Directories

Service Category

Bakery, Deli, or Confectioner

Business Description

Candy confectioner located in Scarborough Maine. Famous for "Lenny" the life size chocolate moose.

Family Business History

Born in 1872, Len Libby was the eighth generation of Libbys living in Scarborough. His great-grandfather, Thomas J. Libby, once owned what is now Prouts Neck in its entirety. In 1883, Winslow Homer moved to Prouts Neck and young Len Libby worked as the artist's houseboy. Len recalled that it was one of his duties to keep Mr. Homer's suits brushed and pressed, and his mother did Homer's laundry. As a young man Len worked for candy companies in Portland, learning the art of chocolate and confectionery before he began his career as a music teacher in the Westbrook School Department. One of Len's students was Westbrook's favorite son, Rudy Vallee, who continued to visit his old teacher when he returned home to visit. In 1926, Len Libby began making candy again and selling it out of his home, and then his first store, on Higgins Beach, making Len Libby's Candies the third oldest business in Scarborough, Maine. Len Libby sold his store to Dr. Fernand Hemond in 1949, but stayed on to teach Dr. Hemond's son, Fern, the art of candy making. Young Fern bought the candy store from his father in 1956 and kept the Len Libby name to honor the man who had become known as the Dean of Maine Candymakers.