Leo Hirschfield

Leo Hirschfield (1868 – January 13, 1922) was an Austrian-American candymaker known as the inventor of the Tootsie Roll, the first individually wrapped penny candy, and Bromangelon, the first commercially successful gelatin dessert mix, which preceded Jell-O by two years.

Early life Hirschfield was an Austrian Jewish immigrant to the United States of America, the son of an Austrian candy maker.

Career In 1895, Hirschfield created Bromangelon, the first commercially successful gelatin dessert mix. According to the Tootsie Industries' official company history, he started his own career in the candy business at a small shop or factory in New York City in 1896. Citing a 1913 Pittsburgh Press interview, Kawash states that Hirschfield worked for Stern & Staalberg before moving to Manhattan in the early 1890s. He invented the candy in 1907, That same year, he applied for a patent for Tootsie Rolls, citing its unique texture, and was awarded one in 1908. In 1909 Stern & Staalberg began marketing the candy. Based on the available evidence, Kawash concluded that the notion that the candy had been created in 1896 in Hirschfeld's Brooklyn store was a myth. In addition, Kawash points out that Tootsie was also the name of the child spokesperson for Bromangelon, leading Kawash to surmise that while the Tootsie Roll may have been "christened" in Clara's honor, she had been the namesake for something that had preceded it. It was the first penny candy to be individually wrapped, and its low price led to its remarkable growth, making it a Depression-era favorite. During World War II, when the need for shipping food that did not spoil quickly to battlefront soldiers prompted considerable development in the field of processed food, Tootsie Rolls, which stayed fresh for a long period of time, became part of soldiers' ration packs, further solidifying Americans' love for the candy.