Nostalgia and the American dream aren't airy fantasies

BRYAN, Ohio — When the New England Confectionery Company filed for bankruptcy in Boston last spring, there was such an immediate and deep sense of loss across the country that folks took to local stores and Amazon to claim a piece of yet another what-used-to-be.

Necco Wafers, its signature product, had been part of Americana since before the Civil War. In fact, the company said the chalky wafers were a favorite of soldiers because the confection didn’t melt, so the sugary treats were consumed by Union soldiers on the battlefields here at home to the European theaters of both World Wars to today’s conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.