The origins of fudge are about as opaque as a block of the beloved treat, but the theories swirling about are pretty sweet.
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Let’s start with some chewy etymology. The word fudge is thought to have originated in the 17th century. Some historians think the verb “to fudge” stems from the archaic verb “fadge,” meaning “make suit, fit.” And sailors were said to use fudge as an expletive when confronted with nonsense or lies.
According to Merriam-Webster, fudge was first used as a transitive verb meaning “to fake” in 1674, and The New York Times writes that author Oliver Goldsmith used fudge as an interjection in 1766—a character in The Vicar of Wakefield would cry out “Fudge!” at the end of every sentence.
Today, etymologists still aren’t sure how or when the word became associated with sweet, sugary goodness. But it stuck. The first use of fudge as a treat is widely thought to be in correspondences from Vassar College in the late 1880s, where women were making and selling the now-famous sweet. And that timeline aligns with when most candy historians believe fudge was invented.
While we may not know who created the first fudge, or exactly when and where it was made, what we do know is that it was also in the 1880s that the Murdick family arrived on Mackinac Island. In 1887, they opened the first candy store, Murdick’s Candy Kitchen, at a time when the island was evolving into a summer resort destination.
The Mackinac Island Tourism Bureau cites some rich history found in Phil Porter’s book, Fudge: Mackinac’s Sweet Souvenir. Porter, the now-retired director of Mackinac State Historic Parks, writes that Rome Murdick was the first person on the island to make fudge on marble slabs, which gave the product a singular flavor and created a show for customers.
Porter says fudge-making became a public event, where Murdick and other emerging confectioners demonstrated their craft, mixing ingredients in kettles and using wooden paddles to stir. After the mix reached 230 degrees, they poured it onto marble slabs and worked the cooling liquid into solid fudge.
Photo by Tim Hussey
“Here the theatrically-inclined fudge man could really put on a show,” Porter writes. “He allowed the gooey mass to nearly ooze off the side of the slab. Mesmerized visitors gasped in delight as he swept along the edge with his long-handled trowel and folded the mouth-watering candy back into the center of the table.”
The island’s fudge industry wasn’t without its struggles during the first half of the 20th century. Two world wars and the Great Depression brought sugar rations and a decline in tourism, leading to some fudge shop closures. Porter says that to bolster their business, Rome Murdick and his son, Gould, used kitchen-cooling fans to blow the scent of fudge into the street.
“Gould even went so far as to pour vanilla flavoring into a bubbling cauldron of candy,” Porter writes. “The vanilla instantly dissolved, adding no flavor to the fudge but creating a sweet-smelling aroma that wafted into the street to lure unsuspecting passers-by.”
Following World War II, the rebounding economy and an expanding highway system drew more and more visitors to the island. Fudge shops continued to pop up, and in the 1960s, the island’s tourists became known as “fudgies.” Each shop tested new flavors and Mackinac quickly found itself earning its title as the “Fudge Capital of the World.”
“Fudge was not invented at Mackinac, but it was here that a particular style of fudge gained great popularity that spread across the nation,” Porter writes. And that’s no fudge.
Photo by Tim Hussey
Photo by Tim Hussey
Photo by Tim Hussey