But this market didn't last. In the 1950's, supermarkets began to dominate the retail food business, and supermarket chains began to have their own bakeries in-store. Harry resigned at president in 1953, turning the bakery over to his sons, Irvin and John Kunkel, who became president and vice-president, respectively. The death of Harry Kunkel in 1958 left the family with a bakery, a dwindling market and a big decision. Irvin and John made the decision to focus on one product: fruitcake. They concentrated their efforts on producing a top quality commercial product to sell to retailers, using Harry’s original Pennsylvania Dutch recipe. The first year they made 250,000 fruit cakes and practically went door to door, trying to sell them to retail chains. Irvin and John persevered and success soon followed.
Though business was good, Irvin decided that the bakery could turn out more than just fruitcake. In 1976, pound cake was added to the production line. Since the late seventies, Capitol Cake’s production has increased to meet the growing demand. New products have been added to the Capitol Cake line including an all-natural pound cake and a sugar free pound cake. Capitol Cake also bakes several different flavors of pound cake: Marble, Lemon, Strawberry-Swirl, Dulce de Leche as well as Pumpkin and Spice for the fall.
Today, the sons of Irvin T. Kunkel, Stephen T. Kunkel and John T. Kunkel, own and manage the wholesale bakery. The Capitol Cake Company baking plant is still located at 1304 Laurens Street in the Sandtown-Winchester area of West Baltimore. The Company has assisted in the revitalization of the surrounding communities and employs its residents. Capitol Cake takes pride in being one of Baltimore’s oldest established businesses.
and Harry A. Kunkel (from left
to right)