Amalia Erikson

Behind the popular pepparmint rock candy stands a strong woman

The inventor of the pepparmint rock candy cane

Amalia Erikson from Gränna not only created a popular product, she also managed to turn her fateful life into success.

The Polka pig was invented in the mid-19th century, and behind this success story was a poor widow. She defied poverty in a society where men had privilege and women were not allowed to run businesses.

Amalia Erikson's life story

In 1824, Amalia Erikson was born in Jönköping. Her mother worked as a maid and her father was a farrier. When cholera struck Jönköping, Amalia was struck by a terrible tragedy. At the age of 10, she lost a parent and a sibling in the epidemic. Now a hard life awaited her. Like her mother, the girl worked as a maid in Jönköping. When her employer decided to move to Gränna, she followed her and this is where her life took a new turn.

It is in Gränna that Amalia meets the love of her life, the tailor Anders Erikson. In 1857 they get married and it is not long before the family is expecting an addition. Just over a year after the wedding, the twins are born, but unfortunately one of the girls is stillborn. It is difficult to imagine how Amalia oscillated between the grief over her lost child, but also the happiness of having little Ida added to the family. Unfortunately, this happiness does not last long. Barely a week after the birth, Anders dies of dysentery. Once again Amalia is alone, but this time with her daughter Ida to take care of. Amalia has not had an easy life and it is said that she often expressed her fate in the words "no one is as lonely as I am".

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Amalia Erikson

The inventor of the pepparmint rock candy cane

The pepparmint rock candy cane

Amalia sees an opportunity here and submits an application with the wish to run a bakery business. The application is approved, the company is started and sells confectionery for festive occasions. It is now that Amalia invents the candy bar. In her kitchen, she bakes the now famous red and white caramel and sells it in her living room. She is good at what she does and the candy bar becomes a success story. The candy bar makes her wealthy and she also becomes an influential person in Gränna. Amalia becomes so important that even Prince Carl and Princess Ingeborg come and visit her bakery.

Amalia Erikson's life must be seen as long and eventful. She died in 1923 at the age of 99. Her daughter Ida continued in her mother's career and baked candy bars until 1945. Today you will find them buried side by side in Gränna cemetery.

Amalia's Gränna

The Polka pig not only turned Amalia's fateful life around. It is still popular today. You can visit polka pig bakeries to see how it is baked. The red and white original is still sold, but has been joined by a variety of different flavors and colors.

At Grenna Museum there is a section with local history, where you can see Amalia in her kitchen, among other things.