Sweets by the sea

Sweets by the Sea

This Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, icon is more than a candy shop. It's a seaside tradition.

It's difficult to explain what makes saltwater taffy so appealing to beachgoers. Even those standing in line to purchase buckets of the bitesize sweets at Dolle's Candyland in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, merely shrug and smile when asked.

"It's a seashore thing," says Dolle's owner Tom Ibach, attempting an explanation for his customers. "It's that magic name-saltwater taffy. It just reminds people of the beach."

This chewy confection was wildly popular back in 1910 when Rudolph Dolle and Tom's grandfather Thomas Pachides opened the first Dolle's in Ocean City, Maryland. After establishing several other stores, the partners came to Rehoboth Beach in 1927. Though Tom Ibach is the only family member still involved in the business, he maintains the founders' commitment to quality.

"We use real butter and real cream he says. "I make my caramel for other candies from scratch. It's a lot of hard work, but if you don't skimp on that kind of stuff, you can make a really good piece of candy."

The customers clearly agree. Dolle's has been a fixture on the Rehoboth Beach boardwalk for 75 years. Bathing suit-clad visitors still peer through the windows to watch the Dolle's staff pull the taffy and cook caramel corn in big copper pots. They crave the soft, creamy mint sticks, homemade fudge, and peanut and cashew brittles. Most don't even mind that there's no actual salt water in the taffy.

"There's salt and there's water in the recipe, but there's no salt water from the ocean," Tom explains. "Occasionally, I have customers walk away when they find that out, but most don't seem to mind." The source of the name remains a mystery, but one widely accepted account credits an enterprising candymaker in Ocean City, New Jersey, with coining the name after his taffy supply was doused in a flood.

Tom also owns Ibach's Candy by the Sea, a chocolate shop just a couple of blocks down the street from the Dolle's shop. "I didn't think there were any good chocolates around," he recalls.

Tom has candymaking in his blood, but he says there's more to Dolle's success on Rehoboth's boardwalk than mere candy. "It's location, location, location!" Tom says with a smile. The original store blew down in the big storm of 1962. When his grandfather rebuilt, he wisely added the gigantic orange "Dopes" atop the building. The sign has become a local landmark.

As if on cue, a harried mother of three juggling buckets, towels, and lawn chairs stops in front of the store. "Meet me at Dolle's at three o'clock," she tells her brood as they sprint in different directions. "And don't be late!"

CASSANDRA M. VANHOOSER

Dolle's Candyland: 1 Rehoboth Avenue, Rehoboth Beach, DE 19971; call (302) 227-0757, or visit www. dopes-ibachs.com. Ibach's Candy by the Sea: 9 Rehoboth Avenue; (302) 227-2870.

Copyright Southern Progress Corporation Aug 2002
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