I fondly recall my grandfather’s love of salt water taffy.  On nearly every visit to him as a kid, it seemed he always had in arm’s reach, a decent sized bowl containing the individually wrapped pieces of sticky goo.  How odd is it that, all these years later, Grampy inadvertently helped me acquire a home that lies but a mile from the former summer residence of the reigning King of the Jersey Shore’s most popular souvenir.

By all accounts, Joseph F. Fralinger (1848-1927) lived the American dream.  Raised by his uncle, the Jersey native’s early years were spent laboring in numerous industries.  Moving to Philadelphia in the late 1800s, he met and later married Jannet “Nettie” Beck (1853-1925).  A pivotal turn shortly after a diagnosed family illness redirected Joseph to the Jersey shore – in those days, ocean air was a popular prescription for numerous maladies.  It was that move that thrust his life into, as they say, the history books.

Atlantic City in the late 19th century was not what it is today.  The undeveloped area was difficult to navigate with little direct train access, few roads, and the boardwalk was a temporary fixture that would be taken up and stored at the close of Labor Day each year.  Fast-forward a century and the “Las Vegas of the East Coast” – as it is now dubbed – is a destination spot for more than 25 million people annually.  Fralinger’s Inc., more popularly known as Fralinger’s Salt Water Taffy, stands as the oldest, continually operating company on the heavily trafficked shoreline.

Fralinger did not create the pastel-colored, bite-sized morsels.  But he was, by far, the confection’s most successful seller.  By 1920, his adored candies sold for five cents a bag or his signature one-pound oyster box.  Initially offered in three popular flavors – vanilla, chocolate, and molasses, Fralinger’s would expand, in time, to 25 delightful flavors – the largest selection of the candy in Atlantic City.

Seeking relaxation from his bustling businesses, Fralinger sought a location on which to enjoy extended summer family vacations.  In 1905, he selected land burrowed on the southside of Spring Mountain, or Stone Hill as it was previously referred to.  Adjacent to the once popular Spring Mountain Hotel, the location was close to Perkiomen Creek and near to Schwenksville’s center.  Titled “Rockhurst Estate,” Fralinger built a nine-bedroom house featuring a large wrap-around porch.  Today, it can be seen directly off the left side of Schwenksville Road, just up a ways from the recently opened Versante Restaurant.

A huge fan of baseball, Fralinger participated in the sport for many years.  He managed and later owned various ball clubs in New Jersey,  Delaware, and Pennsylvania – the latter is where he had an association with Al Reach, a founder of the Philadelphia Phillies.  He was a patron of the arts; responsible for the building of the Academy of Music on Atlantic City’s New York Avenue.  He was a successful real estate mogul, developing many of the early shore properties.  During his time in Schwenksville, he developed an interest in a boys’ camp that was in much need of repair.  It is reported that he purchased and donated over 11 acres of land, christened Camp Fralinger, that was used extensively by the Boy Scouts as a summer camp. 

Joseph and Nettie remained married for fifty-five years; she died at their home in Schwenksville on the afternoon of June 28, 1925.  They welcomed three children – two daughters, Nettie and Estella, and son Joseph.  

Like Joseph F. Fralinger, I too adopted Schwenksville.  It is here in this tiny town that I chose to set up my continuing life story, thanks in part to a financial gift from my Grampy, who is always in my heart.

In loving memory of Cosmo D. Albani (1918-2005)