Trenton dusts off a feel-good bill to name an official state candy

🍬 A New Jersey lawmaker has revived a long-stalled bill to make saltwater taffy the official state candy.

🌊 The treat’s roots trace back to an 1880s Atlantic City legend and the rise of Shore boardwalks.

🏛️ First proposed by students in 2014, the bill is now back before a Senate committee.

New Jersey has an official state animal, a state flower, a state bird, and even a state dinosaur, to name a few. What about a state candy?

A renewed push to make saltwater taffy New Jersey’s state candy

In October, a New Jersey lawmaker reintroduced a bill that would make saltwater taffy the official state candy.

The bill was first introduced in 2014 by a group of students from Samsel Upper Elementary School in Sayreville, said state Sen. Carmen F. Amato Junior, R-Ocean. The bill made it through the Assembly but has been stalled in the Senate for over a decade.

Read More: Inside the craft of New Jersey's iconic salt water taffy

Now that these kids are in college, the former vice principal of the school, Bonnie Brady, who lives in Amato’s township of Berkeley, contacted the state senator and asked if he could get the bill moving once again.

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For Amato, this was a no-brainer.

“Living on the shore my entire life, saltwater taffy is a staple of the boardwalk and the beaches, and when you think of the great boardwalk and beaches we have, you think of candy. What is the number one candy usually sold on the boardwalk during the summertime? Saltwater taffy,” Amato said.

From a school project to a decade-long legislative delay

This bill is an easy pickup for Amato to advocate on behalf of those students and the entire Jersey Shore business community.

Making saltwater taffy the official candy of New Jersey aims to honor the treat’s historical and cultural significance to the Jersey Shore.

The Atlantic City legend behind saltwater taffy’s creation

According to local legend, the candy was created after salt water from an evening storm flooded a candy shop in Atlantic City in the 1880s, damaging the taffy supply of candy maker David Bradley. But there was one persistent customer who wanted the taffy anyway, even if it was soaked in seawater.

So, Bradley sold the first saltwater taffy as a result, making the accidental creation a household name, Amato said.

According to the bill (S4753), throughout the late 1800s and early 1900s, with the development of shore communities such as Atlantic City and Ocean City, confectioners Enoch James, Joseph Fralinger, and William Shriver came to dominate the saltwater taffy industry along the Jersey Shore boardwalks.

“The 1928 opening of Jenkinson’s Pavilion reflected a northward growth, transforming the Point Pleasant Beach boardwalk with a landmark candy shop where saltwater taffy became a centerpiece attraction,” Amato’s bill reads.

Why the Jersey Shore economy is at the heart of the bill

Saltwater taffy continues to support local businesses, tourism, the boardwalks, and the overall culture of the Jersey Shore, so it makes sense that saltwater taffy should serve as the ideal symbol for the official state candy, Amato said.

“It’s a lighthearted bill, but it honors something that is deeply rooted in the fabric of our New Jersey history. It’s an opportunity to recognize our small businesses, our shore towns, and generations of families who helped turn a little accident into hopefully the symbol of our state,” Amato said.

The bill has now been referred to the State Senate Government Wagering Tourism and Historic Preservation Committee.

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