Short Stuff: Necco

Published Jan 20, 2021, 10:00 AM

If you think Necco Wafers are the most disgusting candy on the planet, you are not alone. But it turns out there’s a rich history behind those chalky discs that make them fascinating, if horrible.

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Hey, and welcome to the short stuff. I'm Josh and there's Chuck and this is uh Neco wafer short stuff on Eco wafers, the wafers from Echo. Go ahead and ask your question, Chuck. Uh huh have you ever thought about putting a necko wafer in your mouth? Oh? Boy? That was good, good drama. Uh. You know, I've never had one of these. I haven't either, I've gone my hole. Really. Oh yeah, I know. Can we pledge to never have them? Or now do you want to? I don't know. It's it could go either way. That's a really good, good question, like, um, like I could I could see going your whole. I like getting that engraved on your tombstone, Like, yeah, it never had an Echo wafer. So what we're talking about is a candy. Um. It's referenced you prominently in some movie in a line and I could not think of what it was, which really bugged me. Um. But that's sort of where I even heard of Neco wafers was. I think just through pop culture. It's not something. Not only have I not had one, I don't know anyone who's ever had one. Like I've never been with someone who was just chowing on Necco wafers, or had a family member that was an eco enthusiast. No, it's a it's typically and I don't mean to be a just but it's typically viewed as kind of like a Grandma candy, you know, where, like saltwater taffy, even though I know you love that, Oh dude, it's so good. Saltwater taffy is just so good when it's done right. I'm not arguing that. I'm just saying it's a bit of a Grandma candy love with our grandma's God rest their souls exactly right. Um. But no, that it has just kind of that whole um doily kind of aura around it, you know what I'm saying. Sure you gotta. I think when you buy Nicco wafers, it comes with the doily. It it does. You just unroll the wax packaging. And so if you've not seen this, you probably have. If you don't know what we're talking about, you probably have seen it. Um. Uh. It's like it comes in like a kind of a wax paper roll tube tube um. And then the wafers themselves are um a little bigger than the size of a quarter maybe, Uh. And they're dusty, chalky, weirdly colored to the colors are brown and gray. Um, but they're like, no, not at all. But they're like a multi colored roll of of this chalky, dusty um, multi flavored candy that that they're not complimentary flavors either. It's a mess. Neco wafers are a big giant mess. I'm just gonna say it. They're a hundred seventy year old mess. Yeah, I guess we'll just go ahead and mention those flavors. Um. You've got the lemon yellows, the lime greens, the orange orange, U light purple is clove. Do not ever get one of those near my mouth. Cinnamon is white, a little weird. Um, winter green is pink, also weird. Licorice is dark gray. And then there's a chocolate flavor which is brown and I guarantee you it does not taste like chocolate. No. Um. And I was like, like, you can look at Eco wafers and be like, I know what that's going to taste like, and I'm not going to like it. Um. But you and I have had basically Neco wafers because the Echo Company, um, we should say the name is kind of an acronym. It stands for New England Candy Company, right, m hm um. They also are the makers of UM conversation hearts, you know, those little herds to say be mine, I'm yours. Those are differently shaped Eco wafers. It's the same exact thing. So those things, when you've tried them before and been like these are absolutely horrible, you would think the same thing about Neco way first, Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. So it's just a it's neck away fer. It's just a thinner, sort of UM coin like version of those yes that don't say something like be mine or I'm yours. Apparently the ones these days say email me or or grab a glass of water. Right, this is going to this is going to be terrible. Alright, let's take a break here. We'll talk a little bit more about where they started and why they're still around. Right after this, all right, let's if we got back in the way back machine and went back to nineteen o one, we would see Neco wafers being cranked out from the New England Candy Company, even though apparently they were around since eighty seven. I didn't quite get that. Yeah, one of the UM one of the co founders of New England candy company UM invented this lozenge miss machine, the machine that basically popped out these little wafers, and one of the first things they did was use it to make Neco wafers. So Neco wafers actually predate predate Neco itself, and they used to be called um Hub wafers, and Hub was like an old timey name, like slang term for Boston, so they were Boston wafers originally. But they predate the company that made them famous. And they predate virtually every popular candy that we know of, and I think Hershey Bar officially came out one year pre prior, but um every every they're sort of candy bar that you know in love came around the nineteen twenties and thirties. As far as the classics go, uh Eminem's in the nineteen forties. UM, but the neck a way for in nineteen o one, they pack it in soldiers rations in the Civil War, which would should be your first like stay far away from this candy in one sort of warning, like if they put it in Civil War rations, you probably don't want to be eating it today. Also, so that's debatable whether it actually wasn't the Civil War, Like, that's a longstanding thing that Neco has been saying for a while, but I think some historians I've looked into it are like, no, I'm not a hardy percent sure about that. But it definitely was in the rations of American soldiers in World War Two because the government actually took over the Neco factory and requisition like a sizeable portion of their production to to give to soldiers. Because they don't melt, they're really portable and it's like a high um calorie dense snack. Yeah, and the Civil WARLD was over in eight so I had to have just been that first version that whatever they were called the hub the hub ones. Yeah. So at any rate, um, they're made from sugar and corn syrup. Uh, they're, like you said, super chalky. And if you um, if you take a a survey or a see a survey even online for candies, it's usually kind of right at the bottom. I feel bad because we're doing nothing but bagging on this classic candy. And people love them really from what I've seen, um from one of the company's spokespeople, Yes, some people love them. Get a sweet teart if you want something like that, or a spree spreezer even better spree What is a spree Oh, it's like the shiny um the shiny slicker version of sweet tearts. It's not at all powder. It's got a like shiny coating and it's and taste as well. And I really love those. Really they were like game pieces, Yes they did. So it was a lot more fun to eat them because you'd be like, I'm not supposed to be eating this, I'm supposed to be playing and ts I'm gonna eat it well. And that's a nice transition actually, because as far as nicco wafers go, people sometimes buy them and use them for uh kids to train them on communion, UM edible poker chips, uh shingles for gingerbread houses that's a nice application, or place markers. So there is actual evidence that some people do enjoy the taste of them because UM the current company that owns them as Spangler from Brian, Ohio. It's family run outfit that's I think over a hundred years old. UM and Spangler very appropriately also are the ones who make Circus peanuts, which is a lot of people's second most hated candy, So poor Spangler's putting out a lot of stuff that people don't like. But whatever, we're you know, hats off to them for for staying at it. But um, I guess Spangler did uh or no, pre Spangler, the company that owned them, change the recipe like um to kind of make it a little little less artificially flavored and colored, and there was a thirty five drop in sales as a result, so they went back to the original recipe. UM. So that does mean that people out there do actually eat Neco wafers, They don't just use them as poker chips like you were saying. Yeah, And you know, hats off to the Spangler company. We love these small, kind of old school, family run candy companies. UM. I don't think that us saying that we probably won't try an echo is gonna hurt their sales. Hopefully this shines a little light on that company. Um. But they did a survey last year in that said, uh, that found that seventy three percent of Americans are familiar with or at least had an echo wafers. Pretty good coverage there a baby baby boomers and gen X obviously lead that pack, but see of millennials know about Neco wafers and whatever is it? What's behind Z? Is that eighteen to twenty year olds or is that even something else? I think they fall within gen Z. Yeah, we need to do that Generations podcast at some point. But UM apparently they obviously are sort of bringing up the rear with awareness. Eco awareness is what they call it. It is eco awareness. But I mean that's still pretty respectable for the set, you know what I mean? And how much good these things? I mean, what are they cost? What's the two of those costs? I genuinely don't know, but I will tell you that there was a dark time where they were not around. UM Neco wafers were purchased by UM Spangler in two thousand eighteen. Uh, and they went offline and reissued them in two thousand and twenty. But now I guess they're here to stay, all right. Well, I just looked it up out of curiosity. Apparently you can get them delivered during COVID, which is great. You can get a six pack of Neco wafers for about eighteen fifty, so about three dollars a tube. Wow, I did not expect that. Did you expect like nine cents. No, I expected it to hover more around a dollar price point. Yeah, an American classic, the original in bold letters, candy wafers since eighty seven. That's great. What's cool about collecting them too. There's a lot of people who clearly collect like the old nostalgic neco wafers is um. You can eat them and they'll taste exactly the same today as they did when they were first made back in the nineteenth century. Does not surprise me. That's great. I made that up, by the way, but it was just a jambel. That doesn't surprise me. There. Okay, Well, since Chuck's not at all surprised, and I think we've reached the end of this episode, I say, Chuck, short stuff is out. What do you say? Agreed? Stuff You should know is a production of iHeart Radios How Stuff Works. For more podcasts for my Heart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. H

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