Tootsie Roll Industries

Tootsie Roll Industries(/ˈtʊtsi/) is an American manufacturer ofconfectionerybased inChicago, Illinois. Its best-known products include the namesakeTootsie RollsandTootsie Pops. Tootsie Roll Industries currently markets its brands internationally inCanada,Mexico, and over 75 other countries.
In 1896, Leo Hirschfeld, anAustrianJewish immigrantto the United States, began work at a small candy shop located inNew York Cityowned by the Stern & Saalberg firm.In 1907, Hirschfeld decided he wanted a chocolate-tastingcandythat would not melt in the heat, and that would be an economical artificial alternative to traditionalchocolates.He named the candy after the nickname of his daughter, Clara "Tootsie" Hirschfeld.By this point, the company had expanded to a five-story factory. In 1917, the name of the company was changed to The Sweets Company of America. It was reformed andlistedon theAmerican Stock Exchangein 1919.
The business forced Hirschfeld out about a year later, and he started a new company, Mells Candy Corporation, also known as The Merry Mells Company.Owing to health and family issues, he committed suicide in 1922.Mells failed in 1924.
In 1931, theTootsie Pop— ahard-candylollipopwith Tootsie Roll filling — was invented, and quickly became popular withDust Bowlrefugees during theGreat Depressionera because of its low price. DuringWorld War II, Tootsie Rolls became a standard part of American soldiers'field rations, due to the sustainability of the candy under a variety of environmental conditions.
In 1935, the company was in serious difficulty. Its principal supplier of paper boxes, Joseph Rubin & Sons ofBrooklyn— concerned about the possible loss of an important customer — became interested in the possibility of acquiring control. The company was listed on theNew York Stock Exchange, butBernard D. Rubinacquired a list of shareholders and approached them in person in order to purchase their shares. The Rubins eventually achieved control and agreed that Bernard would run the company as president. Mr. Rubin was able to steadily increase sales and restore profits, changing the formula of the Tootsie Roll and increasing its size, moving fromManhattanto a much larger plant inHoboken, New Jersey, and guiding the company successfully through the difficult war years when vital raw materials were in short supply. When he died in 1948, he had increased the sales volume twelvefold. After his death, his brother William B. Rubin became president and remained president until 1962.
In 1962, William's daughter, Ellen Rubin Gordon, took control, and as of January 2015, is Chairman and CEO of the company.For many years prior to his death, her husband,Melvin Gordon, was Chairman and CEO from 1962 to 2015.
In 1966, the company adopted its current name of "Tootsie Roll Industries, Inc.", and in 1968, moved its headquarters to Chicago.
The company has acquired several famous brands of confections such as The Candy Corporation of America's Mason Division (1972),Cella's Confections(1985),The Charms Company(1988),Warner-Lambert's candy division (1993; excluding gum and mints),Andes Candies(2000), and Concord Confections (2004).
The company's headquarters is located on theSouth Side of Chicago, in a portion of the formerDodge Chicago Plantwhere the majority of the company's candy is produced. The company also has a factory in Mexico City where it produces some flavors of Tootsie Pops and other candy products for the Mexican market as well as for export to the U.S. and Canada.There is also a candy factory inThe Portneighborhood ofCambridge, Massachusetts(belonging to the subsidiary "Cambridge Brands", formerly home to its predecessor, the James O. Welch Company),and a factory inSpainthat produces candy for export to Canada.
Tootsie Roll brands and products include: