by I have so longed to have a Wowee wax whistle again, a Halloween candy I remember from growing up. I did some searching. At first I thought they were originally made by the American Candy Company, which was founded in 1899 in Selma, Alabama, then sold in 1989 to the Pinkerton Group in Richmond, Virginia. Wait. The detectives?? No. The Pinkerton Group is part of Procordia United Brands, a Swedish corporation. Thinking the American Candy Company developed the Wowee Whistle, I followed that candy company all over the place, until the Canadian company Concord Confections acquired the wax candy division in 2002.
It seemed like I hit the jackpot then. Concordia had intended to continue making the wax candy, but then I learned that Concordia sold the wax candy division to Tootsie Roll Industries in 2004.
I contacted Tootsie Roll Industries. In answer to my first question, about whether or not they were ever going to bring the Wowee Whistle back, they said no. Politely. Well, maybe someone else can. So I asked, “Does your company have the records, recipe, manufacturing information, or whatever it is you would need in order to produce that item?” They answered, “Stacy, thank you for contacting us. Unfortunately our records do not date back this far. We are sorry to disappoint.”
Come on. 2004 is not that long ago. What now? I don’t entirely believe they just threw out everything to do with the Wowee Whistle. I think I need to persevere a little more with Tootsie Roll Industries.
But then I learned from a website which outlines the history of wax lips, that I got the back story a little wrong. Wax lips, which are similar to the Wowee Whistle, were developed by a guy named John W. Glenn in 1923, in Buffalo, NY. The whistles tasted so much better, in my opinion. But maybe Glenn also made the whistles? I just zoomed in on some pictures of the whistles, and the labels on each definitely say Glenn Confections, Inc., Buffalo, NY. John W. Glenn created the Wowee Whistle as well!
Quick history: His company, Glenn Confections, became part of W&F Manufacturing Company. When W&F Manufacturing Company went bankrupt in 1994, Challenger Candy Company of Secor, IL bought the wax candy-making machinery and moved it to Illinois. Then the Challenger Candy Company went bankrupt, and here’s where the American Candy Company comes in. They bought that same wax candy-making machinery and moved it from Illinois to Alabama (no year given). When Concordia bought the wax division next, in 2002, they moved all the machinery to Canada. I’m dying to see these machines! They must have been built in the 1920s. What happened to them next??
Tootsie Roll still makes the wax lips and fangs, by the way. Why not the whistle?? For the love of God. But they weren’t the first to stop making it. I don’t think I’ve seen one since the 1970s. The molds are probably more expensive, but still.
So, I think my next step is to call Concordia. Which doesn’t seem to make candy at all anymore, and instead preserves and sells seeds. They were the last company to have the machines in their possession, that I know of. Maybe they can tell me where they are now. Or how to make wax whistles.
Bottomline, thank you John W. Glenn for the Wowee Whistle. I loved them and so did millions of other kids. I’ve been searching on Ancestry to find his descendants in order to learn what happened to him in his later life. I’ve identified a granddaughter who I think is still alive. Maybe I will be back with an update.
Thanks for the history lesson. Very cool!
Wow!! I LOVE LOVE LOVE reading stuff like this! Searching for, and finding out what happened to, a treasured piece of the past. Thank you for sharing.
Thanks for loving it, Kristi!!
You’re most welcome, Robert. I had fun researching it.
A great piece of detective work. A very interesting read
It would be fascinating to see the old equipment.
Thank you! It was so much fun to research. I still need to call Concordia.
Wowee 🙂 you did a lot of work. Very interesting. Yes, I would love to have one of those whistles, too and wish this generation of kids could get in on the fun.. It was always one of the treats of Halloween when they showed up every fall.Not sure parents enjoyed listening but eventually I always succumbed to taking a small bite which inevitably led to another until it was gone….
It really was such a great Halloween treat, why oh why can’t they bring it back??
The molds to the Wowee Whistle were patented of course and I think it was Concordia that had the molds destroyed. I understand that they no longer exist.
Alas, hope dims. Thank you for your efforts.
Those things tasted an awful lot like the Checker Berries that I used to find in the woods of New Hampshire; I miss those too.
Danny, where did you hear that the molds were destroyed? I’ve been trying to find the original patent but no success yet.
Kenneth, yeah, hope is dimming. Now I have to google checker berries. Ah, also know as the teaberry! Maybe that was part of the flavoring. Because I remember the whistle tasted different than the other wax candies, and better.
Sounds like we have a Scrooge in the woodpile or a Grinch person a making misery about the Woowee whistle. If molds were destroyed, others with a different name and patent can be made. Come on candy companies, make the children and even nostalgic adults happy once again in the foreboding time we live in.
Hello Stacy,
I also have a sweet tooth for the whistles!! I have looked every year since 2002 and wondered why I couldnt find them. Thank you for the information.
My last name is also Horn. This is my maiden name.. Wonder if we are distantly related?? things that make you go hmmm. 🙂
Hi Ron. Yes, there must be a patent out there with design instructions! I emailed Concordia but haven’t heard back yet. I should call.
Carla, that would be funny if we were related. I have done my family tree, and the Horns I’m descended from came from Germany and settled in Brooklyn.
I think my relatives were from England and in that area. 🙂
Carla, what are your grandparent’s names? Do you know your great grandparent’s names?
I will buy the first case of wax whistles, when they are released. I am 62. I sure want my grandkids to have them!
Jeannine, you are motivating me to call Concordia, thank you!
Hi Stacy!!! Great research!! My bf and I have veen searching as you did for the Wowee Whistles! We did some digging several years ago, and also hit a wall. We even had discussions on buying one off ebay and creating a mold to form them ourselves. Lol These were such a great childhood memory. I wish theyd bring them back, or sell the machinery to someone who would. Dont they realize people love nostalgia and would love to see these come back. Keep us posted on any new info!
Hi Lisa! I saw some for sale on Ebay, too! A little melted, but the actual whistle! Yeah, I don’t understand why they don’t bring them back. There are a ton of us who would snap them up, and new generations to love them.
I attempted to locate a potential start-up source some years ago, as I would give an unnecessary body part to be able to buy these again… Concordia destroyed the molds, and Tootsie Roll has nothing to do with them anymore. In short, if you see one, you’ve seen it. I will not buy one, because within five minutes, I would eat it!. Oh, the unaffordable joys of my youth – I actually had a quarter to buy one once… end it was chewed up in five minutes. And it tasted so good!!!!! LOL!
(Here is my comment from the website “www.InThe70’s.com”:
Terry Maloney – April 05, 2012 – Report this comment
Here’s the response that I got from Tootsie Roll, who now owns the company which made Wowee Whistles: Terry, thanks for contacting us. We appreciate the interest, but there are no plans to re-introduc the Wowee Whistle at this time. From: Terry Maloney Sent: Saturday, January 28, 2012 10:39 AM To: Andrews, Susan Subject: TRI Website – Contact Request Name Terry Maloney Question Howdy- I am typing in regard to a wax product called the “WOWEE WHISTLE”, which was a wax harmonica sold in the days of my youth around Hallowe’en. I just read an old post that stated Concord Confections was displaying a ‘new’ WOWEE WHISTLE at a 2004 candy convention, and another post that Tootsie Roll Industries now owns Concord. If the latter is true, is the former available? I have searched for the WOWEE WHISTLE for years, to no avail; I, and many others, would be overjoyed if a fond memory was available again! I anxiously await your reply, and hope that time CAN be turned back, if only for a bit of wax! Sincerely, Terry Maloney
Terry, I got the same response from Tootsie Roll!
Terry, about Concordia destroying the molds. Why oh why would they do that. But designs for the molds must exist somewhere. I started to look for a patent, some I have little experience doing, and I found his name on a patent for a whistle, which was an actual whistle, and not the harmonica shape the Wowee Whistle was. I have to keep looking.
Bring it back. I would buy them in an instant.
Ah, it would be so great to have them back.
Id love to see it back as well it was a fun candy/toy. I’m not sure if it can be considered a candy but it was way funner than just the wax lips and yes tasted much better. Id chew on it until i thought my jawes were going to lock up.
Hi Howard. It’s amazing how attached we are to these things from our past. But I so miss the Wowee Whistle!
If anyone starts making these again, count me in. I need to order wax lips/mustaches for a party, wish I had whistles also.
Hi Stacy , it is good to hear someone who has a love for the Wowee Halloween whistle as I do. Growing up I could not wait for the Super Saver filling station to sell this whistle at Halloween time . It was my first stop on my way to get candy . I am an industrial engineer with a deep background in mold creation. I just purchased 2 of these whistles. I plan to recreate this whistle and market it by all legal methods available . We will see where this takes me .
How exciting. But how will you get the recipe for the actual whistle?
“Stacy Horn says: July 16, 2021 at 9:09 am
How exciting. But how will you get the recipe for the actual whistle?”
Pray?
Please please let me know if you ever get the whistle or find where you can purchase them. I too have looked for them for many years. Thanks
My name is Brian P. from Littleton Colorado, and I too have been trying to find a wowee whistle for many years now . I remember getting them to pass out on Holloween each year, and we got boxes of them from a tiny candy store that this family ran out of their front living room in their house. We would also get the wax fangs , and lips. I just finished buying two boxes of fangs , and two boxes of lips from a company website for $ 25.00 a box. It’s a little pricy, but the kids love them, and were the hit of the neighborhood.
KEEP TRYING TO GET THE WHISTLE BACK. IT’S IMPEARITIVE FOR ALL MANDKIND!!!
Just kidding, it would be cool to have them again.
LOVED the wowee whistle!! I waited every fall for them to come out. They had the same flavoring as Teaberry gum (which I also loved).
Someone must bring these back!!!
Shelly, I don’t know if it’s going to be me, but I agree with you, someone must!!
Brian, hahahaha. I love that you bought the wax lips and fangs for the kids of your neighborhood! I’m not surprised that they were a bug hit. But the whistles were the best of all. Sob.
Terry: Ha!
I remember them well and have wondered for years why they stopped making them because i always loved holloween and looked forward to seeing the wowwee whistles in the candy section of my local small town family own grocery store. Sure brings back some great memories of my childhood and makes wish i had one now to stir up those memories!
Oh Clark, me too.
Since my kids were young in the 80s I was trying to track down the trail of the Wowee Wax Harmonica Whistles. My oldest child was born in 1984 and she remembers me buying Wowee Whistles for her. I since then tracked off a Wowwee wrapper I saved and that load to the Ametican Candy company in Selma Al.
The kind lady confirmed they had bought the former company. She said they had a few Wax Whistles in a display case but they did not get the molds. She looked of maybe making molds from the Whistles they had but nothing must have came to fruition as we are all still searching.
https://switchhat.com/shop/wowee-wax-whistle-limited-edition-collector-bundle/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/275138746716/?ref=share
Robert, I just answered someone’s email about bringing back the Wowee Whistle, and I said how I wished someone like Musk or Zuckerberg would get on this instead of launching rockets. We need to appeal to wealthy baby boomers.
Thank you Stacy and “Someone” and all for your valiant efforts to bring back the wax whistles. Here I am doing my annual search for them, and for the first time I have hope. I wonder if we could do a go fund me to make new ones? I love those things. The sound of them floating around outside in the crisp air! Not sure how it is done, but I volunteer to start the go fund me.
Michele, that is a great idea! We’d need to put together a group of people who would be in a position to make this happen if they had the money. People with food production experience, etc. (I don’t think I fit the bill.)
Oh what fond memories I have of these! I also search for them from time to time. Thanks for the interesting history lesson Stacy. Perhaps they will sell the rights to a small company the can recreate the Wowee Whistle!
Of course it’s at this time of year I wish for them most!
…..Well I just finished looking for the wax “Buck Teeth”…..show me a School Teacher from back in the 50’s that did not have a drawer full of them. Wow what great fun for just a penney.