words | Reg Reynolds
A Candy Called Gibralters... This April readers might like to try a different treat to celebrate Easter with an American-made candy called Gibraltar Rock. Gibraltar Rock, originally named Salem Gibralters, is said to be the first candy produced and sold commercially in the United States. It was cooked up by an English woman named Mrs. Mary Spencer who had survived a shipwreck and was in dire circumstances when she arrived in Salem with her only son. The reason why she named her candy after Gibraltar has been lost in the annals of time but as you can see she did manage to get the spelling wrong. There is speculation Mrs. Spencer had been thrilled by the spectacle of the Rock near the beginning of her ill-fated voyage. Another story proposes she obtained the recipe for the candy from a Gibraltar sailor. There is no record of where exactly she was shipwrecked but it is a fact that the widowed mother was near destitute when she moved into a house on Buffum Street in Salem. Noticing her plight and learning that she could make candy the neighbours got together and purchased for her a barrel of sugar, and Salem Gibralters were born. Initially Mrs. Spencer sold her candies from wood firkins on the steps of a church, however, the candies became so popular that she purchased a horse and wagon to peddle her confections to a growing clientele. Dressed
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in the long attire of the day with sunbonnet to shield her eyes, she sat proud and straight in the open wagon guiding the horse to wholesalers in neighbouring towns. Salem Gibralters turned out to be one of the city’s most beloved exports and thanks to Salem’s wide-ranging shipping industry became known in far corners of the world. Mrs. Spencer’s Gibralters were wrapped in soft white paper and came in two flavours, lemon and peppermint. The candy is described in the 1886 book Old Salem: “A white and delicate candy, flavoured with lemon or peppermint, soft as ice cream at one stage of its existence, but capable of hardening into a consistency so stony and so unutterably flinty-hearted that it is almost a libel on the rock whose name it bears. The Gibralter is the aristocrat of Salem confectionary.” Another lover of Gibralters waxed ecstatic: “The Gibralter is the daintier sweetmeat. One may
eat a dozen — could be one so ill-bred — without soiling ones fingertips. The Gibralter, although well-loved in childhood, grows with our growth, ever increasing in value through the years, to become in time a cherished companion of our age. “ Apparently the young preferred the lemon flavour while the elderly tended to opt for the peppermint. There is an old saying in Salem that goes, “I know I must be growing old, because a peppermint Gibralter is so comforting to me.” When Mrs. Spencer died in 1822 her son carried on the business until about 1830, when he decided to return to England. The business was sold to a John William Pepper, under whose leadership the company prospered for many years. During the late 1800’s the first member of the Burkinshaw family (current owners) went to work for the Pepper Company as a candy maker and eventually met his future wife there. Sometime
Salem Gibralters turned out to be one of the city’s most beloved exports and thanks to Salem’s wide-ranging shipping industry became known in far corners of the world
around the turn of the century the Burkinshaws purchased the Pepper Company and all of the original recipes including the ones originated by Mrs. Spencer herself. Today through Ye Olde Pepper Companie a fourth generation of the Burkinshaw family is keeping up the tradition and the fine art of candy making, including the legendary Gibralters. Ye Olde Pepper Companie operates out of a quaint, historic building in Salem and has Mrs. Spencer ’s horse and wagon as the company logo. On its website Olde Pepper offers a gift pack of Gibralters for $14.95 US. The site states: “A Gift Box of Gibralters contains six lemon and six peppermint. Candies are all made by hand just the way they were back in the 1800s, using the original recipe. The first commercially made candies in America still satisfy your sweet tooth today. The Gibralters have a smooth melt-inyour-mouth texture similar to an after dinner mint.” The company manufactures a wide-range of other sweets and chocolates including best selling truffles, buttercrunch and turtles and apparently they make a special Easter edition of Gibralters. n You can find the website at www.peppercandy.net.
GIBRALTAR MAGAZINE • APRIL 2014
25/03/2014 20:02