Three generations of candy making...
Russell and Irene Johnson at their lunch counter on South K Street.
Tacoma, Washington, 1925: Russell Johnson, a young man working at his parents’ shop, the Olympic Dairy on South K Street, begins selling chocolates he crafted using vintage chocolate molds. What had begun about 10 years earlier as his father Louis Johnson’s creamery business and branched into an ice cream shop had evolved into a confectionery. In 1927, Russell and his wife Irene bought the business and ran it as a lunch counter that featured candies made from recipes Russell had purchased from an old candy maker.
Little Ron Johnson stands in front of the Olympic Dairy. Photo copyright © the Board of Trustees of the Tacoma Public Library. All rights reserved.
Over the next two decades, while other local candy makers shut down, Russell and Irene kept their shop running. In 1949, some 25 years since it had started, Johnson Candy Company moved into a new building on South K Street designed by architect Silas Nelson. In 1963, Russel and Irene’s son Ron took over the family business.
Ron’s son, William, now makes candy and helps manage the shop in its third generation of business. Ron still comes in daily and finds time to make peanut clusters and dip ice cream bars. While much has changed in the surrounding city and neighborhood, Johnson Candy Company still makes its candy the way it always has.
Johnson Candy was featured on KOMO TV’s “Eric’s Heroes” series!