A holiday weekend in Salem

I made it to Christmas in Salem this weekend, and it was - as usual - a fantastic event.  If you were not able to join Historic Salem, Inc. for their annual tour of private homes that were exquisitely decorated for the holidays, I highly recommend marking your calendar for December 1 & 2, 2012.  In addition to the homes, there are concerts, lectures, and lots of shopping and dining. 

Scores of volunteers make Christmas in Salem work, including tour guides and house captains - thanks to everyone involved for another wonderful event.

I also got to stop in at Ye Olde Pepper Candy Companie for their annual Holiday Open House, which included a candy cane making demonstration, candy canes formed into children's initials, and free samples.  It was decadent, sweet, and festive. 

Visit Salem.org/holidays for the schedule of upcoming events, including candlelight tours of The House of the Seven Gables, a Big Band night at Rockafellas, and Salem's Open House Shopping Night on December 16.


'Tis the season!

The 17th Century Corwin House. Not on the house tour, but lovely with its wreath.

31 Chestnut Street

Not on the tour, but a beautiful McIntire doorway

Peering through windows to watch candy making at Ye Olde Pepper Candy Companie.

Candy cane in process

Rolling out the candy canes

Rolling - a rhythmic process that required three men!

Festive souvenirs!

Treat your Valentine at Ye Olde Pepper Candy Companie

I stopped into the Pepper Candy Companie yesterday to grab some Gibralters, and was transported into the land of Valentine's chocolate.

This is the real deal - heart-shaped boxes, conversation hearts, candy-canes reshaped into peppermint hearts (love the re-purposing!), fudge, chocolate, and more chocolate.

What could be better than locally made chocolates?  While you are there, pick up a pack of Gibralters, America's first commercially produced candy, and taste a little history.

Ye Old Pepper Companie

In the spirit of Women's History Month, I have an excerpt from The Salem Women's Heritage Trail for you today. And it's about candy, so you know it's going to be a sweet story. (Couldn't resist - sorry.)

So, here's today's tale about Salem's "Gibraltar Lady" and the first commercially produced candy in America:

One of the most enduring remnants of Salem's great East India trade era is the "Gibraltar," a candy made famous throughout the world by the Spencers of Salem and currently available at Ye Old Pepper Companie, 122 Derby Street. Salem lore has it that Mary Spencer and her son Thomas sailed from England sometime around 1806 and supposedly lost everything they owned in a shipwreck, eventually finding their way to Salem. A kindly citizen was said to have donated a barrel of sugar to the Spencers who began making the tasty-paper-wrapped, lemon confection in a house at 56 Buffum Street in North Salem. Mary Spencer at first sold the candies on the stoop of the First Church in Town House Square (the current site of Rockafellas restaurant), but was soon able to acquire a cart (now owned by the Peabody Essex Museum) and a shaggy grey pony she used as she made her sales calls. Eventually, Gibraltars, originally called "Gibraltar Rocks" because of their hardness found their way to the farthest corners of the globe on Salem vessels. No Salem ship, it has been said, would dare leave port without a supply!

The confection business was sold around 1830 to John Pepper, who continued making Gibraltars on Buffum Street. Today, you can buy lemon and peppermint Gibraltars at Ye Old Pepper Companie on Derby Street. The business is owned by descendants of George Burkinshaw, who worked for John Pepper in 1830.

Credit for this information goes to Bonnie Hurd Smith and Jim McAllister, two historians who did all the work and made it easy for me to share the story with you. Visit Bonnie's web site to order the Salem Women's Heritage Trail.