Entrepreneurial Spirit
By Eric Ebeling
Stepping into Matangos Candies feels like entering a time capsule, preserved in a way that transports customers back to a more innocent, nostalgic era.
The rich, sweet scent of chocolate, caramel and mint mixed with roasted nuts wafts through the air in the shop at 15th and Catherine streets in the Allison Hill neighborhood of Harrisburg – the same as it has since 1947. All the candy display fixtures date from that period, a time when his grandfather, Christoforos “Pop” Matangos, produced his first delicious confection.
Behind the vintage counter laden with sweets of all kinds stands owner Pete Matangos, a wide grin on his face as he greets customers. He is on a first-name basis with many of them, and he has watched as patrons he served as children grew to be grandparents as the years passed.
In the basement lies the manufacturing heart of the operation, filled wall to wall with the same candy making equipment his grandfather used, well built and well maintained to stand the test of time. It has to be reliable, because it will be taxed again this holiday season to produce an incredible volume of Venetian mints, Figaro, chocolate creams and caramels, nut rolls and other longstanding favorites.
Matangos recently sat down with Eric Ebeling, editorial director of Harrisburg Magazine, to discuss his journey as candy maker and businessman who carries on a family legacy more than 70 years old.
Eric Ebeling: You’re carrying on a tradition here that goes back three generations. How did this whole thing start?
Pete Matangos: Well, with my grandfather (Christoforos), of course. He came to this country on a Merchant Marine ship, got off in New York City and worked his way through the system. That was in 1914. He went to Allentown with a friend of his and opened a candy business. They lost it in the Depression. Then he came here to Harrisburg and started working for Pomeroy’s in the candy department. So, after a few years there, he says, “I’m going to try to open up my own place again.” That’s when he came here, to this exact location, 1501 Catherine Street. The whole family lived here – my dad (Harry) and my mom Helen, everybody.
EE: How did he get interested in candy making?
PM: That I’m not too sure about. I know when he was in Turkey, he had something to do with it then. He was born in Greece, but he lived in Turkey then, and that’s about all I know then. If he were alive today, I’d want him to start from beginning to end with his story, because Mom only knew bits and pieces. My dad wasn’t a big talker. My mom came here in ’51, so she was 19 years old when she came to this country from Greece.
EE: What’s your first recollection of the candy operation?
PM: Oh, Mom bringing my brothers and sister here when I was 9 years old. She would teach us how to do it because everything was hand dipped then. She would teach us how to put the candies in the stock boxes. Of course, we were allowed to eat a few. Mom really never stopped us. She let us have it to a limit. She didn’t let us pig out on it. We were able to enjoy it because it’s all natural. There’s no preservatives in the candies. It’s the same way my grandfather made it. The one thing he told me before he passed away is, “Don’t change anything I’ve done.” He said, “You’ll be in business forever.” And he was right. He passed away in ’77 and it’s almost 2025. That’s 48 years ago. I’m still here because I listened to him.
EE: Have you always had business acumen?
PM: It started when I was 10 years old. I had a paper route. That’s back when you delivered the papers and went around and collected the money. I started to cut lawns; I shoveled snow. We grew up knowing that, hey, nothing’s going to be handed to you. Got to go work for it, if you want to, if you can listen. My parents came to this country, couldn’t speak the language, and they made a living for themselves. Learn the language. I started working here, learning the candy business at 15. Mom said, “You sure you want to do this? You don’t want to go to college?” I said, “You’re going to waste your money sending me to college? I don’t need it.” My grandfather and my dad taught me all the paperwork for what I had to do here. I used to pay all my own quarterly taxes and all that stuff. Now, I have a payroll service that does that now, so I took that load off me. I learned more on the job than I would ever learn taking a class. Because of what they taught me, this is what you got to do. I love what I do. I get to do something that I love. All my other brothers, siblings, they all went to college. Good for them. It’s all good. It wasn’t for me. I’m doing what I love to do. That’s why the 10 to 12 hours a day doesn’t bother me.
EE: What’s the secret to making good candy that stands the test of time?
PM: A lot of love goes into it, I’ll tell you that. I don’t put something out if it’s not up to snuff. I really, I really don’t. I can honestly say I’ve never really messed up a batch. It’s in the back of my mind every day. I think about my grandfather and my mom every day. My grandfather’s been gone 48 years, my mom’s been gone six. And there’s not a day that goes by that I don’t have a customer come in and talk about them. They remember my grandfather, and they love that the store is the same. The store hasn’t changed. It’s the same as when he opened. I mean, the cases are the same. I left the stenciling that he did in front of the cases, that stenciling in the glass. That’s all him. He’s been gone 48 years. I left it all the same.
EE: Can you give me an idea of how much candy you can produce in a day?
PM: Well, last Sunday I made a combination of 1,500 pounds of candy. Making the caramels, the butter creams, the cashew patties, pecan patties, peanut butter bolsters, peanut butter sticks, covered pretzels will total up to 1,500 pounds in one day. It’s seven, eight or nine different varieties. That just happened on Sunday. One day.
EE: I imagine holidays are your busiest times of the year.
PM: For sure. That starts around Thanksgiving. I’m trying to train my customers now to get their orders in early, because my production of candy stops two weeks before Christmas. So, Christmas, Valentine’s Day, Easter, Mother’s Day, even Father’s Day are busy times. With Father’s Day, people are realizing Dad doesn’t always want power tools. He’ll take some chocolate.
EE: You have display counters full of candy for walk-in customers, but how does someone go about ordering from here?
PM: It’s best for them to call (717) 234-0882. Our website is down for maintenance at the moment.
Can I tell you a funny story? One Easter, I kept track of how many peanut butter eggs I ate as I made them. At the end of 10 weeks, I counted them up. Holy (expletive). I ate 350 peanut butter eggs in 10 weeks! It’s five a day!
EE: Is this off the record?
PM: No, you can put it on the record. I don’t care. It’s one of my favorite stories. So, then I went for my physical about a month later, because I go every six months because of blood pressure pills. So, I wait till the doctor gives me all the results back. “Your blood pressure is good, your sugar’s good. All your cholesterol is good.” Everything was in ranges they were supposed to be. I had lost 2 pounds! I told the doctor what I had eaten after he gave me all the results. He goes, “How is this possible?” He started cracking up. He goes, “Pete, how are you not 500 pounds?” I said, “I don’t know.” I had no idea. Maybe it’s the eight to 12 hours a day that I work. Maybe it’s the chocolate that’s the key. It must be good for you.