The Hoffman Candy Company

CURRENT STATUS

March 3, 2023: The Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously to designate the Hoffman Candy Company building in Council District 9 as a Historic Cultural Monument (#1275).

February 21, 2023: The Planning and Land Use Management Committee (PLUM) met to hear the nomination for the Hoffman Candy Company. They voted unanimously to recommend the building for Historic Cultural Monument (HCM) status to full city council. We welcome having our supporters call into the Zoom meeting to let City Council members know of the cultural importance of a building. This committee is a sub-set of City Council and they take the Cultural Heritage Commission recommendation under consideration when they determine if a building is worthy enough to turn over to City Council to designate as a Cultural Heritage Monument (HCM) in the City of Los Angeles.

May 5, 2022: The Cultural Heritage Commission unanimously voted to recommend the Hoffman Candy Company Building for Los Angeles Cultural Heritage Monument status on all three criteria: Cultural History, Architecture and the work of a Master Architect (Charles F. Plummer). The Office of Historic Resources staff report did not consider Plummer to be a master architect, but ADSLA presented his many period revival buildings - many which are already HCMs - to the commission and they reconsidered his status as a prominent master architect. Next up is a PLUM hearing.

March 3, 2022: The Hoffman Candy Company has been submitted to the Cultural Heritage Commission for consideration as an Historic Cultural Monument. The case for building was heard on Thursday, March 3, 2022 at a virtual (Zoom) meeting at 10:00 AM.

The Art Deco Society of Los Angeles goes through a nomination process for buildings that we identify as being “historically significant.” We are now in phase 1 of this process with the Art Deco Hoffman Candy Company in Southeast Los Angeles. We need YOUR PARTICIPATION to achieve a preservation victory. Please read on.

To be effective, we need the public to get behind our nomination, by writing letters of support to key decision-makers and advisors in this process and/or appearing (by Zoom or telephone) to express encouragement to the city to landmark the building.

ABOUT THE HOFFMAN CANDY COMPANY

Art Deco architecture is quite a confection all on its own, but when a vintage family-owned, founded-in-Los Angeles candy company operates inside it’s a formidable combo that deserves to be recognized as an historic cultural monument. You guessed it, the Art Deco Society of Los Angeles is back at Cultural Heritage to declare the 1929 Hoffman Candy Company building, a city landmark! We need YOUR support with letters to the Cultural Heritage Commission.

Located at 6600 S. Avalon Blvd. in Southeast L.A., this building was called to our attention by @Swapmeetchronicles who had discovered it on an excursion through this industrial area near the historic rail spur. She presented it during our 2021 Toast to Art Deco Architecture and we were smitten!

Now for the creamy nougat inside! (Suggested pairing for this read, is a Hoffman created Cup ‘O Gold.)

Chocolate box image, courtesy of Craig Hoffman.

As his third location, Elic A. Hoffman (1883 – 1956) built this daylight factory (with modern amenities) for his 15-year-old, burgeoning candy business with products such as boxed chocolates called the “Betsy Ross” and “Bohemian Girl” while individual candy bars and chocolates featured names like “Jazzland,” “Apple Blossom,” “Whipped Cream,” “Nuts and Fruits,” “Garden of Allah,” and “Springtime Chocolates.”

Hoffman tapped master Los Angeles architect and engineer Charles F. Plummer (1879-1939) who had made a name for himself designing restaurants, such as Boo’s Brothers (the precursor to Clifton’s), a Beaux Arts Young’s Market (1924) and Santa Monica’s Casa Del Mar Hotel (1926). In 1929 he was a few years short of his eventual partnership with young architects, Walter C. Wurdeman & Welton Becket. Together, the three architects won a design award for the Streamline Moderne Pan Pacific Auditorium (1934-35) and were responsible for Clifton’s Brookdale Cafeteria on S. Broadway.

As a result of building the new factory (completed in 1929), Hoffman Candy Company continued to produce mass quantities of chocolate candies in what they touted as “excellent working conditions” in countless classified advertisements for many years after.

Specializing in the manufacture of chocolates and candy bars sold throughout the nation and abroad, the Hoffman Candy Company was one of the earliest and longest operating, family-owned candy companies in the city. Its Avalon Boulevard factory, built near the historic Atchison Topeka & Santa Fe Railway during a period of immense industrial expansion and development, embodies important patterns of industrial development in 1920s Los Angeles.

WHAT THE HOFFMAN CANDY COMPANY WAS KNOWN FOR:

From the 1930s to the 1950s, the Hoffman Candy Company invented new kinds of chocolate products that were sold in drugstores across the country. One of the most popular creations was the “Cup-o-Gold” chocolate cup with almonds, coconut, and a creamy marshmallow-like center. While another staple was the original “Cherry-a-Let” chocolate bar which featured a chocolate covered nougat with crushed cherries. Both candies were marketed in national newspapers with sweepstakes for customers who could mail in candy wrappers in the hopes of winning cash prizes and international vacations.

When E.A. Hoffman passed away in 1956 his son Richard Hoffman took the reigns of Hoffman Candy, which began in Los Angeles in 1911. The company continued to operate until 1989, eventually selling off popular brands such as the Cup ‘O Gold (a chocolate cup with marshmallow filling), which is still produced by Adams and Brooks today.

QUALIFICATIONS FOR HISTORIC CULTURAL MONUMENT STATUS:

The Hoffman Candy Company building retains a high degree of integrity with character defining features intact. The design of the building embodies the distinctive characteristics of the Art Deco architectural style from its period of construction and conveys its historic significance as a daylight factory building of its era. The building also showcased bands of steel windows and a monitor roofline with clerestory windows—both characteristic of daylight factories—for greater access to daylight and ventilation.

The setting is in an area that still retains many original properties (1920s and 1940s industrial buildings) and planning features. This industrial area is situated near an historic track spur (which was key for loading product for distribution to retailers) with residences across the street.

There are relatively few alterations to the building, a two-story, steel frame and reinforced concrete structure, so the materials remain original and the workmanship is still evident. The original pattern of windows and building massing remains intact, as well as the distinctive Art Deco decoration.

Period of Significance

The period of significance for the Hoffman Candy Company building is defined as 1929 for its daylight factory property type, Art Deco architecture, and association with master architect Charles F. Plummer, reflecting its date of construction. The period of significance for its use as a candy manufacturing building is 1929-1989, reflecting the period of its occupation by the Hoffman Candy Company; this period ends with the last year the candy company operated out of the building.

Craig Hoffman, grandson of E.A. Hoffman, told the Art Deco Society of Los Angeles that after the candy company closed in 1989, he rented the building as a filming location for two years before selling it. The building appears in ADDAMS FAMILY VALUES and FLASH among many other movies and television shows. In continuous use, according to @SwapmeetChronicles, the building currently houses a company that manufactures jeans.

The Hoffman Candy Company meets the following criteria for designation as a Los Angeles Historic Cultural Monument (HCM):

• Criterion A: It is identified with important events of national, state, or local history, or exemplifies significant contributions to the broad cultural, economic or social history of the nation, state, city or community.

• Criterion C: It embodies the distinctive characteristics of a style, type, period, or method of construction; or represents a notable work of a master designer, builder, or architect whose individual genius influenced his or her age

• In addition to meeting multiple eligibility criteria, the building retains a high degree of integrity. It experienced few alterations in nearly 100 years.

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