My family's link to the Joyva folks

My paternal grandparents, Martha and Al, ran a business called Almar Paper and Twine in Brooklyn and then later out of Island Park, NY from the mid '40s until 1972.  Growing up and visiting them in Long Beach in my own youth from the late 70s until his passing in the 90s, my Grandpa Al loved telling me what claimed was the story of how the company came to be called Joyva.

But first, some background.




this image belongs to Joyva and I am putting it here simply for some cultural context.




Grandpa Al grew up with the Radutzky brothers in Brooklyn.  As boys, they played handball and stickball.  When I spoke with my father today to ask how my Grandpa came to barter with them, he said simply,  "they were boyhood friends."  It doesn't get much more clear as that.

Almar supplied Joyva with kraft paper, gum tape, boxes, and other various packing supplies.  In exchange, the Radutzkys told Grandpa Al to take what he'd like:  Halva, sesame candies, and, large 50 gallon bags of popcorn produced for wholesale distribution.   At the beginning of my parents' marriage, my mother recalls  seeing the signature round cylinders of halva in her in-laws fridge in Long Beach

Grandpa Al claimed that the name Joyva came from the heavyness of that huge block of halva.  When lifting it, the Radutzkys would say, "Oy-vey" and repeat it over and over until it morphed into Joyva.  I mean, who in their right mind would buy a candy whose brand was Oy-vey?  Saychel, (intellect, in Yiddish) they had!

Me with Grandma Martha and Grandpa Al, Proprietors of Almar Paper & Twine, Spring 1973

As I was a Journalism student at  Brandeis University at the time, I was skeptical about the truth of this story.  I had a tremendous thirst for consumer knowledge at that time and was in the habit of writing letters of both praise and criticism to companies whose products I used.  I interned in consumer reporting, opened the mail for Joan Hamburg at WOR Radio and covered various consumer stories for Susan Wornick at WCVB-TV in Boston.   I wrote a letter to Joyva requesting clarification.

What I received in response to my letter was a very wonderful, friendly phone call from the senior Radutzky family member who was running the business at the time.  I do not have the original letter nor his response (my mistake for not being a better archivist)  No, he didn't know my Grandpa, didn't recall the family name or business name at all, and no, the company wasn't called Joyva for the reasons I had been told.  (This is not surprising).  The Joyva name camed from a blend of two names of family members (again, I am forgetting what those names were...perhaps Joy and Valeria?  No, surely it was something else.)

Mr. Radutzky was fully entertained by my letter and very appreciative that I reached out.  And the swag.  Oh the swag.  Not only did I get ring jells, but sesame candies, marshmallow twists, and more.  What a mentsch this man is, let me tell you!

You would think the story is over, but it is fully alive and has taken on a new chapter.

While at the Phish shows a couple of weeks ago (when will I move past it?  Oh no, I will never move past Phish, the best in the music business!), I had a full day in the city alone.  Sans children.  Just me, myself and I.  Naturally, Economy Candy was on my list of places to hit up, in addition to lunch at B & H Dairy and Vegetarian Restaurant located at 127 2nd Avenue (if you have been reading carefully in the last week or so you can see why it was meant to be that I attended that restaurant...the location address of 127 being a very special number for me).

Here is the excellent split pea soup I ate:

I lamented how there exists no longer the most amazing Peppermint Park, which was an ice cream parlor with various locations in Manhattan, including one in front of Madison Square Garden where a Chase Bank currently is located.  It is there, before Rangers games, where we would get Joyva ring jells and other candies.

And Gem Spa's prices for ring jells, according to my sister Reba Magdelene, were up to 35 cents a piece!  I hoofed it down to Economy Candy to get my beloved candy (which I tried pushing on PurpleGirl, since they were "purplish" in the middle.  Instead, I picked up a bag of razzles for her since she was looking for a New Year's outfit that day with a lot of dazzle), which ended up costing an average of .18 cents a piece. 
Earlier in the day I was chatting with my jeweler (Stango is buying me a gorgeous ring for our 10th anniversary which just passed) who told me that she is an owner of an Economy Candy t-shirt.  I questioned where she might wear said shirt, and she couldn't quite give an answer.

Somewhere along the way, I wondered if anyone would wear a Joyva t-shirt.  To my knowledge, they don't exist.  Reba said it would be a tight market.  I would only do it with permission, after all, they do own the Trademark design.  I even mentioned a Joyva t shirt idea to Jerry at Economy, and even though he was so busy with the Xmas week crowd, all he had to say a full shrug off of my idea, "but I have an Economy Candy t-shirt."  Like, why would *anyone* want to buy a Joyva shirt?


Because of the iconic image of the Turkish Man With a Moustache!   Everyone but everyone knows this image.  Iconic for us Jews (and non Jews, too, I would imagine, but really for the Jews, us small numbers we are and yet for whatever reason, call it saychel if you want, we manage time and again to churn out the big time).

But, actually, I am not looking to make a Joyva t-shirt. 
Which leads me to putting on my list of things to do:  contact Joyva with my proposal which I have not revealed here because I am not putting out my proprietary ideas on the Internet, despite only having 5 followers and therefore I should think no one is going to see this, and yet I still like to keep my ideas close to the vest.

(note to self:  this is QUITE the good timing...

Talk to us about hosting 100 Years of Joyva!



The NY Food Museum celebrates a century of Brooklyn’s own halvah and candy manufacturer, still family-owned and run after four generations. See giant pillows of sesame honey crunch, perfect oh’s of chocolate coated jellies, and the magical ways of tahini! Tell us your candy stories.


212-966-0191
e: nyfoodmuse@gmail.com )


Might I put in yet another plug for Jade, which is that on 12/31 she was wearing her Turkish hamsa evil eye (which is fully from the Jewish tradition) which looks like this:

you can purchase this at http://www.lakshmicircle.com.au/

Connected on yet another level to the Turkish segula for me that exists in this Joyva story, as I have a business idea that stems from this, and I hope that this will give me the hizuk to see it through


Anyway, I hope you liked my Oy vey story. Big shout out to Elmont, NY where Beth David Cemetery is located along with Grandpa Al and Grandma Martha buried there with about half of New York's grandparents and ancestors.




Is it strange that I recently shared a shabbat dinner table with a Gutterman? (he is dating my sister-in-law's cousin). No, it isn't a strange design because everything happens for a reason..