Sweet on the West: How Candy Built a colorado Treasure (Western Passages)

William and Dorothy Harmsen were true American entrepreneurs whose ice-cream store, founded in 1949, grew into the wildly successful Jolly Rancher Candy Company. This volume highlights the Harmsens’ legacy as Colorado businesspeople and philanthropists.

Bill and Dorothy lived their passion for the West, among other ways, through art. Beginning in 1967, they built a collection that broadly encompassed the American West. They bought works by recognized masters of American western art such as George Catlin and Ernest L. Blumenschein, but they also acquired works by artists exploring contemporary approaches to time-honored western themes.

Ann Scarlett Daley’s lively introductory essay details the story of the Harmsens’ success in building both their business and their collection. Following her essay is a full-color gallery of treasures of the Harmsen Collection, along with commentaries by scholars of American art.