Margie's Candies
Encyclopedia
Margie’s Candies is the name of two popular confectioneries
on the north side of Chicago, Illinois. Owned by the same family, each one is part candy
store and part sit-down ice cream parlor. The older of the two establishments has been operating at the same location for more than eight decades and is widely considered a “Chicago legend” .
in Chicago’s Bucktown
neighborhood. Initially known as the Security Sweet Shop, it was founded in 1921 by a Greek
immigrant named Peter George Poulos, who soon handed the business to his son George. Chicago mobster Al Capone
allegedly patronized the sweet shop during its early years .
In 1933, George Poulos renamed the confectionery Margie’s Candies in honor of his wife, whom he had met at the sweet shop as a youngster. Margie herself began running the business during the 1940s while her husband was serving in the military, and she took full control in 1954 after her husband died of an ulcer
. She never remarried, and for the next forty years, she regularly worked in the restaurant for about 15 hours a day, becoming a familiar sight for customers .
Margie’s cemented its place in Chicago lore in 1965 when it hosted the Beatles
, who had just played a concert at Comiskey Park
. According to the Poulos family, the band came into Margie’s with five girls and ordered several six-scoop “Atomic Sundae
s” to share with them. The confectionery currently has a large display of Beatles memorabilia to commemorate the visit.
Margie’s gained additional attention in the early 1990s when Margie Poulos appeared in two thirty-second clips on MTV
showcasing individuals with interesting occupations. These clips, which portrayed Margie as she made chocolates, were used to fill the time between commercials and music videos . Singer Liz Phair
further popularized the confectionery in 1993 when she posed there for a photograph used in a Newsweek
interview .
In 2005, the original Margie’s was mentioned in one of the riddles used for the OurColony
Alternate reality game
. The message read, “Here sweet Margie sits. At this difference it sees the rich, the poor and everything in between” . Successful players realized that the riddle referred to Western Avenue, a long street which runs through many diverse neighborhoods.
neighborhood of Chicago, replacing a closed Fannie May
shop. This was the business’s first foray into expansion .
. Each offers over fifty varieties of sundaes, including the aforementioned Atomic Sundae, the half-gallon World’s Largest Sundae, and the twenty-five scoop Royal George (named after George Poulos). They also offer banana split
s, waffle cones
, pie
à la mode, ice cream soda
s, root beer floats, and milkshake
s .
The confectionaries’ popular candy and chocolate
treats include chocolate-covered cherries
, chocolate-covered nut
s, cocoa
, marzipan
, English toffee
, and fudge
. In addition, they serve a small selection of standard diner fare, including hamburger
s, club sandwich
es, salad
s, and soup
s .
lamps, a marble
soda fountain, and old-fashioned booths with miniature jukebox
es. The entire establishment is also adorned with newspaper clippings, stuffed animals, and aging photographs of past customers .
The North Center Margie’s has attempted to replicate the ambiance of its predecessor with the help of antiques and old photographs .
Confectionery
Confectionery is the set of food items that are rich in sugar, any one or type of which is called a confection. Modern usage may include substances rich in artificial sweeteners as well...
on the north side of Chicago, Illinois. Owned by the same family, each one is part candy
Candy
Candy, specifically sugar candy, is a confection made from a concentrated solution of sugar in water, to which flavorings and colorants are added...
store and part sit-down ice cream parlor. The older of the two establishments has been operating at the same location for more than eight decades and is widely considered a “Chicago legend” .
Original Margie’s
The original Margie’s is located on Western AvenueWestern Avenue (Chicago)
Western Avenue is the longest continuous street within the city of Chicago at in length. Western Avenue extends south as a continuous road to the Dixie Highway at Sibley Boulevard in Dixmoor, giving the road a total length of . However, Western Avenue extends intermittently through the...
in Chicago’s Bucktown
Logan Square, Chicago
Logan Square is one of the 77 city-designated community areas located on the near northwest side of the City of Chicago. The name, used here to describe the community area defined by U.S. census tracts, also applies to one of a number of smaller, more loosely defined residential neighborhoods...
neighborhood. Initially known as the Security Sweet Shop, it was founded in 1921 by a Greek
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
immigrant named Peter George Poulos, who soon handed the business to his son George. Chicago mobster Al Capone
Al Capone
Alphonse Gabriel "Al" Capone was an American gangster who led a Prohibition-era crime syndicate. The Chicago Outfit, which subsequently became known as the "Capones", was dedicated to smuggling and bootlegging liquor, and other illegal activities such as prostitution, in Chicago from the early...
allegedly patronized the sweet shop during its early years .
In 1933, George Poulos renamed the confectionery Margie’s Candies in honor of his wife, whom he had met at the sweet shop as a youngster. Margie herself began running the business during the 1940s while her husband was serving in the military, and she took full control in 1954 after her husband died of an ulcer
Peptic ulcer
A peptic ulcer, also known as PUD or peptic ulcer disease, is the most common ulcer of an area of the gastrointestinal tract that is usually acidic and thus extremely painful. It is defined as mucosal erosions equal to or greater than 0.5 cm...
. She never remarried, and for the next forty years, she regularly worked in the restaurant for about 15 hours a day, becoming a familiar sight for customers .
Margie’s cemented its place in Chicago lore in 1965 when it hosted the Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
, who had just played a concert at Comiskey Park
Comiskey Park
Comiskey Park was the ballpark in which the Chicago White Sox played from 1910 to 1990. It was built by Charles Comiskey after a design by Zachary Taylor Davis, and was the site of four World Series and more than 6,000 major league games...
. According to the Poulos family, the band came into Margie’s with five girls and ordered several six-scoop “Atomic Sundae
Sundae
The sundae is an ice cream dessert. It typically consists of a scoop of ice cream topped with sauce or syrup, and in some cases other toppings including chopped nuts, sprinkles, whipped cream, or maraschino cherries.-History:...
s” to share with them. The confectionery currently has a large display of Beatles memorabilia to commemorate the visit.
Margie’s gained additional attention in the early 1990s when Margie Poulos appeared in two thirty-second clips on MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
showcasing individuals with interesting occupations. These clips, which portrayed Margie as she made chocolates, were used to fill the time between commercials and music videos . Singer Liz Phair
Liz Phair
Phair's entry into the music industry began when she met guitarist Chris Brokaw, a member of the band Come. Brokaw and Phair moved to San Francisco together, and Phair tried to become an artist there...
further popularized the confectionery in 1993 when she posed there for a photograph used in a Newsweek
Newsweek
Newsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...
interview .
In 2005, the original Margie’s was mentioned in one of the riddles used for the OurColony
OurColony
OurColony is a search opera type alternate reality game and a viral marketing campaign for the marketing of a successor to the Microsoft Xbox. The game asks players to form colonies and earn points by completing various tasks...
Alternate reality game
Alternate reality game
An alternate reality game is an interactive narrative that uses the real world as a platform, often involving multiple media and game elements, to tell a story that may be affected by participants' ideas or actions....
. The message read, “Here sweet Margie sits. At this difference it sees the rich, the poor and everything in between” . Successful players realized that the riddle referred to Western Avenue, a long street which runs through many diverse neighborhoods.
North Center Margie’s
Margie Poulos died in 1995, and her son Peter assumed control of the business. In 2005, he opened a second Margie’s Candies in the North CenterNorth Center, Chicago
North Center is one of the 77 community area of the Chicago, Illinois, located in the city's North Side. North Center is bordered on the north by Montrose Avenue, on the south by Diversey Parkway, on the west by the Chicago River and on the east by Ravenswood Avenue; it includes the neighborhoods...
neighborhood of Chicago, replacing a closed Fannie May
Fannie May Confections, Inc.
Fannie May is a brand of chocolates owned by 1-800-Flowers. Prior to 2006, the brand was run by Fannie May Confections, Inc., a confectioner based in Chicago.-History:...
shop. This was the business’s first foray into expansion .
Menu
Both confectionaries offer roughly the same menu, and though they are both called Margie’s Candies, they are arguably most popular for their homemade ice creamIce cream
Ice cream is a frozen dessert usually made from dairy products, such as milk and cream, and often combined with fruits or other ingredients and flavours. Most varieties contain sugar, although some are made with other sweeteners...
. Each offers over fifty varieties of sundaes, including the aforementioned Atomic Sundae, the half-gallon World’s Largest Sundae, and the twenty-five scoop Royal George (named after George Poulos). They also offer banana split
Banana split
A banana split is an ice cream-based dessert. In its classic form it is served in a long dish called a boat. A banana is cut in half lengthwise and laid in the dish. There are many variations, but the classic banana split is made with scoops of vanilla, chocolate and strawberry ice cream served in...
s, waffle cones
Ice cream cone
An ice cream cone, poke or cornet is a dry, cone-shaped pastry, usually made of a wafer similar in texture to a waffle, allowing ice cream to be eaten without a bowl or spoon...
, pie
Pie
A pie is a baked dish which is usually made of a pastry dough casing that covers or completely contains a filling of various sweet or savoury ingredients....
à la mode, ice cream soda
Ice cream soda
An ice cream soda or float , coke float , or spider , is a beverage that consists of one or more scoops of ice cream in either a soft drink or in a mixture of flavored syrup and carbonated water.-Origins:The ice cream soda was invented by Robert M...
s, root beer floats, and milkshake
Milkshake
A milkshake is a sweet, cold beverage which is made from milk, ice cream or iced milk, and flavorings or sweeteners such as fruit syrup or chocolate sauce....
s .
The confectionaries’ popular candy and chocolate
Chocolate
Chocolate is a raw or processed food produced from the seed of the tropical Theobroma cacao tree. Cacao has been cultivated for at least three millennia in Mexico, Central and South America. Its earliest documented use is around 1100 BC...
treats include chocolate-covered cherries
Cherry
The cherry is the fruit of many plants of the genus Prunus, and is a fleshy stone fruit. The cherry fruits of commerce are usually obtained from a limited number of species, including especially cultivars of the wild cherry, Prunus avium....
, chocolate-covered nut
Nut (fruit)
A nut is a hard-shelled fruit of some plants having an indehiscent seed. While a wide variety of dried seeds and fruits are called nuts in English, only a certain number of them are considered by biologists to be true nuts...
s, cocoa
Cocoa solids
Cocoa solids are the low-fat component of chocolate. When sold as an end product, it may also be called cocoa powder, cocoa, and cacao....
, marzipan
Marzipan
Marzipan is a confection consisting primarily of sugar and almond meal. Persipan is a similar, yet less expensive product, in which the almonds are replaced by apricot or peach kernels...
, English toffee
Toffee
Toffee is a confection made by caramelizing sugar or molasses along with butter, and occasionally flour. The mixture is heated until its temperature reaches the hard crack stage of 300 to 310 °F...
, and fudge
Fudge
Fudge is a type of Western confectionery which is usually very sweet, and extremely rich. It is made by mixing sugar, butter, and milk and heating it to the soft-ball stage at , and then beating the mixture while it cools so that it acquires a smooth, creamy consistency...
. In addition, they serve a small selection of standard diner fare, including hamburger
Hamburger
A hamburger is a sandwich consisting of a cooked patty of ground meat usually placed inside a sliced bread roll...
s, club sandwich
Club sandwich
A club sandwich, also called a clubhouse sandwich or double-decker, is a sandwich with two layers of fillings between 3 slices of toasted bread. It is often cut into quarters and held together by hors d'œuvre sticks....
es, salad
Salad
Salad is any of a wide variety of dishes, including vegetable salads; salads of pasta, legumes, eggs, or grains; mixed salads incorporating meat, poultry, or seafood; and fruit salads. They may include a mixture of cold and hot, often including raw vegetables or fruits.Green salads include leaf...
s, and soup
Soup
Soup is a generally warm food that is made by combining ingredients such as meat and vegetables with stock, juice, water, or another liquid. Hot soups are additionally characterized by boiling solid ingredients in liquids in a pot until the flavors are extracted, forming a broth.Traditionally,...
s .
Décor
Much of the décor at the original Margie’s has remained unchanged since the confectionery first opened, which has added to its appeal for many Chicagoans. Some of its trademark features are its multiple original TiffanyLouis Comfort Tiffany
Louis Comfort Tiffany was an American artist and designer who worked in the decorative arts and is best known for his work in stained glass. He is the American artist most associated with the Art Nouveau and Aesthetic movements...
lamps, a marble
Marble
Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite.Geologists use the term "marble" to refer to metamorphosed limestone; however stonemasons use the term more broadly to encompass unmetamorphosed limestone.Marble is commonly used for...
soda fountain, and old-fashioned booths with miniature jukebox
Jukebox
A jukebox is a partially automated music-playing device, usually a coin-operated machine, that will play a patron's selection from self-contained media...
es. The entire establishment is also adorned with newspaper clippings, stuffed animals, and aging photographs of past customers .
The North Center Margie’s has attempted to replicate the ambiance of its predecessor with the help of antiques and old photographs .