History of NECCO, the New England Confectionery Company

In 1847, Oliver Chase of Boston invented and patented the first candy machine to cut wafers, which were called “hub wafers.”

The Necco factory was originally located in the South Boston, then in Cambridge–first near the MIT campus on Massachusetts Ave, then to Lechmere Square– from 1927-2003. In 2003, the company relocated to an 810,000 square-foot factory in Revere, MA.

Necco is the country’s oldest continually operating candy company. According to a 1947 Boston Globe article, New England was one of the four major candy-producing centers of the nation, with over 90 percent of this output concentrated in the Bay State.

Workers in Necco’s plant in Cambridge assemble boxes of chocolates for Valentine’s Day in 1967.

The New England Confectionary Company at the turn of the 20th century in Boston.

The chocolate enrobing room in the Necco Candy Factory , 1972, in Cambridge.

The early days of packing Necco Wafers.

During WWII, the factory manufactured war materials and Necco wafers were part of soldiers’ rations.

An old Necco magazine ad featuring the “candy of pin-up popularity.”

In 1847 Oliver Chase founded Chase & Company in Boston, one of three candy companies that would combine to form Necco in 1902.

In 1970, Necco launched an advertising campaign featuring the “Necco Kid” to promote its wafers, Sky Bar, and Canada Mints.

Candies enter the packaging room after being “enrobed”–covered in chocolate–at the Necco factory in 1985.

October 23, 1985: A worker packages the famous Necco wafers.

A giant Necco wafer was unveiled at the candy factory’s Cambridge location to mark the company’s 150th anniversary in 1997.

Traces Park, a short walk from Central Square in Cambridge, features a Necco wafer sculpture.

A photograph, which dates back to 1928, shows the sixth floor of the Necco Building in Cambridge in front of the 6th floor as the building was being renovated in 2003. It became research headquarters for Novartis Pharma AG.

Teresa Barbosa ( left) and Carolyn DeGraffenreid (right) process NECCO wafers at the New England Confectionery Company factory in Revere, 2005.

THE NECCO BUILDING RENOVATION–CAMBRIDGE–6/9/2003–The Necco building in Cambridge is under renovation to be used as research headquarters for Novartis Pharma AG. GLOBE STAFF PHOTO BY JOHN BOHN. – LibraryTag 08092003 Real Estate