FRANGO Mints (Marshall Fields/Macy's)

Ladies and gentlemen, Elon Musk.

FRANGO mints are decadent!

I once dated an Italian guy named Frango.

Well are they good honey? Would nieces and nephews want them? They’re $14 a box now online

They are very dense, but good. Lots of mint flavor in that chocolate.

R4 OP here. Yes...they are half price at this time of year. I stock up. Also get a box for my grandmother (she'll be 100 in January!) I get smaller boxes for my niece and nephew for christmas---they get so many other presents, I usually just get them a medium sized box of Frangos and a check--sometimes a cool pencil or other school supply.

Let the poor consume the bad chocolate so we may feast on the good stuff!

OP here. So the Frango box I got was one of the three flavor types--milk chocolate Frangos, green Frangos, and dark chocolate Frangos. One of my co-workers doesn't like dark Chocolate but she's out this week. So far the dark Chocolate is the most popular, followed by the green. None of milk chocolate ones has been eaten yet?

Which are your favorite?

I once hurled a slurry of vodka shots and the original Frango mints. I did it in a downtown Chicago bar bathroom in Chicago at 5am.

I go for the dark chocolate or classic milk ones

Really? A pencil for Christmas?

Are Frangos sold at all Macy stores?

R12. Yes. I think I saw 1 pound boxes on sale for under a tenner—like $9.60 or something. Free shipping over 25

R11-like a nice gel pen or a Blackwing special edition pencil. The money is the real gift but the pencil and Frangos are something to open

Frangos originated in Seattle, at the Frederick & Nelson department store, which Marshall Field & Co. bought in 1929. Frederick's was often referred to as "a division of Marshall Field & Company."

I just ordered 3 one-pound boxes of mint Frangos from Macy's to get free shipping. They're $9.60 a box. Two are for gifts. One is for me.

You whores almost made me buy some of these!

But I don't want 3 boxes laying around my house and won't be seeing any family this year for Xmas, so I must resist.

Literally the only reason to go to Macy's anymore.

First, Frango Mints are da bomb! Secondly, buying 45 bars of charity chocolate so you can share your Frangos ....I'm not Catholic, but this must qualify for one of the steps to sainthood. You are a good egg, chocolate boy!

[quote] in order to move things along so I could put my Frangos out sooner, I bought 45 bars of the school chocolate while no one was looking.

MARY!!!!

I’ve never heard of Frango. We were a Fannie Mae family

My Grandmother loved Frango Mints. She worked at the State Street store in the 40’s in the Pullman reservations/bookings office.

They give me the shits.

Screw the people imposing their children's fundraisers at work!

It's the salt in Frangos that makes the taste memorable.

The way this thread started I was sure it was going to end in tragedy, and quite frankly I think it could still.

Growing up in the 60's in Chicago in a very middle-middle class family, Frango Mints were a treat purchased only for special occasions. Over a couple of summers in high school, I worked as a stock boy at the State Street store. Frango's were made on the 7th floor (along with the other food items Field's marketed) and I would stand at the window of the candy kitchen watching them being made. IIRC, there was only one flavor in those days. Even today when I smell them, it brings back a flood of childhood memories. But I haven't bought any since Macy's desecrated the Marshall Fields brand.

[quote] But I haven't bought any since Macy's desecrated the Marshall Fields brand.

I will never understand why Macy's didn't at least keep the Marshall Field's name on the flagship. Rename the branch stores as Macy's but keep the flagship under the very famous name, with just enough touches of the original to keep shoppers and tourists happy. They could even have named it Marshall Field's a division of Macy's. I hate that they got rid of Rich's, but Marshall Field's is an internationally known name that is regularly written about in history books. Getting rid of that name was just stupid.

R27, as you probably know, Macy's retained the beautiful old clocks hanging over State Street, along with a couple of the old black & brass signs. But as soon as you walked in the door, you knew it was no longer Marshall Fields. As a kid, going downtown to look at MF's Christmas windows was an annual event and the only "real" Santa was the one inside the State Street store.

never heard of the brand

R28 That is another thing, Marshall Field's, with an apostrophe, was known to be higher end than Macy's so why didn't they at least place that location under bloomingdale's.

The name was only written without an apostrophe if using the full name Marshall Field & Company, otherwise it is Marshall Field's. The founder was Marshall Field not Fields.

[quote] milk chocolate Frangos, green Frangos, and dark chocolate Frangos

I don't see any green there; only white chocolate along with milk and dark. Are they green on the inside perchance?

R30 There is a high end Bloomingdale's just north on at 900 Michigan Ave and there was (or maybe still is) another Marshall Field's across from that at Watertower Place--has that met it's end?

R31-It's a pale green with regular Frango interior.

I can empathize a bit with the Fields/Macys people. Our local store (Kaufmann's) wasn't quite as heavenly servicewise as Macy's but I still loved it, and loathe that Macy's has destroyed it so completely within a dozen years or so.

But those Fields fans are the MARY!est MARY!s that ever MARY!ied. They are some serious hardcore bitches and my hat is off to them, they are STILL at it.

[quote] another Marshall Field's across from that at Watertower Place--has that met it's end?

That was a Macys and it closed at the beginning of 2021.

[quote] never heard of the brand

It's a regional thing, largely, R29. Seems so, at least.

[quote] It's the salt in Frangos that makes the taste memorable.

R24, yes! I think that's what made them so good, plus the texture.

I remember there being a mocha (coffee) flavor.

Sounds like the quality has held up. Surprising.

R33 For me, it is Dillard's I hate. They bought Mercantile Stores Co. and did away with my beloved J.B. White(they went back and forth about the apostrophe) which like Marshall Field's had a beautiful logo.

Wilbur Buds are better.

Back in the day when I was growing up in Pennsylvania we had Bamberger stores that were owned by Macy’s, but were deemed not on the same level as them and not worthy of the name. It was a very hardline company policy that they not be the same name and was prominently known as such. How is it possible that they did a full one eighty when for decades this was done to protect the Macy’s brand? What could have possibly changed?

R39 I think for many years brands were kept different and distinct - usually a luxury/high end brand, a midline brand and a more budget one. There was also perceived value in maintaining regional brand identity.

Then around the late 90s/early 00s it all merged together and then Macy's parent company (Federated, I think?) just slapped the Macy's name on everything and combined most back office operations, so they could shed 75 percent of the work force and have one sales flyer for nationwide, etc.

How between Macy’s, Gimble’s and Wannamakers did Macy’s survive? Was it just all about the parade?

To their credit, somebody at Macy's had the sense to start selling Frangos in collectible tins. Last year's featured the State Street clock, along with the Frango and Marshall Fields logos on each side of the tin. Shortly before Thanksgiving this year, I bought several of this year's models, one featuring the Walnut Room Christmas tree and the other showing the exterior of State street. I brought one to my sister, who hosted Thanksgiving dinner, and everyone went nuts over them. These are wrapped, 45 pieces to a tin, $14 bucks apiece - a STEAL. I have kept the rest for myself.

Alas, I looked on Macy's website now and they are nowhere to be found. I did find the State Street one on amazon, but not for the sale price of $14!! I guess the moral is buy early!!

Here's last year's model - this year's have all found their way to eBay, $38 and up....

As long as we're talking about great Chicago candy, did anyone ever try the revival of Lanzi's Cashew Nut and Rice Crunch? The original at least was the best non-chocolate candy imaginable.

R41 Thanks to the parade, and Miracle on 34th Street, they became a national brand without being nationwide. Gimbles was in the film but were depicted as kinda the bad guys. But the fact is millions of people that didn’t know what Gimbles or Wanamaker’s was knew of Macy’s and their “World’s Largest Store” is a tourist attraction in NYC.

I just bought two boxes and added a pillow for I think $9.99 to get free shipping.

In its heyday before Macy's, the flavors included coffee, raspberry, orange and lemon and you could buy candy bars for 2.50,. Also Frango mint ice cream, Frango mint ice cream pie and Frango mint hot fudge sauce. Frango mint liqueur, Frango mint hot chocolate. I think they now make Frango mint coffee.

It's a mint-flavored chocolate truffle in a cube. The flavored varieties substitute the fruit or coffee flavor for mint.

that coffee flavor sounds great

[quote] Gimbles

Oh, DEAR.

Now I want to find that coffee flavor! Wow—anyone remember the original Gimbel’s in downtown MKE? We got Frangos there after it was turned into a Fields. It was turned into a Borders and then a hotel, I think. An urban mall called the Grand Ave was attached by skyway. It all seemed to luxurious as a kid—I went back once in late 2000s and it was just a shell of its former self.

Macy's sells the coffee, along with a Frango mug, in a gift set for $9.60; they also sell the coffee in a 12 oz bag for $7.20.

i see the coffee on the website but not a coffee flavored chocolate which I would love to try. Lemon flavor is also a favorite of mine.

They were discontinued when Macy's took over.

macy's sucks

I worked as a server in the Walnut Room for Christmas 1990 and 1991. Each year we got a box of Frango mints and a mug. It was so magical walking into that store every day! Best part, the employee discount shop. You could buy "unsellable" merchandise and store returns for deep discounts. Lots of designer goods! We had an epic Christmas party one year. Good times.

The original Frango mints, from Frederick Nelson, were made from old candles, Ex-Lax, and mouth wash.

Frango was that a SNL skit?

I like you, OP.

They also used to sell Frango chocolate chip cookies.

My Frangos are on the UPS truck to be delivered today. I have a small crush on my usual UPS driver. I'd like to give him a Christmas blowjob. He is the very essence of BDF.

OP- I think I have to come to the conclusion that you are a FAT WHORE.

But a happy one.

I always thought Fannie May's Mint Meltaways were a close cousin of Frango Mints.

Slightly off topic, I bought a package of Oreos the other day. When I got home, I realized there were the Oreos with the mint filling. Happy mistake 'cause they're really tasty.