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Sweets We Used To Have

  • Thread starter Thread starter jake
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Was over to Bewdley yesterday and in Teddy Gray's Rock Shop (It's been there for ever). Got some Spearmint Chews and Peppermint Rock with Bewdley all through it. The many jars of sweets in there have to be seen to be believed, not to mention the ice cream. Went up from Kidderminster on the Severn Valley steam train. Fish and chips by the river. Great outing. (Was for the grandsons birthday really).
 
Last time i had troach drops was whilst on holiday in Paignton in the late 80`s and was told by the shopkeeper that the sweet was a very Midland delicacy and seldom found outside the area.One of the challenging sweets for me was Jublies as i could never finish one before it became pop
 
'Cherry Squirrel lips' ? I laughed out loud--can't say I've heard of those. Very good selection though. I'd forgotten all about 'Kalai'--it was like yellow sugar wasn't it ? How about (and I'm beginning to think it was fiction) a dark chocolate/nugat. and nuts combo called a 'Cress bar' ? it was in a brown, silver and blue wrapper. About the size of a 'Mars Bar', and I think it was a rival for it, but did'nt sell too well. ---Fillery's toffees ? 'Sharps,' 'Holland,' 'Blue Bird'-- 'Palm Toffee' bars, in light and dark form. And most peculiar--'Everlasting Strip' an almost taste less hard thin strip of ---something or other. But it did last a long time--but not for ever. Nuttals Mintoes, Chocolate or pink icing Mice, those tiny silk-like cushion sweets, those tiny Mauve heart shapes, Victory 'V's, more for the adults, but better than nothing. Dunhill mints, Liquorice Comforts, Barley sugar twists, and that weird almost tasteless lengths, of green or red flexible twist sticks. Ip and 2p chews, ( Banana and custard flavour--o0o0o0h) The list is far from exhausted. Just two more points---virtually ALL these wonderful companies have died, mostly through so called amalgamation, and we all know that this usually spells the end of a famous product, and it never ever tastes the same anyway--which is why so many valiant attemps by modern reproduces will always fail to recreate them successfully. Second point--and I wince at the thought of this--My brother and I had a competition to see who could find and collect the most sweet and bar wrappers in the year. We would walk all the way to school with our eye on the pavement and gutters picking up filthy (usually)--objects, looking for our prize wrappers--which were mostly the colourful metalic foil centres, and keep them in old stamp albums. What a risk of germs and---ugh!!!
 
My Mrs has had a troublesome cough recently which nothing will shift or ease. While nosing around the local pharmacy I found a packet of " Zubes". Not seen them for ages and I remember them in a tin rather than a packet. They were no more successful than the others but I have a thing for old fashioned herbal sweets.
All Together Now......

" Zubes...Zubes...Zubes are good for the tubes."

I bet some retired advertising executive cringes with embarrassment when that little jingle comes to mind.
 
I remember all those sweets too Golightly. I used to love the pink strip of spearmint chew. So many of these delight's have disappeared as you say. Does anyone remember buttered brazils they were the most expensive sweets to come out of a jar. Sugared Almonds used to have a delicious perfumed shell on them, but no more I'm afraid.
 
ahh maggs..did those sugared almonds come in different coloured shells...i loved them...wonder if we can still get them...

lyn
 
Fruit Salads and Black jacks 4 for a penny, and for some reason you thought you had loads of sweets in your hand, and for a while you were very popular. haha.
 
First time I've heard Troach mentioned in years.Had an uncle that lived in Winson Green,he used to make Troach and go round the pubs on a Saturday evening selling it.
As a kid thought "Old Betty Plant" toffee took some beating
 
Anyone remember "dirty dolly".in angelina street highgate....she used her front room window to sell bundles of firewood and toffee apples and if you couldnt afford a toffee apple you could buy for one halfpenny a stick which was dipped into the toffee .it had no shape but the taste was exquisite..we called it a halfpenny lick .it lasted for ages and was really better value than the toffee apple cos you got a great lump of toffee stuck on a bit of old wood .......sugar mice midget gems ...satin cushions ..... to name a few...cadburys five boys chocolate ...
 
Licorice imps, came in a little box, decorated with a pattern a bit like a tin of Brasso.

I vaguely remember there was a homemade sweet shop shop somewhere between the Red House and the Old Crown at Digbeth, run by a really grumpy old lady.
 
Sweet tobacco,(shredded coconut flavoured,) and a box of sweet fags, with red tips. A quarter of kayli in a little triangle shaped bag. Frozen jubilee's, and tip tops, Black Jack's and Fruit salad's 4 for a penny, and 3 times the size they are today. Mojo chews, milk chews, to name but a few.
 
col h said:
Licorice imps, came in a little box, decorated with a pattern a bit like a tin of Brasso.

I can recall buying imps in small circular tins cheaply printed with names and pictures of contemporary motor cars. The idea was to collect the whole set and the were displayed in the shop on a piece of card.We called them Car Tins ( now theres original for you). After eating that lot we went better than the cars of those days.

Another collectors sweet was the "Civil War Bubblegum Cards". A couple of lurid war scenes and a piece of chewing gum in a sealed wrapper very popular with young boys. The Church of England got all hot under the collar accusing the Americans of corrupting the youth of England. We loved them and as a choirboy many a swap was done in the stalls while the sermon droned on.

If I may refer back to the Fry's chocolate bars they made one with Lime ,Orange,Coconut,Pineapple and a pink one I have forgotten the name of . I think it was called Frys Tropical Bar. It was my favourite,like having a box of chocs all to yourself.


Just a Thought...How many subscribers to this thread had lost their teeth by the time they were Forty?

Only Joking..Honest
Click to expand...
 
lerryngal
I remember them all and the difficulty in getting the little money they cost together, can any modern child know the great pleasure of entering the old type sweet shop with "half a dollar" given by nanny and knowing that you could nearly buy anything you desired and eat non stop for a whole morning. happy days.
regards
paul
 
I hated those licorice imps Mike. Palma Violets are still around they are nice. I remember that Fry's tropical bar Arkrite, very nice too.

Lyn there are still sugared Almonds in the pretty colours, but that lovely perfumed tasting shell is no longer there. I think it was the factory in York called Terry's that used to do the best Sugared Almonds.

For all this I still have all my teeth.
 
Yes Mike thats the wrapper., must be the memory cells misfiring again. May be the prices are different but kids today are still getting their fair share of sweets. When looking after the grandkids they asked for some sweets and pointed to a cupboard well out of their reach. On opening the door all manner of chews,lollies,sherbets,toffees ,dried fruit and jellies were to be found.I also know of a little corner shop with lots of little sweets 2 for a penny.Its nice to know some shopkeepers keep old traditions alive but they cannot make much out of it.
 
Back again. Despite what I said 2 days ago about modern efforts to recreate our old favourites--not being up to scratch, how often do you hear people say, 'the choc bars and their like, are definately smaller than I remember'---well, I think the makers insistance that they aren't, may be right, and so it could be with the flavour. When we were young, not only would our tiny hands be 'filled' with those choc-bars, our 'pallett' would have been mainly starved of anything sugary so that---ANYTHING slightly sweet would have tasted great to us then.( how else could you explain Liquorice wood) Naturally--we have long since been subjected to a torrent of sugar, and no doubt we are less able to appreciate these childhood 'oldies'. How many of us has been on a forced diet (short lived) and being deprived of sweets, then when the fasting is broken----and boy ! does chocolate taste great or what? The other point is--when your small, everything seems much bigger than it is. When I did a return visit to all the 7 homes I lived in from 1941 to 1954 in Brum, many of them looked unbelievable small, and the distance from the front door to the pavement in some cases was a big suprise to me---so short !
 
Liquorice wood, or root.....I bought some recently - it cost 25p per measly, scraggy-bit stick!

Re' different tastes: many early sweets contained substances that were virtually toxic, by moderrn standards. Especially those of the hard, 'boiled' sweet types. Many of the dyes then used, have subsequently been removed as being potentially harmful. I am reminded of an occasion during the early 1970's (I think?) when the 'Ribena' factory accidentally discharged a tank of 'blackcurrant dye' into the River Tyne.....it killed ton upon ton of fish!

Sorry to be contentious but, the size of many sweetie bars has indeed shrunk.....this was debated very recently on Radio 4 (again, if I remember correctly?).....the manufacturers came up with some spurious explanation, re' consumer surveys, about the 'ideal' snack-size. Apparently, we all want less for our money....at least, that's how it seemed to pan-out to my understanding.

Further, new 'wrapping' methods do tend to change the 'traditional taste' of many products....remember stuff being wrapped in silver-foil? I don't care what ANYONE says to the contrary, but 'Kit-Kats' DO NOT taste the same in their new wrappers! Or, for that matter, do 'Mars Bars'.....

So, somewhere between our 'changing tastes' in old age; the removal of 'toxic waste' and, the 'penny-scrounging' manufacturers, we've had it!
icon7.gif
 
JohnO said:
Liquorice wood, or root.....I bought some recently - it cost 25p per measly, scraggy-bit stick!

Re' different tastes: many early sweets contained substances that were virtually toxic, by moderrn standards. Especially those of the hard, 'boiled' sweet types. Many of the dyes then used, have subsequently been removed as being potentially harmful. I am reminded of an occasion during the early 1970's (I think?) when the 'Ribena' factory accidentally discharged a tank of 'blackcurrant dye' into the River Tyne.....it killed ton upon ton of fish!

Sorry to be contentious but, the size of many sweetie bars has indeed shrunk.....this was debated very recently on Radio 4 (again, if I remember correctly?).....the manufacturers came up with some spurious explanation, re' consumer surveys, about the 'ideal' snack-size. Apparently, we all want less for our money....at least, that's how it seemed to pan-out to my understanding.

Further, new 'wrapping' methods do tend to change the 'traditional taste' of many products....remember stuff being wrapped in silver-foil? I don't care what ANYONE says to the contrary, but 'Kit-Kats' DO NOT taste the same in their new wrappers! Or, for that matter, do 'Mars Bars'.....

So, somewhere between our 'changing tastes' in old age; the removal of 'toxic waste' and, the 'penny-scrounging' manufacturers, we've had it!
icon7.gif
Click to expand...
Early chewing gum contained parrafin wax, which would stay in your digestive system mor eor less for ever, probably why old fogies like me remember the 'old wives tales' about how it could kill you if you swallowed it.

I'm sure I read somewhere that you could gauge thje state of the economy by the size of a Mars bar, which seemed to change from week
to week.
 
Was there not a hoohaa about mothers giving their babies undiluted Ribena in the bottle ? This resulted in milk teeth rotting ? Never liked over sweet stuff ( if that makes any sense) preferring sharp flavours.
Manufacturers are like politicians , they tell lies so often they become to believe them.

As for liquorice the Lakeland stores ( they sell household goods) do a good line in Australian natural liquorice in different flavours. The black stuff is very " moreish" but it ain't cheap.Superdrugs version is horrible.
 
Yes Arkrite, there was a fuss about Ribena and babies/childrens teeth rotting. Mother's used to put it into those little feeders with the dummy on for comforting the little ones.
 
Has anyone had a look at the MSN home page today. It would appear all the violence about today is us lot eating sweets in childhood. There was me and the Chief Constables thinking it was everything from binge drinking to single parent families.
The October issue of The British Journal of Psychiatry ( a riveting read I bet) has it all there.Cardiff University and something called the British Cohort Study studied 17,000 or so case studies.They found 69% or so of those involved in violence had eaten sweets in their childhood. I am surprised the number is so low.
I do not know what the centre of Birmingham is like on a weekend but I imagine it is similar to Cardiff. The Police vans run a more regular service than the busses.
The violence is caused by over indulgence and I am not talking chocolate bars. I think this is a case of facts being twisted to support a theory. They say you can prove anything with statistics and perhaps this is part of the obeseity program.
 
I used to make toffee with Mom using Golden Syrup and brown sugar, no wonder I lost so many teeth! I liked to make fudge too from condensed milk.
When Dad was at school he would put the nib part of his dipping pen into the end of a piece of licquorice root so that he could suck it in class!
rosie.
 
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