It doesn’t matter what time frame you are in: Cartridge Candy fits in!
We sell Cartridge Candy to sites ranging from Pilgrims and Pirates to Pioneers and Plainsmen, from the French & Indian Wars, Revolutionary War, War of 1812 to Civil War. You don’t even need to have a war theme. We also sell to a large number of historic houses, pioneer villages and general museum gift shops!
We like it when you say nice things about it. Here are some reactions to our product:
I need to order some more of your great stuff!
Fort Laramie
I just wanted to take the time to let you know that we appreciate the new bilingual kit that comes with the cartridge candies. They're selling like hot cakes at our 2nd giftshop located at Fort Beauséjour.
Fort Beauséjour
Need to stock up for my busy season. I would like to order 200 pieces of cartridge candy for Andrew Jackson State Park.
Andrew Jackson State Park
You have a terrific product, and we appreciate your customer service and quality.
Bennett Place
Yummy, thanks!
New York Historical Society
I will try and get some press for this terrific product line.
New York Historical Society
Time to order some more cartridge candy. The school children love them…and it’s nice that they are educational, too!
Chimney Point
In 1998, during the 135th Anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg, we were astounded at the assortment of merchandise that was available, commemorating not only this event, but the American Civil War in general. Even with all that variety, we determined to produce a product that would capture the imagination of both re-enactors and spectators…something different, not already available. Watching the soldiers load for battle showed us that the answer was right before our eyes. Shortly after that event, we began producing our first candy filled cartridges. In late 2001, we decided to make our product available to other historical merchants, landmark sites and related gift stores.
BLACK POWDER CANDY: Sold in lots of 50 charges at 37 cents per charge
MUSKET BALL CANDY: Sold in lots of 50 bags, 6 rounds per bag, at 34 cents per bag
SOMETHING NEW! We've come up with some variations on packaging of our most popular products! Jamestown Settlement was looking for a way to rack the Cartridge Candy, so we developed the Cartridge Candy 3-Pack (a well-trained soldier can shoot three rounds a minute) shown above, with a drilled header card.
The "Ammo-Pak" features all three of our "Ordnance for the Innards" products - Cartridge Candy, Musket Ball Candy and Black Powder Candy.
The Cartridge Candy 3-Pack is priced at $1.30/pack, minimum order 50 packs. The Ammo-Pak is priced at $1.30/pack, minimum order 50 packs.
NEW! Compliment the lead up to the anniversary year(s) with our special edition War of 1812 Bicentennial Ammo-Pak. Each pack contains 1 Cartridge Candy, 1 bag of Musket Ball Candy and 1 bag of Black Powder Candy.
$1.30 per bag, minimum 50 bags. Display it in our colourful merchandiser ($2.00 per merchandiser).
Add this into the arsenal of “Ordnance for the Innards”. Hot Shot is a cinnamon flavored hard candy ball sure to set a sweet lover’s taste buds aflame!
Hot Shot: 34 cents per bag. Minimum order: 50 bags.
Cartridge Candy can be put to more uses than sitting on the Gift Shop candy counter! Here is one way I have tried myself with great success at events I attend.
When you have a large-scale event and can dedicate a volunteer (or two), set up a game in which the prize is Cartridge Candy and the price to play is the cost. I usually do this using a target shooting game, giving three shots per game. I have had line-ups to play for hours on end. What I do is set up a wooden crate with either a target pinned to the inside or a couple of stacked pop cans. The player uses an elastic band shooting musket and stands about 6-10 feet back, depending on age. I will often help the younger ones aim and fire, which the parents just eat up, because of the photo-op.
It doesn’t matter if the player hits the target or not – they are winners, anyway and I ring a bell to herald that (which also attracts attention). The object is that they have fun and you sell candy, either for profit or fund-raising. Just about every parent is at the ready with a camera to record the moment, as well, so it is a great interactive, photo-op participation activity that will stand out.
What you will find, if you use this approach, is that Cartridge Candy sales go up immensely (as do the sales of wooden muskets).
You don’t have to tie the game to target shooting. I’ve done this using a version of table top bowling, variously called “Pop the Pirate”, “Whack the Witch” and “Bop the Brit”, depending on the situation. No matter what sort of period game you adopt, make sure that it’s something you have in stock, because you will sell more of that item, as well.
THE TRICK TO THIS APPROACH IS THAT WHOEVER DOES IT HAS TO REALLY LIKE WORKING WITH THE PUBLIC!
It’s difficult, but not impossible, to do the above on an “education” day or if you are hosting a school outing, as everyone will want to do it. You will just need a few more volunteers. However, I’ve sold to a few sites that buy Cartridge Candy, build it into the student cost, and give one to each participant.
There are a couple ways to do this distribution:
The latter works best, because now they’ve seen what the candy is based on, but in either case, when they hit the Gift Shop, they generally stock up on even more.
Below are pictures of the bowling game and shooting game set-up.
I hope you find this helpful. If you have an usual way of promoting Cartridge Candy at your site, let me know. If it works for you, it will work for others. If you try this out, send me pictures and I will post them with appropriate site credits.
Cartridge Candy, as noted comes in four fruit flavours and has the sweet-tart taste of whichever flavour is consumed. The “musket ball” included is either gum or candy, depending on your order, in assorted flavours packed at random.
Musket Ball Candy is a liquorice flavoured (very) hard candy (don't bite this bullet!). As it is savoured, it will tend to change colours. It actually has a basis in history: soldiers in the British Army, serving in the Caribbean Islands during the Napoleonic wars, made a candy mixture of ginger and molasses in musket ball moulds, to relieve the dryness in the mouth associated with the actions of firing black powder weapons. Which leads us to “Black Powder Candy”…
The basic ingredient of Black Powder Candy is a medium course sugar. It has a resemblance to actual black powder but tastes a whole lot better. You will be asked if it is liquorice: the answer is “no”. Black Powder Candy actually has no discernable taste. It’s much the same as chowing down in the sugar bowl, so it’s ideal for those who are finicky about flavours.