A Goo Goo Cluster is America’s first combination candy bar. It was created in Nashville in 1912, 13 years before the Grand Ole Opry existed, which is relevant because people routinely assume the name is an acronym for Grand Ole Opry. It is not. The name predates the Opry entirely.
The Creation
Howell Campbell Sr. and a porter named Moore created the Goo Goo at the Standard Candy Company, located at Clark and First Avenue North in Nashville. The company had started as Anchor Candy Company in 1901 before renaming. The ingredient combination they assembled was new: marshmallow nougat, caramel, fresh roasted peanuts, and a milk chocolate coating, all in one piece. Previous candy bars were single-ingredient, meaning a bar was chocolate or it was caramel or it was taffy. Nobody had combined multiple distinct principal ingredients into one piece before Campbell did.
The shape was also unusual. The Goo Goo was disk-shaped rather than rectangular, which was the standard bar format of the era.
Where the Name Came From
Campbell was riding a Nashville streetcar trying to explain his new candy to fellow passengers and struggling with what to call it. A teacher on the streetcar asked about his son. Campbell mentioned the child’s first words: “goo goo.” The teacher told him that was the name he needed, arguing that the candy was so good people would ask for it from birth. The first official slogan ran with exactly that logic: “Goo Goo: So good, people will ask for it from birth.”
The early 20th-century marketing positioned it as practical food: “A nourishing lunch for a nickel” was the pitch in the 1920s and 1930s, aimed at workers who needed a real caloric option they could carry in a pocket.
The Grand Ole Opry Connection
The Goo Goo Cluster became a long-time Grand Ole Opry sponsor, which is how the confusion about the name’s origin developed. The Opry launched in 1925, 13 years after the candy. The partnership was commercial, not etymological.
The Variations
The original remains: marshmallow nougat, caramel, peanuts, milk chocolate. Three major variations followed:
The Supreme version, later renamed the Pecan (2019), substitutes pecans for peanuts. The Peanut Butter variety came in 1991. The Howie Premium uses dark chocolate and is named for the inventor.
Current Production and the Goo Goo Shop
Standard Candy Company still makes Goo Goo Clusters in Nashville. Production runs at 20,000 per hour. The Goo Goo Shop at 116 3rd Ave S opened in 2014 and was renovated in 2021 into a retail and experience space that includes a viewing kitchen, chocolate-making classes, and make-your-own kiosks where visitors can assemble custom Goo Goos. The shop marked its tenth anniversary in 2024.
As Nashville souvenirs go, the Goo Goo Cluster has a legitimate claim to being the most historically significant edible thing you can bring back. It is not a tourism creation. It is the real thing.
Sources
- Standard Candy Company history, standardcandy.com and googoo.com
- Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture on Goo Goo Cluster origins
- WKRN Nashville historical coverage of Standard Candy Company
- Goo Goo Shop at 116 3rd Ave S, googoo.com/pages/goo-goo-shop
- Grand Ole Opry history for Opry founding date (1925) to contextualize naming misconception