If Philadelphia has an official candy, one that soothes our Philadelphia soul, it is Goldenberg’s Peanut Chews.

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David Goldenberg, an immigrant from Romania, founded his candy company here in 1890 and introduced Peanut Chews in 1917 exclusively for our World War I troops. The protein-rich, high-energy snack, packed with peanuts and coated in dark chocolate, was such a big hit that it went retail in 1921.

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Goldenberg’s Peanut Chews was originally one solid bar but converted to small individual pieces in 1930. The original dark chocolate chews use no milk or egg products and are popular with vegans. A milk chocolate version is also available.

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Goldenberg’s remained a family-owned company until 2003, when it was sold to Just Born, the Bethlehem company that also manufactures Marshmallow Peeps. Peanut Chews are marketed nationally and online but remain the most popular in their birth city of Philadelphia and all along the mid-Atlantic corridor from Baltimore to New York.

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The candy was featured prominently in an episode of the crime drama The Blacklist. Raymond Reddington, the show's ruthless, smooth-talking main character, enters a store and calmly inquires, “Do you sell Goldenberg’s Peanut Chews? I can never resist the temptation when in Philadelphia.”

 

He speaks for us all.