If You Grew Up In Massachusetts, You Definitely Remember This Old-School Chocolate Bar With A Comeback Story

Candy-making has a long history in the United States, with the first commercial candy business being established in 1806 in Peabody, Massachusetts. While Ye Olde Pepper Candy Companie remains the oldest continuously operated candy maker in the country, others haven't been so lucky. Because of that, there are many discontinued chocolates we'll never eat again — like Nestle's Triple Decker Bar. The Sky Bar almost met the same fate, disappearing from shelves for a short period before it was revived.

Created by New England Confectionery Company (Necco) worker Joseph Cangemi in 1938 to honor the booming aviation industry, the Sky Bar was the first to feature four different fillings. Each flavor — caramel, fudge, peanut, and vanilla — has its own square or pillow in a similar fashion as the Seven Up bar, the discontinued chocolate bar with a slightly confusing name and seven flavors that also emerged in the 1930s by Pearson's Candy.

The Sky Bar wasn't the only candy made and sold by Necco, though. Since the company was established in 1847, it has made strategic acquisitions and mergers, expanding its portfolio to include a variety of candies, including the chalky Necco Wafers and the chocolate Clark Bar. The writing was on the wall for the company, though, when it filed for bankruptcy in April 2018. After a failed attempt to save the company through crowdfunding, most of the brands were purchased at auction by various companies. Necco Wafers and Sweethearts went to Spangler Candy Company, and Clark Bar went to Boyer Candy Company. Meanwhile, Sky Bar was saved by a business owner in Sudbury, Massachusetts.

When news broke in 2018 that Necco was pulling its products, customers across the country worried they would never eat their favorite candies again. Fans ended up panic-buying the treats when Necco shuttered its factory in Revere, Massachusetts, the following July. Since the Sky Bar was a popular item among customers at Sudbury-based gourmet grocery store Duck Soup, owner Louise Mawhinney had already been receiving concerns from her patrons about what would happen to the chocolate.

Necco's auction was in its final phase, and Mawhinney was the first to call in to bid on the bar's brand rights and recipe formulations. In an interview, she told Today, "He said, 'Oh, you know, hopefully in half an hour, you'll be the proud owner of Sky Bar.' And I thought, 'Oh my God, I hope not.'" The call came shortly later to congratulate her on the win. She kept it to herself while ironing out some details, waiting until January 2019 to issue an official press release.

The Sky Bar rights and recipes didn't come with equipment for making the chocolate, but Mawhinney wasn't alone. Happy that someone saved the candy from disappearing, former Necco head of research and development Jeff Green offered his assistance. As if it were destiny, the retail space next to her already-established Duck Soup business became available and was zoned for the task. The state-of-the-art machinery that Mawhinney — alongside her son, Frank — uses can produce about 2 million bars a year. In addition to being available in her store, the candy is available for purchase on the Sky Bar website, although it often sells out quickly.