customer, operated a chain of retail
stores selling quality chocolate-covered
candy which they produced in
their own plant in New England.
For special occasions, a box of
Loft's Candy was regarded as a treat,
whether for a birthday, or when
a beau gave his best girl a present.
To produce the thousands of boxes
of chocolate-covered candy that
they sold each week, Loft required
a large manufacturer facility. The
Samuel Carey Company made the
machines in Glendale that Loft used
to manufacture their high-grade
chocolate-covered candy.
Readers who were customers of
Loft 's boxed assortments (which were
Loft 's specialty) might be interested in
the process that produced such items.
The cream, fruits, caramel, nougat, nut
or other centers were covered with
chocolate by an "enrober" machine.
Extra cocoa butter was put into the
chocolate used for coating.
The centers were carried on a endless
wire-meshed belt through a spray
of liquid chocolate that coated each
center evenly. Before the chocolate
hardened, deft ly fi ngered girls in the
Loft factory would mark a pattern on
each piece to identify the center. The
wire mesh allowed the excess liquid
chocolate to drain away. When the
chocolate had hardened, the individual
pieces were wrapped and placed
in boxes.
The Samuel Carey Company built
the machines that were necessary
to process the chocolate from sacks
of harvested cacao beans and also
the "enrober" machines to coat the
individual pieces. So, if you had purchased
Loft 's chocolate-coated candies,
it's likely that some of them were made
with machines built in Glendale.
Reprinted from the Oct. 16, 2008
issue of the Ridgewood Times.
If you have memories to share with
us, send an email to editorial@ridgewoodtimes.
com (subject: Our Neighborhood:
The Way it Was) or write to
The Old Timer, ℅ Ridgewood Times,
38-15 Bell Blvd., Bayside, NY 11361.
Any mailed pictures will be carefully
returned to you upon request.
(photo: George Klos)
The Loft Candy Store, as photographed in 1959, was located on the
northeast corner of Myrtle Avenue at Onderdonk Avenue in Ridgewood.
