December 1, 2025 • 9 mins
On this episode of Our American Stories, long before Nashville was known for neon lights and record labels, a small candy company introduced something new to the South. The Goo Goo Cluster blended chocolate with a handful of familiar ingredients, but the people behind it poured family history and hometown pride into every batch. As the years passed, the candy found its way into lunch pails, store counters, and eventually became an integral part of the city’s identity.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
And we continue with our American stories, and up next
we year from Lurie Spradley, the owner of the company
googoog Cluster. You may have heard of this candy bar
that was created back in nineteen twelve, but if not,
here's Louri to share a little bit of the history
of the Goo Goo and where they are today.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
So Standard Candy Company was started in downtown Nashville in
nineteen oh one and they were making hard candies, caramels,
kind of single ingredient confections.
Speaker 3 (00:44):
And in nineteen twelve.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
The founder, Howell Campbell, and his right hand man Porter
were in the kitchen kind of playing around and they invented.
Speaker 3 (00:56):
The Googoo Cluster.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
And it was the first time anyone combined multiple ingredients
into a single finished product. So it was made of caramel, milk, chocolate, peanuts,
and a marshmallow nougat. And at first it didn't have
a name. And Howe was selling them on a streetcar
in downtown Nashville.
Speaker 3 (01:15):
And story goes.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
That a teacher was on the train and asked him
what he was going to call this new confection, and
he was like, I have no idea, and they conversation
shifted to his newborn son. They started asking what he
was up to and they he said, well, you just
started talking. He's saying words like goo goo gaga, and
(01:37):
they said, that's what you should call it.
Speaker 3 (01:39):
A googo.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
They're so good people will ask for them from birth,
and now we're stuck with a silly name. So my
grandfather had been in the confection industry and we made
wedding cakes and owned a bakery, and my dad, out of.
Speaker 3 (01:58):
Business school, discovered stand Candy.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
It was on the verge of bankruptcy and he called
his dad and was like, I think we can save this,
and so they bought it in eighty two, and so
I'm the third generation to be involved in the business
and it's been a wild ride. When they purchased the company,
it was only the original Googu, and so they introduced
(02:25):
the pecan variety, which at that time was called the Supreme,
and it just replaced the peanuts with pecans. And that
was in the eighties, and then in ninety early nineties
they introduced the peanut Butter variety, which is a peanut
butter center with peanuts and milk chocolate. That's most of
our favorite I never thought I would work for the company.
(02:47):
After college, I moved to New York City. I worked
in sales, kind of did my thing for about six
years and was just looking for something new. And at
the same time, Google was going through some restructuring and
and I was kind of like, I think.
Speaker 3 (03:02):
I can put my mark on this.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
I'm qualified, and I think, you know, well, we can
have a lot of fun with this. So I did
intern when I was fifteen years old and couldn't.
Speaker 3 (03:14):
Drive to a job.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
I would go to work with my dad that summer
and they had a jar out front of all three flavors,
and I probably had a Googo every day.
Speaker 3 (03:26):
I called it a lunch.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
I was like, I was like, it's a peanut butter version.
It's got some protein, it counts. I honestly usually don't
even have them at my house. Growing up, everyone was like,
you have to have You're the Google house, you have
to have them, and we just don't. I don't think anyone.
I guess maybe we've lost our suite tube. But we
(03:47):
did give them out at Halloween. We lived on a
really popular trick or treating street growing up, and everyone.
Speaker 3 (03:54):
Knew we gave about full sized Googo clusters. So we
were extra popular on Halloween.
Speaker 2 (03:59):
I think it was first grade, so I don't know
what age I was turning, maybe six or seven, and
I took for my birthday party, I took my class
to the factory and we all wore hairnets and got
to see the entire process. And my friends still talk
about it to this day, and I'm so glad they
do remember it because now with food regulations, I can
(04:23):
barely get into the factory. So I'm glad we all
got to experience that, and I guess, you know, pretty
good first grader. So in twenty fourteen, we opened up
a retail store in downtown Nashville, and that was it's
(04:44):
really become like our test kitchen. We were able to
handmake any sort of confections we desire. We get to
kind of be our own how will Campbell and make
our own take on a Googoo cluster. So we started
out making having with our pastry chef making his own
creations and putting all sorts of wonderful goodies together into
(05:06):
a finished product. And we started, I guess around the
same time, partnering with local chefs and what we call
our Summer Chef series, and so every summer, we partner
with six or so chefs in the community who get
to create their own google We have a ton of
fun with it because we all get to try all
these new combinations. Outside of the Summer Chef series, we've
(05:32):
also started partnering with other local businesses, one of them
being a barbecue y and they were celebrating a big anniversary,
so they asked us to create a Googo for them
and it actually uses barbecue sauce, so it's a little sweet,
it's a little spicy, a little funky and fun and
that's been a big hit. The Glenn Campbell Museum created
(05:54):
their own, and we even will create custom candies for
corporate events or parties. There definitely are some big Googoo
fans out there. We've got a huge fan out of
Canada and so he's big on Twitter and we kind
of have fun with him. He's been to visit a
couple of times and been into our store. But most
(06:16):
of the stories are just real nostalgic. A lot of
people remember eating them with their grandparents or parents. One
of our employees best Sachan, She remembers sharing one with
her mom at the checkout aisle and the grocery. They're
just some really sweet memories and stories, and everyone's always
wanting to share them with us, which we love. I
(06:37):
think a fun thing about the brand is that it's
really evolved over the years, but it stayed true to
exactly what the original ingredients were.
Speaker 3 (06:46):
So back when it was.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
First created, they were sold in a glass candy jar
with no wrapper, and then that evolved to putting it
in a little paper sleeve at the candy counter, and
then it was wrapped in foil similar to peppermint patty
and now and then it went to a sealed wrapper
(07:09):
kind of like it is today, but a different, different imaging.
Speaker 3 (07:13):
It's really fun to be a part of a history.
Speaker 2 (07:17):
We still have a presence in downtown Nashville right where
the original one was first created. It's truly a stone's
throw from the old factory. Yeah, I'd say our biggest
challenge is trying to find trying to transition our customer
base from the older generation who remembers eating them as
a kid, to younger generations and making it a little
(07:41):
more young, fun, playful, and so that's what we're trying
to tackle. That's what we're we want our store to
be like, we want everyone to feel like a kid.
It's also one of the few places downtown where kids
are going to have fun. You know, we're not one
of the honkey tnks or a museum. We're just a
(08:03):
playful environment where you can feel like a kid again.
And so it's been really fun to have that store
to tell our real history.
Speaker 3 (08:14):
And also get immediate customer feedback.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
And if you can't visit us in our downtown store
in Nashville, we actually you can design your own candy
bar on our website, so Google dot com.
Speaker 3 (08:26):
You can create your own confection.
Speaker 2 (08:28):
You choose your chocolate, you choose any of your mixings,
and we've got some weird things like potato chips and
fruity pebbles. And kids definitely go a little a little
crazy with their confections. They are throwing in all sorts
of stuff that I personally don't think goes well together,
(08:51):
but I'm sure with a ton of sugar they're happy.
We'll make it in our kitchen and ship it to you.
We rolled that out during the pandemic, and it's been
really fun to see people who are not able to
visit Nashville still be able to participate.
Speaker 1 (09:13):
And a great job and a team effort by Madison,
Faith and Robbie on the piece. A special thanks to
Lauris Bradley, owner of Google Cluster, a third generation family
business trying to stay relevant in current times and fun
and meaningful to families lives. And to design your own
Google Cluster and have it sent to you, you can
(09:33):
go to the website googo dot com. That's Google dot com.
The story of the Google Cluster a Southern tradition and
many people around the country know it to here on
our American Story
And we continue with our American stories, and up next
we year from Lurie Spradley, the owner of the company
googoog Cluster. You may have heard of this candy bar
that was created back in nineteen twelve, but if not,
here's Louri to share a little bit of the history
of the Goo Goo and where they are today.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
So Standard Candy Company was started in downtown Nashville in
nineteen oh one and they were making hard candies, caramels,
kind of single ingredient confections.
Speaker 3 (00:44):
And in nineteen twelve.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
The founder, Howell Campbell, and his right hand man Porter
were in the kitchen kind of playing around and they invented.
Speaker 3 (00:56):
The Googoo Cluster.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
And it was the first time anyone combined multiple ingredients
into a single finished product. So it was made of caramel, milk, chocolate, peanuts,
and a marshmallow nougat. And at first it didn't have
a name. And Howe was selling them on a streetcar
in downtown Nashville.
Speaker 3 (01:15):
And story goes.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
That a teacher was on the train and asked him
what he was going to call this new confection, and
he was like, I have no idea, and they conversation
shifted to his newborn son. They started asking what he
was up to and they he said, well, you just
started talking. He's saying words like goo goo gaga, and
(01:37):
they said, that's what you should call it.
Speaker 3 (01:39):
A googo.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
They're so good people will ask for them from birth,
and now we're stuck with a silly name. So my
grandfather had been in the confection industry and we made
wedding cakes and owned a bakery, and my dad, out of.
Speaker 3 (01:58):
Business school, discovered stand Candy.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
It was on the verge of bankruptcy and he called
his dad and was like, I think we can save this,
and so they bought it in eighty two, and so
I'm the third generation to be involved in the business
and it's been a wild ride. When they purchased the company,
it was only the original Googu, and so they introduced
(02:25):
the pecan variety, which at that time was called the Supreme,
and it just replaced the peanuts with pecans. And that
was in the eighties, and then in ninety early nineties
they introduced the peanut Butter variety, which is a peanut
butter center with peanuts and milk chocolate. That's most of
our favorite I never thought I would work for the company.
(02:47):
After college, I moved to New York City. I worked
in sales, kind of did my thing for about six
years and was just looking for something new. And at
the same time, Google was going through some restructuring and
and I was kind of like, I think.
Speaker 3 (03:02):
I can put my mark on this.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
I'm qualified, and I think, you know, well, we can
have a lot of fun with this. So I did
intern when I was fifteen years old and couldn't.
Speaker 3 (03:14):
Drive to a job.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
I would go to work with my dad that summer
and they had a jar out front of all three flavors,
and I probably had a Googo every day.
Speaker 3 (03:26):
I called it a lunch.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
I was like, I was like, it's a peanut butter version.
It's got some protein, it counts. I honestly usually don't
even have them at my house. Growing up, everyone was like,
you have to have You're the Google house, you have
to have them, and we just don't. I don't think anyone.
I guess maybe we've lost our suite tube. But we
(03:47):
did give them out at Halloween. We lived on a
really popular trick or treating street growing up, and everyone.
Speaker 3 (03:54):
Knew we gave about full sized Googo clusters. So we
were extra popular on Halloween.
Speaker 2 (03:59):
I think it was first grade, so I don't know
what age I was turning, maybe six or seven, and
I took for my birthday party, I took my class
to the factory and we all wore hairnets and got
to see the entire process. And my friends still talk
about it to this day, and I'm so glad they
do remember it because now with food regulations, I can
(04:23):
barely get into the factory. So I'm glad we all
got to experience that, and I guess, you know, pretty
good first grader. So in twenty fourteen, we opened up
a retail store in downtown Nashville, and that was it's
(04:44):
really become like our test kitchen. We were able to
handmake any sort of confections we desire. We get to
kind of be our own how will Campbell and make
our own take on a Googoo cluster. So we started
out making having with our pastry chef making his own
creations and putting all sorts of wonderful goodies together into
(05:06):
a finished product. And we started, I guess around the
same time, partnering with local chefs and what we call
our Summer Chef series, and so every summer, we partner
with six or so chefs in the community who get
to create their own google We have a ton of
fun with it because we all get to try all
these new combinations. Outside of the Summer Chef series, we've
(05:32):
also started partnering with other local businesses, one of them
being a barbecue y and they were celebrating a big anniversary,
so they asked us to create a Googo for them
and it actually uses barbecue sauce, so it's a little sweet,
it's a little spicy, a little funky and fun and
that's been a big hit. The Glenn Campbell Museum created
(05:54):
their own, and we even will create custom candies for
corporate events or parties. There definitely are some big Googoo
fans out there. We've got a huge fan out of
Canada and so he's big on Twitter and we kind
of have fun with him. He's been to visit a
couple of times and been into our store. But most
(06:16):
of the stories are just real nostalgic. A lot of
people remember eating them with their grandparents or parents. One
of our employees best Sachan, She remembers sharing one with
her mom at the checkout aisle and the grocery. They're
just some really sweet memories and stories, and everyone's always
wanting to share them with us, which we love. I
(06:37):
think a fun thing about the brand is that it's
really evolved over the years, but it stayed true to
exactly what the original ingredients were.
Speaker 3 (06:46):
So back when it was.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
First created, they were sold in a glass candy jar
with no wrapper, and then that evolved to putting it
in a little paper sleeve at the candy counter, and
then it was wrapped in foil similar to peppermint patty
and now and then it went to a sealed wrapper
(07:09):
kind of like it is today, but a different, different imaging.
Speaker 3 (07:13):
It's really fun to be a part of a history.
Speaker 2 (07:17):
We still have a presence in downtown Nashville right where
the original one was first created. It's truly a stone's
throw from the old factory. Yeah, I'd say our biggest
challenge is trying to find trying to transition our customer
base from the older generation who remembers eating them as
a kid, to younger generations and making it a little
(07:41):
more young, fun, playful, and so that's what we're trying
to tackle. That's what we're we want our store to
be like, we want everyone to feel like a kid.
It's also one of the few places downtown where kids
are going to have fun. You know, we're not one
of the honkey tnks or a museum. We're just a
(08:03):
playful environment where you can feel like a kid again.
And so it's been really fun to have that store
to tell our real history.
Speaker 3 (08:14):
And also get immediate customer feedback.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
And if you can't visit us in our downtown store
in Nashville, we actually you can design your own candy
bar on our website, so Google dot com.
Speaker 3 (08:26):
You can create your own confection.
Speaker 2 (08:28):
You choose your chocolate, you choose any of your mixings,
and we've got some weird things like potato chips and
fruity pebbles. And kids definitely go a little a little
crazy with their confections. They are throwing in all sorts
of stuff that I personally don't think goes well together,
(08:51):
but I'm sure with a ton of sugar they're happy.
We'll make it in our kitchen and ship it to you.
We rolled that out during the pandemic, and it's been
really fun to see people who are not able to
visit Nashville still be able to participate.
Speaker 1 (09:13):
And a great job and a team effort by Madison,
Faith and Robbie on the piece. A special thanks to
Lauris Bradley, owner of Google Cluster, a third generation family
business trying to stay relevant in current times and fun
and meaningful to families lives. And to design your own
Google Cluster and have it sent to you, you can
(09:33):
go to the website googo dot com. That's Google dot com.
The story of the Google Cluster a Southern tradition and
many people around the country know it to here on
our American Story
Host
Lee Habeeb
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