[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 12]
[Senate]
[Page 16414]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     REMEMBERING SALVATORE FERRARA

  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, Chicago lost its Candy Man on Thanksgiving 
Day. Salvatore Ferrara II passed away in Oak Brook, IL. He was the 
third generation of the Ferrara family who has given us memories, 
cavities, and the treats that lit up kids for generations.
  Simply listing their iconic candies takes you back in time: Original 
Boston Baked Beans at the Saturday movies, Red Hots after a sandlot 
game, Lemonheads at the swimming pool, and Atomic Fireballs on a dare. 
A handful of Ferrara candy was like a handful of happiness.
  Ferrara Pan Candy Company was started in 1908 in Chicago by Mr. 
Ferrara's grandfather, the original Salvatore Ferraro. Its first candy 
was confetti, the candy-coated almonds served at Italian weddings, 
symbolizing good luck. Nello Ferrara followed his dad into the 
business.
  It was Nello who invented the company's lip-puckering Lemonhead 
candies. Little Sal was born with forceps, giving him a temporarily 
misshapen head--``like a lemon,'' his dad said. And candy history was 
made.
  Nello Salvatore's military service in Japan after World War II 
provided the inspiration for another company classic--Atomic Fireballs.
  Sal II joined the family business in the mid seventies. Over the next 
40 years, the company would grow from 35 to more than 500 workers, and 
annual revenues soared from $3.5 million to $300 million. It also 
acquired another iconic candy: Gummy Bears.
  Sal Ferrara died of esophageal cancer. His family said he hadn't 
smoked since 1981. His doctor reportedly linked his cancer to acid 
reflux disease. He was too young--just 63 years old.
  I want to offer my condolences to Mr. Ferrara's friends and family, 
especially his wife Andrea, his children Alana, Lauren, Nello II, and 
Erik, and his three grandchildren.
  I join kids and former kids all over America in thanking Sal Ferrara 
and his family for so many sweet treats and happy memories.

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