Douglas “Doug” Nelson (right) and his brother (Mark Nelson) are third generation candy makers
Photo Credit : Montana Rogers
Chocolate Santas at Nelson’s Candies. Photo Credit : Montana Rogers
Tucked away on Main Street in the old mill town of Wilton, New Hampshire, the venerable confectioner Nelson’s Candies is still going strong. I remember visiting it when I was a child and staring up at the candy canes – which Nelson’s calls “Christmas canes” – that adorned the posts and beams throughout the shop. Recently I stopped in again for the first time in years, and I was happy to see that everything was more or less the same. The old-fashioned handmade candy canes hung above the counters in various sizes and flavors. Also on display and ready for holiday shoppers were other classic treats, such as dark chocolate ginger puff candy, saltwater taffy, and a large collection of chocolate Santas.
Salt Water Kisses (aka saltwater taffy) make for a great stocking stuffer or hostess gift. Photo Credit : Montana Rogers
Nelson’s Candies is a New England tradition. The Wilton location is owned and operated by Douglas “Doug” Nelson, a third-generation candymaker. His grandparents founded the business in 1914 in Lowell, Massachusetts. After World War II, they opened a second location in Hampton Beach, which only recently closed its doors.
Douglas “Doug” Nelson (right) and his brother Mark are third-generation candymakers. Photo Credit : Montana Rogers
In 1954, the family business moved from Lowell to Chelmsford, Massachusetts. The new shop, dubbed Mrs. Nelson’s Candy House, was successful, but eventually the Nelsons sold the operation to new owners. Doug started his shop in Wilton to continue the family trade and has been producing some of the best New England candy and chocolate ever since. (And not long ago, the next generation embraced the legacy: Nelson’s daughter opened a branch of Nelson’s Candies in Cornville, Maine.)
One of the Nelson family’s original candymaking machines, still in use today. Photo Credit : Montana Rogers
You can sense the history in the Wilton shop – not only in the taste of candies made from time-honored family recipes, but also in the tools and process. At least one of the candymaking machines dates back to the early 1900s and the first batches of the family’s candy.
White chocolate–covered popcorn. Photo Credit : Montana Rogers
Throughout the year, Doug and his helpers are hard at work making delicious sweets, such as ribbon candy and (my grandmother’s favorite) white chocolate–covered popcorn. However, Nelson’s Candies is perhaps most famous for its hand-pulled candy canes, especially around this time of year. Starting in November, it’s all hands on deck. Doug’s daughter travels down from Maine to help, and takes batches back to her own shop to sell, too.
Freshly made candy canes and hand-dipped cherries. Photo Credit : Montana Rogers
The Nelson family “Christmas cane” recipe is more than 100 years old and has been passed down from generation to generation. If you visit early enough in the holiday season, you can watch the masters at work. Doug mixes the ingredients and brings them to a boil in the same copper kettles that his grandfather and father used before him. His helpers roll and pull the cooling candy before adding the colored stripes. Then they twist and tug the candy until it reaches the desired thickness. Finally, the candy makers cut it into pieces and carefully form the crooks of the canes.
A candy work table and original copper kettles at Nelson’s Candies. Photo Credit : Montana Rogers
If you can’t visit in person, you can order the sweets online. And I can assure you, you don’t want to miss out on this New England candy tradition! I myself couldn’t leave without a piece of one of my favorite treats, the white chocolate candy cane bark.
White chocolate candy cane bark. Photo Credit : Montana Rogers
Though originally from south Florida, Montana has a stronger affinity to New England’s quaint towns and extraordinary nature, and has no qualms about referring to New Hampshire as her true home. She is a graduate of Wheaton College (MA), where she studied Literature/Creative Writing and Music. She recently returned to the USA after spending two years teaching in Bulgaria. Montana is very excited to be working as an editorial intern at Yankee Magazine.
