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During the late 1800's there were several Rock Candy companies in the USA, including one formed in 1880 by the partnership of Charles Dryden and Noah Palmer, which supplied various forms of crystals and syrups as cough-cold remedies, soda fountain syrups and delicious confections. In addition, vast amounts were used in saloons. Every bar had its own creation of Rock & Rye (Rock Candy dissolved in rye whiskey) ostensibly, of course, to cure their patron's colds - or at least to make them forget they had a cold in the first place! Prohibition was not kind to the Rock Candy industry and of the many 19th century manufacturers, only Dryden & Palmer Company remains today. The company came into the family of current ownership in 1927 and today the third generation is on the job. Through time the business has gone through many changes. The syrup business that was a big part of the business at the end of the 19th century is now almost entirely gone as soda manufacturers have switched to cheap corn syrups, and now medicated cough drops rather than Rock Candy crystals dominate drug store shelves for cough relief. In order to open new markets, the company introduced Rock Candy on a stick in the 1960's and colors and flavors were added in the 1970's. Now Dryden & Palmer Company is a global supplier of specialty Rock Candy sugars with sales to Europe, Central and South America, the Middle East, South Africa, and Asia as well as all fifty United States. While Mr. Dryden and Mr. Palmer would be amazed to see the different forms and colors of the Rock Candy their company produces today, they would easily recognize the tradition of quality and service carried forward from their time in the last century.