D. L. Clark Company

D. L. Clark Building, located at 503 Martindale Street in the North Shore neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

The D. L. Clark Company was founded in 1886 in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, now part of Pittsburgh, by David L. Clark (18641939), an Irish-born candy salesman. In 1921, Clark Brothers Chewing Gum Company was spun off as a separate corporation (and later sold to Philip Morris). The D. L. Clark company was family-owned until sold in 1955 to Beatrice Foods, who sold it in 1983 to the Pittsburgh Food and Beverage Company.[1]

The Pittsburgh Food and Beverage Company entered bankruptcy in 1995, and many assets from the D. L. Clark Company, such as the rights to the Clark bar and Zagnut bar, were sold. Other candy names include Honest Square, Black Jack/Wild Cherry/Banana Caramel, Peanut Butter Log, Coconut, Light (Coconut Frosted Peanut Butter Crunch), Teaberry/Tendermint/Winter Green/Fruit Punch/Cinnamon/Peppermint/Sweetwood Gum, Boomer, Zig Zag, and Alligator Eggs. With some of the remaining assets, Clark Bar America, Inc., was created; this was acquired by Necco (New England Confectionery Company) in 1999 for $4.1 million ($6 million today).[2]

References

  1. Smith, Andrew F. (30 August 2006). Encyclopedia of Junk Food and Fast Food. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 52. ISBN 978-0313335273.
  2. Lindeman, Teresa F. (23 August 2000). "They want, but can't find, a Clark Bar". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

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