How a Tiny Island Became the "Fudge Capital of the World"

Mackinac Island is famous for banning cars, but it has a second, sweeter claim to fame: it’s the Fudge Capital of the World. During peak tourist season, the little island hand-makes something like 10,000 pounds of fudge a day — and the tourists who flock there for it have a nickname: “fudgies,” a term coined back in the 1960s.

It all started in 1887. A sailmaking father and son, Henry and Jerome “Rome” Murdick, came to the island to make canvas awnings for the brand-new Grand Hotel. They brought along Henry’s wife, Sara, whose candy-making skills were legendary, and they opened the island’s first candy shop, Murdick’s Candy Kitchen. Rome became the first person on the island to make fudge on cool marble slabs — which gave the fudge its signature creamy texture and, just as importantly, turned fudge-making into a show.

That showmanship is still the secret sauce. To lure passersby, the Murdicks added big ceiling fans to blow the smell of warm chocolate and vanilla out into the street. (Rome’s son Gould would even pour vanilla into a bubbling kettle purely for the aroma.) It worked then, and it works now — wander down Main Street and the sweet smell will pull you right through the door of any of the island’s dozen-plus fudge shops.