Encyclopedia Dubuque
"Encyclopedia Dubuque is the online authority for all things Dubuque, written by the people who know the city best.”
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Affiliated with the Local History Network of the State Historical Society of Iowa, and the Iowa Museum Association.
LICORICE PRODUCTS COMPANY
LICORICE PRODUCTS COMPANY.
Beginning in 1920 licorice was manufactured in Dubuque by the Licorice Products Company. Founded by Martin B. ANDELFINGER of Brooklyn, New York, the factory was located at 197 Iowa. The 1939 Dubuque City Directory listed 100 W. 2nd. In 1951 it was still located there. One of five licorice manufacturing companies operating in the United States, the company produced about four tons daily.
Licorice Products produced approximately twenty varieties of licorice candy made into shapes of pipes, firecrackers, and cigarettes packed into five-pound boxes for sale. Most licorice was made into sticks or lozenges. Lozenges were shipped in three hundred fifty pound drums. The factory supplied only wholesalers. The company's principal buyers were the Rigby Candy Company and Chase Candy Company of Chicago.
Andelfinger, the founder, eventually retired and moved to Monrovia, California. His son, Russell, took his own life on February 18, 1947, over business worries.