According to Foodimentary, candy is simply made by dissolving sugar in water, with the different heating levels, flavoring, and colors determining the types of candy.
On War History Online, one learns that hard candy played a role in feeding the armies of the American Civil War.
Sugar had become plentiful thanks to slave labor on sugar plantations, but the process of making candy was still difficult. In 1847 however, a Boston immigrant from England who worked as a pharmacist invented a machine, the lozenge cutter, to help produce the medicinal lozenges he had popularized. Smithsonian Magazine reports:
Chase and his brother set up a factory in South Boston producing ‘Chase lozenges.’ Their company would later be known as the New England Confectionary Company (Necco), which would go on to become America’s longest-operating candy company. The lozenges, with flavors like clove and cinnamon, were a hit.”
The candy-making process continued to improve. In 1850, Chase invented a machine for pulverizing sugar. The Chases began to produce small disc-shaped candies known as “hub wafers.” Necco was quickly joined by other companies producing candies.
War History Online explains:
The wafers were an ideal food to give to an army, as they were small, easy to transport, tough, and didn’t degrade like other foods. Their sweet taste would have certainly given troops a small mental boost during wartime.”
The article notes that Union soldiers also received jelly beans and Jordan almonds.
Confederate soldiers, on the other hand, could barely feed their troops any kind of food.
After the war, Union soldiers retained a fondness for Necco Wafers, and the army appreciated the way they did not spoil over the long term and in harsh conditions.
In 1930 two tons of Necco Wafers were taken on an expedition to the South Pole. WWII gave another boost to Necco Wafer consumption, as they were once again sent into battle with troops, thanks to a government order to produce them. As with the Civil War, upon returning home, many former soldiers became faithful customers who continued to buy the wafers.
The Necco Company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2018. Round Hill Investments purchased the company out of bankruptcy for $17.3 million in May 2018, but then abruptly ended operations at Necco on July 24, 2018, citing “sanitation issues” it claimed it was previously unaware of. Round Hill sold off various Necco lines to other candy companies. Necco Wafers were sold to the Spangler Candy Company of Bryan, Ohio, and in 2020, Spangler said that Necco Wafers were back in production at a facility in Mexico and ready for release.
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