In the hollers of Silver Dollar City, steady hands have long shaped iron, glass, wood and sweet confections. Now, those same hands have earned one of Missouri’s highest manufacturing honors.
The craftsmen of Silver Dollar City were inducted into the Hall of Fame of the Missouri Association of Manufacturers, an organization typically known for recognizing innovators in advanced technology and large-scale production. By placing an Ozark theme park alongside industrial giants, the association broadened the definition of what manufacturing in Missouri truly looks like.
At Silver Dollar City, manufacturing doesn’t hide behind factory walls. It unfolds in plain sight, in front of millions of visitors at America’s #1 Theme Park.
A blacksmith shapes glowing iron with fire and instinct. Glassblowers turn molten glass powder into delicate heirlooms. A potter centers clay the way it’s been done for generations, steady hands guiding the wheel. A candy maker pours peanut brittle from a copper kettle, knowing it’s ready by the look of the bubbles.
“To stand on that stage with my fellow craftsmen — many I’ve looked up to for so long — means the world to me,” says Kelly Tiede, master blacksmith at Silver Dollar City.
“This makes me so proud. We were built around crafts when we opened in 1960, and we’re still doing things the old-fashioned way. We’re standing behind the dreams of our founders.”
June Ward | Master Candy Maker
Those dreams were big. And the production happening at Silver Dollar City today is anything but small. What guests experience as nostalgia is also serious output.
Last year alone, craftsmen produced more than 11,000 pounds of fudge, 23,000 bags of peanut brittle, 8,400 blown-glass heirlooms, 5,500 bars of lye soap, 4,300 pottery mugs, and an astonishing 136,000 loaves of cinnamon bread, and that doesn’t include the countless other handcrafted treasures created throughout the park.
Artisans keep time-honored trades alive through mentorship and repetition. Apprentices learn shoulder-to-shoulder with masters. Skills are refined through patience, not programming.
In the Ozarks, the old ways are not forgotten. They are forged, fired, baked and shaped every single day. And now, they’re Hall of Fame official.
For view our online store featuring handcrafted products visit silverdollarcity.com/shop.
Meet Brandei Clifton
As Public Relations Manager for the Silver Dollar City Company, she is eager to tap into her journalism background to hunt down “heart tugs” to write about—those stories that celebrate…