Hopscotch

The 60s had started a culture of independent thought. Independent thought brought with it a social revolution that the 70s would build on and change the way we live. The emancipation of women was a key feature of this revolution, helped by the affordability of the microwave and washing machine (which occupied 64% of homes). While all this was going on another revolution was slowly gathering momentum, not yet noticed by the masses but as a background rumble foretelling of massive technological change: the computer and email were on their way.

In retail independent thought quickly mutated into self service. Self service had been around since the 50s with Woolworths slowly converting its sweet counters to Pick ‘n’ Mix. It was a slow transition, with a fair amount of opposition, but the 70s witnessed the wholesale abandonment of counter service to self service across all retail, and Pick and Mix as we know it today was born.

The 60s pioneered a culture of freedom of choice and risk taking. The 70s ran with this but tried to assert some control and reign in some of the excesses of the previous decade. Smoking was rebranded as bad and this led to the removal of the red end of Candy Cigarettes and the renaming of them as Candy Sticks. However anyone who grew up in the 70s knew what they really were!  Such was the opposition to smoking that the pipe bowl bit of Liquorice Pipes was also turned down at a later date.

The 50s had been a decade of conformity and restrictions, the 60s did its best to shed these values and move society to a place of greater freedom and liberal thinking, while hanging onto a sense of community. The 70s saw a growth in individualism, where self expression and self improvement seemed to get the upper hand. During this time of social change one would hope that sweeties would provide a stable comfort zone of sameness and predictability but that was not to be.

The 70s saw a squeeze on traditional boiled sweets and the old ‘weigh-out’ sweet shops. Crisps, fizzy drinks (in cans with the new fangled litter proof ring-pull) and chocolate bars all presented strong competition for the new metric Pound Note. Decimalisation took over in 1971. The TV advertising of branded products worked its magic with Golden Wonder Crisps, and Cadbury’s chocolate which saw massive growth. The huge expansion in supermarkets didn’t do any favours for traditional sweets or sweet shops either. Sadly our ‘weigh-out’ sweet shops embarked on a steady decline. Tastes were also changing with the introduction of new flavours and textures: chewy sweets and the new foam style sweet gained in popularity and, like it or not, American candy started to hit our shores. Traditional boiled sweets managed to hold their own but they now had to share the limelight with an astonishing array of alternative tasty treats.

Sweets are of course very central to a child’s growth and development but there was more for the 70s child: entertainment!. We had Teeny Boppers and their pop idols – the Bay City Rollers, David Cassidy and the Osmond’s. Punk Rock had its heyday and then there were those who would stand the test of time – Queen, Pink Floyd, Abba and David Bowie. It was a seminal decade for pop music. The toys were just as good, Evel Knievel,  Barbie, Wonder Woman and the Chopper Bike. If we were tired of toys, a trip to the cinema to see Star Wars or Grease would do. Colour TV found its way into our living rooms in the early 70s to bring us Rainbow, The Wombles and The Muppets. The Six Million Dollar Man TV series was family viewing as was Dr Who with Tom Baker.

Change can be difficult but worth it. Changes in the 70s lead to the production of some of the best sweeties we enjoy today and the way we buy them. The Curly Wurly bar was launched in 1971. Skittles were introduced in 1974 and Popping Candy arrived in 1975, having being patented by an American chemist in 1956. 1976 saw the introduction of the Yorkie, Double Decker and Lion Bars.

I make the claim that you can tell someone’s age by the sweets they buy. Observation tells me that people continue to buy the sweets that they were buying at the age of 10 with their pocket money and first bit of independence.

The 1970’s jar is a carefully chosen mix of tastes and textures representative of that decade. Let these sweets take you back in time.

The decade of the 1960s is remembered for its fashion excess, sexual liberation and the success of British pop music around the world. Some would say that the ‘Swinging Sixties’ was probably the seminal decade of the century, from the point of view of changing people’s outlook on their own lives. ‘Youth,’ which had arrived in the previous decade, finally found its identity and developed a world of its own in which to live.

© Rob Horlock, “I Remember When I Was Young“.

The 60’s was a melting pot for the new and old, the sweets of the 40’s were still going strong, the 50’s had produces a vast new array of textures and flavours and now it was  time for the 60’s to stamp its mark in the sweetie world. Records are scant, but based on my opening statement it is possible to tell what was around during a particular time by what customers buy and thereby the 60’s selection was made. There are, however, some sweetie classics that the 60’s can own. The Caramac bar, having been invented in 1959, gained momentum and popularity in the 60’s.

Caramac is the brand name for a caramel flavored bar manufactured by Nestlé. Originally it was launched by Mackintosh’s (later Rowntree Mackintosh) in 1959. The name Caramac was derived from the syllabic abbreviation of Caramel and Mackintosh.

Likewise the Drumstick Lolly made by Swizzels Matlow in 1957 gained momentum and popularity in the 60’s. It came about by accident when Trevor Matlow was experimenting with a wrapping machine and poured two flavours into the machine then added a stick – it worked! The Chuppa Chups lolly, known universally by the young and old, owes some of its popularity and iconic status to Salvador Dali who designed the logo in 1969.

While new introductions were being made, some of the oldies were immortalised for ever by television. “Don’t forget the fruit gums Mum!” If you were there you’ll remember The Beatles played their part in immortalising sweeties: George Harrison let slip that Jelly Babies were his favourite sweet. From there on at every concert the Beatles were bombarded with Jelly Babies. Apparently the Jelly Baby also got its belly button in the 60’s!

Sweeties had the Beatles on their side, but Roald Dahl’s contribution for sweetie marketing was massive. With the publication of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory in 1964 sweeties gained a much wider audience. Lickable wallpaper never made it onto the shelves but Rainbow Drops did (but they don’t make you spit in many colours),Luminous Lollies for eating in bed remain a good but as yet undeveloped product. What we do have today is the Willy Wonka brand. The Willy Wonka factory was first started in the late 1950s, when a small family-owned company started Breaker Confections in Chicago. In 1965 Sunmark Companies purchased Breaker Confections. The name was changed to Willy Wonka Brands in 1980, and to Willy Wonka Candy Factory in 1993. In 1988, the Sunmark Companies became part of NESTLÉ.

The 50s was a very exciting decade for sweeties. The war ended in 1945 allowing foreign imports to gradually grace our shores again and sweet rationing came to an end in 1953. Plentiful supplies of exotic imports led to an explosion of tastes and textures in the sweetie world. Coconut, chocolate – you name it, it was back, not to mention the 2 million tons of sugar made available from Cuba. Everything was in place for a sweetie makeover and indulgence to counter the austerity of the war years.

Jelly Babies were back! When invented to celebrate the end of the Great War, they were called Peace Babies. They dissapeared during WWII and came back again in the 50s with the new name of Jelly Babies. I once mentioned to a customer how I felt it was a shame that they were no longer called Peace Babies. Without hesitation she said that it would not be possible to bite the head off a Peace Baby!

Of course, all the old favourites of the 40s kept going but the increased choice of the 50s made sweetie buying a whole new experience. However, sweetie choice was only partly responsible for the new buying experience. ‘Self service’ was born in the early 50s and this marked the beginning of a new shopping concept that would change the way we buy our groceries for ever and lead to the ‘pick & mix’ we love today. We now helped ourselves.

Eye catching packaging and jingles were employed to help sell the ever growing array of products at our disposal. Marketing had arrived! The sweet industry is not one to miss a trick and it took advantage of new technology by advertising Murray Mints during the first ever commercial TV break in 1955

Murray Mints, Murray Mints,
The too good to hurry mints.
Why make haste when you can taste,
The hint of mint in Murray Mints?
Murray Mints, Murray Mints,
The too good to hurry mints

Love Hearts were made in 1954 so all that sweet talk can be traced back to that moment of genius that Swizzles Matlow had. Today over seven million love hearts are made every day with 134 different messages. Flying saucers, although invented in the 40’s, started to gain popularity in the 50’s. Spangles, invented in 1950 and loved by many, became a member of the Sweetie Graveyard list in 1980 due to a perceived decline in sales – can’t be true!! Parma violets, the sweetie we love to hate, were first introduced in 1947 becoming readily available in the 50s.

Love Hearts were made in 1954, so all that sweet talk can be traced back to Swizzles Matlow and that moment of genius. Today over 7,000,000 Love Hearts are made daily, with 134 different messages. Flying saucers, although invented in the 40s, started to gain popularity in the 50s. Spangles, invented in 1950, became a member of the Sweetie Graveyard in 1980 due to a perceived decline in sales – can’t be true!! Parma violets, the sweetie we love to hate, were introduced in 1947 and became readily available in the 50s.

The 50s are remembered for many things as well as sweets. Children skipped and played hopscotch in the streets and sneaked on to old bomb sites to play war. Streets were safer with fewer cars and the phone boxes worked (Press Button A). Television brought the Coronation to the masses in 1953 but it did not get off the ground until the 60s so children continued to rely on toys and the wireless for entertainment. Jacks, tiddlywinks, Meccano, dolls houses, wind up toys and Dinky Toys were must-haves, and Listen With Mother was a date with the old valve radiogram.

Music was having a revolution. Elvis Presley or Chuck Berry might have been played on gramophone records or listened to under the bedclothes. Tuning a matchbox crystal set to Radio Luxembourg or the American Forces Network was the teenagers’ choice.

The diet of the 50s child included sweets bought with ‘old money’ but there was more. Bread and beef dripping, spam fritters washed down with Gold Top milk was considered good healthy eating. Home grown veg. was normal. Meals were serious affairs with no elbows on the table and you had to ask to ‘get down’.

Clothing had a makeover. Cheap jeans (“Tesco Bombers big and strong, for half a sixpence you can’t go wrong”) and itchy ‘home knits’ with leather patches on the elbows were the standard clothing until manmade drip dry fabrics appeared. Then in the late 50s American imports came, transforming teenage fashion and maybe held partly responsible for the social revolution of the 60s.

I make the claim that you can tell someone’s age by the sweets they buy. Observation has told me that people continue to buy the sweets that they were buying at the age of 10 with their pocket money and first bit of independence. Enjoy your sweets!