Frederick & Nelson - Frango

Frango

Frango's exact year of creation and the origin of the name have been lost to history. According to a trademark document from the U.S. Patent Office, the name Frango was first officially used on June 1, 1918. A popular item on the Tearoom menu was a frozen dessert called Frango and it was available in maple and orange flavors. The name probably originated by the combination of Fr from Frederick’s and the ango from the tango dance craze. In 1926, the consistency of the Frango Dessert was described as flaky, requiring the use of a fork, not a spoon, as you would use with ice cream. Eventually the Frango dessert line included pies, ice cream sodas and milk shakes. It was decided upon in 1928 or 1929 that Frederick’s should offer a chocolate mint truffle. Candy maker Ray Alden is credited with developing the Frango Mint. His secret recipe called for chocolate from cocoa beans grown on the African Coast and South America, triple-distilled oil of Oregon peppermint and 40 percent butter. A few months after Frederick sold out to Marshall Field's in 1929, Frederick's candy makers in Seattle were summoned to Chicago to introduce Frango chocolates to Marshall Field's to help build slumping sales during the Great Depression. Soon, the candy kitchen at Marshall Field's had produced their own Mid-western interpretation of the Frango chocolate recipe.

Even after the store's demise, the F & N Frango lives on. In the Northwest, they were sold in The Bon Marché (now Macy's) as well as in Portland's Meier & Frank. Frangos can still be found in Macy's stores in Seattle in their familiar hexagonal box. In addition, they are still a favorite at the Macy's stores that were Marshall Field's.