Clark bars, the signature item of one of the country’s largest candy empires, started with a small operation run by young entrepreneur David L. Clark in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Mr. Clark entered the candy business in 1891 and spent a few years learning the trade before starting his own company, D.L. Clark Co., in 1886.

He manufactured candy in two back rooms of a small house with the help of a small staff.

Within a few years, he made enough money to open a small factory in McKeesport, where the company became incorporated

By 1911, the company had outgrown its factory, and Mr. Clark purchased a large building from a cracker manufacturer.

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“Altoids are one of the oldest breath mints and are still made from the same formula that dates back to the reign of England’s King George”.

Unfortunately this is no long true as the formula was changed in April this year when they substituted ‘corn syrup’ with ‘glucose syrup’ and ‘artificial flavor’…and as a result they don’t taste quite the same, at least to us seasoned Altoids customers. Here’s our latest post.

I’m sure they have their reasons for making this change, just as Coca-Cola did at the end of the 1980’s when they took the original Coke off the market and launch ‘New Coke’….which fortunately only lasted for six months before they returned to the original ‘7X’ formula of classic Coke…after a public outcry and lost sales which resulted in Pepsi becoming the No.1 Cola drink in the US for the first time in over 100 years.

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