By Ed Epstein
Washington, D.C.
Thursday, January 9, 2025
A confession: I love Necco Wafers, the sugary candy that some people say tastes like chalk -- although I have to wonder how many of them have actually ever tasted chalk.
So I was happy, as a Lincoln fan, to see in a posting on the American Civil War Facebook group that Necco wafers go back to before the Civil War and were a popular treat with Union soldiers. That got me wondering if President Abraham Lincoln, his wife Mary, and their sons Robert, Willie, and Tad ever ate them. It's a question we probably can't answer, although there may be a scholar out there who has the inside scoop.
The wafers were invented in 1847 by Oliver Chase, an English immigrant to America, who devised a lozenge cutting machine that allowed the confection then made of sugar, corn syrup, gelatin, gums, flavoring, and colorings to be cut into thin slices. They come in eight flavors.
The candy, long made in Massachusetts, was originally known as hub wafers and was widely distributed to Union forces during the Civil War. Chase later merged his company with other candy makers to form the New England Candy Co., hence the Necco name.
The candy was enduringly popular, so much so that during World Wars I and II, the U.S. military bought Neccos in vast amounts for inclusion in mess kits shipped overseas. The candy remained popular long after the war, but gradually the Necco company declined, and production stopped in 2018.
The brand was acquired by the Spangler Co. of Ohio a few years later, and Neccos are again widely available, at grocery store checkout counters and in candy aisles.
The wafers are said to be the oldest American candy brand. Other candies that were popular during the Civil War included peppermint sticks, jelly beans, and Jordan almonds, which were almonds coated in sugar.
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