Sweet success: The School House Candy story

PAWTUCKET, R.I. — School House Candy was once a famous business in Rhode Island, beloved by children for its Muriel Pops, by teens for after-school and summer jobs, and by the community as a large employer. But the company had a small, humble beginning and a teenage founder.

In 1912, Samuel Rosen was freshly graduated from Hope High School in Providence. He decided against going to college. Instead, he asked his parents, Ephraim and Rachel Rosen, to lend him the $1,600 they had saved for his tuition so he could start his own business.

To help, his father introduced him to William Hanzel, a candy jobber who wanted to sell his business. Rosen was sure he could do the job, and on Aug. 1, 1912, he started E. Rosen Company. Because he was only 18 years old, he couldn’t open the company under his own name.

Rosen’s first purchase as a new business owner was a second-hand accordion sample case from the Week Brothers, a manufacturing company in Providence, for $5. With this 30-pound case filled with samples, he went from store to store on foot, trying to secure orders, often working from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily. His brother, Hyman (or Herman), later joined him as a partner in the business and would manage a storefront on Charles Street — the street where they grew up — that they opened in 1914.

The Rosen brothers rented a horse for $1 a day and used their father’s buggy for deliveries. They eventually had enough capital to buy their own horse and buggy. However, the horse, Charlie, couldn’t stand up on his own, so an elaborate pulley system had to be installed in the barn to lift Charlie every morning. They did this for about two years until they could afford another horse.

Rosen eventually became a distributor for Wrigley, Beech-Nut, Hershey, Necco and Schrafft’s. At the time, Schrafft’s was considered the best candy line in America. With this achievement, Rosen felt he had become a full-fledged candy jobber.

After 18 months in business, Rosen repaid his parents the $1,600 he had borrowed. Shortly thereafter, he convinced his father and brother-in-law, Charles Rouslin, to become partners in the business.

In 1933, the partners decided to start manufacturing their own candy. According to a Providence Journal article that year, they constructed a three-story manufacturing building at 292-296 Charles St., with apartments, stores, offices and a three-car garage, at a cost of $21,800.

Initially, they struggled in manufacturing, selling only to jobbers and department stores. However, they eventually found success by selling “books” of lollipops, called Muriel Pops, to chain stores.

A book of pops consisted of a cardboard folded in book form. Cuts were made in the cardboard to hold 10 small pops. On the other side of the cover were nursery rhymes.

These lollipops were so popular and inexpensive that 300 people worked exclusively on producing them, with stores frequently ordering 40 to 50 cases of 144 books per case.

In 1943, needing more storage space, Rosen purchased the Charles Street Primary School, where he attended school 38 years prior, for $11,600. School House Candy thrived in its new location.

After his service in World War II, Samuel’s son, Herschel (nicknamed “Hershey”) joined the company, working there for 42 years.

Rosen and his family expanded into other businesses, such as real estate, under the name Eroc, and plastics, under the name Rosbro Plastics Company, at the same address.

In 1959, after 47 years of doing business in Providence, Rosen moved his business to the Hope Webbing Company plant at 1005 Main St., in Pawtucket. On Aug. 1, 1977, they celebrated their 65th anniversary and had 1,000 people employed in their various businesses.

What was it like to work at School House Candy? Anne Finger relates:

“Every teenager in the Providence area in the 1960s seemed to have worked at School House Candy — even if only for a week or two. The pay was the minimum wage — $1.60 an hour.

“Working there was a rite of passage, an initiation into the world of work. From School House Candy one could move up to being a stringer, carder or foot-press operator at one of the jewelry factories.“

School House Candy was sold to Sherwood Brands in 1998 for $4 million and the company moved to Virginia. Rosbro, the plastics company, was closed on June 28, 1998. Samuel Rosen died on Nov. 18, 1978.

The Rhode Island Jewish Historical Association is the oldest Jewish historical society in continuous operation in the United States. Stories for “From the Archive” are written by RIJHA staff, board members and volunteers based on information in RIJHA’s Chaya and Beryl Segal Archive. To learn about RIJHA and its programs, or to volunteer or become a member, please contact office manager Jaime Walden at (401) 331-1360.