(1854-1939)
Mary See is more than just the iconic face on a box of See's Candies! Born Mary Wiseman in Ontario, Canada, she married Alexander See at age 20. They had three children whose names were Charles, May and Bertha. The couple ran a hotel together on Tremont Park Island. While helping run the hotel, Mary developed her own homemade candy recipes. After Mary's husband passed in 1919, her son Charles suggested tht she move to California with him and his wife. There, Charles planned to start his own candy company selling sweets made from his mother's recipes. They settled in Pasadena, California in a post-Victorian bungalow. Mary made candy in the bungalow's black-and-white kitchen. When Charles opened the first See's Candies shop in Los Angeles he chose the now-iconic checkerboard theme inspired by this kitchen.
Mary took pride in her homemade candy, using only the finest ingredients. A tradition See's continues to uphold to this day. In fact, some of their candies are still made using Mary's own original recipes including Peanut Brittle, Victoria Toffee and Chocolate Walnut Fudge.
In 1921, See's Candies opened their first store at 135 Western Avenue Los Angeles featuring black-and-white decor inspired by Mary's kitchen and offering free samples, a tradition still alive today.
People in line at the first See's in Los Angeles.
Circa 1921
By 1925, See's had a dozen shops expanding rapidly across California noted for quality ingredients and customer service. Charles See (1882-1949) opened a sunlit candy kitchen allowing customers to see the process which boosted sales during the Great Depression. The 1939 San Francisco World's Fair brought international attention. A float in the first televised Rose Parade in 1949 cemented its fame.
Charles A. See
Charles A. See was the visionary founder of See's Candies launching the iconic sweets company in Los Angeles in 1921 using his mother Mary See's cherished recipes and emphasizing fresh, quality ingredients, a tradition that made it a beloved brand. Charles was a Canadian chocolate salesman who moved to California with his other dreaming of starting a candy business and the rest is history. See's business acumen and commitment to quality laid the foundation for See's Candies to become a major confectionary brand.
See's Candies was first whipped up as the dream of Charles A. See's, a hardworking Toronto sales representative for merckens chocolate manufacturer. While working long hours selling candy ingredients to bakeries and shops in the cold Canadian winter, he dreamed of the day he would finally own a chain of chain shops and move with his family to warm, sunny California. Guided by the values of his mother, Mary See had instilled in him. His vision came to life with the first See's Candies location, a place where employees were treated like family and customers were warmly greeted with a free sample. Only the finest and freshest ingredients were accepted in their candy kitchen, causing suppliers to coin the phrase "See's Quality" .. a higher mark than "top quality." Thanks to Charles' passion and intelligence, See's not only survived the Great Depression and WWII, but thrived and continued to grow as a company. His innovative bulk-rate candy buying program kept See's afloat through those difficult years.
Charles grew his company from that first shop in Los Angeles to 78 shops across California, never compromising on the quality or deliciousness of See's Candies. When he passed, his son Laurance A. See succeeded him as president though Charles' legacy lives on and his motto,"Quality Without Compromise" continues to guide the company. the company grew rapidly, expanding to the Bay Area by the mid-1930s gaining national fame via the 1939 World's Fair and famously appearing on I Love Lucy in the 1950s.*
In 1972, Warren Buffet and Charlies Munger through their company Berkhire Hathaway purchased See's Candies, calling it a "dream business" and a lesson in strong branding.
Circa 1928
I Love Lucy Episode
"Job Switching"
*Lucy and See's Candies are famously linked through this episode where Luc and Ethel work at a chocolate factory, getting overwhelmed by a fast conveyor belt. This scene was inspired and filmed by Ball's visit to a See's factory in Los Angeles around 1952.
"More See's Please!"
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