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Born in Ireland, David L. Clark came to America when he was only eight years old. He recalls in his memoirs, "My primary education consisted of just one year in grade school. After that I found it necessary to work or starve. Like many other energetic poor boys, my business career started by selling newspapers and carrying market baskets at the age of nine. When I was 12, I went to Business College at night and worked through the day."
D.L. Clark's first steady job was in a frame factory for $1.50 a week. After that he worked in various occupations including; paint manufacturing, rolling mills, art glass factories, fish markets, wholesale notions, and delivery wagons among many others. He noted that in addition to what he learned in Business College; he had been learning through "extensive travels both in America and in many foreign countries, and the best of all teachers, the School of Experience."
Clark entered the candy business working for a small candy manufacturer from New York. After three years as a traveling salesman with a "country wagon," he bought the peddling wagon, horses, and merchandise and went into business for himself.
The D.L. Clark Company was founded in 1886 when Clark started manufacturing candy in two back rooms of a small house in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, now Pittsburgh's North Side. When David Clark started selling candy in the streets of Pittsburgh, the prospect of becoming a giant in the confectionery industry was far from his thoughts. However, during his lifetime (1864-1939), the D.L. Clark Company became a leading candy manufacturer and the Clark bar emerged as one of the nation's favorite treats.
Clark's business grew steadily and in 1911 the company moved to larger quarters at a cracker factory on Pittsburgh's North Side. The D.L. Clark Company continued to expand and prosper at that location for 75 years, manufacturing some of America's best-known candies. The company experimented with a variety of ingredients that had never been used in candy before. Clark introduced confections filled with coconut, mint and peanut butter and was a leader in marketing candy bars. Three of its best creations are Clark, Zagnut, and Clark Coconut Crunch bar.
Clark scored an important marketing success when it introduced the five-cent-sized Clark bar. Initially, the bar was individually wrapped to facilitate shipment of candy to American troops during World War I. The Clark bar became extremely popular with the soldiers and its popularity carried over to the general public in the years following the war.
By 1920 the D.L. Clark Company was making about 150 different types of candy, including several five-cent bars, specialty items and a bulk candy line. Clark also manufactured chewing gum and in 1921 incorporated the Clark Brothers Chewing Gum Company, makers of Teaberry and Tendermint. However, by 1931, the candy bar business had grown so large that Clark decided to specialize exclusively in candy bars.
In 1955, the Clark family sold their candy business to the Beatrice Food Company, which operated the company until 1983.
In 1983, Leaf, Inc., which operated 11 candy and gum plants in the United States, acquired the confectionery division of Beatrice foods, including Clark. When Leaf, Inc. announced plans to move the candy operations from Pittsburgh, the city protested. The candy plant and rights to Clark, Slo Poke and Black Cow were sold, and D.L. Clark became part of the Pittsburgh Food and Beverage Company. After a period of financial instability, the company was again sold in June of 1995. The Company was renamed Clark Bar America and distribution was re-established. New product lines were also selectively introduced including Winter Clark, Clark Dark, and the Yoo-hoo Candy Bar.
However, Clark Bar America again fell into financial difficulty and in May of 1999, New England Confectionery Company purchased the assets of Clark Bar America.
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