Hard Candy Christmas by Robin O’Neal Smith

Things might be tough this Christmas with skyrocketing prices and shrinking pocketbooks, but it may be time to think about Christmases past and the simple things in life that used to give us joy. Dolly Pardon had it right when she sang, “I’ll be fine and dandy Lord, it’s like a hard candy Christmas.” One of the happy things I remember about my childhood Christmases is hard candy! When I was a kid, I didn’t get candy every day. It wasn’t in the candy dish on the coffee table to grab a piece and eat. Candy was a special treat! I remember making hard candy with my grandmother for the holidays as a youngster. We used to make it the weekend after Thanksgiving. We would make all different flavors, and it would last into the new year. My favorite thing to do was to break it up after it hardened. Perhaps those happy childhood memories are what made me fall in love with the hard candy from H.E. Williams Candy Company near Chesapeake, Virginia. I visited the H.E. Williams Candy Company as part of a Press Trip with Visit Chesapeake. All opinions are my own.

Four of us visited the Chesapeake area, and the H.E. Williams Candy Company was on the itinerary. We didn’t realize what a treat we would enjoy. We arrived just as they started a batch of their famous “Peach Buds.” We got to watch the entire process and taste the delicious finished product. Third-generation candy makers run the H.E. Williams Candy Company. It has been family-owned and operated since 1919. They make candy mostly by hand in a one-room 4,000 square-foot factory the old-fashioned way, using the same recipe their grandfather, the company founder, used when the company began. David Williams and his brother, Joe, were making a batch the day we visited. They told stories of helping their father make candy when they were little boys. Some things have been improved, like adding a pulley to help dump the heavy pots of hot liquid candy and a motor to the ribbon machine that previously required someone to use a hand crank. But most of the candy-making process has stayed the same.

Their candy is made in one-hundred-pound batches. They use thirty pounds of corn syrup, seventy pounds of sugar, and a gallon of water to produce each delicious batch. They boil the candy ingredients in the same cop-

per pots their grandfather used when he started the business. When the candy reaches 301 degrees, they use the pulley to lift and pour the contents onto cooling trays. They smooth out and add colors to the hot liquid. As it cools, they separate the colors and fold the taffy-like mixture to blend the color and form it into a ball that weighs between 33 and 50 pounds. They used the 1908 taffy spinning machine to add air to the candy and improve coloration. The flavors are added during the spinning process as well. Then they stack the different candy colors, add the coconut mixture, and roll it out to create a log. The log of taffy-like candy is hand fed into the ribbon machine, which crimps the candy and forms a ribbon sweetness.

The candy continues to cool and harden as it is dumped onto a conveyor belt and then deposited onto a tray, where they break up the pieces by hand before it is completely cooled. Once the hard candy is cool, it is bagged, labeled, and shipped by hand.

Peach Buds are what H.E. Williams is famous for. This hard candy is peach flavored with a chewy coconut mixture in the center. It smells delectable when it is being made and tastes even better. Several bags of these tasty candies came home with me. Other flavors include Mint Puffs, Hot Rocks, Banana, Fancy Mix, and more. My favorites were the Pineapple Lumps and the Peach Buds. After reading about this process and looking at the photos, you might be wondering how you can get your hands on these delicious hard candies.

They make candy and run their business the old-fashioned way. They don’t have a website or computer, they don’t advertise, and they don’t accept credit cards. Their modern equipment is a telephone and answering machine. They have a Facebook page that is usually active from October through December. David told us, “Word of mouth is the best advertisement and word spreads when you have an excellent product.” Leading up to the holiday season, they make candy seven days a week to keep up with demand. You can visit their candy company or call and give them your order. Once they receive your check or money order in the mail, they ship the hard candy to you. After you taste it, I bet you will be like me and love their delicious hard candy. I’m looking forward to a “Hard Candy Christmas” with some delicious candy from H.E. Williams Candy Company. For more on Virginia