One of the best parts of going to the Jersey shore is all those amazing boardwalk treats! Is it even a day at the shore if you’re not enjoying some fresh-cut fries and a sausage sandwich, drinking a fresh-squeezed lemonade, and eating some salt water taffy? New Jersey salt water taffy is a tradition dating back well over a century, and now you can usually find it in dozens of flavors at iconic shore sweet shops. However, the multi-colored taffy has one odd thing about it – it doesn’t exactly taste salty, so how did it get its name? Like most things about New Jersey, the truth is complicated and a little bit wacky. You’ve got to go back to the 1800s to find a tale involving a sweet shop, a storm, and a century of innovation. Does it get any more New Jersey than that?

Salt water taffy is one of the most iconic New Jersey treats out there, but this candy has an amazing story behind its creation.
Creative Commons/Wikipedia
Reportedly, the candy was created in the 1880s when a man named John Ross Edmiston ran a small postcard shop in Atlantic City. He hired a candy-maker named David Bradley to sell taffy there as well to boost business.
Creative Commons/Wikipedia
Then, one day, a massive ocean swell crashed onto the boardwalk and flooded the store. The candy was soaked, and the next day a young girl came into the store. She asked if Bradley still had taffy for sale, and the candyman cracked "We have salt water taffy."
Dennis Mikolay/Wikipedia

Related Stories

Hundreds Of Pounds Of Cooked Pasta Mysteriously Appeared In The New Jersey Woods

Hundreds Of Pounds Of Cooked Pasta Mysteriously Appeared In The New Jersey Woods

 The 6 Most Terrifying Drives You Can Possibly Take In New Jersey

The 6 Most Terrifying Drives You Can Possibly Take In New Jersey

 18 Words You'll Only Understand If You're From New Jersey

18 Words You'll Only Understand If You're From New Jersey
The name stuck, and soon the candy was selling like hotcakes. A few years later, popular confectioner Joseph Fralinger would become the first to market the candy in boxes.
Visitor7/Wikipedia
Today, you can buy it in many shops along the state's countless boardwalks - and it's changed a lot.
Shinya Suzuki/Wikipedia
The pulled candy is mostly made from sugar, cornstarch, water, butter, and artificial flavor - and it can be found in dozens of flavors today!
Drew Blouch/Google Local

Did you know about the history of salt water taffy? What are your favorite places to get this boardwalk treat? Let us know in the comments section. To find the biggest selection of New Jersey salt water taffy out there, you’ll want to head to Shriver’s, an Ocean City institution synonymous with the candy since 1898.

OnlyInYourState may earn compensation through affiliate links in this article. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.

Related Articles

Explore New Jersey

Featured Addresses
Shriver's Salt Water Taffy & Fudge 1898, 852 Boardwalk, Ocean City, NJ 08226, USA
Atlantic City, NJ, USA