The Straight Dope takes on Chicago candy history

Many years ago, I heard that Chicago was the candy capitol of the U.S. because sugar was shipped F.O.B. Chicago. I have been known to impress tourists on the Green Line with that bit of history as we pass the abandoned Brach's factory. But many years before that I heard that the reason so many streets (Oak Park Ave was my local example) jog at North Avenue was to correct for the curvature of the earth. I believed the later--and also impressed visitors with it (after a couple of days of our scintillating company visitors are easily impressed) right up until the day Cecil Adams debunked it.

In a moment of maturity, I decided to apply a similar reality test to the candy story. Cecil picked it up and found it mostly false as well.

After all, while Chicago is a rail hub, why should local candy makers get a special deal on sugar? It's not like we're the throbbing heart of world sugar trade. On investigation, it turns out Chicago candy makers did get a break on a key ingredient, which contributed to the concentration of the industry in the area. But sugar wasn't it.

I can see now why old people are often so dull.