Photograph of the employees of the Oriole Candy Company taken in April of 1918. Picture is labeled "Farewell to H. L. Brown by employees Oriole Candy Co." It is believed that the banquet was held to bid goodbye to Mr. Brown as he would depart for France to help the Y.M.C.A. as a volunteer. The Y.M.C.A. was one of several organizations that set up recreational "huts" overseas for soldiers. In 1907, Harry L. Brown, a budding confectioner and experimenter in sweet treats, opened his own retail candy shop on Broadway, known as Oriole Chocolates. By 1909, he had converted it into a wholesale operation. He made the acquaintance of an ambitious young salesman, currently employed by Schilling Spices, named Jonathan Clifford Haley. Haley offered to market Brown's sweet treats around the Northwest. By 1914, the pair were officially partnered as "Brown & Haley" with Haley as president and chief salesman and Brown as general manager, candy formulator and head of manufacturing. The company's Oriole Chocolates were made by hand and satisfied the sweet tooth of the soldiers stationed at Fort Lewis during WWI. Brown & Haley is now the oldest, largest candy company in the Tacoma area and one of the oldest in the U.S. G33.1-128; TPL-1027, TPL-9553

Oriole Chocolates (Tacoma); Candy--Tacoma; Chocolate industry--Tacoma--1910-1920; Laborers--Tacoma; Brown & Haley (Tacoma);