Montana Original · Businesses
The Parrot Confectionery
It talks for itself.
The Story
Candy shop and soda fountain on Last Chance Gulch in Helena since 1922. Hand-dipped chocolates, cherry phosphates, and a bowl of chili at the counter.
The original soda fountain, a hand-cranked freight elevator, and names carved into the booths in the '40s and '50s. Same Gulch storefront since the 1920s.
The Parrot has been on Last Chance Gulch since 1922. It still makes about 130 kinds of candy from recipes the original owners worked out, and the old soda fountain still pours cherry phosphates. The lunch crowd comes for the chili, which the shop calls a secret recipe. Don’t bother asking.
William and Iantha Post, the original owners, named it the Parrot because, as the slogan goes, “It talks for itself.” It mostly still does. There are names carved into the booths in the 1940s and ’50s, a hand-cranked elevator that brings supplies up from the basement, 1920s equipment, and caramel cooked in an old copper pot.
Karlee Kleinschmidt started as a candy apprentice in 2018, worked up to head confectioner, and bought the shop in May 2025. “People love it the way that it is,” she said. Hard to argue with that. The shop offers tours, too.
Get a phosphate and a bowl of chili. Then buy candy for the drive home and see if any of it makes it home.
Still Here.
- Address
- 42 N. Last Chance Gulch, Helena, MT, 59601
- Phone
- 406-442-1470
Sources
Got a Story About This Place?
You're Old School Montana if... you still say Main Street, and it's been a walking mall since the '70s
You're Old School Montana if... somebody in your family has initials carved into a booth at the candy shop downtown
You're Old School Montana if... you bought bolts one at a time at a hardware counter where they knew your last name
What do you say?
While You're Here
Still Old School · Helena · Before '50
Still Old School: The Parrot Still Talks for Itself
The Parrot has made candy by hand on Last Chance Gulch since 1922. In 2025 the candy apprentice who started in 2018 bought the place, and she'd like to keep it exactly like this.
Then & Now · Helena · '70s
Then & Now: Helena Took the Cars Off Last Chance Gulch and Kept It That Way
Between 1973 and 1977, Helena took the cars off Main Street and put in a fake stream. Most towns that built a walking mall tore it out later. Helena didn't.
Remember This? · Helena · '60s
Remember This? Frontier Town, Where the Bar Was One Tree
Just below the summit of MacDonald Pass, John Quigley spent more than 30 years building a log-and-stone town by hand. The bar alone used up a whole Douglas fir.
Been Here Awhile
Windbag Saloon & Grill
Not the oldest thing in the building. Doesn't need to be.
Still Kicking
Buckhorn Bar
Burned in 1974. The town held a trapshoot about it.
Made to Last
Rialto Theatre
More than 4,000 people chipped in on your seat.