Museum Artifact: Reed’s Butter Scotch Patties Tin, c. 1920s
Made By: Reed Candy Company, 1245 W. Fletcher St., Chicago, IL [Lakeview]
Research is underway on this one and a full write-up will be coming soon.
Archived Reader Comments:
“I maybe able to help you. My great grandmother was Mildred Reed. I have pictures of my father and uncle at the Reed factory. Also my uncle would have all the information about the company. I think we still have a Reed copper tin.” —KKuehler, 2019
“I was a teenager working at reed candy in the 70 I love working there at night I had so much fun I was in high school going to Waller high school
” —Jeanette, 2019
“My aunt, Flora Lang, used to work for Reedâs in the 1940âs through the 60âs in the âaccounting/payroll deptâ (?). Â She was there when they computerized. Â She was one of the first to be trained on the IBM keypunch machines and could not only operate them but set them up for different jobs and troubleshoot them. Â She would then train the others in her department. She lived on N. Hamilton Ave near W Fletcher St and walked to work when it was not raining or snowing too bad. I remember her talking about when Lorillard took control from the Reed family.
I lived in California with my parents and we would always go back to Chicago to visit during the spring, and come home with lots of Reedâs Rolls and Paloops. Â I remember one year Reedâs experimented with chocolate flavored Rolls, but I guess they didnât work out…but I liked them!!!” —Dan Danielson, 2018
“I lived on clifton av. nearby the plant on fletcher fora few years in the early 70’s.  what wondrous olfactory delite  of  cinnamon butterscotch summers and spearmint winter nites so crisp they cruncked.. alas..  captive victims in the clutches of inner city industral pollution. if only they could make all industrial pollution just so lethal and  noxious
sad  its gone the way of the world. they usta get a dime for a pack of em i think. hunh and still made money.” —Paul Filkorn, 2017
“I lived on Roscoe and Racine, and we could tell the day if the week by which candy we smelled. I don’t know why, but I seem to remember a wild cherry flavor. The neighborhoid used to be good. Sweet memories of a better time.” —Pony, 2020
Was the neighborhood close to the factory called Sweeterville (not to be confused with Streeterville)? I recall reading that somewhere, but I canât find any references.
A lot of time has passed since 1883. A lot of time has also passed since I had my first Reed’s cinnamon candy, way back around 1965. I distinctly remember the glassy, translucent individually wrapped candies bursting with wonderful cinnamon flavor.
The other night, while at a Cracker Barrel restaurant, I purchased a roll of your candies to reminiscence about the good times of my youth, which included your candy. Unfortunately, I was extremely disappointed. The candy was comparable to a dry, hardened ball of bees wax that had the slightest flavor of old, moldy cinnamon or, perhaps, imitation cinnamon. What gives? Why would you destroy the best and replace it with fake garbage? You know the answer as well as I do. Like so many American companies, you thought – More+Cheaper+Faster = Bigger Profits. Sorry that you caved and sorry that another standout American product that we could be proud of has been lost to greed.
With my sympathies,
Robert Markoff
Highland, CA
Hi Robert, this is a museum about Chicago manufacturing history. We are not connected in any way with Reed’s Candy. The original Reed company of Chicago went out of business many years ago. The current candy being produced under the old Reed name is made by the Iconic Candy Co. of New York, and as you say, is probably not made to the same standard. –Made In Chicago Museum
My parents, Jeanne and Joe Smuda, met working at Reed Candy Company Chicago and were married in 1951.