Boehms Candies: Remembering Julius Boehm | In This Valley

Boehms Candies has been turning out delicious treats, and giving out generous community support since 1956 when Julius Boehm built his candy manufacturing facility, Boehms Edelweiss Chalet.

Who was Julius Boehm? How did his Swiss Chalet and candy come to Issaquah?

Julius’ story is as exciting and improbable as Julius himself. He was born in Vienna, Austria in 1897. His Austrian father was a piano maker; his Swiss mother was a concert pianist. Growing up, Julius was surrounded by music, opera, and the arts. Musicians Puccini and Toscanini came to his parents’ home.

As a teen, Julius apprenticed to his piano-builder father. Vacations were spent with his Swiss grandfather, a baker and candy-maker, where Julius learned confectionery skills.

He also became a world-class skier and was quite an athlete: skier, mountain climber, swimmer, runner, and rider. He became an Austrian cavalry officer.

In the 1924 Olympics, Julius ran for Austria in the 4/400 relay. “We didn’t place,” he’d say. (1924 was the Paris “Chariots of Fire” Olympics.) In the 1936 Berlin Olympics, Julius was a torchbearer for Austria. The replica of the torch he carried is in the Chalet.

In 1940, Julius escaped Hitler’s army by skiing from Austria over the Alps into Switzerland. He made his way to Spain, and eventually arrived in New York with four dollars in his pocket. He worked in a mattress factory, then taught skiing in upstate New York. His ski students kept telling him the Pacific Northwest looked like Switzerland. He bought a car and drove west, over Snoqualmie Pass, to Seattle.

He formed a candy-making partnership with George Tedlock. In 1942 they opened their first Candy Kitchen on Ravenna Boulevard near Greenlake. A mutual friend, candy maker Cecil Hall, helped them perfect their American line of chocolates.

In 1956 the company moved its headquarters to Issaquah, where Julius built the first authentic chalet in the Pacific Northwest. Baroness Margaret von Wrangle, one of Julius’ chocolate dippers, painted the exterior with Swiss-style murals; she also decorated much of the interior. Surrounded by gardens and fountains, the Chalet quickly became a landmark.

Julius quickly became an Issaquah institution. He taught skiing at Ski Acres. He taught horseback riding through the YMCA. He instituted swimming classes at Lake Sammamish State Park. Come Halloween, most of Issaquah’s kids trooped through Boehms for treats directly from Mr. Boehm.

While in the store, or touring the factory, customers saw part of Julius’ extensive collection of paintings and sculptures, and heard part of his collection of classical music and opera. More of his collections reside upstairs, above the store, where Julius lived from 1956 until his death in 1981. His home remains nearly as he left it, and is part of Boehms’ tours.

Near the chalet were kennels for Julius’ St. Bernards. Many customers munched their candies while strolling to the kennels to see several full-grown dogs, and often a litter of pups. Julius and his dogs marched in Labor Day parades, then in the early Salmon Days parades. After Julius died, homes were found for the St. Bernards, but even now many visitors ask about them, says Mindi Reid, an employee, tour conductor, and unofficial Boehms’ historian, who was interviewed for this article.

Customers also talk about being “one of the kids at Lake Sammamish” learning to swim in Julius’ classes. They tell Reid that candy was Julius’ pay-off for doing a stroke well or passing a swim test. The Issaquah Pool is named for Julius Boehm.

One customer told Reid about an Issaquah school visit by Julius to her beginning German class. Julius talked in German, then performed a small bit of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, in German. Julius established Boehms’ on-going tradition of contributing to community projects and organizations.

Issaquah is filled with folks who were, or are, employed by Boehms. Professional, union candy dippers staff the factory. Teens hired while in high school sell candy, fill boxes, keep up the displays, etc. Adults work too — including, for two years, this writer.

Years before I worked there, my kids and I were visiting the St. Bernards, trick-or-treating, watching the parades, and listening to mountain climbing tales. Julius married a chocolate dipper, an Issaquah girl. Their daughter, Erica, now lives in Switzerland.

Julius loved mountains! He dedicated his Alpine Chapel to fallen climbers. He climbed the Matterhorn in 1949. To celebrate the opening of the 1952 Olympics, he summited Mt. Blanc, planting an Olympic Flag.

At age 75 he set a record as the oldest person to climb Mt. Rainier. When he was 80, he broke his own record. He planned to climb Rainier at age 90, but died of cancer at 84, in December 1981. (A few years later, an 81-year-old broke Julius’ record.)

Julius’ work ethic, enthusiasm, and love of challenge remain at Boehms.

Mary Scott is a docent for Issaquah History Museums.