The Process explored the complex history behind candy corn, the highly polarizing Halloween treat commonly credited to George Renninger, who worked for the Wunderle Candy Company in Philadelphia in the late 19th century. The candy was later popularized by the family business established by Gustav Goelitz, a German immigrant who settled in Belleville, Illinois. At the time, workers known as stringers made candy corn by hand, pouring each of its three colored layers into molds.

The process in these early years was entirely manual. Workers called stringers walked backward through the factory, pouring 45 lbs of warm candy from buckets called runners into cornstarch trays stamped with the kernel shape. Three passes, three colors, every piece made by hand.

Sadly, Gustav’s confectionery business failed following the Panic of 1893. His sons Adolph and Gustav Jr. revived the family business in Belleville before expanding to Cincinnati, Ohio in 1898, where their brother Herman later joined them. Gustav died in 1901 at age 55, and his family attributed his early death to the stress of losing his business. Herman later moved his own candy company to Oakland, California. The family businesses merged in 2001 as Jelly Belly.

Today, machines handle the painstaking three-color pouring process, but the basic recipe remains much the same.

After polishing, the candy is weighed, bagged, sealed, and boxed. Cook, pour three passes, cornstarch mold, set, polish. The process hasn’t changed since the 1880s. The recipe hasn’t changed.