Tacoma confectioner Harry Brown creates Almond Roca in the spring of (2024)

In the spring of 1923, Tacoma confectioner Harry Brown (ca.1893-1960) creates a butter-crunch toffee enrobed in milk chocolate and thenencrusted with chopped almonds. Pleased that the almond coating makes the candyless messy to consume than ordinary chocolate-coated toffee, Brown hands outsamples to many Tacoma residents, including Tacoma Public Library librarianJacqueline Noel (ca. 1881-1964). Asked what the new confection should becalled, Noel dubs the candy Almond Roca.

Harry Brown was a partner in the Tacoma candy company Brown& Haley. Company lore holds that Jacqueline Noel chose the components ofthe candy's name because its relatively hard crunch was somewhat rock-like. Atthe time, many almonds were imported from Spain and "roca" is aSpanish word for rock.

J. C. Haley handled sales and marketing for Brown &Haley, while Harry Brown assumed responsibility for product development. Hecreated the first batch of Almond Roca in the large copper candy kettle thecompany used to cook sugar. Copper, an excellent heat conductor, was (andremains) an effective material for vessels in which sugar is liquefied andcooked to high temperatures. Almond Roca's recipe is proprietary, but ingeneral toffee ingredients include sugar, butter, vanilla, and flavoring. AlmondRoca's log-like shape allowed bite-sized pieces to be wrapped individually. Thecandy's golden foil wrapping became part of its signature look.

During its first few years, Almond Roca was shipped intraditional cardboard candy boxes, or in decorative wooden boxes adorned with photographsof Northwest scenes. In 1927, Brown & Haley began shipping Almond Roca insealed airtight tins in order to ensure the candy's freshness. Almond Roca wasmarketed under the slogan "The Candy That Travels," and theinnovative tins were dubbed "vita-pack." Almond Roca tins were openedwith an accompanying key that, when turned, pulled back a thin strip of sealingmaterial, revealing the gold-wrapped candies. For a time, Brown & Haleyadvertisem*nts exploited this feature, using the tag line "Candy so goodwe lock it up tight." Almond Roca was shipped to American soldiers servingoverseas during World War II, and later in Korea. The chocolate coatingextended the candy's shelf life and the airtight tins protected it from vermin.

During World War II, when sugar was strictly rationed, Brown& Haley chose to focus production on the firm's best-selling confections,the Mountain Bar and Almond Roca. The United States War Department selectedAlmond Roca as one of the American products that would be available in UnitedStates canteens around the world. This made the company a direct participant inthe war effort and ensured it a supply of sugar sufficient to maintain production.Brown & Haley advertisem*nts of the period emphasize how much Almond Rocawas being shipped to soldiers: "More Almond Roca is being made today thanever before," read a May 7, 1945, advertisem*nt in The Seattle Times. "But you may not find any. Almost everypound goes overseas to bring a bit of comfort to our armed forces"(Display ad, p. 4). This worldwide availability also exposed overseas marketsto Almond Roca. The candy became popular with various celebrities, includingmountaineer Edmund Hillary (1919-2008), who carried the treat with him on manyascents.

Brown family members formally ended their associationwith Brown & Haley in 1944, selling their interest to the Haley family. By 2016forty percent of all Almond Roca confections (and more recent innovations suchas cashew, macadamia, peppermint, and sugar-free Roca) were exported, makingBrown & Haley the highest-volume confectionary exporter in the UnitedStates. Customers purchased the candy in many settings, from highbrow London luxury-goodsstores to commonplace Australian variety stores to airport gift shops toAmerican pharmacies. The candy became an overwhelming favorite in China, wherethe golden foil wrappers and pink and red packaging were considered auspicious."Roca" can mean "happy family" in Cantonese. Othercountries where Almond Roca has become popular include Canada, Japan,Singapore, Taiwan, Korea, Saudi Arabia, the Philippines, and the United ArabEmirates, among others. As of 2016 Brown & Haley had sent more than 5billion bite-sized morsels of Almond Roca from the modest downtown Tacomafactory into the hands and mouths of citizens of countries around the globe.

Sources: HistoryLink.org Online Encyclopedia ofWashington State History, "Pierce County-- Thumbnail History" (by Paula Becker), http://www.historylink.org (accessed February 13,2016); Lisa Patterson, "Confection Perfection: Tacoma's Brown & HaleyLegacy Thrives," South SoundMagazine, February 21, 2013 (http://southsoundmag.com/print-articles/confection-perfection/); May B. Van Arsdale and Ruth Parish Casa Emellos, Candy Recipes & Other Confections (GardenCity, New York: Blue Ribbon Books, 1949), p. 20; Melissa Alison, "AlmondRoca Maker, Precision Think Inside the (Wine) Box," The Seattle Times, September 4, 2012 (www.seattletimes.com); Aaron Alan Tilley, "Almond Roca Rocks It inChina," Seattle Business, August2011 (http://seattlebusinessmag.com/article/almond-roca-rocks-it-china); "Brown & Haley History," Brown & Haleywebsite accessed February 13, 2016 (http://www.brown-haley.com/pages/brown-haley-history-mountain-bars); Display ad, TheSeattle Times, August 2, 1928, p. 9; "Death Takes J. C. Haley,Manufacturer," Ibid., March 26,1954, p. 33; "History of Brown & Haley," Funding Universe websiteaccessed February 21, 2016 (http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/brown-haley-history/); "Almond Roca: The World is Sweet on Local Product,"Pacific Gateway, Fall 1986, p. 15; SukyHutton, "Familial Confections, the House of Haley and the Rise of AlmondRoca," Pacific Northwest,September 1983, p. 24; Kathi Rennaker, email to Paula Becker, February 17,2016, in possession of Paula Becker, Seattle, Washington.

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