Chocolate Museum exhibit sheds light on Ganong history

Items found in the archives of St. Stephen's famous candy company are shedding new light on the history of Ganong Brothers and chocolate.

The brothers long laid claim to inventing the first chocolate and nut bar. But even modern-day company officials didn't know the full story.

"We actually found that the very first Ganong chocolate bar was listed in 1909," said Sarah Goulding, the director of The Chocolate Museum.

"Previously, we thought it was 1910. So that spurred us on to find more information," said Goulding.

She dug through the company's archives for a new exhibit featuring a retrospective of the candy bar.

An old newspaper advertises chocolate bars for five cents each — alongside two dozen eggs, a pound of butter and a pack of bacon for a total price that's less than $1.

A photograph shows children protesting in the street after the price of a chocolate bar jumped from five to eight cents overnight. This period is remembered as the so-called Candy Bar Wars of 1947.

Archaic caramels, mints and chocolate cream bars tempt the museum's visitors with their shiny wrappers.

A poster touts the health benefits of Ganong's Sea Sun Chocolate Fudge Bar, with Vitamins A and B.

One failed product mixed chocolate and cod liver oil.

"I'd heard a little bit about the cod liver oil substitute in chocolate," said David Ganong, the president and chief executive officer of Ganong Brothers Ltd., "but I didn't quite understand the full nature of the history which is in the display."

Sammie Flanzbaum, a tourist from Pleasanton, California., got the first tour through the candy bar exhibit.

She said it left her longing for bygone days.

"Five cents for a chocolate bar sounds amazing," she said.