Roman Candy: The Mule-Drawn Candy Wagon Rolling Since 1915

The Mule-Drawn Candy Wagon

Since 1915, the Roman Candy wagon has been rolling through the streets of New Orleans, pulled by a mule, selling freshly made taffy-like candy from a vintage wooden cart that looks like it rolled out of another century. Because it did. The wagon is one of the most enduring images of old New Orleans — a reminder of a time when vendors came to you, when candy was made by hand in front of your eyes, and when the pace of commerce matched the pace of a mule.

The company was founded by Sam Cortese, an Italian immigrant who started selling his handmade candy from a wooden wagon in the Uptown neighborhoods of New Orleans. The candy — a chewy, taffy-like confection available in flavors like chocolate, strawberry, and vanilla — is made fresh on the wagon itself, pulled and stretched by hand using techniques that have not changed in more than a century. It is wrapped in wax paper and sold for pocket change, exactly as it was when Cortese first hitched up his mule and headed down the block.

A Rolling Landmark

The Roman Candy wagon is more than a candy vendor. It is a piece of living history, a mobile landmark that connects modern New Orleans to the city's immigrant past. The wagon is often found in Uptown neighborhoods, near Audubon Park, and along parade routes during Mardi Gras season, drawing both locals and tourists who are eager to buy freshly made candy from a mule-drawn cart and to experience a piece of the city that has survived every wave of modernization.

The Cortese family has continued to operate the business for over a century, passing it down through generations and maintaining the same wagon, the same recipes, and the same mule-powered delivery system that Sam Cortese established. In a city that values tradition above almost everything else, the Roman Candy wagon is proof that some things should never change, because they were perfect from the start.