Coldengham, New York
Store of Cadwallader Colden, Jr.
Chocolate
The 18th-century colonists drank "chocolate" as well as the staples of tea and coffee. 250 years ago, on this date, Nehemiah Carpenter (shoemaker?) purchased one half pound of Chocolate.
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This article is one in a series of a daily accountings of Colden Store transactions. Be sure you read the first installment for an introduction to the store. You should also read this article which appeared in the Journal of the Orange County Historical Society.
Webster defined "chocolate" in his dictionary of 1828 as "a paste or cake composed of the kernel of cacao, with other ingredients, usually a little sugar, cinnamon or vanilla. The nut is first ground fine, mixed with the ingredients, and put in a mold." The hot drink made by dissolving this cake in boiling water was also called "Chocolate."
Some processed chocolate may have been imported from England, but by this date, hundreds of tons of the raw cocoa beans were being imported into the colonies from South America and processed into 'cake' in places like Boston, New York, and Philadelphia.
In the prior six months, Colden had sold over twelve pounds of chocolate in about sixteen transactions. The price was two and a half shillings per pound or about one third the price of tea.
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