| Show s tradition o The Bluebird Candy Company in Logan still makes candy by hand preserving the art of candymaking Sixty years of tradition are upheld “We use the old way because it’s better” said Steven Wolsey candymaker “It’s a better way because of the natural basic ingredients” Candymakers Ron Kohler and Wolsey use the same recipes as those used 40 years ago The candy has had good no acceptance and there has been Car-do- n said reason to cange Guy president of the Bluebird “There are four kinds of candy: squishers squashers crunchers and chewers” Cardon said “We make them all” Bluebird candies vary from chocolate-coverecreams fruits and caramels to brittles and nuts 48 varieties makes The Bluebird of chocolates and several kinds of caramel and brittles Kohler and Wolsey are the beginning point for a piece of candy They make the centers for the chocolates they roast the nuts and they make the caramel All cooking is done over an open flame in a five gallon cooper pot Kohler and Wolsey take turns stirring the batches with a wooden paddle — — Kohler Although and Wolsey have been with the Bluebird for only a year they have become more than just candymakers: they are artists "The way a batch turns out s creamy or grainy involves art” Wolsey said “There is not much room for error and you have to watch wrhat you are doing” English toffee is the trickiest candy to make Wolsey said Too much above 250 degrees and the toffee turns out too hard Too cold the toffee is too soft Wolsey said The margin of error is about 25 degrees “I like to make brittle” Wolsey said “I like to get a nice clear color and just the right crack in Steven In the rolling room the candy centers are cut up and measured so that they are a consistant weight The creams are rolled two at a time between the palms of the worker’s hand “You don’t have to roll hard it’s best to roll the centers softly” said Mrs Zeta George a woman who has been working in the rolling room steadily for 11 years “There is a knack tc everything you do” Mrs George rolling cutting and dipping candy since 1964 Every week she makes 40 pounds of Merry Widows a caramel candy coated with white cream Mrs George hand dips the caramels into a cream that can’t be too thick or too thin The cream has to be thin enough to has-bee- n © the crown in white cream After three hours Mrs George usually has 500 strawberries ready for a summer party “I am eating all the time” Mrs George said ’’and I still love candy” The rolled centers are next placed on a tray and taken to the dipping room There the centers are dipped by hand into melted chocolate The chocolate must be the right temperature before Juanita Neilson a dipper with the Bluebird for seven years can dip the centers Temperature is an important factor in chocolate candy making The chocolate after it has been heated to 115 degrees had to be slowly cooled or a host of ingredients make milk chocolage sweeter and richer than dark chocolate During the Christmas rush when the Bluebird does most of its business Mrs Neilson and extra help each dip an average of 100 pounds of candy each day If a piece of candy is “gray” has the wrong mark or just doesn’t look right it is put into seconds Seconds are sold loose but not in the boxes Mrs Neilson came to the Bluebird after tying flies for 25 ' years with her husband “It’s a lot sweeter job anyway” Mrs Neilson said Mrs Neilson Mrs George Kohler and Wolsey are all carrying on a tradition begun in 1914 by three men MN Cardon O Guy Julius and Bergsjo Neuberger started the Bluebird as a soda ice cream and candy store on West center St in Logan It vtas while O Guy Cardon worked at Murdock’s as a sodajerk with MN Neuberger that Cardon got the idea of opening his own business the Soon after opening a added Bluebird complete restaurant Candy ice cream and food were all made in the same building The demolition of a clothing store on main street make room for the construction of a new Bluebird in 1922 The new building was opened on George Washington’s birthday in 1923 The candy and ice cream factory other insure a good mark First she scoops a handful or two of chocolate from her heated trough on her work table She slaps the melted chocolate around exposing it to the air until it is the right temperature Next she adds a drop o water to the chocolate so that it will thicken The right amount of water will make the mark stand out If the chocolate is too thin her mark will not show and if the chocolate is too thick it is hard to make a mark Mrs Neilson tries to make a good mark to please the customers and to help the candy-packer- s Each flavor of candy has a different mark and the packer can tell which flavor to d It’s nifty” “We can’t eat a 15 cent chocolate bar” Wolsey said “We’re just spoiled after eating A Bluebird candy” When the batch done Kohler pounds weighing and Wolsey may finish the candy themselves or send it along to the 35-4- is 0 rolling room moved with the restaurant into a building adorned with Mexican marble mahogany paneling and ' dip in but thick enough to shine The Bluebird accepts special orders and Mrs George did one for a wedding of a local broadcaster On this occasion Mrs George made 600 lavendar bon bons The bon bons were made like the Merry Widows except each one had a flower It took Mrs Goerge two hours to make the 20 pounds of bon bons During the summer Mrs George dips strawberries up to tLtZ beveled mirrors Although the restaurant is still in the same building the candy and ice cream makers have moved into the old “Herald Journal” building across the alley from the restaurant Guy Cardon is now president of the Bluebird taking his father’s place in the business “I won’t leave the business to my son or daughter if they don’t want it” Cardon said Guy Cardon started working at the Bluebird when he was six or seven After school he used to v vfA problems will occur Chocolate cooled too quickly will turn “gray” Although the chocolate remains brown in refer color the “candy-people- ” to dull chocolate as “grayed” When the chocolate pack in each box “The 25 different marks are not hard to remembers after you get started dipping” said Mrs Neilson “They vary from b’s and e’s to hearts and whips” When all of the variables are to its molecules have reform just right Mrs Neilson takes a right or the piece of candy will center grabs a handful of liquid chocolate and covers the center not be shiny with too her hand As she sets the cools Chocolate that quickly If the and hard piece down Mrs Neilson uses the may be brittle too it chocolate dries may excess chocolate in her hand to slowly make the mark be soft and mushy A good mark makes a piece of “Dipping chocolates feels like Mrs with mud pies only the look and better playing candy Neilson goes to great lengths to chocolate is smoother” Mrs create a good mark The mark is Neilson said Mrs Neilson dips two kinds of the swirl of chocolate on top of a piece While it may look like just chocolate dark and milk Dark chocolate is natural: pure and a careless drip it isn’t to Mrs Neilson does two things slightly bitter Milk sugar and At SE Needham sweep make deliveries and wash “I would get awfully wet but I was always home for dinner” Cardon said “I started working for 10 cents a day while my father had been working for 35 cents a day before opening te Bluebird” “The name Bluebird might have come from a bird seen in Tabernacle Square by O Guy Cardon and one of his friends” Cardon said “There are many different theories” Inflation and the subsequent rise in the cost of sugar have reduced the Bluebird’s sales Jewelers Happiness Cardon said “Some people still love candy” Cardon said is a diamond I GRBACIIERj ART SUPPLY Come in & get your Travel ChaletPresents 1Q PARADISE FOR PESO Bring this coupon JTake A Spring Sun Break From (USrDollars) and get an $32900 additional 5 Price Includes: Roundtrip Airfare from Salt Lake to Mexico City & Return Five Sun Filled Days and Four Fun Filled Nights at 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