Ribbon Candy | Up Close
The Massachusetts maker of the singular holiday confection decides it’s time to bow out.
By Joe Bills|Oct 24 2019|
Coffee By Design | Portland, Maine
Photo Credit : Katherine KeenanPhoto Credit : Lori Pedrick; styling by Liz Neily
Many New Englanders have never experienced a Christmas season without those corrugated creations that are one part candy, one part decoration. But this summer brought the ribbon-cutting word that Gilson’s company was discontinuing production and putting the ribbon candy portion of its business up for sale.
America’s oldest family-owned candy company, F.B. Washburn has been making confections of various sorts since 1856, when Franklin Pierce was president. Christmas wouldn’t even be declared a national holiday until 1870.
The exact origins of ribbon candy have been lost to history. F.B. Washburn didn’t get into the ribbon candy business until the 1960s. But since 1986, when it bought out Sevigny’s, the Massachusetts company that was its chief competitor, F.B. Washburn has not only supplied the treats to large retailers like Walmart under the Sevigny’s brand name but also served as the under-the-radar maker of ribbon candy sold by Russell Stover, Fannie Farmer, and other familiar brands.
The production season for F.B. Washburn’s ribbon candy stretched from March through Thanksgiving, during which time the company would churn out 400 pounds of ribbon candy an hour, 10 hours a day, four days a week. “I grew up learning how to make candy,” says Gilson, who, along with his cousin Doug, represents the third generation of his family to run the company. “I’ve made ribbon candy for the last 44 Christmases. There’s a rhythm to a seasonal business, almost like a harvest. Watching inventory build is like watching crops grow.”
But now, with no fourth generation champing at the bit to take over, the Gilsons say, “it is time for us to pass the torch to someone who appreciates the tradition and can build on it.”
Excellent
Oooh, the ribbon candy that sat in the gold bowl, on the coffee table in my great aunt’s apartment at Christmas!
Thanks so much for that memory! 😉
I have the exact same memory from my grandma’s house ~ good old days!!
I remember the gold bowl with the fluted edges filled with ribbon candy on the coffee table in grandmas house! Now I have the gold bowl but no ribbon candy! This is so sad.
Where can we get ribbon candy now?
(Or – after Washburn’s stops making it?)
right now I obtain my ribbon candy through “The Vermont Country Store” which you can obtain online or on mail order.
I’m so sorry to hear that . It wont be Christmas without your candy!!!
Sweenor’s in Cranston, RI always haf the ultra thin but they don’t have this year. They said it was an issue with the boxes!
I miss the ribbon candy that was so very, very thin that we used to think it would cut our tongue. I keep purchasing what I find in the stores but it’s thicker.
This was my fav. Haven’t seen it in years. Mom always got that for me at Christmas.
I love Ribbon candy it’s so pretty and yummy!
Oh my,,, no more ribbon candy !! This has been a tradition since I was a little girl, and I have purchased for my siblings every year… now what ???? So sad to see this tradition coming to an end…. will the Vermont Country Store continue to carry this ???? Thanks to the Washburn company for providing us with this unique item for so long….
Vermont Country Store has it in their catalog I just received today but I skipped over it because it looks like the thick ribbon candy. I love the the very thin fragile ribbon candy but I can’t remember the name. I thought it was Sevigny’s but the one they have in the catalog is thick and it only has cinnamon cloves and peppermint. So disappointing everything seems to leave. Guess won’t bother looking for it this year.
Kellerhaus in Laconia, NH makes it every year for as long as I can remember.
Oh, I realize things can’t go on forever, but it is just so sad it is coming to an end. Such a shame someone can’t take it over and keep it going. I’m going to miss it, especially now as I recently discovered a new love of it.
Hammond’s in CO has nice ribbon candy as I’m sure do other local candy companies around the country
Sorry to hear this tho as it’s hard to see memories and traditions go by the wayside
Oh I wish someone would step up. This was an American tradition and I too remember that extremely thin ribbon candy that seemed to melt as soon as it hit your tongue. So sad.
Ribbon candy has been a staple at Christmas for three generations. I’m so sad it will end with me. I’m hoping someone will purchase that part of the company and continue the tradition.
That stinks.
it is a tradition, please post if someone else will be making it?
That’s the whole article? When I got to the part about time to pass the torch, I figured that was the end of the intro. There’s about 7,500 words missing after that.
I can not find ribbon candy,it has been a tradition for Years!
Amazon.com has Ribbon candy not sure if it’s as good as the original
Wasn’t good.
My uncle made ribbon candy and peanut brittle way back, I’d say, in late 40s and 50s. He made it in his basement, sold it all over Springfield, MA. Best peanut brittle ever.
NO! Just NO! This cannot happen! Christmas is cancelled without Sevigny’s/Washburn’s ribbon candy! We need you to make Christmas happen! Please, oh please, is there no-one who will bring back Christmas with our beloved ribbon candy?
Thank you for so many years of tradition! But, oh no! I can’t imagine Christmas without ribbon candy. I thought it was just sold out at the places I’ve shopped. Is the company still for sale?
Richardson’s candy in Deerfield Ma..usually has ribbon candy and wonderful homemade candies.
I understand ribbon candy was first made in Winsted CT.. any truth to that?
Phillips Candy House in Dorchester MA has the thin ribbon candy but sells out very fast.
I looked online and it is not listed on their site to buy. Too bad.
Well this is so sad, I always have ribbon candy in my house during the holidays, a long family tradition here in Vermont.
Love my ribbon candy. Kellerhaus in NH makes it. Check with them for this year. It is very thin and delicious.
I looked online and it is not listed on their site to buy. Too bad.
Same here. This was a tradition at my Nana and Gramp’s house with the gold bowl with the fluted edges on the coffee table. My grandparents are gone now ( sadly ) I do have the gold bowl, and now the ribbon candy will be gone as well. What I would give to go back 50 years.
As a child I remember it so thin it seems it would cut your tongue (although it never did). I haven’t been able to find the thin kind as an adult. It’s always a bit thicker. I miss snapping off a part of a ribbon and sucking on that thin kind.
Up until last year Sweenor’s Chocolates in Cranston, RI carried ultra thin ribbon candy – the only ki d to have. I don’t know if they have it this year.
would like to know if they decided to sell out to anyone
Oh NOOOOOOOOOOOO! I have loved ribbon candy all my life! It is so special, and such a treat when you can find it intact!. So pretty and translucent!! I am sad to see this tradition stop!
2020 Found ribbon candy at my local Walmart. Made by Quality Candy Co LLC. Sevignys
I loved the peanut butter stuffed ribbon candy. I have not been able to find it for ages.