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Leo Hirschfield

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Leo Hirschfield
Born
Austria
DiedJanuary 13, 1922
New York City, New York, U.S.
Occupation(s)Confectioner, businessman
Known forTootsie Roll, Bromangelon
Websitewww.tootsie.com

Leo Hirschfield was an Austrian-American candymaker known as the inventor of the Tootsie Roll, the first individually wrapped penny candy,[1] and Bromangelon, the first commercially successful gelatin dessert mix, which preceded Jell-O by two years.[2][3]

Early life

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Hirschfield was an Austrian Jewish immigrant to the United States of America,[4] the son of an Austrian candy maker.[5]

Career

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In 1895, Hirschfield created Bromangelon, the first commercially successful gelatin dessert mix.[3][2]

Details of his early career are disputed. The more common version has him starting a candy shop in Brooklyn that later merged with Stern & Saalberg. Another version has him starting at the factory and rising to a senior development position.[6] According to the Tootsie Industries' official company history, he started his own career in the candy business at a small shop or factory in New York City in 1896.[5] However, this version of events, which is repeated in sources such as the Cleveland Jewish News,[4] is disputed by Rutgers University Professor Emerita Samira Kawash, who addressed the conflicting origins of the candy on her blog Candy Professor.[6][7] Citing a 1913 Pittsburgh Press interview,[7][8] Kawash states that Hirschfield worked for Stern & Staalberg before moving to Manhattan in the early 1890s. He invented the candy in 1907,[7] and named it after his then-5-year-old daughter Clara, whose nickname was "Tootsie."[7][5][9] That same year, he applied for a patent Tootsie Rolls, citing its unique texture, and was awarded one in 1908. In 1909 Stern & Staalberg began marketing the candy. Based on the available evidence, Kawash concluded that the notion that the candy had been created in 1896 in Hirschfeld's Brooklyn store was a myth. In addition, Kawash points out that Tootsie was also the name of the child spokesperson for Bromangelon, leading Kawash to surmise that while the Tootsie Roll may have been "christened" in Clara's honor, she had been the namesake for something that had preceded it.[7]

Before the adoption of modern refrigeration technology, candy sellers would spend hot summers selling candy that did not easily melt, such as taffy and marshmallows. This precluded chocolate, which melts easily. Since Tootsie had a nominally chocolate taste, it was a first for summer candies. Its patent describes that the moderately hard texture of Tootsie — in contrast to the light, porous texture of other pulled candies — was achieved by baking it at a low temperature for about two hours, giving it "a peculiar mellow consistency" that maintained its shape and did not melt.[10] It was the first penny candy to be individually wrapped,[1][11] and its low price led to its remarkable growth, making it a Depression-era favorite. During World War II, when the need for shipping food that did not spoil quickly to battlefront soldiers prompted considerable development in the field of processed food, Tootsie Rolls, which stayed fresh for a long period of time, became part of soldiers' ration packs, further solidifying Americans' love for the candy.[10][11]

Hirschfield left the company in 1922, shortly before his death.[4]

Death

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By early 1922, Hirschfield was wealthy, and his businesses were doing well. However, he was despondent over his long illness and his wife's mental breakdown, which left her committed in a sanitarium. On January 13, 1922, while staying at the Hotel Monterey in New York City, he took a revolver and intentionally killed himself via a gunshot to the head. He left a note stating that he was "sorry, but could not help it." He was declared dead at Knickerbocker Hospital. He was survived by his daughter, who was married to an Arthur Ludwig.[12][13]

References

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  1. ^ a b Fernandez, Manny (August 7, 2010). "Let Us Now Praise the Great Men of Junk Food". The New York Times. Archived from the original on September 11, 2012.
  2. ^ a b Kawash, Samira (2013). Candy: A Century of Panic and Pleasure. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. p. 72. ISBN 9780374711108. Archived from the original on August 5, 2024. Retrieved August 5, 2024.
  3. ^ a b Kaufman, Jared (July 26, 2018). "Before There Was Jell-O, There Was Bromangelon". MyRecipes. Archived from the original on August 5, 2024. Retrieved August 5, 2024.
  4. ^ a b c Bloom, Nate (October 27, 2011). "Jewish Stars 10/28". Cleveland Jewish News. Archived from the original on August 5, 2024. Retrieved August 5, 2024.
  5. ^ a b c "Welcome to Tootsie: Corporate History". Tootsie Industries. March 6, 2012. Archived from the original on March 6, 2012. Retrieved August 5, 2024.
  6. ^ a b Kawash, Samira (February 3, 2010). "Tootsie Roll Tragedy: The Real Leo Hirschfeld Story". Candy Professor. Archived from the original on August 5, 2024. Retrieved August 5, 2024.
  7. ^ a b c d e Waxman, Olivia B. (February 23, 2016). "How Tootsie Rolls Got Their Name". Time. Archived from the original on August 5, 2024. Retrieved August 5, 2024.
  8. ^ "From Steerage to Fortune". The Pittsburgh Press. April 13, 1913. p. 55. Archived from the original on August 5, 2024. Retrieved August 5, 2024 – via Google News.
  9. ^ "Tootsie Roll logs 100 sweet years". Indiana Gazette. Indiana, Pennsylvania. December 16, 1978. Archived from the original on August 5, 2024. Retrieved August 5, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ a b Eschner, Kat (December 16, 1978). "Tootsie Rolls Were WWII Energy Bars". Smithsonian Magazine. Archived from the original on August 5, 2024. Retrieved August 5, 2024.
  11. ^ a b "Government Contracts: How Tootsie Rolls Helped us Win World War II". Dodge Legal Group, SPC. Archived from the original on August 5, 2024. Retrieved August 5, 2024.
  12. ^ "Kills Himself in Hotel: Illness and Wife's Breakdown Are Blamed for Candy Man's Suicide". The New York Times. January 14, 1922. Archived from the original on September 28, 2022. Retrieved August 5, 2024.
  13. ^ "Kills Himself in Hotel: Illness and Wife's Breakdown Are Blamed for Candy Man's Suicide". The New York Times. January 14, 1922. p. 13 (S 22). Archived from the original on August 5, 2024. Retrieved August 5, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
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