Greetings family, friends, and neighbors.  Today's Christmas Snippet takes a look at San Francisco's original Candy Man who still has deep roots in the Bay Area....Bill

Christmas Snippets

THE CANDY MAN

Henry Wells and William Fargo, Levi Strauss, and Peter Giannini founder of Bank of America, began businesses in San Francisco during the California Gold Rush of 1849 that continue to prosper today. Joining the esteemed group is Italian born chocolatier Domenico Ghirardelli, on the recommendation of former neighbor James Lick who had brought six hundred pounds of chocolate from Italy, sold sweets and treats to miners who were lacking the small pleasures of life in the Gold fields near Jamestown and Sonora before becoming a merchant in Hornitos.  He moved to San Francisco in 1852 and established the Ghirardelli Chocolate Company that would later become known as Ghirardelli Square. Around 1865, a worker at the chocolate factory discovered that by hanging a bag of ground cacao beans in a warm room, the cocoa butter would drip off, leaving behind a residue that could be converted into ground chocolate. The technique known as Broma Process is now the most common method used for the production of chocolate.

Headquartered in San Leandro, Domenico Ghirardelli’s company, now owned by Swiss giant Lindt and Sprungi, is the longest continually operating and largest chocolatier in America with thousands of sweet products sold internationally, numerous retail chocolate shops, and soda fountains with locations in Disneyland and Disneyworld.

We take time during the holidays to thoughtfully

reflect on the past, savor the fleeting present

and embrace whatever the future may bring.

May past memories bring you joy and comfort during this Holiday Season.

The Ralphs