What might they have had for treats?
I've not really been following too closely the take over by the American food giant Kraft of the iconic British brand Cadburys, but when I read that Cadburys was 168 years old, that got me thinking that our great grandparents could well have eaten their chocolate and other sweets (assuming they might have been able to afford them). So I thought what other foods and brands were around then that we use every day and that they might have known about too?
Our ancestors would probably have been eating first the homemade jams and jellies of Baxters - originally a small grocery shop opened by George Baxter in 1868 in Fochabers, Moray. Today the company makes over 150 products ranging from preserves to chutneys to soups and condiments. Tomato ketchup became popular in the USA in the 1830s although Heinz didn't launch its brand until 1876. The spicy British HP Sauce was registered in 1896.
Several new biscuits were created in the 19th century including the Graham cracker invented in 1829 in New Jersey; the Garibaldi (popularly known as the "fly cemetery") made in 1861 by Scotsman John Carr working for Peek Freans; the digestive made by Huntley & Palmers in 1876; and the cream cracker first baked in Dublin around 1885.
Bovril was invented by a Scotsman who won a contract to supply cans of beef to the French Army in the 1870s. Yeast-extract Marmite, with Vitamin B, was introduced in 1902 and used in the 1st World War. Another Scotsman, Robert Barr launched Barrs Iron Brew in 1901. Now known as Irn-Bru it is billed as Scotland's favourite soft drink. William Kellogg patented cornflakes in 1895.
In 1828 Dutch company Van Houten developed a process for making cocoa powder which led to the consumptions of mugs of hot cocoa. In 1839 Indian tea became available in the UK for the first time - hitherto only expensive Chinese tea had been imported - leading to dramatic price reductions. In 1869 Henry Heinz formed a partnership to sell bottled horseradish. Business was reorganized in 1876, 57 varities slogan first used in 1892 and first foreign Heinz factory opened in England in 1905. Coca-cola was invented in 1885.
Condensed milk was developed in 1853 - partly because Gail Borden, the American inventor, was upset by the deaths of several children on his voyage back from a trip to England due to poor onboard milk quality. He wanted to find a way to keep milk fresh for longer without the need for refrigeration. In 1866 inspired by Borden, the Anglo-Swiss Condensed Milk Company was founded in Zurich to provide baby milk products for England and in 1905 the company merged to become Nestlé. Other chocolate companies include Rowntree of York who apparently were making the original Smarties in 1882 and Hershey in the USA who produced the first wrapped chocolate bar in 1900 - though such bars (unwrapped) had already been available for over fifty years.
This little quest, being done in real time, is turning out to be almost like how long is a piece of string! So if you are interested to look up things for yourself, then besides Wikipedia, the following sites might be useful.
http://www.foodreference.com/html/html/yearonlytimeline.html
Of course, given the grinding poverty of the times, then many of these products and sweeties would probably have been treats - if they had them at all.
In the process of looking, I noted that Scotsman Robert Pringle launched his knitwear company in 1815. So what else might our ancestors have used besides foods. I did buy a book a couple of years or so ago on what had been invented by Scots ("Scottish Firsts: a Celebration of Innovation and Achievement" by Elspeth Wills, 2002). And taking this further I have just come across a couple of web sites (there are more) which give a list of these innovations and reveal what was invented at the time of our great grandfathers and thus might have actually be used by them in their work - such as the Scotch plough, mechanized reaping and threshing machine, pedal bicycle, power looms, bleaching of industrial textiles and so on. There was also the telephone in 1876 - but this would have been a real luxury item.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scottish_inventions_and_discoveries
http://www.magicdragon.com/Wallace/thingscot.html
Interesting footnote: when looking for a suitable image for this entry, I remembered I had an old postcard showing chocolate or similar. On looking through one of my albums I came across a Milkmaid Milk brand one which depicts a facsimile of a sketch by a Chinese artist for the Anglo-Swiss Condensed Milk Co. What are the chances of that! It was posted on 17 Dec 1905 in Ramsgate, England.
Thursday, 28 January 2010
