The candy was invented by Amelia Erickson, who needed a way to support her family after she was widowed. One of the oldest houses in Gränna has been turned into a museum that devotes a room, ironically the kitchen, to Amelia and the history of polkagris. Admission to the house is also paired with admission to an exhibit about the North Pole Expeditions. When we originally went to the exhibit we thought it was an exhibit about Global Warming. We were a little concerned with the stuffed polar bear rugs they were selling in the gift shop, because that didn't promote Global Warming. But neither of us speak Swedish, and it took us about 30 minutes into the exhibit, and the only English writing under a pair of bear skin underwear, to realize that it was in fact not about Global Warming. After that all the faux skinned polar bear merchandise made sense...sort of.
After the museum we explored the candy store and watched some polkagris making. The city's tourist season begins in May so there wasn't much competition for a spot to watch the candy making. In fact, there were only two other people in the entire store. The employee working said that during the summer about 1 million people come to Gränna for the candy. The town may have been next to deserted, but I was happy that we weren't fighting our way through 1 million people.