A real-life example of the American dream, immigrating from Ireland to the poor Kerry Patch area of St. Louis, to mansions in Webster Groves in Kirkwood, this is truly a story from rags to riches. Essentially a story of two families, both starting in Ireland, immigrating to America, and finding their way to St. Louis, the Switzer Candy company sprang from the Murphy and Switzer families making candy in their Kerry Patch kitchen. Let’s begin with some family history, the background for our episode.
Michael Switzer was born in 1827 in County Limerick, Ireland. The family originated from Palatine (current day Germany), They migrated to England in in 1709 with intentions of going to the Americas. Due to some bureaucratic red tape, their journey was cancelled, and they were sidetracked to Ireland. The original family name was Schwitzer; in 1745, it was changed to Switzer. In the summer of 1851 Michael immigrated to America. At the time Ireland was a very poor country recovering, but still suffering from the potato famine of the 1840s. Once in the states, Michael worked various jobs while traveling westward. In 1857 he married Margaret Morkin, an Irish immigrant from County Tipperary. They established a life in St. Louis-the Kerry Patch, the Irish part of town. In St. Louis, Michael worked on the levee. On September 8, 1865, Michael died. Reports state he was drinking on the job unloading a steamer, fell into the Mississippi River and drowned. He left behind his wife Margaret and 4 children, ranging in age from 6 years old to one month old. Frederick had been born just a few weeks before his father’s death. The other children were Mary Ellen, Catherine, and Margaret. As sole breadwinner, Margaret sold groceries to support her family; eventually she was able to open a small store in the Kerry Patch.
We’ll leave the Switzer family story there for now and talk about the Murphys.
Prior to the great potato famine, Bernard Murphy moved from Belfast to Dublin. There he married Catherine Everhart. In 1840, they opened a shop on Capel Street selling cakes and candies. Despite the country being amid a famine and potato blight, the shop did quite well. Most residents of Dublin landed gentry and still had funds for luxuries like sweets. Within a few years, they opened 2 additional stores called Murphy’s Belfast Confectionary.
In 1849, Bernard died suddenly of a heart attack, leaving Catherine head of the family and business. Their youngest son, Joseph, was only 2 when his father passed away. He grew up in the candy business, learning all aspects of the trade. In his teen years, he became involved in the Irish nationalist movement- the Fenians. They were “a brotherhood of idealistic young Irishmen committed to independence from Great Britain”.
Joseph Murphy was 20 years old when the Fenian Uprising occurred. Although not directly involved, his name ended up on a list of rebels. If found, he would be executed. From here, he went into hiding until he was able to book a steerage passage to America. He arrived at Castle Garden in 1870. He worked in various candy factories along the east coast before heading west. On November 6, 1876, he became a United States citizen while living in Chicago.
By 1879, he was in St. Louis working at Dunham Coconut Factory There he met the young Margaret Switzer. (This is the daughter of Margaret Morkin and Michael Switzer). They were married on February 2, 1881, at St. Laurence O’Toole Church. Joe was 34, and Margaret was 17. Margaret’s brother, Frederick, also worked for Dunham Coconut Factory. His job was to sell candy from carts on the streets near the riverfront.
Joseph and Margaret moved into a flat in the Kerry Patch, not far from Margaret’s family. The Kerry Patch was the Irish part of St. Louis. It was a rough and poor neighborhood. Located on the near northside of the city, for years it was the only place Irish immigrants were permitted to live.
The next part is lost to history since no one knows who exactly hatched the plan, but Joe and Margaret Murphy, and her brother Fred Switzer decided to go into the candy business. Joe knew the ins and outs of making candy, Fred knew how to sell it, and Margaret knew the retail and accounting side from working in her mother’s store. So, they would make candy in the kitchen of their flat, and Joe would hit the streets peddling their goods.
In 1884, they registered a company called Murphy and Switzer Candy. In 1886, they moved from making candy in their kitchen to a 5-story brick building at 11 N. Main Street (now 1st street- the exact location would be in the middle of the Gateway Arch legs today). Joe Murphy was the president, and Fred Switzer served as the vice president.
Along came the panic of 1893. It was an economic depression of epic proportions. 600 banks failed. The unemployment rate rose to 20%. 15,000 businesses closed during the first year of the panic. Murphy and Switzer Candy went bankrupt.
In late 1893, Crawford and Charles Kendrick took over the candy plant and operated as part of the Interstate Candy Company. The Kendrick brothers were not the most noble of men and found themselves in trouble with the law. In 1895 they unexpectedly left town due to some money issues and illegal activity.
In steps sister Mary Ellen Switzer to save the company. The sister of Margaret Switzer, she left home at 18 and married Martin Broderick. Together they ran a horse-trading business. After a few years of marriage, Mary Ellen left Broderick and returned home. She used $2,000 of her own money to restart the company. Fred Switzer moved into a vacant building at 22 N. Main Street with a new company name, ME Switzer Candy Company. Fred Switzer was made company president.
Joseph Murphy found himself no longer head of a candy company or employed. He borrowed some money from a friend and set up shop on Pine Street selling crystallized balloon candy. This venture barely lasted a year.
In 1896 Joseph Murphy and family moved to Winthrop, MA. There he obtained a job with a candy company. The family bought a 2-story frame house on the beach. What a change that must have been- a good one though. Going from living in a cramped slum in the city to the beach with plenty of room and fresh air.
The new Switzer Candy Company back in St. Louis could sell the heck out of candy, the problem was they didn’t really know how to make it without Joe.
So, Fred went to MA to talk Joe into returning. He was not successful- Joe said no.
Joe and his family to Nashville Tennessee, where Joe took a job with the National Biscuit Company.
The Switzer candy company was doing well selling a variety of concessions such as caramels, licorice, butterscotch and molasses-based candies. Switzer was still looking for something to make his company stand out from the others. He purchased the formula and equipment from Walter Candy to make Yellow Jackets- a honey flavored candy. They were an immediate hit; a division of the company was formed- Switzer’s Yellow Jacket Company.
Switzer wanted another new product-something that could withstand the heat and humidity of St. Louis summers. Fred Switzer approached Joe Murphy one more time about coming back to the company and developing a new candy. This time, Joe said yes. He developed the buttermel- a combination of butterscotch and caramel.
By now, the Switzer candy company exceled in selling and moving product. They had developed a system of jobbers (or salesmen). These men bought candy from the company at a reduced price and sold to retailers at a mark-up. This developed into a distribution system the soon included raw materials to make candy. Switzer created a nation-wide incentive program for the jobbers.
The Switzer family had lived under 1 roof in a middle-class neighborhood. This changed with the bachelor, Fred Switzer, married Elizabeth Kern. The couple moved to a large house in Kirkwood at the corner of Argonne and Woodbine. They would go on to have 5 sons and 3 daughters.
In 1909, the Murphy family moved to Webster Groves.
The Muphy and Switzer families may have been in business together, but they were not equal. Murphy continued to create new candy, and Switzer continued to sell it, but there was an unease in their relationship from when the Switzer’s reformed the company without Murphy. The Murphys were a middleclass family that ran production. The Switzer’s were wealthy upper class family that ran and owned the company; the employers of the Murphys. This would continue to be the way as new generations of Switzer’s and Murphys joined the company.
In 1911, the company moved to a new building at 612 N. Main Street. It covered 60,000 square feet of space, proving ample room for the production of even more types of candy. With 5 floors and windows on the front façade, the solid brick wall sides allowed for advertising space.
The following year, Switzer Candy bough Gem City Licorice- a company from Dayton, Ohio. They moved all the licorice machinery to their new St. Louis plant and began a whole new line dedicated to licorice. This year also introduced a new generation of Murphy men to the production line- Francis and Bernard.
In the 1920s, Switzer began advertising on a national level, and in the 1930s, began radio advertisements. The 1930s also saw the organization of labor within the Switzer plant. The United Candy Workers organized 125 Switzer employees. The union negotiated a 40-hour work week, 10% wage increase, overtime, and almost a week of paid vacation.
The Great Depression hit St. Louis hard. Unemployment in the city peaked at 35%. But the candy industry was spared. It seemed that the demand for candy grew.
During World War 2, the first thing rationed was sugar in the spring of 1942. Butter and dairy products would join the ration list in 1943. This made candy production rather difficult, however, the main ingredients for licorice were widely available. Switzer Candy changed all production lines over to licorice- they retooled and remodeled the entire factory. The company named was changed to Switzer Licorice Company.
In the 1930s 1940s, many of the first generation began to pass away. First Joseph Murphy in 1932, then Margaret Switzer in 1944, and Fred Switzer in 1949. The company was still run by family; John Switzer was the new boss and president, and Cousin Francis Murphy served as the plant manager.
In the 1950s Switzer began to modernize. They updated their packaging and advertisements. 1959 saw the introduction of cherry red licorice. I know… I know… the only real licorice is black licorice… so let’s just say this was a licorice type product.
In the 1960s the company was still doing well but had no plan of succession for the next generation. No one seemed able to or wanted to take over.
On October 16, 1966, Switzer merged with Beatrice Food Company. The St. Louis factory would become a division of Beatrice. John and Joe Switzer remained in their positions, but report to Beatrice. Here’s where things started to go downhill. In 1970, Beatrice gave the job of Switzer General Manager to Executive Vice President Bob Kill.
There was a misunderstanding of the terms of the merger. Switzer thought they were to operate as usual. Beatrice expected Switzer to use the merger as a chance to make improvements and increase sales. John and Joe Switzer retired soon after Bob Kill arrived at the St. Louis plant. Kill did improve sales, but the old Switzer building wasn’t up to par to meet production expectations.
In 1972, they opened a second factory at 1600 North Broadway. It had better facilities and a warehouse. The newer equipment is allocated for higher production levels. At this time, Bob Kill fired Frank Murphy-the last of the family and old culture working for the company.
Beatrice still needed to cut production costs, so they changed the way the licorice was made. The previous method took 3 days per batch. The new method used by another company called “continuous extraction” took about 20 minutes. Changes to the process also meant changes from the original recipe developed for Joseph Murphy. At first the change was not successful. Beatrice hired Jim Clark, a former chemist employee of Switzer to assist. He improved the recipe to taste better and work better with the continuous extraction method.
In 1977, the Old Switzer factory closed. All production now took place at the plant on Broadway.
In December of 1983, Beatrice sold all of its candy companies to a Finish Conglomerate. All North American companies operated under the Leaf name.
On October 18, 1996, the Finish conglomerate sold all of the Switzer line and name to Hershey. Workers at the Switzer plant attempted to buy back company to no avail.
Hershey had its own line of licorice-Twizzlers and decided to shut down the St. Louis plant and end the Switzer line. On May 15, 1998, the St. Louis plant on Broadway closed permanently and the Switzer Candy company came to an end.
Or… did it?
In 2003, Michael Switzer, grandson of founder Fred Switzer decided to bring back the Switzer name and candy. In 2003, Michael and his brother Joe hired a lawyer to research claiming the Switzer brand and brining it back. Legally, they could. If a company doesn’t use a trademark for 3 years, it’s considered abandoned per federal law. They were able to locate the original licorice recipe and a small candy company in Minnesota willing to make their product.
In 2005 Michael Switzer became business partners with Dan Warren. In their first three months of business, they had sold more than $2 million dollars’ worth of product. By the end of the year, they had contracts with major grocery store chains as well as Target and K-Mart. They added some new flavors to the mix and brought back some of the original candy lines.
Later in 2005, they received a cease-and-desist letter from Hershey. After a meeting with Hershey executives, the Switzer’s received control over the trademark.
Although the plant is located outside the St. Louis area, the headquarter office are in downtown Webster Groves. Today the company boasts 15 different flavors of licorice available in markets across the country. Their focus is to operate as a small family business and not compete with the global market.
I’d like to end this episode with a quote from Candy Men by Patrick Murphy:
“It’s often the smallest things in life that mean the most. An aroma that claims a place in our memory and never leaves. A taste with the power to transport us back to our childhood. There is a certain silliness to candy. It is the most unpretentious of products. It claims to offer us nothing more than a burst of sweetness and the ability to make us smile. It’s more fun to share than to enjoy alone, and so it brings us together. And how remarkable it is that an enterprise so dedicated to such a fragile little item could endure so many years through wars and depressions, changing tastes, and the moods and temperaments of those who created it. The notion that a dream can be built upon candy is strangely powerful as the fact that when it seemed to have died, it came back to life, bringing a touch of sweetness to our lives. “