The Honey Pot

The Honey Pot.

Honey Pot Candy was created around 1915 when olive Watson combined candy making with honey. Ms. Watson was working in an unexplored market, so she had to develop her own recipes. She began mass production in 1922 and used about a ton of honey in her first year of production. To Ms. Watson, honey was the material that “gave her a good deal of independence.”
Ms. Watson’s husband, Dr. Lloyd Watson, a Alfred University professor earned worldwide fame before his death for his experimentation artificial insemination of the queen bee. When his bees produced more honey than the Watson’s had biscuits to spread it on , Ms. Watson began her experimentation with honey in the candy world. She dreamed of a candy that was so nutritious and whole some that even children with normal digestion could indulge in her candy. Candy made with honey is more nutritious and adds to the food value, giving the candy a certain delicacy of flavor. Honey is an energy food and when eaten slowly becomes absorbed into the system immediately by the tongue.
From years of experimentation, her recipes evolved and she could boast that, “this is the only honey candy made, and can be purchased no where else in the world besides Alfred.” Although her skills and knowledge were incredible, she constantly sought ways to expand them.
Before the war her candies were sold in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Radio City and at Hearn’s in NYC. She displayed candy at Farmers week at Cornell university and at bee conferences in St. Louis. The candy was always a popular door prize and the candy was enthusiastically received.
Each box of candy id labeled with an assortment of many varieties of candy, caramel, butterscotch, chocolate, lemon, almond, peppermint, pecan, coconut and wintergreen. Some have only the flavor of honey from which they are exclusively made while also being comprised of egg white, oleo, heavy cream, chocolate, pure flavoring, pecans and peanuts. All candies are embossed on the underside with the six sided honey comb- the trademark of the industry.
Ms. Watson liked to believe that her honey candies were filled with summer sunshine, the dew ofnight and gentle rain, making her job not just any job. While the candy was in production it was sold out of her home at 74 South Main Street. Since her death in 1977, her candies were able to be purchased at the Gallery downtown, her secret having been passed on. Now I think they are available at the Alfred Pharmacy.