The Business of Halloween
Trick-or-treating is big business! There are upwards of 18,000 companies worldwide in the chocolate and candy manufacturing industry, responsible for an estimated 889,000 jobs (IBISWorld). In the United States alone, non-chocolate confections have an estimated market size of $14.2 billion (Mintel). To learn more about the history of chocolate, candy, and the companies at the center of this industry, check out these books available on the shelves at Pardee or online through the BU Libraries Catalog.
More interested in tricks than treats? Want to crunch some spooky numbers? Explore Investopedia's report on Halloween's impact on the global economy, or read about the frightening economics of running a haunted house, and check out our selection of books on (haunted?) dolls, zombie banks, and more spine tingling titles. Happy Halloween from the Pardee staff!
Featured Reading: Candy
NECCO: An Epic Candy Tale by Location: Pardee Stacks TX784 .L34 2022Publication Date: 2022Extensively researched, this book is the complete history of Necco and its family of brands from the 19th through the 21st centuries. Savor the stories behind the invention of Necco Wafers, Sky Bar, Canada Mints, Mary Jane, Sweethearts, Rolo, and more.
Pez: From Austrian Invention to American Icon by Location: OnlinePublication Date: 2016The world's one-and-only PEZ historian dispenses fun facts on the candy's evolution from smoking substitute to childhood treat to pop culture collectible.The Economics of Chocolate by
Location: OnlinePublication Date: 2016A comprehensive and up-to-date analysis on the economics of chocolate written by global experts. It covers the history of chocolate, the organization of the industry, geographic analyses of market developments, consumer choice, policies, and regulatory issues.
Featured Reading: Creepy
Toy Monster: The Big, Bad World of Mattel by Location: Pardee Stacks HD9993.T694 M386 2009Publication Date: 2009Placing the world's largest toy company under a journalistic microscope, this book uncovers the dark side of toy land, and exploring Mattel's oddball corporate culture and eccentric, often bizarre, cast of characters.
Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup by Location: Alumni Medical Library Stacks HD9995.H423 U627 2018; On Loan from PardeePublication Date: 2018The biggest corporate fraud since Enron is a cautionary tale set amid the bold promises and gold-rush frenzy of Silicon Valley.
Zombie Economics: How Dead Ideas Still Walk Among Us by Location: OnlinePublication Date: 2012Zombie Economics: How Dead Ideas Still Walk Among Us is a book by Australian economist John Quiggin that explores how outdated economic ideas persist and how they can lead to financial crises.
Candy Capital
Hammond's Candies: History Handmade in Denver by Location: OnlinePublication Date: 2014Author Corky Thompson traces the history and growth of this family-owned company from 1920 until its sale at the end of the twentieth century and follows its transition under new ownership to the present time.
Sweet As Sin: The Unwrapped Story of How Candy Became America's Favorite Pleasure by Location: OnlinePublication Date: 2016Susan Benjamin, a food historian, tells the whole story of candy, from the harvesting of the marshmallow plant in ancient Egypt to the mass-produced innovations of the twentieth century.
In Chocolate We Trust: The Hershey Company Town Unwrapped by Location: OnlinePublication Date: 2018In Chocolate We Trust takes readers inside modern-day Hershey, Pennsylvania, headquarters of the iconic Hershey brand. Using interviews, participant observation, and archival research, anthropologist Peter Kurie returns to his hometown to examine the legacy of the Hershey Trust among local residents, company employees, and alumni of the K-12 Milton Hershey School.
Hershey: Milton S. Hershey's Extraordinary Life of Wealth, Empire, and Utopian Dreams by Location: On LoanPublication Date: 2006Michael D'Antonio tells the inspiring, feel-good story of Milton S. Hershey, one of the last century's most eccentric and idealistic titans of industry. Hershey pioneered techniques of branding, mass production, and marketing, but never stopped serving those in need.
Sweets and Candy: A Global History by Location: OnlinePublication Date: 2018Laura Mason describes the bewildering and fascinating ways in which different cultures have made, consumed, valued, and adored sweets throughout history. Featuring a selection of mouthwatering illustrations and scrumptious recipes to try at home, this global candy trail will delight sweet-toothed foodies and history buffs everywhere.Cadbury's Purple Reign: The Story Behind Chocolate's Best-Loved Brand by
Location: OnlinePublication Date: 2008A unique expose of the Cadbury story, providing an unprecedented insight into the makings of an iconic brand.
Candy: A Century of Panic and Pleasure by Location: Mugar Stacks GT2868.2.U6 K39 2013Publication Date: 2013In Candy: A Century of Panic and Pleasure, Samira Kawash tells the fascinating story of how candy evolved from a luxury good to a cheap, everyday snack.
Confectionery and Chocolate Engineering: Principles and Applications (Second Edition) by Location: OnlinePublication Date: 2017This book provides food engineers, scientists, technologists and students in research, industry, and food and chemical engineering-related courses with a scientific, theoretical description and analysis of confectionery manufacturing.
The Emperors of Chocolate: Inside the Secret World of Hershey and Mars by Location: Pardee Stacks HD9200.U54 H473 1999Publication Date: 1998In this eight-year investigation of the candy business, former Washington Post reporter Joel Glenn Brenner takes us inside a world where industrial spies jockey for trade secrets and paranoid executives fight an all-out war for America's sweet tooth.
Obroni and the Chocolate Factory: The Unlikely Story and Globalization of Ghana's First Gourmet Chocolate Bar by Location: OnlinePublication Date: 2017Obroni and the Chocolate Factory is a chaotic, fascinating, and bemusing journey to create a successful international business that aspired to do a bit of good in the world. This book is at once a penetrating business memoir and a story about imagining globalism done right.
Creepy Capital
Haunted Empire: Apple After Steve Jobs by Location: Pardee Stacks HD9696.2.U64 A67365 2014Publication Date: 2014Former Wall Street Journal technology reporter Yukari Iwatani Kane delves deep inside Apple in the two years since Steve Jobs's death, revealing the tensions and challenges CEO Tim Cook and his team face as they try to sustain Jobs's vision and keep the company moving forward.
A Ghost's Memoir: The Making of Alfred P. Sloan's "My Years with General Motors" by Location: Pardee Stacks HD9710.U54 G47467 2002Publication Date: 2002The story of the ghostwriting of Alfred P. Sloan's best-selling memoir, General Motor's attempts to block the book's publication, and the author's eventual triumph over the corporation.
Zombie Loyalists: Using Great Service to Create Rapid Fans by Location: Pardee Stacks HF5415.5 .S51943 2015Publication Date: 2015Marketing and PR expert Peter Shankman has helped Ritz Carlton, Amazon, and Starwood Hotels create "Zombie Loyalists," fervent fans that help companies massively increase their customer base, brand awareness, and most importantly, revenue. He shows how you too can create your own zombie customer army.
Zombie Banks: How Broken Banks and Debtor Nations are Crippling the Global Economy by Location: Pardee Stacks HG3891.5 .O53 2012Publication Date: 2011An in-depth look at the problems surrounding zombie banks and their dangerous effect on the global economy, the title is worthy of a B movie, but it's also apt. This book urges that insolvent banks both small and too big to fail be allowed to do precisely that.
Gothic Tourism by Location: OnlinePublication Date: 2016From Strawberry Hill to The Dungeons, Alnwick Castle to Barnageddon, Gothic tourism is a fascinating, and sometimes controversial, area. This lively study considers Gothic tourism's aesthetics and origins, as well as its relationship with literature, film, folklore, heritage management, arts programming and the 'edutainment' business.
Blood Money: The Story of Life, Death, and Profit Inside America's Blood Industry by Location: OnlinePublication Date: 2023A "haunting" and deeply personal investigation of an underground for-profit medical industry and the American underclass it drains for blood and profit. McLaughlin weaves together her battle with illness as she faces her own complicity in this wheel of exploitation.
Cogs and Monsters: What Economics Is and What It Should Be by Location: OnlinePublication Date: 2021Diane Coyle explores the enormous problems—but also opportunities—facing economics today and examines what it must do to help policymakers solve the world's crises, from pandemic recovery and inequality to slow growth and the climate emergency.
The Monster: How a Gang of Predatory Lenders and Wall Street Bankers Fleeced America - and Spawned a Global Crisis by Location: Pardee Stacks HG2040.5.U5 H843 2010Publication Date: 2010A page-turning, true-crime exposé of the subprime salesmen and Wall Street alchemists who produced the biggest financial scandal in American history. Provocative and gripping, The Monster is a searing exposé of the fraud and greed that fueled the financial collapse.
The Monster under the Bed: How Business is Mastering the Opportunity of Knowledge for Profit by Location: Pardee Stacks HF1106 .D32 1994Publication Date: 1994Companies in the business of providing knowledge for profit will dominate the 21st-century global marketplace. The authors advise on how to accomplish this. The book is full of examples from companies that have succeeded in making their businesses more profitable.
Rest in Peace: A Cultural History of Death and the Funeral Home in Twentieth-Century America by Location: Pardee Stacks HD9999.U53 U543 2003Publication Date: 2003Gary Laderman traces the origins of American funeral rituals, & looks at the increasing subordination of religious figures to the funeral director in the late 20th century, demonstrating that the modern director is very far from Mitford's manipulator of 'The American Way of Death'.
Tales from Kentucky Funeral Homes by Location: OnlinePublication Date: 2009In Tales from Kentucky Funeral Homes, William Lynwood Montell has collected stories and reminiscences from funeral home directors and embalmers across the state. These accounts provide a record of the business of death as it has been practiced in Kentucky over the past fifty years.
The Death of Management: Restoring Value to the U.S. Economy by Location: Pardee Stacks HD70.U5 B84 2009Publication Date: 2009Today's professional manager is rewarded more often for being a cost cutter than an innovator. Fortunately, this book not only outlines the problem, it outlines the solution as well by establishing a 21st-century definition of management that will succeed in today's economy.
Barbarians Led by Bill Gates: Microsoft from the Inside, and How the World's Richest Corporation Wields Its Power by Location: Pardee Stacks HD9696.63.U64 M534 1998Publication Date: 1998Revealing the smoke-and-mirror deals, the nonexistent products, and the boneyard of once-thriving competitors, this book demonstrates with damning detail the Microsoft muddle that passes for strategic direction, offset by Gates's uncanny ability to crush his rivals.
Social Security Horror Stories: Protect Yourself from the System and Avoid Clawbacks by Location: Pardee Stacks HD7125 .K65 2023Publication Date: 2023Social Security has an extremely dark and dangerous side. Learn how to make sure you get the correct Social Security benefits, avoid frightening clawbacks, and how to deal with the opaque bureaucracy of Social Security.
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