Squirrel Nut Zippers

by Squirrel Brand

1926 – 2018 GONE FOREVER

Gone. Necco made it until the company shut its Revere plant abruptly in July 2018. Sweethearts and Necco Wafers found new makers; the Squirrel Nut candies never did. 1926 is Squirrel Brand's own date, though a trademark filing claims first use in 1935. The swing band of the same name is still touring.

Last verified Nov 1, 2026

A chewy vanilla nut caramel from a candy company in Cambridge, Massachusetts, sold for most of a century. It survived a move to Texas and a homecoming to New England, but not the collapse of Necco.

🧾 One more thingThe candy left Massachusetts in 1999, when Squirrel Brand was sold and moved to Texas; Necco licensed it in 2004 and brought it home. The old Cambridge factory on Boardman Street is now affordable housing, with Squirrel Brand Park next door.

Filed under: Candy & Gum · the ’70s & earlier

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📅 Timeline

1926Squirrel Brand of Cambridge, Massachusetts, dates its vanilla nut caramel to 1926; later accounts place it more loosely in the 1920s.
1935April 1935 is the first-use date claimed in the company's trademark filings for the Nut Zippers name.
1999Two years after the death of Hollis Gerrish, who left instructions for the company to be sold, Southern Style Nuts bought Squirrel Brand and moved production from Boardman Street to Texas.
2004Necco licensed the Squirrel candy brands and brought Squirrel Nut Zippers and the caramel chews back to Massachusetts.
2018On July 24, Round Hill Investments, which had bought Necco at a bankruptcy auction in May, closed the Revere plant and its roughly 230 jobs.

❓ People also ask

Why were Squirrel Nut Zippers discontinued?

The candy went down with Necco, its licensed maker since 2004, when the Revere plant closed in July 2018. A 2022 Yankee magazine piece noted that the zippers and the chocolate Squirrel Nut Caramels still had not found a new producer.

When did Squirrel Nut Zippers come out?

Squirrel Brand's own history puts it at 1926, during Prohibition, but the trademark filings for the name give a first use of April 1935. The Cambridge Historical Society says the name supposedly came from an illegal drink of the era.

What happened to the Squirrel Brand factory in Cambridge?

The company worked out of 12 Boardman Street from 1915 until 1999. The nonprofit Just A Start bought the property in 1999, and the city reports it was converted into 20 permanently affordable rental units by 2002.

🧾 Sources

Cambridge Historical Commission, Squirrel Brand Company Collection (finding aid, quoting the Cambridge Historical Society) (2017)
Yankee Magazine, 10 Lost & Gone (But Not Forgotten) New England Food Brands (2022)
WBUR, Necco Plant Abruptly Closes (2018)
City of Cambridge Community Development Department, Squirrel Brand (affordable housing project) (2026)

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