Charleston Chew

The bar is named after a dance, and it exists because an actor fell off a stage.
 

Donley Cross was a Shakespearean stage actor in San Francisco. During one performance he fell from the stage and injured his back badly enough to end his acting career. Needing something else to do, he went into confectionery with a friend called Charlie Fox, and the two opened the Fox-Cross Candy Company in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1920.
 

Their first bar, the Nu Chu, did modestly. The one that made them was a length of chewy vanilla nougat coated in milk chocolate, launched in the early 1920s and named after the Charleston - the dance craze sweeping America at the time, with roots in African American communities in South Carolina. Naming a sweet after a dance was the 1920s equivalent of naming one after a viral video.
 

The freezing tradition came later and it came from the company itself. Nathan Sloane bought Fox-Cross in 1957 and pushed the idea of freezing the bar and smacking it so the nougat shatters into pieces. It worked so well that fans still do it, and it remains the thing people ask about most. Sloane also added the chocolate and strawberry bars to the original vanilla. The brand passed to Nabisco and then to Tootsie Roll Industries, who make it today.
 

Sweet and Glory stocks Charleston Chew wholesale for UK retailers.
 

The Charleston Chew Range
 

The core of the range is the long bar, the format the brand is recognised by, in its classic flavours. Alongside it sit a theatre box for cinema and impulse counters and Rollers in a larger sharing format. Between them the range covers shelf, checkout and sharing without needing much space. Check the current range for what is in stock now.
 

Why Stock Charleston Chew?
 

There is nothing in British confectionery quite like it. The texture is the point - a long, dense, chewy nougat bar rather than anything the UK market produces - and that difference is what makes it worth carrying rather than another variation on what is already on the shelf. It is close to a century old, which gives it genuine cross-generational pull: older customers recognise the name, younger ones find the format unfamiliar enough to try.
 

The freezing tradition is a rare thing in confectionery retail, a product that arrives with its own ritual attached. It gives staff something to say, it gives the bar a second season in summer when frozen treats sell, and it is the reason people search for it. Position it alongside other heritage American brands to build a vintage candy section. For more on brands of this vintage, see our guide to American sweets older than your grandparents.
 

UK compliance labels are supplied with every order.
 

Frequently Asked Questions
 

Why do people freeze Charleston Chew?
 

Freezing turns the chewy nougat brittle, so the bar cracks and shatters when you hit it or bite it. The idea was promoted by Nathan Sloane after he bought the company in 1957, and it stuck - many people say it is the only way to eat one.
 

Why is it called Charleston Chew?
 

It is named after the Charleston, the dance that was sweeping America when the bar launched in the early 1920s. The makers were hoping some of the craze would rub off on the product.
 

Who makes Charleston Chew?
 

It was created by the Fox-Cross Candy Company, founded by former stage actor Donley Cross and his friend Charlie Fox. It is made today by Tootsie Roll Industries, the company behind Tootsie Rolls and Junior Mints.
 

What does a Charleston Chew taste like?
 

Chewy vanilla-style nougat in a chocolatey coating, longer and denser than most British bars. Chocolate and strawberry versions were added later and work the same way.
 

Can I buy Charleston Chew wholesale in the UK?
 

Yes. Sweet and Glory supplies Charleston Chew wholesale across the UK. No minimum order. Free first parcel on orders over £150 ex VAT (additional boxes £7.10 each). Free pallet delivery over £650 ex VAT. Dispatched from Manchester.