Vintage Katy’s Party Nuts Tin Can Bloomington ILL Art Display Picture History For Sale

Vintage 1950s Katy’s Party Nuts Tin Can Rare - Never seen one like this before.
The Katydids tins have become a collectible item that fans all across thecountry keep and cherish as an expression of their childhoodmemories. Kathryn Beich Old & Original Tin from Bloomington, IL Tin features nice, dated imagery with a colorful logo. Manufactured in Bloomington, IL 61701Measures about 3 1/2\" Tall x 5\" DiameterHISTORY OF THE KATHRYN BEICH BRAND & KATYDIDS

Paul F. Beich made Bloomington a sweeter place.Beich founded a sugar-coated dynasty that included such timeless confections as Laffy Taffy, Katydids and Golden Clusters. Sweet success started with hard work as an immigrant teen at a downtown Bloomington confectionery begun in 1854 by J.L. Green, a stint as a traveling salesman for a St. Louis candy company, and a return to Bloomington to buy the candy store of his youth.Beich and a partner convinced candy czar Milton Hershey to move manufacturing for his Lancaster Caramel Co. from Chicago to a vacant buggy factory at Front and Lumber streets. By about 1905, the two partners were gone and Beich was running the Paul F. Beich Candy Co. Soon it had hundreds of employees.

In the 1920s, Beich’s sold chocolate-peanut-marshmallow bars touted as “Whiz – Best nickel candy there iz-z.” Its nutritional survival bars were given to soldiers and astronauts. In 1967, another factory on the city’s southwest side opened; it’s still used today.

The Beich family manufactured iconic brands like Laffy Taffy, Whiz Bars, Katydid Peanut Clusters, and Golden Crumbles. Here’s how it all began.According to a Chicago Tribune article, in order to be closer to the dairy farmers, in 1894 Paul F. Beich and business partner Oscar Buffe persuaded Milton Hershey to move his plant from the Lancaster Caramel Co. in Chicago. The plant was relocated 134 miles southwest to a vacant buggy factory at the corner of Front and Lumber Streets in Bloomington (pictured below).
Beich Chocolate Factory In 1899 Beich and Buffe purchased the Lancaster Caramel Company from M.S. Hershey.According to an article in The Pantagraph, the Bloomington, IL Newspaper, by about 1905, the two partners were gone and Beich was running the Paul F. Beich Candy Co. which soon had hundreds of employees.Paul and his wife Catherine had 2 sons, Otto and Albert.
Otto married Harriet Kiser and had 2 children: Paul and William.William Beich became president of the company and married Katherine McNulta.In 1952‚ Kathrerine McNulta-Beich suggested a program for clubs and churches to raise funds by selling the firm’s candies.William and Katherine’s son David stated in 2003, “The company’s subsidiary Katherine A. Beich Co. became one of the nation’s oldest and largest fundraising supply businesses, with its products sold by schools, youth groups and sports leagues.”Candy production at the iconic 4-story 170,000 square foot plant ended in 1973 when production moved to a new facility. The building was later used for storage and offices.The company stayed in family until until 1984 when Paul’s grandson, William A. Beich retired, and sold it to Nestle USA after heading operations for almost 20 years. The name was then changed to Katherine Beich Inc., a Nestle Co.According to an article in the Bloomington, IL based newspaper The Pantagraph, the manufacturing and fundraising units were split in 1999.Nestle dropped the Beich name from the plant, but it remained as a brand for fundraising products.In 2001, the Beich family donated the building to Mid Central Community Action, which originally planned to convert it into a social service center. In 2002 Lincolnshire Equity Fund II, an investment fund, bought the Beich Fundraising company from Nestle.In 2005, the westside factory was destroyed by fire shortly before a planned demolition, as pictured below.
Factory on Fire Afterward, great-grandson David Beich wrote a letter in tribute stating, “The building refused to die by the wrecking ball, instead waiting for the right moment in time to display her glory and die a dignified death.”In 2008, Kathryn Beich was sold to Great American Opportunities, and the Bloomington office was closed.
This purchase brought the popular Kathryn Beich brands of Katydids and Golden Crumbles into Great American Opportunities’ product line.At some point since 2018 (no exact date availle online) the Kathryn Beich brand name and Katydids product name was purchased by Mascot Pecan Shelling Company, Inc.This company, based in Glennville, GA, still stands in the same spot where the original Mascot roadside shop (pictured below) has stood since take great pride incustomer satisfaction and accurate descriptions.