Candy

With Halloween being tomorrow, candy is a good topic for today.  Between the 6th and 4th centuries, the Persians, followed by the Greeks, discovered the people in India and their “reeds of honey without bees” – sugarcane.  Pieces of sugar were produced by boiling sugarcane juice in ancient India, thus producing Khanda, now known as candy.  Before sugar was available, it was made from honey. In ancient times,  honey was used to coat fruits and flowers to preserve them to create forms of tasty treats.  Before the Industrial Revolution, it was often used as a form of medicine to calm the digestive system or to cool a sore throat.  During the Middle Ages candy appeared on the tables of the wealthy.  The first candy came to America in the early18th century from Britain and France.  Rock candy, made from crystallized sugar was the simplest form of sweets but still considered a luxury only for the wealthy.  During the 1830’s “Penny Candy” became the first material good that children could spend money on.  For this reason, sweet shop stores relied mostly on the business of children to keep them in business.  Today, most candies are made commercially in factories, although there are many small candy stores around the country that still produce handmade confections.  De Hart Plumbing, serving Manhattan Kansas, Junction City Kansas and Wamego Kansas.