Saint John candy-maker tries hand at old-fashioned barley toys

Old-fashioned barley toys have been a Maritime tradition for more than 100 years.

SAINT JOHN — If you grew up in the Maritimes you have probably given, or received, barley toys. The traditional treat has been making Christmas a little sweeter for almost a century now.

New Brunswick candy-maker Noah Donovan has started making it in small batches in his workshop.

"This year, I've been trying something new, and it's the actual, old-fashioned barley toys," said Donovan, the owner of Port City Candy Company.

Donovan has been making hand-crafted batches of hard candy for two years now, using old-fashioned recipes and traditional techniques.

"It was sort of my love of handcrafted items," Donovan said. "I found a lot of things in the market now are mass-produced, most of the things sort of don't have any love put into them, and they're made and shipped off, and made and shipped off."

Donovan wanted to do things differently, and this season, his confections have struck a chord with Maritimers looking for a taste of Christmas tradition.

It's been a busy few weeks for the candy company, keeping up with hundreds of holiday orders.

"A lot of people have been purchasing my barley toys as memories, or they're trying to get their kids on them," Donovan said. "I've had many people in their 40s, or 50s, or 60s, they'll get it for their grandkids or their kids to try to introduce them to the tradition."