Did you miss Sweetest Day? It Saturday, October 17 (today as posted) this year, and it has a nearly century-long history with northern Ohio roots.
On October 7, 1921, the Sandusky Register and the Sandusky Star Journal both featured several articles and advertisements to promote “National Candy Day,” which was celebrated in Northern Ohio on October 8, 1921. This event later became known as Sweetest Day, now celebrated on the third Saturday in October. Sweetest Day was begun in Cleveland in the early 1920s when a group of local businessmen provided thousands of orphans and elderly residents with boxes of candy. Silent film star Theda Bara assisted in the distribution of candy in Cleveland.
According to the 1921 Sandusky City Directory, at that time Sandusky had two candy manufacturers, two candy wholesalers, and thirteen retail confectioners. All these businesses sold or distributed candy and other sweet treats. The Catawba Candy Company, located at southwest corner of Decatur and Water Streets, was known for its “Catawba kisses.”
Fred A. Martin was the proprietor of Martin’s Confectionery, which dealt both in wholesale and retails confections, ice cream, and baked goods.
Several Sandusky drugstores and groceries also carried a wide variety of candy to help Sanduskians celebrate the sweetest day or the year in 1921.