This massive abandoned building once manufactured candy, and later shoes

National Candy Company Factory, St. Louis Missouri

Date added: October 30, 2023 Categories: Missouri Industrial

South Elevation from Bingham Street (2009)

Organized in 1903, the St. Louis-based National Candy Company grew to be the largest candy company in the country, with 22 factories by 1904 and plants in Kansas, Missouri, Ohio, Illinois, Michigan, Kentucky, and Mississippi by 1921. Though wide-spread, the company was headquartered in St. Louis and oversaw the operation of several distinct candy manufacturers in the city. In 1927, National Candy constructed a new building to consolidate its nine St. Louis factories under one roof. The new building incorporated air conditioning and other new technologies that allowed the company to produce candy throughout the year rather than seasonally. The new building's design and technology gave the company a competitive advantage over other local confectioners, and it became the largest and longest-running candy maker in the city. In 1948, the Chase Candy Company purchased the National Candy Company, but continued to operate the factory on Gravois Avenue until it sold the building to Brown Shoe Company in 1953. The National Candy Company played a major part in St. Louis's candy industry, and the factory building remains virtually unchanged from when the building was used as a confectionery.

The art of making candy has been around for thousands of years, but the sugary items considered "candy" in the United States today are much different than the early chewy tree sap and beeswax concoctions used by the Egyptians. What we know as candy today is basically sugar dissolved in water and cooked at a very high temperature. The hotter the temperature, the harder the candy. Chewy candies are cooked at cool temperatures, soft candies are cooked at medium heat. By mixing the basic ingredients with fruits, spices, nuts, or cocoa, candy has unlimited flavors.

The simplicity of candy making was attractive to United States immigrants. Often whole families would work in their homes to produce any number of confections from the "Old World" by hand. When business increased, the operations moved out of the home kitchen and into small shops, eventually incorporating equipment and machines to meet higher demand. By the mid-1800s, penny candy was being produced in more than 380 American factories. These hard candies were sold from boxes and jars in general stores and pharmacies. The 1850s brought the first mass-produced and distributed hard and soft candies, advertised for the health benefits of easing headaches and soothing throats using additives like cocaine and heroin.

Advances in technology using the steam engine introduced the first candy-making machines. Steam offered a consistent way to cook unstable sugar and is still used in many confectioneries today. Because candy manufacturers could use these machines to make several different products in larger quantities, the companies began to package their items in decorative boxes and wrappers for mass distribution. Brand names and product distinctions were advertised on the item, with the manufacturer's label included. Competition between companies began to increase as manufacturers sold similar products in the same areas.

The 1904 World's Fair brought over 1000 candy producers to St. Louis, displaying both their products and new apparatuses, including chocolate enrobers, refrigeration equipment, and chocolate bar machines. One of the larger companies that attended was the National Candy Company. National Candy was the compilation of several individual producers under one name, which got its start in St. Louis when Vincent L. Price joined manufacturers Osgood H. Peckham, August J. Walter, and Francis W. Seward to form the National Candy Company. Though it was incorporated in New Jersey in 1902, the National Candy Company's headquarters was located in the Granite Building at 406 Market Street, in St. Louis.

Osgood H. Peckman was born in New York in 1844. He made a living as a traveling salesman for a Chicago grocery line for seven years. In 1873, he moved to St. Louis and established the O. H. Peckham Company, later called the O. H. Peckham Candy Manufacturing Company at 7^th and Spruce Streets. He was elected president of National Candy in 1903, and retained the plant at 7^th and Spruce Streets until 1928. August J. Walter was born in New York in 1859. After studying in Europe, he joined his uncle in candy manufacturing in St. Louis in 1876. In 1886, August went to work for O. H. Peckham, and took a job as secretary of Flohr, Hyrners & Company (another candy manufacturer) in 1888. He eventually took over the company, changing the name to A. J. Walters Candy Company. He became secretary of National Candy in 1902, but continued to produce candy, syrups, sugar of lemon, rock candy, gum work and fine homemade candies from his plant at 114 Walnut until 1928. Francis Dwight Seward was born in Rosamond, IL in 1859 and studied at Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington, IL. After working for his father's corporation, the Bloomington Stove Factory, Seward moved to St. Louis in 1882 and became partner in a confectionary called Dodge & Seward. He took over as president of the company in 1889 and changed the name to F. D. Seward Confectionary Company in 1892, becoming the "largest line of fine candies" at 523-25 N. Main Street and 112 Washington Avenue. He continued to maintain this plant until 1928, even after consolidating with National Candy in 1902.

By the time it attended the World's Fair, National Candy had 22 factories across the county, specializing in jelly beans and jaw breakers, and selling many other kinds of candy. The company had factories from Missouri to the East Coast and expanding to the Gulf of Mexico, with manufacturing plants in Kansas City, St, Louis, Chicago, Cincinnati, Buffalo, Detroit, Indianapolis, Minnesota, Michigan, and Kentucky.

In St. Louis, National Candy was in competition with eight other large manufacturing companies when it was incorporated. By 1914, St. Louis's confectionary business was producing $4,605,000 in revenue, and that number jumped to $13,433,000 by 1919.8 The candy business boomed in St. Louis in the 1920s. The decade started with 2,096 employees working in at least 89 establishments to produce the sugary treats. The city was producing nearly 40% of Missouri's confectionary output at that time. Between 1920 and 1929, manufacturing output per worker increased 32% and the nation's total realized income rose from $74.3 billion to $89 billion.

Candy hit its high point not only in St. Louis, but nationally in the 1920s, when thousands of new and different candy bars appeared on the scene. Though candy bars were typical on the East Coast, sugar, milk, and corn syrup were readily available in the Midwest and, combined with the booming economy, made St. Louis an excellent place for candy companies to thrive. National Candy's biggest seller was the Bobcat Bar, though it was also known for the Hippo Bar, a block of peanuts. Shipped 24 to a box, the Bobcat sold for 5 cents apiece. As a marketing ploy, National Candy put its name on small trinkets, playing cards, and other items to ensure that even if the consumer wasn't buying their products, they would still recognize the company's name.

Candy making was a labor-intensive operation, and the high temperatures needed for cooking the sugar made the factories extremely hot. For this reason, large-scale candy production was primarily seasonal, with factories closing down in the warm summer months. But as competition increased during the 1920s, manufacturers found it necessary to work more months of the year. The National Candy Company realized the inefficiency of several different St. Louis plants that shut down during the summer, and thus constructed a large plant that could hold the production of the individual factories, as well as retain its employees all year long.

The company turned to then-popular architects Klipstein and Tathman. E. C. Klipstein joined the University of Illinois in 1896 to teach design in the Department of Architecture after studying abroad and at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Klipstein owned several architectural firms, including Deitering and Klipstein from 1897-1900 then working under his own name until he joined Waiter L. Rathman in 1908. Rathman studied at the University of Pennsylvania before joining Klipstein's independent practice as a draftsman. The two produced several well-recognized St. Louis buildings until the 1940s, working primarily in Neoclassical and revival styles in the early years and turning to Art Deco and modern designs by the end of the 1920s. Their projects included the 1928 Tudor Revival style additions to St. Michael and St. George Episcopal Church (Figure 14), which required the rotation of the original assembly hall on rollers before additions could be constructed) as well as the Bevo Mill (1917), the Bouerbhoff at Grant's Farm (1914), and a 1937 post office constructed with little ornamentation and geometrical classicism. Their most recognized work is the Neoclassical Civil Courts Building (also known as the St. Louis Pyramid), which was constructed as part of a 1923 bond issue.

Located in the newly developing industrial part of southwest St. Louis, the new National Candy Factory at 4230 Gravois Avenue was nine stories tall, and included space for all aspects of production, though the headquarters was retained downtown. A special area for cooking was designed in the southwest corner of the building, equipped with its own air conditioning system. Another air conditioning system cooled the first through fourth floors of the building. A printing shop was arranged in the southeast portion of the building, and a paper box facility was found on the north. In addition, a two-story loading and shipping department was designed along the north side of the building. The company was also able to take advantage of the nearby railroad track, utilizing a rail on the east side of the building.

The specialized building was large enough to house the production of all the individual factories under the National Candy umbrella in St. Louis, and each advertised its location in the new building on Gravois. The advertisement of each factory remained until 1933, when the National Candy Company officially incorporated. After this time, the individual factories were no longer mentioned as part of the Gravois facility, and their products were only labeled with the National Candy name.

National Candy continued to prosper in its new location despite the economic downturn during the Great Depression. By 1935, the number of confectionary establishments in St. Louis dropped to 43, and by 1946 that number was cut nearly in half. This large drop in candy makers in the early 1940s most likely resulted from the ration system developed during World War II, which limited the amount of sugar available for production (lowering the manufacturer's output). In addition, consumers had limited expendable income with which to buy such luxury items.

The National Candy Company survived the Depression and war years, outselling its largest local competition, the Jack Rabbit Candy Company. As the longest-running wholesale manufacturer of candy in St. Louis, the company became attractive to those looking to expand their own operations. The St. Joseph, MO based Chase Candy Company was one of the corporations that saw the advantages of the nationally recognized National Candy Company. In 1948, Chase purchased the company and moved its headquarters into the Gravois building. Chase continued to sell the well-known National Candy brands, while adding its own items, including the popular Cherry Mash. For the next seven years, Chase utilized the nine-story facility, until Chase was bought out in 1953 and the headquarters moved to Chicago. At that time the building was sold to the Brown Shoe Company.

Building Description

The National Candy Company Factory, located at 4230 Gravois Avenue in St. Louis, Missouri, is a multi-colored brick industrial building constructed in 1927. The factory faces Gravois Avenue at its intersection with Bingham Avenue, with railroad tracks beyond Gravois to the west and an industrial neighborhood to the north and east. The building is a good representation of industrial Art Deco design. Measuring approximately 180' X 210', the building has a concrete foundation with a full basement. The west elevation displays rounded arch openings on the first level, with a colorful mosaic and etched stone above the entrance displaying the name "National Candy Co." The building is adorned with intricate brickwork and terra cotta courses, emphasizing verticality with its long pilasters and narrow windows. The open floor plan of the factory retains the mushroom columns, freight elevators, and wide metal stairwells typically found in St. Louis's early twentieth-century industrial buildings. A one-story addition to the rear of the building was constructed in 1975, but is unseen from the main roadway. Though the lower openings have been boarded over to protect against vandalism, and a few of the windows are missing or broken, the National Candy Company Factory is in excellent condition.

The National Candy Company building was constructed in 1927. The west-facing facade is divided into three sections, with a five-story central core, a five-story projection on the north end and a seven-story projection on the south end, all coped with terra cotta. The central core is nine bays wide, with brick pilasters rising from the second through the fifth levels. The openings of the second through fifth levels feature forty-light hopper windows. The first level is adorned with cascading rounded brick arches over each bay, terra cotta courses below and above the boarded-over windows, and a projecting brick course just below the second level. The main entrance is centered on the first level, composed of boarded-over double metal doors and rounded stained glass transom. Decorative brickwork surrounds a concrete slab above the front door. The words "National Candy Co." are stamped into the concrete slab below a multi-colored mosaic featuring peppermint sticks, colored circles, and an elephant. A granite nameplate is located to the south of the entrance doors.

The north projection includes four, five-story, brick pilasters capped by terra cotta. Two fifteen-pane hopper windows are found between the first, second, and third levels. The windows of the fourth level are eighteen-pained, with a six-pane transom stretching into the fifth-story. A one-story entrance is found to the north of the north projection. This entrance features a metal door with boarded transom, and shares the decorative brickwork, arches, and terra cotta found on the main entrance. A single sash window is located just to the north of this entrance.

The south projection includes forty-pane hopper windows in each of the three bays on the second through seventh levels, separated by brick pilasters. A terra-cotta course is located just above the seventh-story windows. The first level features six boarded openings with soldier lintels and a terra-cotta belt course below the windows.

The south elevation is seven stories, with a nine-story projecting central tower, all featuring terra cotta coping. The fourteen outer bays mirror the design of the facade, featuring hopper windows separated by brick pilasters and topped by a terra-cotta belt course above the seventh story. Paired hopper windows also rise from the second to the eighth stories in the central bay if the tower, with multiple levels of brick pilasters separating the tower's three bays. Pointed transoms top the tower's eighth-story windows, and pointed windows are also found on the recessed ninth-story. Three terra-cotta piers top brick pilasters on both the projecting and recessed portions of the central tower, and terra cotta modillions adorn the upper levels as well. A five-bay covered loading dock is located to the west of the tower, and a six-bay brick addition projects from the first level of east side of the tower. Ten garage doors comprise the south elevation of the 1975 addition, found centered on the metal-clad wall.

The east elevation (rear) elevation is comprised of the original building and the 1975 addition. It steps down from south to north, with a three-bay, seven-story section at the south end; a five-story, three-bay section with a central projection; a two-bay three-story section; and a one-bay, one-story section on the north. The one-story 1975 addition includes metal walls with a concrete foundation and six boarded openings. The main building features the forty-pane industrial windows found on the other elevations. The third bay is covered by an eight-story chimney.

The north elevation features the same industrial windows as found on the west elevation. The one-story 1975 addition is found to the east with boarded openings at the east and west ends. The first level of the 1927 building features seven boarded openings. The second level is comprised of seven bays with industrial windows. The eastern five bays of the remaining levels of the building are recessed, with the third level recessed one bay, the fourth and fifth recessed three bays, and the sixth and seventh levels recessed five bays. The westernmost bay of the north elevation is five stories tall, and features the narrow windows and brick pilasters found on the main facade. The remaining bays are five stories tall and share the industrial windows and pilasters as found on the core of the main facade.

The interior of the main building features an open floor plan with poured concrete floors and ceilings and exposed concrete framing with mushroom-top round columns separating each bay. The board forms used to pour the concrete slabs are clearly delineated on the ceilings, creating an interesting pattern. The exterior perimeter walls and interior walls surrounding the freight elevators are exposed brick. An enclosed stairway is located on the north, south, and east elevations. Each stairway has poured concrete steps with a metal pipe rail and the door opening at each floor has a paneled metal-clad, fire door. The interior walis of the stairway and elevator are exposed brick. The freight elevator doors are generally the original, paneled metal doors that meet horizontally. A small restroom is located by each elevator. The upper rooftop section that is setback from the roof edge contains the building's steam system tanks. A set of steep metal grate stairs lead to the upper floors that are poured concrete with brick exposed walls. There is a full basement under the primary building that has concrete floors and walls.

The entrance to the two-story section located at the north elevation has some remnants of red terrazzo tile in the vestibule with concrete steps leading to a divided hall. Access into the two-story section is to the left and entrance to the primary portion of the building is to the right. A metal pipe rail divides the steps and remnants of plaster can be seen on the wall in the vestibule and hallway. The two-story section has poured concrete floors and ceilings with square posts that divide each bay. The perimeter walls are exposed brick. The ceiling height is two-story with square metal industrial windows framing the upper story in each bay to allow for light into this section. The one-story metal addition attached to the rear is completely open with metal rafters and sealed concrete floors. It was used for additional storage.