1847
Oliver R. Chase of Boston invents and patents the first American candy machine, a lozenge cutter. This marks the founding of the nation's candy industry, the beginning of commercial manufacture. With his brother, Silas Edwin, he founds Chase and Company, the pioneer member of the NECCO family.

This is a period of important American inventions. In 1846, Elias Howe patented the first sewing machine. In 1847, the United States government issued the first adhesive postage stamp, and Richard Hoe invented and patented his rotary printing press. In 1845, Sebastian Chauveau of Philadelphia imported from France the first revolving steam pan for confectioners' use.

1848
Daniel Fobes forms a partnership with Joseph G. Ball, confectioner, under the firm name Ball and Fobes.

1850
Oliver Chase invents and patents a machine for pulverizing sugar.

1854
Fobes masters the art of making Oriental sweets, thus introducing in America a wholly new kind of confection.

1856
William Wright of Boston begins to make popular hard candies similar to those made in England. He joins Charles Bird, confectioner, under the firm name of Bird, Wright and Company, the third member of the NECCO family.

1856-7
Daniel Fobes makes sales trips to Canada and the Maritime Provinces. He begins display advertising, furnishing his customers with large colored pictures of Oriental scenes advertising his "Turkish Delight."

1860
Fobes buys the business of Albert Webster, confectioner, and becomes an all-round candy maker, manufacturing lozenges and other popular, low-priced confections as well as his own specialties.

1864
Daniel Chase, Oliver's brother, goes to Chicago to use the Chase Lozenge Machine in the new, growing Western territory.

1865
Fobes, Hayward and Company succeed Ball and Fobes as Mr. Ball retires and Mr. Fobes admits Daniel H. and Albert F. Hayward to the firm. (It continues under this name until it joins the two other pioneer firms in 1901 to form the New England Confectionery Company.)

1866
Daniel Chase creates the "Conversation Candies" which had instant and widespread popularity. These candies were shared at birthday parties, weddings and other festive occasions.

1867
Abner J. Moody, returning from the War Between the States, becomes a partner of his father-in-law, William Wright. The firm becomes Wright and Moody, specializing in children's package candies, gumdrops, and many original novelties.
Daniel Fobes, still inventing, takes out a patent for a "new and original combination for confections and beverages.” This is a mixture of coffee and cacao to which he gives the name "Mocha."

1868
Fobes, Hayward and Company begin to advertise as "Wholesale Confectioners, Manufacturers and Wholesale Dealers in Confectionery and Sugar Toys."

1871
The Chicago Fire wipes out Daniel Chase's Western business. He returns to Boston and is employed by Fobes, Hayward and Company to make his printed lozenges.

1872-3
Oliver Chase has his building destroyed in the Boston Fire, and takes in as a partner, T. Pickering Drown, a merchant who has made a fortune in the China trade on teas and silks.

1874
The Confectioners' Journal is founded in Philadelphia.

1876
At the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, the candy industry makes an impressive demonstration of its rapid growth. Steam power, which has revolutionized the business within ten years, is demonstrated in many new machines. Chase and Company is one of twenty firms exhibiting, showing its improved power machines.

1877
Edwin F. Fobes, son of Daniel Fobes, the founder who has retired, comes into Fobes, Hayward and Company where he holds various offices until he becomes president in 1899.

1881
D. L. Clark begins manufacture of confectionery treats in two backrooms of a small house on the North Side of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

1884
The National Confectioners' Association is formed to unite all reputable firms in the fight for pure candy. Abner Moody becomes its first treasurer.

Fobes, Hayward and Company extend its business to include the manufacture and sale of confectioners' machines.

Charles N. Miller and his three sons found a small business manufacturing and selling homemade candy. The building where they began was the Paul Revere House in Boston's North End, where Revere lived with his family until 1800. The Charles N. Miller company would begin manufacturing Mary Janes in 1914.

1888
Oliver Chase retires from Chase and Company; Mr. Drown becomes its president and treasurer.

1891
The enrober, a machine for automatically applying the coating to molded fondant and other centers, comes into use. It makes possible quantity production of chocolates at lower costs.

1901
New England Confectionery Company is formed by a union of the three firms: Chase and Company, dating from 1847; Fobes, Hayward and Company, with its beginning by Daniel Fobes in 1848; and Wright and Moody, dating from 1856. It is incorporated with a capital of $1,000,000.00. The trade name NECCO Sweets, derived from its title, is adopted.

1902
The three firms move into a newly built manufacturing plant at Summer and Melcher Streets in Boston, the largest establishment devoted exclusively to confectionery production in the United States. Its four large buildings, each five stories high, contain five acres of floor space.

1904-5
Necco begins advertising with display cards in magazines. Its goods are sold in every state in the Union, and in England, Europe, Australia and South America, with inquiries from South Africa.

1906
The famous Lenox Chocolates, in packages, are introduced.

New England Confectionery Company inaugurates a profit-sharing plan to reward those who by faithful attendance and continuous service demonstrate their interest in the welfare of the company. Each employee's part is based on a percent of what he/she has earned during the year. NECCO employs 700 - 800 people, many of who have been with the various firms for twenty-five to thirty years.

1912
The NECCO Wafer and Hub Wafer are widely advertised.

1913
Explorer Donald MacMillan takes Necco Wafers on his Arctic expedition, using them for nutrition and as rewards to Eskimo children.

1914
The Charles N. Miller Company begins manufacturing Mary Janes. Miller names the molasses and peanut butter candy for his favorite aunt, Mary Jane. The little girl whose likeness has appeared on candy wrappers ever since, is one of America's oldest and best-loved children.

1917
D. L. Clark produces its first five cent candy bar in order to ship candy to soldiers fighting in World War I. This marks the introduction of the Clark bar.

1920
New England Confectionery Company takes a progressive step by insuring the lives of all its employees, basing the amount of insurance on the term of service; beginning at $500 after three months and increasing $100 in value for each year of service until it reaches the maximum of $1000. More than 1200 employees are affected by this protection, which requires no medical examination and in no way interferes with the benefits to workers provided by Workmen's Compensation Laws.

Howard B. Stark originates a new caramel and vanilla-swirled nougat, which he calls the "Snirkle."

1922
New England Confectionery Company recognizes its founding by Oliver Chase in 1847 by celebrating its Seventy-fifth Anniversary. It takes pride in honoring men who have been with the company thirty-seven, thirty-nine, forty and in one case fifty-three years. It also distributes, on its profit-sharing plan, cash bonuses amounting to more than $110,000.

1927
New England Confectionery Company moves into its present plant near the Charles River and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It is the largest factory in the world with its entire space devoted to the manufacture of candy. The buildings are constructed of reinforced concrete, those on Massachusetts Avenue front having brick and limestone facing. The central building is in the form of a letter H and all are planned to afford the largest possible amount of sunshine and air. Containing the most modern equipment for temperature control as well as the latest mechanical devices for efficient manufacture, they give the company a new leadership in the industry.

1929
Deran Hintlian acquires the Windsor Confectionery Company in Somerville and the Murray Confectionery Company in Boston and begins manufacturing chocolates, sugar panned almonds, brazil nuts, and peanuts.

1933
Lovell and Covel Company joins NECCO, bringing the famous Chocolate Masterpieces trademark and other high quality specialties. These items retain their own names and are sold independently by a special corps of salesmen. NECCO thus becomes what is known in the candy industry as a "General Line" house, manufacturing a complete line of candies and packings including penny, five-cent, bulk and fancy package goods.

1936
Seeking a bigger location, the Deran family moves its business to its current location at 134 Cambridge Street in Lechmere Square, Cambridge, Massachusetts.

1937
NECCO Sales Corporation of New York City is formed to handle distribution of the whole line of NECCO candies in the New York sales area.

1938
NECCO is the first candy manufacturer in this country to introduce a molded chocolate bar having four distinctly different centers encased in a chocolate covering, "The Candy Box in a Bar." The Sky Bar was first announced to the public by means of a dramatic skywriting campaign.

1939
Howard Stark founds the Howard B. Stark Company after buying the equipment of the American Candy Company of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He continues to manufacture the popular "Snirkle." Over the next 50 years, the company would continue to produce a long line of confections.

1941
NECCO introduces Candy Cupboard boxed chocolates at G. Fox, a prominent department store.

1942
New England Confectionery Company turns over a portion of its plant for manufacture of war materials and also uses all its candy facilities for providing rations and emergency specialties for the armed forces.

1945
The blackout and curfew in Times Square, NY is lifted on VE-Day after three years of darkness. Only six display signs had their lighting equipment ready for operation and NECCO's Sky Bar sign is one of them. More than 250,000 New Yorkers throng to Times Square to welcome the "lights".

With the end of the war, NECCO returns to civilian production. The factory modernization program, designed to make the NECCO plant the most modern and efficient of its kind, gets under way.

1947
NECCO celebrates its hundredth anniversary of leadership in the candy industry and looks forward to its second century of fine candy making.

1955
The Clark family sells the company to Beatrice Food Company.

1956
NECCO begins a manufacturing agreement with Macintosh of England to produce ROLO. In a prior agreement, NECCO had begun to distribute Quality Street Chocolates in the United States.

1963
UIS, Inc. of New York acquires NECCO from the Necco heirs. The company goes through a period of restructuring under seven presidents.

1968
Domenic M. Antonellis comes to NECCO as part of the company reorganization and for ten years serves in a number of management positions.

1970
NECCO launches a nationwide advertising program featuring the "Necco Kid" to promote NECCO Wafers, Sky Bar, and Canada Mints.

Deran Candy is sold to the Borden Corporation, one of the largest food concerns in the world. Borden later renames the company, Borden Candy Products.

1978
Domenic M. Antonellis is chosen to become president of the New England Confectionery Company. He is the youngest president and will become the longest sitting president in the company's history.

1980
New England Confectionery Company acquires the assets of Gum Products and its Cumberland Valley brand, the originator of candy buttons in America.

1985
Stark buys the Charles N. Miller Company of Watertown, Massachusetts, the manufacturer of the legendary Mary Jane family of products.

1988
William F. Stark (grandson of the Snirkle originator) sells the company and the name is subsequently changed to Stark Candy Company.

1989
The Candy House Button brand is purchased from Mel Goldberg, making NECCO the exclusive manufacturer of this popular American product.

1990
New England Confectionery Company acquires Stark Candy Company. The Sweethearts Conversation Heart brand along with NECCO's Sweet Talk will make the company the leading manufacturer in conversation hearts. The Mary Jane brand sees tremendous growth in its peanut butter kisses and salt water taffy lines.

1991
Pittsburgh Food and Beverage Company purchases the D.L. Clark Company from Leaf Inc.

1994
New England Confectionery Company acquires some assets of the Glen Candy Company. Its peanut butter kisses and salt-water taffy are incorporated into the Mary Jane operation.

New England Confectionery Company acquires Borden Candy Products (formerly Deran Candy) and renames it Haviland Candy.

1995
The "Fax Me" saying on the conversation hearts is introduced, resulting in an avalanche of media attention including television, radio, newspaper and magazine articles.

Jim Clister purchases the D.L. Clark Company from the Pittsburgh Food and Beverage Company. He renames the company Clark Bar America, Inc.

1996
NECCO acquires the assets of Falcon Candy Company of Philadelphia, bringing with it added strength and dominance in the peanut butter kiss and salt water taffy categories.

To commemorate the start of its 150th Anniversary, NECCO unveils its newly painted Water Tower atop the NECCO facility on Massachusetts Avenue. The Water Tower has been painted to replicate the familiar NECCO Wafer roll and has become a treasured part of the Boston/Cambridge skyline.

1997
NECCO celebrates its 150th Anniversary with a series of public and industry-wide events throughout the year. A major industry celebration is held at the Chicago Water Tower in June.

1999
NECCO acquires the assets of Clark Bar America, Inc. of Pittsburgh, makers of the Clark bar, a chocolately coated peanut butter crunch candy.

2003
NECCO relocates to a new 810,000-square-foot candy plant in Revere, MA. This new location will house all three Massachusetts facilities as well as a new warehouse.

2004
Necco obtains the license for Squirrel Nut Candies and begins the manufacture of Squirrel Nut Zippers and Squirrel Nut Caramel Chews. Squirrel Brand Company dates back to 1888. It was originally located in Boston and relocated to Cambridge in 1914.

2007
NECCO becomes a portfolio company of American Capital Strategies, Ltd. The purchase became complete on December 21. This partnership will allow for renewed focus on core competencies that will continue to grow NECCO into a leader in the confectionery business. NECCO will focus on several areas of growth—through acquisitions, expansion of existing product lines and introduction of new products.