Originally Frankford Candy & Chocolate Company, Frankford Candy was established 1947 in Philadelphia by an immigrant named Sam Himmelstein. In the early days Himmelstein would fill candy molds by hand and rotate them in front of open windows to cool, and he personally delivered orders to local stores and chains.

Soon, Frankford would become a household name across the country thanks to our hugely successful chocolate Easter Bunnies. Instead of traditionally solid chocolate Easter Bunnies, we used a hollow design which was less expensive to produce and allowed us to create taller Bunnies. This change in production also dropped the price for the consumer, allowing a wide audience the ability to include an eye-catching centerpiece in their children’s Easter baskets.

Eventually, our production would expand, and in 1955 we would move to what was our long-time location in South Philadelphia. Based out of an 1865 Civil War-era factory that was added to the National Register of Historic Places, South Philadelphia was our home for 50 years.

Our time in South Philadelphia was defined by continued success in the seasonal confections category. Producing over 100 varieties of chocolate Easter Bunnies alongside candy and gifts for major U.S. retail holidays, we built on our founding legacy of providing delicious, accessible confectionery options for seasonal celebrations.

In the late 1990's we shifted our focus to licensing, making us one of the first companies to bring licensed confections to consumers. Some of our very first partnerships included Peter Pan, Curious George, and Woody Woodpecker, and we would go on to partner with Nickelodeon for SpongeBob SquarePants, creating the iconic Krabby Patty gummy. Since then, we’ve expanded our catalog to feature beloved brands like Mars®, OREO®, Disney®, Nintendo®, Dunkin'®, and Marvel®, and brought back fan favorites like the Wonder Ball®. In just a few years, we became the #1 marketer of licensed confections in the United States.

In 2005 we made our final move when we relocated to Northeast Philadelphia. In the 20 years that followed we have continued our success with seasonal and everyday products, updating both with licenses that reflect the interests of modern consumers.