This episode tells a true story of the American Dream—from Irish immigrants living in the poor Kerry Patch neighborhood of St. Louis to mansions in Webster Groves and Kirkwood.
The Switzer Candy Company grew from two Irish immigrant families—the Murphys and the Switzers—making candy in their Kerry Patch kitchen.
Family Histories
The Switzers:
Michael Switzer was born in 1827 in County Limerick, Ireland. His family originally came from Palatine (modern-day Germany) and migrated through England to Ireland in the early 1700s. Their name changed from Schwitzer to Switzer in 1745.
Michael immigrated to America in 1851 during the aftermath of the Irish Potato Famine. He worked various jobs while traveling west and married Margaret Morkin in 1857 in St. Louis’s Kerry Patch neighborhood. Michael worked on the levee but tragically drowned in the Mississippi River in 1865, leaving Margaret with four young children.
Margaret sold groceries to support the family and eventually opened a small store in Kerry Patch.
The Murphys:
Bernard Murphy moved from Belfast to Dublin before the Potato Famine and opened a cake and candy shop with his wife Catherine Everhart in 1840. The shop prospered despite the famine.
Bernard died suddenly in 1849, leaving Catherine to run the business and care for their children, including young Joseph Murphy.
Joseph grew up in the candy business and was involved in the Irish nationalist Fenian movement. After the failed Fenian Uprising, Joseph fled to America in 1870 to avoid persecution.
He worked in candy factories on the East Coast and became a U.S. citizen in Chicago in 1876.
The Candy Business Begins
By 1879, Joseph Murphy was in St. Louis working at Dunham Coconut Factory where he met and married Margaret Switzer in 1881.
Margaret’s brother, Frederick Switzer, also worked at Dunham, selling candy from carts on the riverfront.
Joseph, Margaret, and Fred decided to start making candy together in their Kerry Patch flat’s kitchen. Joseph made the candy, Fred sold it, and Margaret handled retail and accounting.
In 1884, they registered Murphy and Switzer Candy.
Growth and Challenges
In 1886, the business moved to a 5-story brick building on North Main Street (now 1st Street near the Gateway Arch).
Joseph was president; Fred was vice president.
The Panic of 1893 hit hard; Murphy and Switzer went bankrupt.
The Kendrick brothers took over but fled in 1895 amid legal troubles.
Mary Ellen Switzer, Margaret’s sister, used $2,000 of her own money to restart the company as ME Switzer Candy Company, with Fred as president.
Joseph Murphy briefly tried a new candy venture in St. Louis before moving to Winthrop, Massachusetts, for a candy job and better living.
Innovation and Expansion
Switzer Candy flourished with products like caramels, licorice, butterscotch, and molasses candies.
They bought the formula for Yellow Jackets, a honey-flavored candy, which became a big hit.
Joseph Murphy was persuaded to return and developed “buttermel,” a butterscotch-caramel candy made to withstand St. Louis summers.
The company created a national sales network with jobbers (independent salesmen).
Families and Legacy
Fred Switzer married Elizabeth Kern and moved to a large Kirkwood house; the Murphy family moved to Webster Groves.
Though in business together, the Murphys managed production while the Switzers owned and operated the company.
In 1911, the company moved to a large new plant at 612 N. Main Street.
They acquired Gem City Licorice in 1912, adding licorice production.
Advertising and Labor
Switzer advertised nationally in the 1920s and on radio in the 1930s.
The United Candy Workers union formed in the 1930s, securing better wages and conditions.
War and Change
During WWII, sugar and dairy rationing forced Switzer to convert mostly to licorice production, renaming the company Switzer Licorice Company.
Later Years and Decline
The original founders passed in the 1930s and 40s.
John Switzer became president; cousin Francis Murphy was plant manager.
In the 1950s and 60s, modernization and packaging updates continued.
In 1966, Switzer merged with Beatrice Food Company.
Beatrice’s management and changes to production processes led to struggles.
The original factory closed in 1977, moving production to a new plant on Broadway.
Final Closure and Revival
Beatrice sold its candy lines in 1983 to a Finnish conglomerate operating under Leaf.
In 1996, Hershey acquired the Switzer brand and shut down the St. Louis plant in 1998.
Switzer Candy Returns
In 2003, Michael Switzer, grandson of Fred, reclaimed the Switzer brand after trademark abandonment.
They located the original recipe and partnered with a Minnesota candy maker.
By 2005, Switzer Candy was back in business, with products in major stores like Target and K-Mart.
A trademark dispute with Hershey was resolved in Switzer’s favor.
The company remains a small family business headquartered in downtown Webster Groves, offering 15 licorice flavors nationwide.
Closing Quote
I’ll end with a quote from Candy Men by Patrick Murphy:
“It’s often the smallest things in life that mean the most. An aroma that claims a place in our memory and never leaves. A taste with the power to transport us back to our childhood. There is a certain silliness to candy. It is the most unpretentious of products. It claims to offer us nothing more than a burst of sweetness and the ability to make us smile. It’s more fun to share than to enjoy alone, and so it brings us together. And how remarkable it is that an enterprise so dedicated to such a fragile little item could endure so many years through wars and depressions, changing tastes, and the moods and temperaments of those who created it. The notion that a dream can be built upon candy is strangely powerful as the fact that when it seemed to have died, it came back to life, bringing a touch of sweetness to our lives.”
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Until next time, I’ll see you in the Lou.