United Retail Candy Stores Candy Tin
notes: label: Description
content: This blue and yellow rectangular box with a multicolored floral theme was used to store and market candies for United Retail Candy Stores. The lid of the box has the tag line, "happiness in every box," written across the top in white script.
label: Description
content: United Retail Candy Stores started into the candy business by purchasing Fuerst & Kramer of New Orleans, which was followed by setting up a candy factory in Brooklyn with plans for more in the works by 1920. At the time, reasonably priced candy could be found in larger chain stores, but people preferred the atmosphere of the smaller candy store. URS attempted to create a chain candy store with favorable prices while preserving the friendly atmosphere of the neighborhood candy maker.
label: Description
content: Chocolate had been known and treasured by Native Americans in Central and South America for thousands of years prior to the arrival of the first Spanish explorers in the late 1400s and early 1500s. Cacao beans were so highly prized by Mayans and Aztecs that they were used as currency in many areas of the Americas. When first taken back to Europe by the Spanish, the chocolate drink continued to be produced exclusively for the enjoyment of royalty or the extremely wealthy. As the cacao bean gradually made its presence known throughout Europe, it still remained trapped in this exclusive section of society well into the 19th century.
label: Description
content: The chocolate trade to North America began more than 300 years ago, primarily centered in or near major port cities of the time, such as New York City, Boston, Philadelphia and Newport, RI. Due to lower transportation costs, chocolate was often less expensive in the Americas than in Europe and therefore had a broader consumer base. The Industrial Revolution radically changed chocolate production and helped propel it into the hearts and stomachs of the working class. Instead of being a labor intensive product, it became entirely machine made reducing costs even further in the late 19th and early 20th century. During this time, chocolate went from being something a person drank to being something to eat, finally becoming a treat for the masses.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Agriculture
label: See more items in
content: Food
label: See more items in
content: Advertising
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: ZZ.RSN80525Z39
objectType: label: Object Name
content: container
label: Object Name
content: container, food
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: tin (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 2 in x 7 1/2 in x 5 in; 5.08 cm x 19.05 cm x 12.7 cm