Spangler Candy - Bryan

These guys made a business out of cheap candy and by cheap I don't mean cost, I mean by cutting corners to put out nickel candy for a penny. They pulled together all their capitol to purchase the Necco brand in hopes of raising their stock. All they did was sully the name of a once legendary candy. Not only did the candy ship without it's trademark sayings, the candy didn't taste the same or have the same consistency. When I contacted them to share my concern, I got a less than personal message that they had constructed to send to the thousands of unhappy customers. When you have candies like Smarties and Dum Dums, it's clear you're not nearly as smart as you want the public to believe.

Growing up around Boston, I always looked forward the Valentine 's Day conversation hearts candy; some people love them, some don 't but no matter how anyone feels about them, they are nostalgic and part of the excitement was seeing what that year 's hearts would say . Following NECCO 's bankruptcy the original owner/manufacturer) Spangler bought them but didn 't have enough time to get them into production for 2019. However, do a Google search and you will find LOTS of promises to have them ready for 2020. I was in the grocery store earlier today and THERE THEY WERE... right in front of me! I grabbed a box so that I could see this year 's sayings and decide whether I would use them on cookies or for decorating a cake. Imagine the seasonal disappointment when they said NOTHING. NOTHING at all : I looked on Facebook, and a lot of people posted the same thing. Didn 't anyone happen to notice millions of blank hearts zooming down the assembly line? The irony is that the box says The Original ; No, the original always had a saying on them!!!

I stopped by because I was driving west on i-80 and had looked up things to see on the Roadside Attractions website. It's maybe 10 min drive from the highway. There's a small store selling candy (as you can imagine) and tshirts and bags. They also showcase some history about the company's origins and the different generations of owners. The tour is every half hour and costs $6 for adults. You wear a hairnet and ride a train where you can't take photos. But the conductor takes you through the entire factory except for where they make the candy bc of FDA regulations. I went on a weekday and I was the only one on the tour. I thought it was worth the detour just because I grew up eating dum dums and it was pretty cool to see how it's made and its history.

Came to this delightful little Confectionary store/tour with a couple of lil ones I. Town the oldest being 10. So a few things about this location is that it does give a nice tour that costs $5 I believe and it's on a little train with videos and funny comments from the conductor. Fun things to see about this sugary delight being made as well. The staff is really friendly and there is a small wrap around around the store Counter with artifacts from days past on how it all started. Staff is willing to snap pictures of you with other staff members which is fun after the train ride. You must wear a hair net too. There is a store with minimal souvenirs and candy. It's a super tiny store and the whole tour including time spent in the gift shop will prob only consume 11/2 hours of your time which is about how long it took us to get there. But it was a fun summer tradition hat we try to do each year to different candy factories aground the Midwest. This wasn't the worst but wasn't the best. Worth going at least once in a child's Lifetime.

We had no idea how big of a production it is to make hard candy with so many flavors! The trolley ride was very interesting and the announcer was excellent! This company has a lot going on during the day! There were free samples to try different flavors of lollipops and candy canes! Items were for sale as well! Great time had by all!