Kandy Kake
What Is It?
A combination candy bar of caramel, peanuts, and milk chocolate — the direct predecessor to Baby Ruth, sold under the Curtiss name before its 1920 rebrand.
History
Kandy Kake was Otto Schnering's first major candy bar product and the original version of what would become Baby Ruth. Introduced around 1918, it combined caramel, peanuts, and a chocolate coating — a formula that Schnering would refine and rename in 1920. The Kandy Kake name was plain by the standards of the era, and the product never broke through to mass popularity. When Schnering relaunched it as Baby Ruth in 1920, the combination of a new name, a presidential association (however questionable), and aggressive national marketing transformed the same basic bar into one of the best-selling confections in America. Kandy Kake wrappers and surviving bars are extraordinarily rare today — the rebrand was total and swift, with virtually no period between the two identities.
Other Products from Curtiss Candy Company
- Baby Ruth
A caramel nougat center studded with peanuts, enrobed in milk chocolate — one of the best-selling American candy bars of the 1920s.
- Butterfinger
A crispy, layered peanut butter-flavored candy core — made from pulled, aerated peanut taffy — enrobed in milk chocolate.