3 Iconic Companies, 3 Iconic Candies

At the dawn of the 20th century, candy making was destined to become big business. In 1912 Whitman’s introduced its “Sampler” box of chocolates and candy bars like Babe Ruth, Milky Way, Hershey Kisses and the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup were introduced in the 1920s. Meanwhile in Kentucky, in 1921, three family candy- making businesses were born.

Rebecca Ruth’s Bourbon Balls

Rebecca Ruth® Candy

In Frankfort, two unmarried former schoolteachers got together and decided to trade chalk for chocolate. Rebecca Gooch and Ruth Hanley, fighting the social norm that frowned on women in business, started the company that would become Rebecca Ruth. Their first shop opened in 1921 in the former barroom of the Frankfort Hotel. Rebecca’s marriage and departure left Ruth Hanley Booe (who had also married, but become a widow very young) solely in charge. It struggled until Eleanor Hume Offutt, a local society hostess, suggested that Kentucky bourbon and chocolate were made for each other. Booe set out to combine the flavors and the Bourbon Ball was born. Today Rebecca Ruth Candy makes about 3 million bourbon balls a year in their factory at 116 E. 2nd St. in Frankfort and a second retail location at 3295 Versailles Road.

Muth’s Modjeskas

Muth’s Candies

Meanwhile, in Louisville, Rudy and Bell Muth opened a downtown candy shop at 630 E. Market St. In 1947, a building fire left fellow Louisville confectioner Edgar Busath without his kitchen and, as a favor, Rudy agreed to let him use the Muths’ kitchen to finish out the holiday season. Busath’s never did reopen but Muth received a family recipe as a thank you. The caramel-covered marshmallow confection was named for Helena Modjeska, a famous Polish actress. Muth’s started producing Modjeskas, and the rest, as they say is history. The fourth generation of the family is now running the business and the Modjeska is their best-selling candy with over 175,000 sold annually.

Ruth Hunt’s Blue Monday Candy Bar

Ruth Hunt Candy

In Mt. Sterling, a homemaker named Ruth Tharpe Hunt was making confections for her family and friends, who encouraged her to sell the delectable treats to others. Initially setting up shop in her home, the business grew and she opened a small store on Main Street. While a recipe for the cream pull candy originated in Kentucky in the 1800s, Hunt formed the creamy candy in the shape of a bar and covered it with chocolate. It became the favorite of a traveling minister, who stopped in for a treat each week and said that the bar helped him through his “Blue Monday.”

The Blue Monday Candy Bar was born, and has been one of Ruth Hunt Candies’ most popular confection ever since, selling 300,000 each year. Today current owners, the Kezele Family and Tobby Moore, have developed over 70 varieties of confections at their 550 N. Maysville Road factory location in Mt. Sterling, and operate a retail location at 213 Walton Ave. in Lexington, but the company is still most famous for the Blue Monday.

All three of these candies are now icons of Kentucky culture. The bourbon boom has made the candy an international delicacy, with private-label bourbon balls made for distilleries including Buffalo Trace, Maker’s Mark, Jim Beam and Evan Williams (Rebecca Ruth Candies); and Woodford Reserve (Ruth Hunt Candies). There are endless debates about the type of bourbon that makes the best, or whether the nut goes on the inside or out, but Kentucky bourbon balls are loved the world over. All three candy businesses remain locally owned, celebrate 100 years in business and are ready to embark on their second century of sweet traditions.

Visit EdibleKentucky.com to see how these sweet treats are made.