December brings the holidays and is a time for giving treats and sweets. What sweeter treat than to bring your loved ones the food of the godsóchocolate! I traveled to a wonderful family owned and operated candy business in downtown Louisville, finding handcrafted chocolates and candies to delight my senses.
Muth's Candies started with Rudy Muth, who gained experience in the candy business working at another candy factory, Braddus & Gheens. I spoke with Rose Ann, whose great aunt was Rudy's wife.
"There were three or four large candy companies in Louisville back then, and they shipped all over the country. After Rudy returned from World War I, he looked for a location to begin his own candy company, selling first out of a wagon on the weekends," said Rose Ann. In 1921 Rudy set up Muth's Candies and a Louisville tradition began.
Making candy is seasonal work, particularly back then, and other candy makers typically had a soda fountain and sold ice cream. Rudy kept to candy though, and got family members involved. He also convinced another factory candy worker, Loretta Hemmer, to join him in his fledgling candy business. She gave in to his pitch and worked for Muth's for 62 years! After Rudy passed away in 1953, his wife, Isabell Stengel Muth, took over as chief until 1981. The business passed along twice more and now is in the fourth generation of family ownership.
Due to the construction of Interstate 65, Muth's moved east on Market in 1962. But the company kept its sturdy candy making equipment, antique display cases, and the cool porcelain and neon shop sign. Inside, Muth's has one wall of cases devoted to the history of their candy business. There are colorful antique tins, old black and white photos, antique candy molds from Germany, and their earlier candy boxes. Photos show Rudy's brothers, Leo and Bernie, and sister-in-law Hildegard Bennett.
In the other display cases, I found popcorn peanut brittle, caramel chocolate Modjeskas, hand-dipped pretzels, six flavors of caramels, 16 cream-flavored chocolates, gift boxes, and much more.
Before we walked in back to look at the production area, Rose Ann provided more background: "The number of workers we have ranges from five to 10, but during our busier seasons we may have from 15-18 workers. We make over a ton of chocolate for Easter and our store is packed with customers!
Behind the retail space