What Is Ye Olde Pepper Candy Companie?
This is America’s oldest continuously running candy company, circa 1806!
What Makes It Historical?
This sweet shop had a sour beginning in 1800 when confectioner, Mary Spencer, and her son shipwrecked off the coast of Salem while arriving from England! The townsfolk donated a barrel of sugar, which she used to make her first batch of Gibralters, a hard candy made of sugar, water, cream of tartar, cornstarch, and either lemon or peppermint oil! These she peddled in front of the First Church in Salem and built herself a thriving candy business by 1806!
In the 1830s, Mrs. Spencer’s descendants sold her company to John Pepper, inventor of the molasses-based Black Jack stick candy! Alongside the Gibralter, these two treats became the first commercially sold candies in America! This Pepper Candy Companie sold specialty candies and cigars nonstop until 1897 when George Pepper sold the business to Snow Rich. Only the Peppers weren’t done yet! George’s family rebooted a Pepper company, putting two Pepper Candy Companies at odds in Salem until the newest version renamed to Peabody Candy Co!
The current Pepper Candy Companie still sells Gibralters and Black Jacks from the original recipes, thanks to George and Alice Burkinshaw, former employees who fell in love while working in the shop, then bought the company and its recipes in 1910! Since then, generations of Burkinshaws have kept Ye Olde Pepper Companie running as a candy shop into present times!
How Can I #HelpTheHelpers?
- Volunteer with Historic Salem Inc.!
- Buy some candy from Ye Olde Pepper Candy Companie!
- Be a responsible visitor! Please respect the signs and pathways, and treat all structures and artifacts with respect. They’ve endured a lot to survive into the present. They’ll need our help to make it into the future!
How Do I Get There?
122 Derby Street
Salem, MA 01970
(Take Me There!)
When Should I Visit?
Ye Olde Pepper Candy Companie is open daily from 10:00 AM until 5:00 PM!