In the early twentieth century, the Milwaukee Paper Box Company grew alongside one of Milwaukee's sweetest industries - candy making. Many know Milwaukee for its historic breweries and meat-packing industries, but the confectionery industry reflects the city's romantic side.

Milwaukee's finely wrapped candies and chocolates were shipped globally, and confectionery manufacturing became a multi-million-dollar industry. This was largely due to rapid industrialization, but there was a cultural aspect as well. Gifting delicate sweet treats was an important element of the Victorian-era mating ritual. As dessert historian Michael Krondl relates in Sweet Invention: A History of Dessert: "There was an intriguing similarity between the elaborately enrobed boxes of candy and the layers of lace, crinoline, and silk that concealed the wooer's presumed prize." Savvy confectioners knew that attractive packaging sold more candy, and savvy box makers manufactured attractive packages.

Founded in 1905, the Milwaukee Paper Box Company distinguished itself as a maker of "candy packages of distinctive design", according to one of its advertisements. The company employed artists to fashion its signature "Brain Built Boxes", and orders for the packages came from as far as China. Building a new five-story factory at 1560 West Pierce Street in 1920 marked the pinnacle of the company's success. It was considered an "ideal facility" with a layout carefully arranged by president Walter C. Carlso, who had been involved in container manufacturing since his youth. The success of the new factory was short-lived however, as the confectionery industry began to wane during the 1920s and 1930s. The Milwaukee Paper Box Company closed its doors in 1938, but its factory on West Pierce Street stands as a reminder of Milwaukee's sweet industrial heritage.