Candy Men: The Story of Switzer's Licorice

♪♪ PATRICK: THERE WAS A TIME WHEN THE BLOCKS ALONG THE ST. LOUIS RIVERFRONT WERE THICK WITH THE SMELL OF LICORICE.

IT WAS HEAVY AND SWEET, ALMOST MEDICINAL, AND THAT'S THE AROMA MY FATHER CARRIED WITH HIM THROUGHOUT MY CHILDHOOD.

HE TOLD ME THAT'S HOW HIS FATHER SMELLED, AND HIS GRANDFATHER, WHO FLED IRELAND WITH LITTLE MORE THAN THE EXPERIENCE OF WORKING IN HIS FAMILY'S CANDY SHOP.

FOR ALMOST A CENTURY THE "SWITZER LICORICE FACTORY" WAS A CITY LANDMARK -- ITS GIANT PAINTED LICORICE BAR WELCOMING EVERY VISITOR TO ST. LOUIS WHO CROSSED THE EADS BRIDGE.

AND JUST ABOUT EVERY MAN IN MY FAMILY, SINCE THE MURPHYS ARRIVED IN AMERICA, WORKED IN THAT FACTORY.

♪♪ EVEN BEFORE THERE WAS A FACTORY THERE WAS A FAITH -- BORN IN THE ST. LOUIS IRISH SLUM OF KERRY PATCH -- THAT AN AMERICAN DREAM COULD BE BUILT UPON A FOUNDATION OF CANDY.

THIS STORY IS FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO ENJOY WANDERING THROUGH ST. LOUIS' PAST -- OR WOULD LIKE TO HEAR A GOOD IMMIGRANT TALE.

♪♪ IF YOU ARE OF AN AGE THAT ALLOWS YOU THE MEMORY OF THAT AROMA ALONG THE RIVERFRONT OR THE TASTE OF AN OLD FASHIONED LICORICE BAR, YOU MIGHT -- IN THE NEXT HOUR -- EVEN RECALL SOME OF THE SWEETER MOMENTS OF YOUR LIFE.

♪♪ THESE STREETS ALONG THE RIVERFRONT HAVE SPECIAL MEANING FOR ME.

I SPENT A LOT TIME DOWN HERE AS A KID BECAUSE MY DAD WORKED AT THE "SWITZER FACTORY" JUST DOWN THE STREET.

BACK THEN ALL THIS WAS ALL FACTORIES, AND WAREHOUSES, AND AN OCCASIONAL CORNER SALOON.

FOR ME THESE BLOCKS WERE THE REAL LIFE SETTING FOR THE STORIES THE OLDER FOLKS IN MY FAMILY TOLD AND RE-TELL EVERY TIME THEY GOT TOGETHER.

STORIES THAT ACTUALLY BEGIN IN IRELAND.

WHILE MOST OF IRELAND WAS STARVING DURING THE POTATO FAMINE, THE CITY OF DUBLIN WAS SPARED THE WORST OF THE HUNGER.

MANY PEOPLE OF THE UPPER CLASSES MOVED THERE FROM THE COUNTRYSIDE AND WERE HAPPY TO SPEND THEIR MONEY ON WHATEVER THE CITY HAD TO OFFER.

BERNARD AND CATHERINE MURPHY HAD A SMALL SHOP IN THE HEART OF THE CITY, SELLING MUFFINS AND CHOCOLATES.

ADS IN THE LOCAL PAPERS BRAGGED THAT "MURPHY IS ENABLED TO SELL LOZENGES, COMFITS AND OTHER SWEETS OF THE NEWEST AND MOST VARIED DESCRIPTIONS AT A LOWER PRICE THAN ANY HOUSE IN DUBLIN."

BUT IN 1849 BERNARD DIED, AND IT WAS UP TO CATHERINE AND HER FOUR BOYS TO CARRY ON THE BUSINESS.

THE YOUNGEST OF THEM WAS JOE, WHO WAS ONLY TWO WHEN HIS FATHER DIED.

GROWING UP WORKING IN THE THE CANDY SHOP, JOE DEVELOPED HIS OWN TECHNIQUES WITH CHOCOLATE AND CARAMELS, CREATING NEW CANDIES FOR THEIR CLIENTELE.

BUT HE WAS ALSO A DREAMER, AND BEFORE HE WAS 20, HE JOINED THE FENIAN MOVEMENT, AN ORGANIZATION OF YOUNG MEN AND WOMEN DEDICATED TO IRISH INDEPENDENCE.

AFTER SEVEN CENTURIES OF ENGLISH OCCUPATION, THE IDEA OF DYING FOR IRELAND HAD A STRONG ROMANTIC APPEAL TO MANY YOUNG IRISH.

IN 1867 HE AND EIGHT THOUSAND FELLOW FENIANS STAGED AN UPRISING ON THE OUTSKIRTS OF DUBLIN.

LIKE MOST IRISH REBELLIONS, IT WAS QUICKLY SUPPRESSED.

MURPHY ESCAPED, BUT THE BRITISH FOUND HIS NAME ON A LIST OF REBELS.

IF THEY CAUGHT HIM, THEY'D HANG HIM.

HE WENT UNDERGROUND UNTIL HE COULD BOOK STEERAGE CLASS ON A SHIP TO AMERICA.

[HORN BLOWS] HE ARRIVED AT CASTLE GARDEN ON THE NEW YORK BATTERY IN 1870 WITH THE CLOTHES ON HIS BACK AND A TALENT FOR MAKING CANDY.

HE WORKED IN A VARIETY OF CANDY FACTORIES ALONG THE EAST COAST OVER THE NEXT FEW YEARS, LEARNING AMERICAN MANUFACTURING TECHNIQUES -- AND IN 1879 HE APPEARED FOR THE FIRST TIME IN THE ST. LOUIS CITY DIRECTORY AS A "CONFECTIONER."

ST. LOUIS AT THE TIME WAS THE SCENE OF A GROWING CANDY INDUSTRY, AND MURPHY FOUND A JOB AT THE "DUNHAM COCONUT FACTORY", WHERE HE MET A YOUNG WOMAN BY THE NAME OF MARGARET SWITZER.

THEY MARRIED IN 1881 AT THE "CHURCH OF ST. LAURENCE O'TOOLE" ON THE CITY'S NORTH SIDE.

HE WAS 34.

SHE WAS 17.

♪♪ THE SWITZERS HAD ARRIVED IN ST. LOUIS A FEW YEARS EARLIER.

AND IF SWITZER DOESN'T HAVE THE RING OF A TYPICAL IRISH NAME, IT'S BECAUSE THE SCHWEITZERS, ORIGINALLY CAME FROM WHAT IS TODAY GERMANY BEFORE MOVING TO IRELAND IN THE 1700S -- WHERE THEY SETTLED IN COUNTY LIMERICK AND CHANGED THEIR NAME TO SWITZER.

ONE FIFTH OF THE POPULATION OF LIMERICK DIED OR EMIGRATED DURING THE FAMINE, AND IN 1851 THE YOUNGEST OF THE SWITZER CLAN, 24 YEAR OLD MICHAEL, BOOKED PASSAGE TO AMERICA, WHERE HE MET AND MARRIED MARGARET MORKIN WHO HAD EMIGRATED FROM COUNTY TIPPERARY.

[HORN BLOWS] THE VOYAGE THAT IMMIGRANTS LIKE MICHAEL AND MARGARET MADE TO AMERICA IN THE 1850S WAS ALMOST AS DANGEROUS AS REMAINING IN IRELAND.

COFFIN SHIPS, THE IRISH CALLED THE BOATS THAT CARRIED THEM TO AMERICA.

IN A LETTER TO HER FAMILY, MARGARET SENT ADVICE TO THOSE WHO MIGHT FOLLOW HER: "YOU MUST PUT A NEW FACE ON YOU, WHAT ALL MEN HAVE TO DO COMING TO THIS NEW WORLD.

HAVE GOOD FAITH.

NEVER GIVE UP.

WITHOUT FAITH IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO PLEASE GOD AND HE THAT BELIEVETH NOT SHALL BE CONDEMNED."

♪♪ NEWLYWEDS MICHAEL AND MARGARET SWITZER SETTLED IN ST. LOUIS'S IRISH SLUM OF KERRY PATCH AND STARTED A FAMILY.

MICHAEL WORKED, AS MANY OF THE IRISH DID, ON THE STEAMBOATS LINING THE RIVERFRONT.

THE YOUNG COUPLE'S LIFE WASN'T EASY, BUT BETTER THAN IT HAD BEEN IN THE OLD COUNTRY -- UNTIL A SEPTEMBER AFTERNOON IN 1865 WHEN MICHAEL LOST HIS LIFE.

TOM: HE DROWNED IN THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER.

AS A RESULT OF THAT THERE WAS AN INQUEST, A CORONER'S INQUEST, AND APPARENTLY HE HAD BEEN DRINKING DURING LUNCH PERHAPS AND SLIPPED OFF THE BARGE WHERE HE WAS WORKING AND THEY FOUND HIM FLOATING AT THE FOOT OF PINE STREET.

PATRICK: HIS WIDOW MARGARET SOLD GROCERIES FROM A SMALL SHOP IN KERRY PATCH TO SUPPORT HER THREE CHILDREN: MARGARET, WHO WOULD GROW UP TO MARRY JOE MURPHY -- THE FIERCELY INDEPENDENT MARY ELLEN -- AND THE YOUNGEST, FRED -- WHO WAS BARELY A MONTH OLD WHEN HIS FATHER DIED.

THROUGH YEARS OF GRINDING POVERTY, MARGARET MORKIN SWITZER TAUGHT HER CHILDREN THAT SURVIVAL WOULD DEPEND ON TWO THINGS -- HARD WORK AND STRICT FAMILY LOYALTY -- LESSONS THEY NEVER FORGOT.

SO, YEARS LATER, WHEN JOSEPH MURPHY AND MARGARET SWITZER MARRIED, THEY MOVED INTO A TENEMENT JUST A FEW BLOCKS FROM MARGARET'S FAMILY IN KERRY PATCH.

KERRY PATCH WAS ORIGINALLY SETTLED ON AN OPEN STRETCH OF LAND ON THE NORTHWESTERN EDGE OF DOWNTOWN BY A GROUP OF IMMIGRANTS FROM COUNTY KERRY.

AFTER 1845 A FLOOD OF IRISH, ESCAPING THE FAMINE, ARRIVED IN ST. LOUIS, TURNING KERRY PATCH INTO A SPRAWLING NEIGHBORHOOD, DOMINATED BY GANGS.

ST. LOUIS WAS NOT UNFAMILIAR WITH POVERTY BUT THE DEGREE OF IRISH POVERTY WAS SOMETHING NEW.

THE HOSPITALITY THE CITY TYPICALLY EXTENDED TO NEWCOMERS WAS NOT THERE FOR THE IRISH.

EVEN IN A CITY NAMED FOR A SAINT, NATIVIST, ANTI--CATHOLIC SENTIMENTS SPREAD QUICKLY.

CARTOONS OF THE LAZY, DRUNKEN PADDY WERE POPULAR IN THE NEWSPAPERS, AND SIGNS PROCLAIMING "NO IRISH NEED APPLY" APPEARED IN SHOP WINDOWS AND ON FACTORY GATES.

AS LATE AS 1878, A CITY GUIDE DESCRIBED ITS IRISH POPULATION AS "POOR BUT INDEPENDENT -- WHOSE CHIEF AMUSEMENTS CONSIST OF PUNCHING EACH OTHER'S EYES."

JOE AND MARGARET MURPHY AND HER YOUNGER BROTHER FRED KNEW THAT THERE WERE TWO KINDS OF PEOPLE IN THEIR WORLD -- IRISH CATHOLICS AND EVERYONE ELSE -- AND ANY SUCCESS THEY WOULD HAVE WOULD BE OF THEIR OWN MAKING.

WE DON'T KNOW WHICH OF THE THREE CAME UP WITH THE IDEA -- MOST LIKELY THE PRACTICALLY MINDED MARGARET -- BUT IT MADE SENSE TO COMBINE HER HUSBAND'S CANDY--MAKING SKILLS WITH HER BROTHER'S KERRY PATCH STREET SMARTS.

JOE BEGAN MAKING PENNY CANDY IN THEIR KITCHEN, AND FRED SOLD IT FROM A PUSHCART ALONG THE LEVEE.

MICHAEL: WHAT I FIND AMAZING IS THE SENSE OF POSSIBILITIES THEY MUST HAVE FELT.

AS FRED AND JOE WERE IN THAT KITCHEN, WORKING WITH THE SUGAR, TRYING TO FIGURE OUT HOW THEY COULD COME UP WITH SOMETHING SPECIAL, THERE WAS A SENSE, AN INCREDIBLE SENSE, OF POSSIBILITY, OF WHAT THEY COULD DO.

I BELIEVE THEY FELT THAT THE DREAM WAS PURE.

THAT IF THEY CAME UP WITH A BETTER IDEA THAT THEY WOULD BE SUCCESSFUL.

AND THEY WOULD TAKE THEIR RIGHTFUL PLACE IN -- IN THE HEAD OF THEIR INDUSTRY.

AND THAT'S WHAT I REALLY LOVE ABOUT IT.

IT WAS THE PURE AMERICAN DREAM, UNFETTERED.

PATRICK: IT WORKED, AND IN 1886 THEY MOVED THE "MURPHY-SWITZER CANDY COMPANY" INTO A SMALL BUILDING ON FIRST STREET, WHICH TODAY WOULD BE LOCATED BETWEEN THE LEGS OF THE GATEWAY ARCH.

A PHOTOGRAPH TAKEN AT THE TIME CAPTURES THE COMPANY'S EMPLOYEES LINED UP ALONG THE SIDEWALK IN FRONT OF THE FACTORY.

EVERYONE IS SERIOUS, EYES FIXED ON THE CAMERA.

THE WOMEN CLUSTER TOGETHER IN THE MIDDLE.

THE MEN ASSUME DELIBERATELY CASUAL POSES.

SEVERAL OF THE WORKERS APPEAR TO BE CHILDREN.

AND STANDING BEHIND THEIR EMPLOYEES ARE FRED SWITZER IN A BOWLER HAT AND JOE MURPHY AT 5'4" PEEKING OUT FROM BEHIND TWO OF THE WOMEN.

THE COMPANY DID WELL, SELLING A VARIETY OF GUMS AND PENNY CANDIES.

UNTIL A SERIES OF FINANCIAL COLLAPSES SWEPT THE COUNTRY.

TODAY THE PANIC OF 1893 IS A LARGELY FORGOTTEN ECONOMIC DEPRESSION OF LONG AGO, BUT AT THE TIME IT WAS AN UNPRECEDENTED EVENT THAT ROCKED THE COUNTRY.

UNEMPLOYMENT HIT 20%.

600 BANKS AND 15,000 BUSINESSES FAILED, INCLUDING "MURPHY-SWITZER CANDY COMPANY".

LATE THAT YEAR TWO BROTHERS, CRAWFORD AND CHARLES KENDRICK TOOK OWNERSHIP OF THE COMPANY.

RICH, SINGLE, HANDSOME AND CHARMING, THE KENDRICKS WERE THE TOAST OF ST. LOUIS SOCIETY.

SO IT WAS QUITE A SURPRISE WHEN THEY QUITE UNEXPECTEDLY LEFT TOWN IN MARCH OF 1895 ONE STEP AHEAD OF THE LAW.

APPARENTLY THEY HAD BEEN SUPPORTING THEIR ENTERPRISES BY KITING MONEY AMONG THEIR COMPANIES -- INCLUDING THE "MURPHY-SWITZER CANDY COMPANY".

THEIR HOUSE OF CARDS HAD COLLAPSED.

♪♪ FRED'S OLDER SISTER MARY ELLEN, CAME TO THE RESCUE.

MARY ELLEN IS REMEMBERED IN THE FAMILY AS A BLACK-EYED FORCE OF NATURE.

SHE LEFT HOME AT 18, MARRIED A HORSE TRADER AND TRAVELLED THROUGHOUT THE WEST.

AFTER SEVERAL YEARS OF ADVENTURES SHE RETURNED TO ST. LOUIS, SINGLE AND UNREPENTANT.

MARY ELLEN WADED INTO THE SHAMBLES OF THE "MURPHY-SWITZER COMPANY", CASHED IN SOME OF HER HORSE-TRADING MONEY AND LOANED IT TO HER LITTLE BROTHER, WHO BOUGHT THE INVENTORY, AND MOVED IT TO A WAREHOUSE ACROSS THE STREET.

NOW IT WAS THE "SWITZER CANDY COMPANY", AND 30 YEAR OLD FREDERICK SWITZER WAS ITS PRESIDENT.

AND SO IT WAS IN THE YEAR OF 1895 THAT JOSEPH MURPHY, MARRIED TO FRED'S SISTER -- AND BY NOW THE FATHER OF FOUR YOUNG BOYS -- FOUND HIMSELF NO LONGER THE HEAD OF A CANDY COMPANY, AND NO LONGER EMPLOYED.

♪♪ AMONG THE IRISH IT IS SAID TO BE A COMPLIMENT TO BE ABLE TO TELL A MAN TO GO TO HELL IN A WAY THAT MAKES HIM LOOK FORWARD TO THE TRIP.

WELL JOE MURPHY HAD THAT TALENT AND THAT'S EXACTLY THE MESSAGE HE GAVE TO HIS BROTHER-IN-LAW BEFORE HE PACKED UP HIS FAMILY AND MOVING TO BOSTON.

JOE GOT A JOB WITH THE NEW ENGLAND CONFECTIONERY COMPANY, WHICH WAS JUST COMING OUT WITH A NEW CANDY THEY CALLED THE "NECCO WAFER".

THOSE WERE GOOD DAYS FOR THE FAMILY.

THEY MOVED INTO A HOUSE ON THE BEACH IN NEARBY WINTHROP, MASSACHUSETTS.

THE OPEN SKY AND SMELL OF THE SEA MUST HAVE AMAZED MARGARET AND THE BOYS, WHO HAD NEVER SET FOOT OUT OF KERRY PATCH.

JOE BOUGHT A CAMERA AND TAUGHT HIMSELF HOW TO MAKE PHOTOGRAPHS ON GLASS PLATES.

THERE'S ONE OF MARGARET CLAD IN HER SWIM SUIT FROM HEAD TO TOE, POSING IN A BOAT.

HE'D ROUND UP THE BOYS JUST LONG ENOUGH TO TO SNAP THEIR PICTURE BEFORE THEY'D TAKE OFF AGAIN, RUNNING DOWN THE BEACH LIKE MONKEYS.

MEANWHILE, BACK IN ST. LOUIS, FRED SWITZER REALIZED THAT -- AS GOOD AS HE WAS AT SELLING CANDY -- HE DIDN'T KNOW HOW TO MAKE IT.

IT MUST HAVE BEEN AWKWARD, BUT HE TOOK THE TRAIN TO WINTHROP TO ASK HIS BROTHER-IN-LAW TO REJOIN THE COMPANY.

JOE MUST HAVE TAKEN SOME DELIGHT IN SWITZER'S VISIT, BECAUSE HE MEMORIALIZED IT IN ONE OF HIS PHOTOS.

THAT'S FRED IN THE STRAW HAT, LOOKING UNCOMFORTABLE.

JOE TOOK EVEN MORE DELIGHT IN TURNING HIM DOWN.

SWITZER DID WELL SELLING GUM AND PENNY CANDY MADE BY OTHER COMPANIES.

THEN HE PURCHASED THE FORMULA AND THE EQUIPMENT TO MANUFACTURE A HONEY-FLAVORED CANDY KISS CALLED THE YELLOW JACKET.

IT WAS SO SUCCESSFUL, HE RENAMED HIS BUSINESS THE "SWITZER YELLOW JACKET COMPANY", WHICH REMAINED THE COMPANY'S OFFICIAL NAME UNTIL WORLD WAR II.

HE DISTRIBUTED HIS CANDY THROUGH A NETWORK OF JOBBERS, CARRYING HIS PRODUCTS TO STORES THROUGHOUT THE REGION BY HORSE AND BUGGY.

HE EVEN CUT A DEAL WITH THE TOP TEN JOBBERS TO WORK EXCLUSIVELY WITH HIM.

AS NATIONAL DISTRIBUTION SYSTEMS DEVELOPED IN THE EARLY YEARS OF THE NEW CENTURY SWITZER'S PRODUCTS BEGAN SHOWING UP IN CITIES AND SMALL TOWNS ACROSS THE COUNTRY.

HE CREATED AN INCENTIVE SYSTEM WHERE SALESMEN COULD EARN POINTS BY SELLING HIS CANDY AND REDEEM THEM FOR PRIZES.

IN ADDITION TO SELLING CANDY, HE TRADED MOLASSES, SUGAR, AND OTHER RAW MATERIALS TO OTHER MANUFACTURERS IN A GROWING CANDY INDUSTRY.

FRED SWITZER WAS GAINING A REPUTATION AS AN UP AND COMING YOUNG BUSINESSMAN -- SOMEONE TO WATCH.

A BORN SALESMAN, HE NEVER MISSED A MARKETING OPPORTUNITY.

NOT MANY BUSINESS OWNERS WOULD HAVE SEEN A CHANCE TO PROMOTE CANDY DURING A STREETCAR STRIKE -- BUT FRED SWITZER DID.

IN THE SUMMER OF 1900, 3,000 ST. LOUIS' STREETCAR WORKERS WENT ON STRIKE, DEMANDING BETTER WAGES AND WORKING CONDITIONS.

THEIR CAUSE WAS A POPULAR ONE, CHAMPIONED BY THE VAST MAJORITY OF WORKING CLASS ST. LOUISANS.

IN SUPPORT OF THE STRIKERS, NEIGHBORHOODS LIKE KERRY PATCH TORE UP THE TRACKS AND THREW GARBAGE OVER THE ELECTRIC WIRES.

THE STREETCAR COMPANIES DEPUTIZED 2,500 CIVILIANS INTO A HEAVILY ARMED POSSE, AND BY THE END OF THE STRIKE IN SEPTEMBER, 14 PEOPLE HAD BEEN KILLED AND 200 WOUNDED WITH EXTENSIVE PROPERTY DAMAGE.

BUT THAT JULY AN INTERESTING ARTICLE APPEARED IN THE POST--DISPATCH BENEATH A DRAWING OF SEVEN WOMEN AND THE HEADLINE "PRETTY CHEWING GUM GIRLS FORM A UNION".

THE STORY DESCRIBED HOW THE WOMEN EMPLOYED TO WRAP CHEWING GUM AT SWITZERS DECIDED TO FORM A UNION -- NOT BECAUSE THEY WERE UNHAPPY WITH THE $1.25 A DAY MR. SWITZER PAID THEM, OR THEIR 6 DAY WORK WEEK -- BUT BECAUSE, AS THE STORY RELATED, THEY WANTED TO SHOW SOLIDARITY WITH THE STRIKING WORKERS.

UNTIL THAT MOMENT THERE HAD BEEN NO RECORD OF FRED SWITZER EVER UTTERING A WORD OF SUPPORT FOR ORGANIZED LABOR, BUT ACCORDING TO THE PAPER, HE ACTUALLY HELPED THEM FORM THE LOCAL.

AND SO -- EVERY PIECE OF CHEWING GUM ISSUING FORTH FROM THE "SWITZER YELLOW JACKET COMPANY" WOULD, FROM THAT POINT ON, BE STAMPED WITH THE UNION LABEL, PROCLAIMING SOLIDARITY WITH ST. LOUIS' WORKING CLASS AND, AS IT TURNED OUT, BOOSTING SALES.

BUT SWITZER WANTED A PRODUCT THAT WAS DISTINCTLY HIS OWN.

AND HE NEEDED A BRAND THAT WOULD STAND UP TO ST. LOUIS SUMMERS, WHICH WERE TOUGH ON CHOCOLATE AND CARAMEL.

ONCE AGAIN, HE TURNED TO HIS BROTHER-IN-LAW, JOE MURPHY.

THIS TIME THINGS WENT BETTER.

JOE WAS HAVING PROBLEMS OF HIS OWN.

MARGARET MISSED HER ST. LOUS FAMILY.

AND SHE HAD A PLAN.

BELIEVING THAT HER BROTHER, WHO THOROUGHLY ENJOYED THE CARE FREE LIFE OF A BACHELOR, WOULD NEVER MARRY, SHE HOPED THAT HER BOYS WOULD SOME DAY GROW UP AND INHERIT THE OPERATION.

BUT TO MAKE THAT HAPPEN HER HUSBAND WOULD HAVE TO REJOIN THE COMPANY.

FRED AND JOE MADE A DEAL.

IF JOE COULD CREATE A CANDY ABLE TO HANDLE THE EXTREME SEASONS OF ST. LOUIS, FRED WOULD HIRE HIM AS HEAD OF PRODUCTION WITH GUARANTEED YEAR-ROUND EMPLOYMENT.

JOE, WITH HIS EXPERTISE IN EUROPEAN CANDY-MAKING TECHNIQUES, CREATED A CARAMEL BITE CALLED THE "BUTTERMEL".

ADVERTISEMENTS HAILED IT AS "DIFFERENT FROM ANY CANDY, NOT A BUTTERSCOTCH AND NOT A CARAMEL, BUT A DELIGHTFUL COMBINATION OF THE GOOD IN BOTH."

THE "BUTTEMEL" QUICKLY SURPASSED THE 'YELLOW JACKET" AS THE COMPANY'S TOP SELLER.

SO JOE THE SUGAR WHISPERER AND FRED THE SUPER-SALESMAN WERE REUNITED, THEIR EGOS INTACT, SETTING THE STAGE FOR THREE GENERATIONS OF MURPHYS AND SWITZERS TO WORK TOGETHER AT THE SWITZER CANDY COMPANY.

THE 20TH CENTURY WOULD TEST THEM, WITH TWO WORLD WARS, A DEPRESSION AND FAMILY DIFFERENCES, AS IT GREW INTO THE MAKER OF ONE OF THE NATION'S MOST POPULAR LICORICE BRANDS.

BUT NOT WITHOUT MORE THAN A FEW ROUGH SPOTS ALONG THE WAY.

♪♪ PATRICK: FRED SWITZER AND JOE MURPHY WERE A GOOD TEAM.

MURPHY CREATED A STRING OF POPULAR CANDY BRANDS AND SWITZER DEVELOPED CREATIVE WAYS TO SELL THEM.

THERE WAS THE "CHOCOLATE SOLDIER", ABLE TO STAND UP TO ST. LOUIS SUMMERS "LIKE A SOLDIER".

THE "BETTERSCOTCH" WAS A CHEWY LITTLE BURST OF FLAVOR.

ANOTHER BIG SELLER WAS THE "DELMAR CREAM".

IN A WORLD OF CARAMEL, TAFFY, COCONUT, AND CHOCOLATE, THERE SEEMED TO BE NO END TO THE POSSIBILITIES.

BY THE TURN OF THE CENTURY ST. LOUIS WAS THE FOURTH BIGGEST CITY IN AMERICA, A THRIVING MANUFACTURING CENTER, AND A PLACE TO TURN AMBITIONS INTO SERIOUS BUSINESS.

MICHAEL: THE WORLD'S EYES WERE ON ST.LOUIS.

PEOPLE WERE FASCINATED WITH THIS CITY IN THE MIDDLE OF THE COUNTRY.

I THINK THAT WAS PART OF THAT ENERGY IN ST. LOUIS, WAS HOW THEY COULD -- IF THEY COULD COME UP WITH SOMETHING NEW, OR NOVEL, OR INNOVATIVE THAT THEY COULD GET DISTRIBUTION ACROSS THE COUNTRY.

♪♪ PATRICK: BUT IN SPITE OF THEIR SUCCESS, A CERTAIN TENSION REMAINED BETWEEN JOE AND FRED.

MURPHY CONSIDERED HIMSELF AN ARTIST, AND KEPT HIS RECIPES A SECRET TO ENSURE THE QUALITY WAS NEVER COMPROMISED.

MARGARET KEPT THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN HER BROTHER AND HUSBAND AS FRIENDLY AS SHE COULD, BUT HER PLAN TO PASS THE BUSINESS ON TO HER BOYS CAME TO AN END IN 1905, WHEN FRED MARRIED A YOUNG WOMAN NAMED BESS KERN.

BESS AND MARGARET WERE NEVER CLOSE.

THE FAMILY HAD BEGUN A NEW CHAPTER.

KERRY PATCH WAS BEHIND THEM.

THE SWITZERS AND THE MURPHYS MOVED JUST DOWN THE STREET FROM EACH OTHER IN THE CITY'S WEST END.

THEY HAD MADE THE JOURNEY, AS THEY WOULD HAVE PUT IT, FROM SHANTY TO LACE CURTAIN.

BUT JOE MURPHY, EVER THE IRISH REBEL, NEVER GOT COMFORTABLE WITH THE IDEA OF WORKING FOR HIS YOUNGER BROTHER-IN-LAW.

SO, IN THE SUMMER OF 1909 HE ANNOUNCED THAT HE WAS RETURNING TO IRELAND FOR AN EXTENDED VISIT.

WHICH WAS INTERESTING, BECAUSE TECHNICALLY HE WAS STILL A FUGITIVE FROM HIS REBEL DAYS.

IT'S HARD TO TELL IF HE WAS MORE MOTIVATED TO VISIT FAMILY IN IRELAND, OR TO TAKE A BREAK FROM HIS FAMILY IN ST. LOUIS.

AS IT TURNED OUT, THE BRITISH HAD APPARENTLY LOST THEIR INTEREST IN HANGING JOE, AND AFTER A FEW MONTHS HE RETURNED AND RESUMED HIS DUTIES AT THE CANDY FACTORY.

BEFORE THE YEAR WAS OVER, JOE AND HIS FAMILY MOVED TO THE SUBURB OF WEBSTER GROVES, BEYOND THE NOISE AND POLLUTION OF THE CITY -- AND AN EASY COMMUTE BY TRAIN AND STREETCAR TO THE FACTORY.

THE SWITZERS FOLLOWED SUITE, BUYING A HOUSE A FEW MILES DOWN THE ROAD IN KIRKWOOD.

BUT THE BIG MOVE CAME IN THE SUMMER OF 1910 WHEN THE COMPANY MOVED ITS ENTIRE OPERATION TO A NEW BUILDING.

IT WAS TWICE THE SIZE OF THE OLD PLANT, STILL ON FIRST STREET BUT ADJACENT TO THE EADS BRIDGE WITH A GIANT BRICK WALL PERFECT FOR INFORMING ST. LOUIS THAT THIS WAS THE HOME OF "BUTTERMELLS".

DAN: AND SO, PEOPLE, EVERY DAY, AS THEY CAME IN AND OUT OF OUR CITY, THEY SAW THAT SIGN.

IT WAS JUST SUCH A POINT OF PRIDE FOR ST. LOUIS TO HAVE THE GREAT "SWITZER CANDY COMPANY" BE LOCATED HERE.

PATRICK: CONSTRUCTED IN 1874 FOR A STOVE MANUFACTURER, IT WAS MODERN FOR ITS DAY, WITH THICK, RED BRICK WALLS AND STURDY, OAK BEAMS.

ALL FIVE FLOORS WERE LINED WITH TALL WINDOWS, AND A STORY-HIGH, CAST-IRON FACADE RAN ALONG ITS ENTIRE FRONT ON FIRST STREET.

THE NEW FACTORY GAVE THEM SPACE TO CREATE NEW PRODUCTS, AND IN 1912 SWITZER CREATED AN ENTIRE DEPARTMENT DEDICATED TO PRODUCING LICORICE BRANDS.

LICORICE WAS GETTING TO BE A POPULAR ITEM IN AMERICAN CANDY STORES.

ITS TASTE WAS DIFFERENT, STRONG AND EXOTIC, AND LICORICE COULD BE MOLDED INTO ALL KINDS OF FUN SHAPES.

SO, IN ADDITION TO THE LINE UP OF GUMS, CARAMEL, AND CHOCOLATES WERE LICORICE CIGARS AND PIPES, LICORICE ROPES CALLED "JUMBO TWISTS" AND A SMALL LICORICE STICK -- THE "POPULAR".

AND THE SWEET AROMA OF LICORICE DRIFTED WITH THE BREEZE FROM THE RIVERFRONT, ACROSS THE FACTORY DISTRICT AND INTO DOWNTOWN.

IT WAS AN AROMA THAT GENERATIONS OF ST. LOUISANS WOULD COME TO KNOW, AND REMEMBER, AS THE SMELL OF SWITZER'S LICORICE.

♪♪ JOE AND MARGARET'S FOUR BOYS WERE GROWING UP.

THEY'D ALL, AT ONE TIME OR ANOTHER, WORKED AT THE FACTORY.

JOE TOOK PRIDE IN THEM -- THEY WEREN'T LIKE HIM WITH HIS BROGUE AND OLD WORLD WAYS.

THEY WERE REAL AMERICANS.

JOE WAS THE OLDEST, HANDSOME BUT MOODY.

JOE'S LIFE WAS NOT A LUCKY ONE.

HE LOST HIS WIFE AND CHILD IN THE 1919 FLU EPIDEMIC.

FRANCIS, MY GRANDFATHER, WAS THE EASY-GOING ONE, RELYING ON HIS SENSE OF HUMOR TO GET HIM THROUGH MOST SITUATIONS.

FRED HAD THE GIFT OF GAB -- WITH A REPUTATION FOR HOLDING ROOMS SPELLBOUND WITH HIS STORIES AND HIS CHARM.

BERNARD WAS THE YOUNGEST -- AND THE FEISTIEST.

AT A LITTLE OVER 5 FEET TALL HE'D DARE ANYONE TO MAKE A COMMENT ABOUT IT.

WHEN THE UNITED STATES ENTERED THE WAR IN APRIL OF 1917, FRANCIS, FRED AND BERNARD JOINED THE BALLOON CORPS.

THAT'S FRANCIS WITH THE MUSTACHE STANDING NEXT TO FRED.

WHEN THE BOYS GOT OUT OF THE SERVICE, JOE AND FRED GAVE THE FACTORY THEIR BEST SHOT, BUT JOE WAS TOO HOT-TEMPERED AND FRED TOO INDEPENDENT TO WORK FOR FAMILY.

IT WOULD BE UP TO FRANCIS AND BERNARD TO CARRY THE COMPANY INTO THE SECOND GENERATION.

THE 1920s WERE GOOD YEARS FOR THE CANDY BUSINESS.

IN THE BOOMING POST-WAR ECONOMY, THERE WERE PLENTY OF CUSTOMERS FOR LUXURIES, LARGE AND SMALL.

THE CORNER CANDY STORE BECAME A COMMON FIXTURE IN CITY NEIGHBORHOODS AND A POPULAR GATHERING PLACE FOR YOUNG PEOPLE.

COMPANIES LIKE "SWITZERS" BEGAN TO ADVERTISE AND DISTRIBUTE THEIR BRANDS NATIONALLY.

AND WITH SO MANY MEN AWAY DURING THE WAY, WOMEN WERE NOW A MAJOR PART OF SWITZER'S LABOR FORCE, AND WOULD SOON DEMAND BETTER PAY, AND BETTER WORKING CONDITIONS.

BUT AS THIS DECADE -- OF JAZZ, FLIVVERS, AND FLAPPERS CAME TO A CLOSE, THERE WOULD BE MAJOR, UNEXPECTED CHANGES IN AMERICAN'S DAILY LIVES -- ACROSS THE COUNTRY AND WITHIN THE SWITZER CANDY COMPANY.

IN THE EARLY YEARS OF THE GREAT DEPRESSION ST. LOUIS HAD ONE OF LARGEST "HOOVERVILLES" IN THE NATION.

NAMED IN DUBIOUS HONOR OF PRESIDENT HERBERT HOOVER, A COMMUNITY OF 5,000 UNEMPLOYED AND HOMELESS ST. LOUISANS LIVED IN MAKESHIFT SHELTERS STRETCHING A MILE ALONG THE RIVERFRONT.

UNEMPLOYMENT IN ST. LOUIS WAS 10% IN 1930.

BY 1933 IT HAD RISEN TO 35%.

THE BEER BUSINESS GOT A BOOST WHEN PROHIBITION ENDED IN 1933, BUT THE PRODUCTION OF SHOES, STEEL, IRON, AND CHEMICALS WAS CUT IN HALF BY MID-DECADE.

LOCAL GOVERNMENTS, CHURCHES AND NON-PROFITS SPONSORED BREAD LINES AND SOUP KITCHENS.

GOVERNMENT-SPONSORED CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS, INCLUDING A NEW CIVIC AUDITORIUM, SOLDIER'S MEMORIAL AND FEDERAL COURTHOUSE PUT THOUSANDS TO WORK, BUT THE WIDESPREAD SUFFERING WOULD NOT COME TO AN END UNTIL THE START OF WORLD WAR II.

ONE OF THE FEW INDUSTRIES SPARED IN ST. LOUIS AND ACROSS THE COUNTRY WAS THE CANDY INDUSTRY.

THE DEMAND FOR THE AFFORDABLE INDULGENCE ACTUALLY GREW DURING THE 30S, ENCOURAGING MAJOR CANDY MAKERS TO COME UP WITH NEW BRANDS LIKE THE "SNICKERS" BAR, "TOOTSIE POPS", "PAY DAY", "RED HOTS" AND "MARS BARS".

MICHAEL: I THINK IT'S REALLY INTERESTING TO ME THAT SO MANY OF THE CANDY COMPANIES WERE LEGACY COMPANIES.

THEY WERE FAMILY COMPANIES.

"MARS", FAMILY COMPANY, STILL ONE OF THE LARGEST PRIVATE COMPANIES IN AMERICA.

"HERSHEY'S" IS STILL CONTROLLED BY A PRIVATE TRUST.

THE GORDONS WITH "TOOTSIE' -- STILL OWN 'TOOTSIE".

THERE'S THIS SENSE THAT THIS IS A PRODUCT THAT IS A CHILD OF THEIRS.

IT'S SOMETHING THEY PROTECT.

PATRICK: CANDY WAS A PRODUCT LIKE NO OTHER -- BRINGING A NATION DOWN ON ITS LUCK EXOTIC SENSATIONS LIKE SWEET AND SOUR, CHEWY AND TANGY.

COSTING JUST PENNIES, IT OFFERED MOMENTS OF RESPITE FROM A SEEMINGLY HOPELESS TIME.

♪♪ JOSEPH BERNARD MURPHY DID NOT LIVE TO SEE MUCH OF THIS TUMULTUOUS DECADE.

HE DIED ON SEPTEMBER 29, 1932 AT THE AGE OF 85.

HIS LIFE HAD BEEN A REMARKABLE ONE, SPANNING TWO CENTURIES AND TWO CONTINENTS.

HE HAD BEEN A 19TH CENTURY REVOLUTIONARY AND A 20TH CENTURY CAPITALIST.

BUT HE HAD ALWAYS BEEN A ROMANTIC, BELIEVING IT WAS POSSIBLE TO DEFEAT THE BRITISH EMPIRE WITH STICKS AND ROCKS, AND THAT THE FUTURE COULD BE BUILT UPON A FOUNDATION OF CHOCOLATE AND CARAMEL.

♪♪ BETWEEN 1906 AND 1916, FRED SWITZER AND HIS WIFE BESS HAD FIVE SONS AND THREE DAUGHTERS.

THE GIRLS PURSUED OTHER INTERESTS, BUT AT ONE TIME OR ANOTHER ALL OF THE BOYS WORKED AT THE PLANT.

BUT ONLY TWO MADE IT THEIR LIFETIME CAREER.

JOHN, WITH MOVIE STAR GOOD LOOKS, WAS QUIET, SERIOUS -- AND BY THE EARLY THIRTIES HAD ASSUMED HIS FATHER'S JOB AS PRESIDENT.

JOE WAS A TALENTED AMATEUR GOLFER WHO DEVELOPED A NETWORK OF CLIENTS AND PUBLICITY BY PARTICIPATING IN GOLF TOURNAMENTS ACROSS THE COUNTY.

A THIRD BROTHER, FRED JR., WAS AN ATTORNEY -- AND THOUGH HE NEVER ACTUALLY WORKED AT THE FACTORY, HE SERVED AS A LEVEL HEADED SOUNDING BOARD FOR HIS BROTHERS.

IT WASN'T EASY FOR FRANCIS AND BERNARD TO WORK FOR THEIR YOUNGER SWITZER COUSINS.

THEIR FATHER JOE WAS A COMPANY FOUNDER, BUT THEY WERE EMPLOYEES.

THEY WERE RAISED IN KERRY PATCH, THE SWITZERS GREW UP IN THE SUBURBS.

THE MURPHYS HAD RISEN FROM POVERTY TO THE MIDDLE CLASS, BUT THE SWITZERS HAD GROWN WEALTHY.

♪♪ THEIR VACATIONS, MARRIAGES, AND CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES WERE OFTEN MENTIONED IN THE SOCIETY COLUMNS.

THE MURPHYS AND THE SWITZERS STILL WORKED SIDE BY SIDE IN THE FACTORY, AND THEY WERE STILL FAMILY, BUT THEY WERE NOT SOCIAL EQUALS, AND BEYOND THE WALLS OF THE FACTORY, THE LIVES OF THIS SECOND GENERATION BARELY OVERLAPPED.

IN SPITE OF THE SUCCESS FRED SWITZER HAD EARNED DURING HIS LIFE, HE ESSENTIALLY REMAINED A PRODUCT OF KERRY PATCH, UNIMPRESSED BY HIS OWN WEALTH.

HARRIET: GRANDPA WAS JUST OLD SHOE.

TOWARD THE END OF HIS LIFE HE REALLY WOULD NOT LET GRANDMA BUY HIM NEW SUITS, AND I EVEN HEARD THE MYTH THAT HE AT ONE POINT REFUSED TO TAKE HIS SUIT OFF AND WENT TO BED IN HIS SUIT SO SHE WOULDN'T TOUCH THEM.

THEY WERE AT MASS ONE TIME, GRANDMA AND GRANDPA, AND GRANDPA DIDN'T LIKE THE HOMILST, HE DIDN'T LIKE WHAT HE WAS SAYING, SO HE STOOD UP AND SAID, "I'M NOT GONNA SIT HERE AND LISTEN TO THAT," AND HE GOT UP AND MARCHED OUT THE DOOR, AND THAT WAS THAT.

[LAUGHS] ♪♪ PATRICK: FRED WAS USED TO CALLING THE SHOTS, BUT AT LEAST AT THE FACTORY THAT WOULD CHANGE.

THE GREAT DEPRESSION WAS TURNING MUCH OF THE OLD WAY OF DOING BUSINESS ON ITS HEAD.

MASSIVE JOBLESSNESS HAD GIVEN EMPLOYERS THE UPPER HAND IN SETTING THE RULES, AND MANY WORKING MEN AND WOMEN WERE BEGINNING TO SEE THEIR BEST CHANCES FOR A BETTER LIFE IN THE COUNTRY'S GROWING ORGANIZED LABOR MOVEMENT.

FOR THE PAST HALF CENTURY "SWITZER'S" WORKERS HAD LITTLE LEVERAGE IN NEGOTIATING WORKING CONDITIONS.

BUT IN OCTOBER OF 1937 THE "UNITED CANDY WORKERS' ORGANIZED THE EMPLOYEES OF THE "SWITZER CANDY COMPANY" AND BECAME THEIR BARGAINING AGENT, BRINGING THEM HIGHER WAGES AND SHORTER WORKING HOURS.

IT WAS THE BEGINNING OF A NEW ERA IN LABOR RELATIONS FOR "SWITZERS" AS WELL AS COMPANIES ACROSS AMERICA.

REGARDLESS OF CHANGES WITHIN THE INDUSTRY, FRED SWITZER HAD ALWAYS HAD A KEEN EYE FOR A MARKETING OPPORTUNITY.

THE 1930s BROUGHT SOMETHING NEW INTO AMERICAN HOMES, RADIO.

AND SWITZER SAW THE OPPORTUNITY TO CONNECT WITH MORE CUSTOMERS MORE EASILY THAN EVER BEFORE.

BECAUSE IT WAS CANDY, THE MESSAGE HAD TO BE FUN, SO HE SPONSORED A WEEKLY QUIZ SHOW ON "KWK" CALLED "FUN WITH MR. TWISTER", BROADCAST LIVE FROM THE STAGE OF THE "FOX THEATRE".

♪♪ SOME OF FRED SWITZER'S MARKETING INSPIRATIONS CAME FROM THE MOST UNLIKELY PLACES.

TOWARD THE END OF THE DECADE EUROPE WAS PREPARING FOR WAR, AND THOUGH U.S. INVOLVEMENT STILL SEEMED A LONG SHOT, INTEREST IN ALL THINGS MILITARY WAS ON THE RISE.

IN 1938 "SWITZER'S" RESPONDED BY CREATING A COLLECTOR'S SET OF 100 ARMY AIR CORPS INSIGNIA CARDS AND INCLUDED THEM IN PENNY PACKS OF "SWITZER'S LICORICE" CIGARETTES.

JUST TWO YEARS LATER IT WAS CLEAR TO ALL BUT THE MOST ISOLATIONIST AMERICANS THAT IT WAS ONLY A MATTER OF TIME BEFORE THE UNITED STATES WAS PULLED INTO WHAT WAS TURNING INTO A SECOND WORLD WAR.

AND IT LOOKED AS IF SUGAR, THE KEY INGREDIENT OF SWITZER'S CANDY, WOULD EVENTUALLY BE RATIONED AS PART OF THE WAR EFFORT.

IN 1940 THE COMPANY RETOOLED ITS ENTIRE OPERATION TO PRODUCE AN ALL-LICORICE PRODUCT LINE.

"CHOCOLATE SOLDIERS", "BUTTERMELS", ALL OF THE OLD FAVORITES WENT OUT OF PRODUCTION.

LICORICE HAD BEEN A SEPARATE DEPARTMENT FOR YEARS, BUT NOW ALL OF THE THE COMPANY'S RESOURCES TURNED TO PRODUCING AND SELLING ITS NEW LINE--UP OF OLD FASHIONED TWISTS, BITES, AND THE LICORICE BAR.

THE COMPANY EVEN CHANGED ITS NAME FROM THE "SWITZER YELLOW JACKET COMPANY" TO "SWITZER'S LICORICE".

THE REASON LICORICE COULD SAVE THE DAY IS BECAUSE THE EXTRACT OF THE LICORICE ROOT IS 50 TIMES SWEETER THAN THAN SUGAR.

IT'S HISTORY GOES BACK TO ANCIENT DAYS, WHEN IT MADE ITS WAY FROM PERSIA TO THE MEDITERRANEAN AND WAS HAILED, SOMEWHAT DUBIOUSLY, AS A CURE FOR EVERYTHING FROM HANGOVERS TO HOT FLASHES.

IN THE 17TH CENTURY IT WAS CULTIVATED BY MONKS IN PONTEFRACT, ENGLAND, AND EVENTUALLY ENDED UP IN THE AMERICAN COLONIES.

♪♪ IT WAS A MAJOR CHANGE THAT WOULD DEFINE THE COMPANY TO POST-WAR GENERATIONS.

THE GIANT LICORICE BAR PAINTED ON THE FACTORY WALL, AND THE THICK AROMA WAFTING OVER DOWNTOWN WOULD BECOME A PART OF THE COLLECTIVE MEMORy OF ST. LOUISANS FOR YEARS TO COME.

[TRAIN WHISTLE BLOWS] WHILE SWITZER'S WAS RE--INVENTING ITSELF, THE CITY OF ST. LOUIS WAS PREPARING FOR THE GREATEST TRANSFORMATION OF ITS RIVERFRONT BLOCKS SINCE THE GREAT FIRE OF 1849.

THROUGHOUT THE YEARS OF THE GREAT DEPRESSION THERE WAS TALK OF TEARING DOWN ST. LOUIS' MANUFACTURING DISTRICT AND CREATING SOME KIND OF A NATIONAL PARK -- A TRIBUTE TO THOMAS JEFFERSON AND THE LOUISIANA PURCHASE.

IN THE MIDST OF A DEPRESSION THERE WAS LITTLE INTEREST IN HISTORICAL PRESERVATION, AND LOCAL BOOSTERS SAW IT AS AN OPPORTUNITY TO CREATE JOBS AND INCREASE PROPERTY VALUES DOWNTOWN.

ON OCTOBER 9, 1939 A CROWD GATHERED NEAR THE RIVER TO WATCH ST. LOUIS MAYOR BERNARD DICKMANN TAKE A HAMMER TO KNOCK OUT THE FIRST BRICKS FOR A PROJECT THAT WOULD, OVER THE NEXT THREE YEARS, LEVEL 40 BLOCKS ACROSS 90 ACRES.

AMONG THE 500 BUILDINGS THAT WERE DESTROYED WERE THE FIRST TWO SWITZER FACTORIES.

AND FOR THE NEXT 20 YEARS WHAT HAD BEEN ST. LOUIS MANUFACTURING AND WAREHOUSE DISTRICT WOULD BE NOTHING MORE THAN A GIANT PATCH OF RUBBLE EXTENDING SOUTH FROM THE EADS BRIDGE, PROVIDING AN EXCELLENT VIEW OF THE "SWITZER CANDY COMPANY".

♪♪ IT WAS CLEAR THAT THE END OF THE WAR WOULD BRING A NEW WORLD, BUT NO ONE WAS QUITE SURE WHAT THAT WORLD WOULD LOOK LIKE.

NEW STYLES IN AUTOMOBILES, ARCHITECTURE, AND MUSIC REFLECTED CHANGES IN POPULAR TASTES.

NEW HIGHWAYS WERE BRINGING FAMILIES FROM OUT OF THE CITY TO NEW SUBDIVISIONS BUILT ON TOP OF CORNFIELDS.

A NEW SWITZER'S LETTERHEAD REFLECTED THIS SPIRIT OF POST-WAR PIZZAZ.

A MODERN RENDITION OF THE OLD FACTORY ROSE ABOVE A FANTASTICAL GRID OF PARKS, FOUNTAINS AND SCULPTURES ALONG THE RIVER, HOPING TO PORTRAY THE OPTIMISM OF THE NEW AGE.

BUT BEHIND THAT OPTIMISM WAS UNCERTAINTY.

AND NO ONE AT THE COMPANY COULD POSSIBLY HAVE ANTICIPATED THE CHANGES YET TO COME.

♪♪ ♪♪ PATRICK: ONE THING WAS CERTAIN.

"SWITZERS" WOULD STICK WITH LICORICE.

SALES DURING THE WAR HAD SET IT ON A PATH TO BECOMING ONE OF THE NATION'S LARGEST PRODUCERS OF LICORICE CANDY.

IT HAD BEEN MORE THAN SIXTY YEARS SINCE THOSE FIRST BATCHES OF PENNY CANDY WERE PRODUCED IN THE KERRY PATCH KITCHEN OF MARGARET SWITZER MURPHY.

MARGARET LIVED ANOTHER 12 YEARS AFTER THE PASSING OF HER HUSBAND, REIGNING AS THE MATRIARCH OF THE MURPHY FAMILY FROM HER WEBSTER GROVES HOME.

ON DECEMBER 28, 1944 SHE DIED AT THE AGE OF 80.

SHE HAD ALWAYS BEEN THE GLUE THAT HELD THE PARTNERSHIP OF HER HUSBAND AND BROTHER TOGETHER.

IN HER LATER YEARS, SOME YOUNGER FAMILY MEMBERS FOUND HER INTIMIDATING.

BUT THEY COULD NOT HAVE KNOWN OR UNDERSTOOD THE POVERTY OF KERRY PATCH OR THE HARDSHIP OF RAISING FOUR SONS WHILE MARRIED TO A MAN WITH HALF HIS HEART IN IRELAND.

HER BROTHER FRED WAS 80 YEARS OLD WHEN THE WAR ENDED.

THE-DAY-TO DAY OPERATION OF THE PLANT HAD PASSED TO THE NEXT GENERATION OF SWITZERS AND MURPHYS.

HE AND BESS HAD 20 GRANDCHILDREN BY THEN AND HIS GREATEST JOY WAS SPENDING TIME WITH THEM.

HARRIET: AFTER MASS ON SUNDAYS, WE WOULD GO OVER AND VISIT WITH HIM, AND HE WOULD BE IN THIS BIG WING-BACKED CHAIR BY THE FIREPLACE.

AND HE WOULD -- HE WOULD GREET US WITH OPEN ARMS AND GIVE US A HUG AND A KISS AND A LICORICE BAR AND A DOLLAR BILL.

AND THEN WE WENT OFF AND DO OUR OWN THINGS.

[LAUGHS] PATRICK: IN THE AUTUMN OF 1949 HE CAUGHT A COLD, NOT A PARTICULARLY BAD ONE, SO IT SEEMED.

ON SUNDAY MORNING OCTOBER 23 HE DECIDED TO SKIP 7:00 MASS WITH BESS.

HE POURED HIMSELF A CUP OFF COFFEE AND 30 MINUTES LATER DIED INSTANTLY OF A PULMONARY EMBOLISM.

IT WAS THE END OF A LONG JOURNEY BY A SELF MADE MAN.

♪♪ HARRIET: HE CAME FROM NOWHERE, REALLY, KERRY PATCH TO WHERE HE WAS THIS WEALTHY EXECUTIVE, PRESIDENT OF THE "SWITZER LICORICE COMPANY", HE WAS COMPETITIVE, A FIERCELY COMPETITIVE BUSINESS MAN.

BUT A LOVING, LOVING FATHER OF EIGHT.

AND A SWEET, SWEET MAN FOR HIS GRANDCHILDREN.

HE DIDN'T WANT THEM TO EVER EXPERIENCED WHAT HE HAD EXPERIENCED.

♪♪ PATRICK: THAT SECOND GENERATION OF SWITZER AND MURPHY COUSINS HAD THEIR WORK CUT OUT FOR THEM.

AS THE COUNTRY MADE THE SHIFT FROM WAR TO PEACE, COMPETITION WAS GROWING IN EVERY CORNER OF THE ECONOMY TO GET A PIECE OF THIS NEW WORLD.

TASTES WERE CHANGING.

AND THERE WAS NO GUARANTEE THAT LICORICE, PARTICULARLY OLD FASHIONED LICORICE, WOULD CONTINUE TO BE IN DEMAND.

THE FIRST STEP WAS TO MODERNIZE THE OPERATION AND UPDATE THE COMPANY'S IMAGE, AND IT WOULD TAKE MORE THAN A NEW LETTERHEAD TO ACCOMPLISH THAT.

SO, "SWITZER'S OLD FASHIONED LICORICE" GOT A NOT SO OLD FASHIONED LOOK, DRESSED UP IN HIGH CONTRAST COLORS OF YELLOW AND BLACK.

CARTOON TWINS HY-ENJOYMENT AND LO-CALORIE EMBODIED THE NEW SPIRIT AS THEY DECLARED IN A SERIES OF ADS THAT THEY WERE "BEST TOGETHER IN DELICIOUS SWITZER'S LICORICE."

THE COMPANY INTRODUCED A NEW PRODUCT, CHERRY RED, AND THOUGH IT WASN'T TECHNICALLY LICORICE, IT ENDED UP OUTSELLING THE TRADITIONAL BLACK WITHIN A FEW YEARS.

THE POST-WAR YEARS BROUGHT OTHER CHANGES, POSING EVEN GREATER CHALLENGES TO BUSINESS AS USUAL.

PENT UP DEMANDS DURING THE WAR FOR HIGHER WAGES AND BETTER WORKING CONDITIONS RESULTED IN SO MANY STRIKES ACROSS THE COUNTRY, THAT IN 1947 A NERVOUS CONGRESS PASSED THE TAFT-HARTLEY ACT, SEVERELY RESTRICTING LABOR'S RIGHT TO ORGANIZE.

LABOR'S REACTION WAS TO DOUBLE DOWN AND FIGHT BACK.

IN ST. LOUIS THE UNION MOVEMENT WAS LED BY TEAMSTERS LEADER HAROLD GIBBONS, A PROTEGE OF JIMMY HOFFA WHO, THROUGH A COMBINATION OF CHARM AND TOUGHNESS, SHAPED "TEAMSTERS LOCAL 688" INTO A FORCE TO BE DEALT WITH, IN BUSINESS AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT.

IN SEPTEMBER OF 1950 "TEAMSTERS" NEGOTIATED A CONTRACT WITH "SWITZERS" TO REPRESENT A MAJORITY OF ITS 180 WORKERS.

THROUGHOUT THE NEXT THREE DECADES THE UNION'S LEVERAGE WOULD GROW UNTIL FEW DECISIONS AT THE PLANT, NO MATTER HOW SMALL, WERE MADE WITHOUT THE "TEAMSTERS'" APPROVAL.ON THE MANAGEMENT SIDE, THE COMPANY GOT A THIRD GENERATION OF CANDY MEN.

FRANK MURPHY WAS MY FATHER.

AFTER SERVING IN THE NAVY DURING WORLD WAR II, HE RETURNED TO ST. LOUIS AND GOT A JOB AT A LOCAL RADIO STATION.

FRANK HAD INHERITED THE INDEPENDENT SPIRIT OF HIS GRANDFATHER.

HE NEVER THOUGHT OF HIMSELF AS A FAMILY MAN, BUT BY 1949 HE FOUND HIMSELF WITH A FAMILY ANYWAY, AND NEEDED A REAL JOB.

HE SIGNED ON AT "SWITZERS", AND AFTER THE DEATHS OF HIS UNCLE BERNARD AND FATHER FRANCIS, ASSUMED THE TRADITIONAL MURPHY JOB OF PRODUCTION MANAGER.

IT WASN'T THE LIFE HE PLANNED, BUT IT WAS THE ONE HE GOT.

WHILE ALL THIS WAS HAPPENING, DOWNTOWN ST. LOUIS WAS UNDERGOING A MAJOR TRANSFORMATION.

AS THE TWO LEGS OF THE "GATEWAY ARCH" ROSE ABOVE THE RIVERFRONT WASTELAND, THE ENTIRE CITY, LED BY THE CHARISMATIC MAYOR ALFONSO CERVANTES, SEEMED FILLED WITH A RENEWED SPIRIT OF IMPROVEMENT.

A NEW STADIUM, NEW HIGHWAYS, AND OFFICE TOWERS, AND A 1964 VICTORY OVER THE NEW YORK YANKEES SEEMED TO BE BRINGING THE CITY INTO THE "SOARING SIXTIES".

"SWITZERS" CAUGHT THE BUG AND HIRED A NEW YORK MOTIVATIONAL FIRM TO ADVISE THEM ON HOW TO CHART THE COMPANY'S NEXT STEPS.

THE REPORT CONCLUDED THAT THE COMPANY'S EFFORTS TO UPDATE ITS IMAGE WEREN'T GOING FAR ENOUGH.

THEY WEREN'T, AS THEY PUT IT, TELLING LICORICE'S STORY, IN A WAY THAT MADE IT EXCITING FOR A NEW, POST-WAR GENERATION OF CONSUMERS.

IT WASN'T GOOD NEWS.

JOHN AND JOE SWITZER CONSULTED WITH THEIR BROTHER FRED, AND THEY AGREED THAT THE COMPANY WAS AT A CROSSROADS AND IT WAS UP TO THEM TO MAKE SOME DIFFICULT DECISIONS.

TOM: JOE AND JOHN WERE OLDER AND THEY KNEW THAT THERE HAD TO BE SOME INVESTMENTS, SOME CHANGES GOING FORWARD IN THE FACTORY, AND THEY WEREN'T PREPARED TO TAKE THAT ON.

PATRICK: IN FACT, THERE DIDN'T SEEM TO BE ANYONE PREPARED TO RISE UP AND MEET THE CHALLENGES.

HARRIET: THERE WAS NO ONE IN THE SWITZER FAMILY WHO SEEMED TO BE CAPABLE OF BEING THE PRESIDENT OF THE COMPANY LIKE JOHN, OR A SALESPERSON LIKE JOE.

MICHAEL: AND I THINK THEY WERE WORRIED THAT THESE LARGE COMPANIES WERE GOING TO COME IN, WHICH THEY DID, AND END UP COMING UP WITH MORE LEANER, LESS EXPENSIVE MANUFACTURING PROCESSES.

PATRICK: A SOLUTION WAS CLOSE AT HAND.

"BEATRICE FOODS" -- A LARGE CORPORATION HEADQUARTERED IN CHICAGO -- WAS ACQUIRING COMPANIES THAT MADE SNACKS AND CANDIES.

AFTER A BRIEF COURTSHIP AND SEVERAL MEETINGS BETWEEN SWITZER AND BEATRICE LEADERSHIP, IT SEEMED LIKE THE PERFECT DEAL -- GETTING THE "SWITZERS' OUT OF THE CANDY BUSINESS AT JUST THE RIGHT TIME -- AND HANDING OVER A NATIONALLY KNOWN BRAND TO BEATRICE.

ON OCTOBER 16, 1966 MAYOR CERVANTES PRESIDED OVER A FORMAL SIGNING OF THE PAPERS TRANSFERRING OWNERSHIP OF THE COMPANY TO BEATRICE.

EIGHT DECADES OF FAMILY OWNERSHIP HAD COME TO AN END.

♪♪ BUT NOW SWITZERS WAS JUST ONE BRAND AMONG MANY IN BEATRICE'S CANDY AND SNACK DIVISION, AND TO MAKE THE DEAL PAY OFF, BEATRICE HAD TO TO CUT COSTS AND BOOST PROFITS.

THAT WOULD REQUIRE CHANGING WAYS OF DOING BUSINESS INGRAINED IN THE COMPANY SINCE THE 1880S.

BEATRICE OPENED A SECOND FACTORY ON NORTH BROADWAY, JUST A FEW BLOCKS FROM THE OLD PLANT.

THEY BEGAN PURCHASING EQUIPMENT THAT WOULD EVENTUALLY REPLACE THE OLD SYSTEM WHERE LICORICE WAS COOKED IN KETTLES AND PROCESSED OVER A PERIOD OF DAYS.

BUT IT WAS CLEAR THERE COULDN'T BE ANY SUBSTANTIAL CHANGES UNTIL THE LAST VESTIGES OF THE OLD SYSTEM WERE ELIMINATED.

JOHN AND JOE HAD RETIRED SHORTLY AFTER THE SALE, AND IN 1972 BEATRICE FOODS FIRED FRANK MURPHY, THE LAST OF THE MURPHY-SWITZER CANDY MEN.

THE TRANSITION FROM BEING A FAMILY CANDY FACTORY TO A SMALL PIECE OF A LARGE CORPORATION WAS COMPLETE.

BUT THERE WERE PROBLEMS.

♪♪ SWITZER'S OLD METHOD OF PRODUCING A BATCH OF LICORICE TYPICALLY TOOK FOUR DAYS.

BEATRICE'S NEW PROCESS COULD COOK, SHAPE, CUT AND PACKAGE PRODUCT IN LESS THAN 20 MINUTES -- CUTTING COSTS -- BUT AT A PRICE.

JIM: MY FIRST VISIT TO THE NEW PLANT, THERE WERE HUNDREDS OF CASES OF CANDY THERE.

AND WHEN I PICKED UP THE BAGS AND LOOKED, THERE WAS ABOUT A TABLESPOON OF SYRUP IN THE BOTTOM OF EACH BAG.

AND THIS WAS NOT SALABLE.

WELL, BEATRICE BROUGHT IN SOME FOOD CHEMISTS AND THEY DID MANAGE TO SOLVE THE SYRUP PROBLEM, BUT THE DOWNSIDE WAS THAT IT WAS A FIRMER CANDY.

THE REALLY AVID SWITZER CONSUMER COULD TELL THAT THE PRODUCT HAD CHANGED.

PATRICK: PRODUCTION GRADUALLY SHIFTED FROM THE OLD PLANT TO THE NEW ONE, AND AS 1977 CAME TO AN END THE FACTORY BY THE BRIDGE, HOME OF THE SWITZER CANDY COMPANY SINCE 1911, SHUT DOWN.

JIM: AND THE PLANT WAS SO EMPTY AND SO QUIET.

AND I WENT TO THE DIFFERENT FLOORS.

I JUST HAD MEMORIES OF THE PEOPLE WORKING THERE AND THE NOISE AND THE EXCITEMENT, AND ALL THAT QUIET.

IT'S A SAD THING TO SEE A PLANT COME TO THE END OF ITS LIFE.

PATRICK: THE LIGHTS WENT OUT, THE DOORS WERE LOCKED, AND PRODUCTION SHIFTED COMPLETED TO THE FACILITY ON NORTH BROADWAY.

FOR THE NEXT THREE DECADES THE OLD BUILDING WOULD STAND BESIDE THE EADS BRIDGE, ITS WINDOWS DARK, ITS SIGN FADING.

♪♪ IN ITS EFFORT TO INCREASE SALES, BEATRICE INTRODUCED NEW LICORICE FLAVORS AND PRODUCTS.

IN 1982 IT PURCHASED THE "GOOD AND PLENTY" BRAND -- AND MOVED IT TO ITS SWITZER FACTORY.

"GOOD AND PLENTY" WAS ONE ONE OF THE OLDEST CANDY PRODUCTS IN THE U.S., BUT ITS SALES WERE SLIDING.

"SWITZERS" REPLACED ITS SOFT JELLYBEAN CORE WITH A HARD LICORICE CENTER AND SAVED THE LITTLE CANDY COATED PELLETS FROM EXTINCTION.

THE DAYS OF, "O BOY, IT'S GOOD," WERE LONG GONE.

BEATRICE WOULD BRINGING "SWITZERS LICORICE" INTO THE AGE OF MASS CANDY MARKETING -- INCLUDING NATIONAL TELEVISION SPOTS.

SPOT: I'D SWAP MY ICE CREAM FOR A FRIENDLY DOG, MY YO--YO FOR A BRIGHT GREEN FROG, I'D SWAP MY SISTER FOR A NEW TRANSISTOR, BUT I'LL NEVER SWAP MY SWITZER'S.

PATRICK: LIKE THE NEVER SWAP MY SWITZERS SPOTS, FEATURING A YOUNG BOY WILLING TO TRADE EVERYTHING IN HIS LIFE, EXCEPT HIS SWITZERS.

SPOT: BUT I'LL NEVER SWAP MY SWITZER'S.

PATRICK: BEATRICE CREATED A SWITZER MASCOT, ALBERT SWITZER BOY EXPLORER, WHO MIGHT HAVE HAD A LONGER RUN IF THE PUBLIC WOULD HAVE MORE EASILY MADE THE CONNECTION BETWEEN THE FRENCH PHILOSOPHER AND MISSIONARY ALBERT SCHWEITZER, AND LICORICE.

AND THEN THERE WAS THE CONTEST OFFERING THE CHANCE TO WIN AN ALL-PAID VACATION FOR TWO TO SWITZERLAND, WHICH ASSUMED THAT THE PUBLIC WOULD MAKE THE CONNECTION BETWEEN A SMALL EUROPEAN COUNTRY KNOWN FOR CLOCKS, CHEESE, AND NEUTRALITY -- AND LICORICE.

THERE WAS A COMIC STRIP CALLED "THE ADVENTURES OF KING CHEWY AND DUNCAN THE SWITZER SWIPING DRAGON", BUT AFTER A SHORT TIME THE STRIP RAN OUT OF STORY LINES.

♪♪ THE COMPANY WAS DOING WELL, SALES WERE ON THE RISE, THEY HAD WORKED OUT THE PRODUCTION KINKS, BUT BEATRICE WAS PLAYING ON AN INTERNATIONAL SCALE AND ITS CANDY SALES WERE NOT BIG ENOUGH TO COMPETE WITH THOSE OF "HERSHEYS" AND "MARS".

SO, IN DECEMBER OF 1983 BEATRICE SOLD ALL SEVEN OF ITS CANDY COMPANIES, INCLUDING "SWITZERS", TO A COMPANY BASED IN HELSINKI, FINLAND.

THINGS WERE GETTING COMPLICATED.

THE COMPANY WHO INVENTED THE "CLARK BAR" WAS ALSO BOUGHT BY THE SAME FINNISH COMPANY, WHICH CREATED SOMETHING CALLED THE "SWITZERCLARK DIVISION".

SO, CONSUMERS STILL SAW "SWITZERS LICORICE" IN THEIR NEIGHBORHOOD STORES, BUT BEHIND THE SCENES, IT WAS JUST A SMALL PIECE OF A GIANT SCANDINAVIAN CANDY CONGLOMERATE.

IT WAS HARD TO SEE ST. LOUIS ALL THE WAY FROM HELSINKI AND IN 1996 "SWITZERS' WAS PART OF A WHOLE PACKAGE OF CANDY COMPANIES SOLD TO CANDY GIANT "HERSHEYS".

THE BAD NEWS FOR "SWITZERS" WAS, HERSHEY'S ALREADY HAD A SUCCESSFUL LICORICE PRODUCT, "TWIZZLERS", AND IN MAY OF 1998 THEY DISCONTINUED THE SWITZER PRODUCT LINE, LET ITS 200 ST. LOUIS EMPLOYEES GO, AND CLOSED ITS FACTORY ON BROADWAY.

WITH LITTLE FANFARE, THE STORY OF SWITZER'S LICORICE HAD COME TO AN APPARENT END.

THERE WAS NOTHING LEFT OTHER THAN THE MEMORY OF A CERTAIN AROMA THAT ONCE HUNG OVER THE ST. LOUIS RIVERFRONT.

THERE WAS ONE REMNANT OF THE CANDY DAYS -- THE ABANDONED, DECAYING BRICK FACTORY ON FIRST STREET.

OVER THE YEARS THERE HAD BEEN NUMEROUS PLANS TO CONVERT IT TO A HOTEL OR A CASINO, BUT NOTHING CAME OF THEM.

BY THE EARLY 2000S THE ROOF WAS COLLAPSING AND THE WALLS WERE IN DANGER OF CAVING IN.

THE FINAL BLOW CAME ON A JULY NIGHT IN 2006 WHEN A STORM PACKING 90 MILE PER HOUR WINDS TORE INTO THE OLD BUILDING, SCATTERING BRICKS ACROSS THE EADS BRIDGE AND COLLAPSING THE EAST WALL.

THE FOLLOWING MAY IT WAS DEMOLISHED.

DESTRUCTION OF THE OLD FACTORY THROUGH AN ACT OF GOD WOULD HAVE MADE A WONDERFUL FINALE TO THIS TALE, BUT IT SEEMS THERE WAS ONE MORE CHAPTER.

♪♪ THERE CERTAINLY WAS NO REASON TO BELIEVE THAT "SWITZER'S LICORICE" WOULD EVER REJOIN THE WORLD OF CANDY BRANDS.

BUT BY 2005 ADVERTISING EXECUTIVE MICHAEL SWITZER, THE GRANDSON OF FOUNDER FRED SWITZER, AND ENTREPRENEUR DAN WARNER, HAD SUCCEEDED IN BUYING BACK WORLD WIDE OWNERSHIP OF THE "SWITZER" BRAND FROM 'HERSHEY'S' -- AND BEGAN PRODUCING A VARIETY OF SWITZER PRODUCTS.

MICHAEL: IT DIDN'T START FROM THE STANDPOINT OF WANTING TO BRING "SWITZERS" BACK AS A FAMILY PRODUCT.

IT STARTED AS A MARKETING IDEA.

IT'S A GREAT, OLD AUTHENTIC BRAND.

IT HAS A MYTH AND HISTORY BEHIND IT.

PATRICK: BUT TO BRING BACK THE OLD BRAND, THEY NEEDED A PRODUCT.

SO MIKE AND DAN SET UP A TEST KITCHEN AND WITH THE HELP OF BEATRICE'S QUALITY CONTROL EXPERT JIM CLARK, EXPERIMENTED WITH OLD RECIPES AND NEW PROCESSES TO COME UP WITH PRODUCTS TRUE TO THE "SWITZER" TRADITION.

TODAY "SWITZERS" IS HEADQUARTERED IN DOWNTOWN WEBSTER GROVES.

THE CANDY IS MANUFACTURED AT A PLANT OUTSIDE ST. LOUIS AND DISTRIBUTED NATIONALLY.

AND, JUST AS THE ORIGINAL FOUNDERS ADAPTED THEIR CANDY TO FIT CHANGING TASTES, THE NEW "SWITZERS" IS MAKING CANDY FOR CONSUMERS WITH THEIR OWN EXPECTATIONS.

MICHAEL: THEY WANT TO BE STIMULATED, THEY WANT TO BE SURPRISED, THEY WANT EXCITEMENT, THEY WANT NEW TASTES AND NEW FLAVORS.

SO NOW WE'VE EXPANDED INTO 15 -- 20 DIFFERENT FLAVORS.

PATRICK: TODAY'S CANDY INDUSTRY IS DOMINATED BY A SMALL NUMBER OF VERY LARGE COMPANIES.

SO THE PLAN WASN'T TO TAKE THEM ON OR BEAT THEM AT THEIR GAME, BUT TO SECURE ENOUGH OF THE MARKET TO OPERATE IT AS A SMALL, FAMILY BUSINESS, MAINTAIN THE QUALITY AND DISTRIBUTE IT NATIONALLY TO A NEW GENERATION OF CONSUMERS.

DAN: IT'S AMAZING HOW MANY PEOPLE OUT THERE REMEMBER THIS COMPANY AND ARE THANKFUL THAT WE BROUGHT IT BACK.

SOMETHING THAT MAKES THEM FEEL YOUNG AGAIN, MAYBE BRINGS BACK THEIR HAPPY CHILDHOOD, THEIR HAPPY DAYS WHEN THEY WERE GROWING UP WITH THEIR FAMILY AND FRIENDS.

I REALLY FEEL WE HAVE AN OBLIGATION TO BRING IT BACK IN THE RIGHT WAY AND TO GIVE IT ITS DUE THAT IT DESERVES BECAUSE OF ITS HISTORY AND ITS LEGACY IN OUR CITY.

PATRICK: SOMETIMES IT'S THE SMALL THINGS IN LIFE THAT MEAN THE MOST.

AN AROMA THAT CLAIMS AN EVERLASTING PLACE IN OUR MEMORY.

A TASTE THAT HAS THE POWER TO TRANSPORT US BACK TO OUR CHILDHOOD.

THERE IS A CERTAIN SILLINESS TO CANDY.

IT'S THE MOST UNPRETENTIOUS OF PRODUCTS.

IT CLAIMS TO OFFER US NOTHING MORE THAN A BURST OF SWEETNESS AND A SMILE.

IT'S MORE FUN TO SHARE THAN ENJOY ALONE.

AND HOW REMARKABLE IT IS THAT AN ENTERPRISE DEDICATED TO PRODUCING SUCH A FRAGILE LITTLE ITEM COULD ENDURE SO MANY YEARS THROUGH WARS AND DEPRESSIONS, CHANGING TASTES AND THE MOODS AND TEMPERAMENTS OF THOSE WHO CREATED IT.

THE NOTION THAT A DREAM CAN BE BUILT UPON CANDY IS AS STRANGELY POWERFUL AS THE FACT THAT WHEN IT SEEMED TO HAVE DIED, IT CAME BACK TO LIFE, BRINGING TOUCH OF SWEETNESS TO OUR LIVES.

♪♪ SOME YEARS AGO I FOUND -- AMONG MY PARENT'S BELONGINGS A CANISTER CONTAINING A REEL OF 8-MILLIMETER FILM LABELED "DECEMBER 1930".

IT WAS A BLACK AND WHITE HOME MOVIE OF MY FAMILY, SHOT IN THE FRONT YARD OF MY GRANDPARENT'S HOUSE IN WEBSTER GROVES.

SOME OF THEM I'D ACTUALLY KNOWN WHEN I WAS A CHILD.

-- OTHERS I RECOGNIZED FROM PHOTOS, BUT IN THIS WORLD OF GRAY SHADES AND SILENCE, IT WAS AS IF THEY WERE GHOSTS BUT DIDN'T KNOW THEY WERE GHOSTS.

FOR OVER SEVEN MINUTES THEY PERFORM LITTLE SCENES FOR THE CAMERA.

MY GRANDFATHER FRANCIS STEALS A KISS FROM MY GRANDMOTHER.

MY FIVE-YEAR OLD FATHER MAKE A BOUNCY APPEARANCE.

MARGARET POSES WITH HER SONS.

AND THEN THE SCREEN IS FILLED WITH THE FACE OF JOSEPH MURPHY FROM DUBLIN, IRELAND.

HE STARES INTO THE CAMERA AND THEN LAUGHS.

THEY MIGHT HAVE KNOWN THAT THIS WOULD BE THEIR LAST CHANCE TO HAVE A RECORD OF THEM ALL TOGETHER WITH THE OLD MAN.

THEY PROBABLY DIDN'T CARE IF ANYONE EXCEPT THEM WOULD EVER SEE IT.

TODAY I LIVE JUST A FEW BLOCKS AWAY.

SOMETIMES WHEN I PASS BY, IT'S EASY TO SEE THEM STANDING THERE IN THE YARD, BARELY CONCEALED BY ALL THE LAYERS OF TIME BETWEEN US.

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