Posted on 10/14/2017 10:11:19 AM PDT by Trillian
There’s plenty to do at the Jelly Belly factory, located at 1 Jelly Belly Lane in Fairfield, California. After donning a mandatory paper hat, you can take a tour, peering over a guardrail at the factory floor as machines crank out endless flats of colorful jelly beans. Afterwards, line up for your free sample of one of their dozens of flavors—you can even try the weird ones, like earwax and vomit. Peckish? Don’t miss the cafe, where you can enjoy a bean-shaped pizza or burger. But whatever you do at the factory, you’ll be watched over by the presence of former President Ronald Reagan. He’s everywhere. The line for the tour meets in front of a cabinet filled with Reagan memorabilia. He’s smiling down from a portrait of him made from jelly beans. During the tour, guests stop in front of a wall covered with a dozen photos of him.
The company, and the family that owns it, are obviously fans of the Gipper. But when Reagan first encountered Jelly Belly, he was the fan.
Reagan appeared in ads for Chesterfield cigarettes in the ‘40s and ‘50s, but his vice of choice was pipe smoking. He quit sometime before the late 1960s, when he started running for governor of California. By then, he had settled on a stand-in: jelly beans. At a 1966 campaign event, a man named Russ Albers struck up a conversation. Had Reagan tried a new, more gourmet type of jelly bean from an Oakland company, a brand that Albers happened to carry in his stores? Reagan tried one, and soon, he was hooked.
That’s because those beans—from the Goelitz Candy Company, now renamed Jelly Belly—were different than others on the market. At the time, the flavoring in standard jelly beans was limited to their outer shells.
(Excerpt) Read more at atlasobscura.com ...
Best ever. Liquorice and Very Cherry are my favourites.
Come meet the Honorable Edwin Meese III, former U.S. Attorney General under President Ronald Reagan, on Nov. 6th at the iconic Jelly Belly Factory and support Judge Steven Bailey for CA Attorney General 2018.
https://www.baileyforag.com/meese/
Yep, best ever. My favorite. Reagan put Jelly Belly on the map.
Because anyone alive during his presidency would know he had a big jar of them in his office....on his desk
Love the very cherry also the pina collada
A great American company
Very Cherry and Sizzling Cinnamon. Yum!
Juicy pear, peach and plum are my all-time favorites!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
