A chococolatey jigsaw

As readers of my previous blogs will know, sometimes the jigsaws I do prompt observations, even a  little research into the background of some of the themes of the jigsaws. So it is with the one I did yesterday. It was entitled. “Cadbury Heritage Collection” & involved a selection of chocolate/cocoa ads.

My first surprise was the ads were both for Cadbury’s & Fry’s chocolates/cocoa. I always assumed the two companies were quite separate until fairly recently & all these ads predate the Second World War. I was surprised to discover the two companies had started to merge as early 1919 according to Wikipedia.

My second surprise was seeing one ad depicting the Fry’s manufactory at Bristol.  The surprise was twofold. The first cause of surprise was that the factory was in Bristol. I somehow had it in my mind that the Frys, like the Terrys, were based in Yorkshire, not Bristol. The second surprise was the use of the word “manufactory”. It had never occurred to me that the word “factory” is essentially an abbreviation of what was a “manufactory” where things were manufactured, including chocolate & cocoa.

One of the ads depicts a military scene with the words “Our other ally” & “Fry’s cocoa. Navy & army contractors”. I found myself trying to work out during which war this ad was produced. My immediate thought was the Crimean. It has a very dated feel. Then it dawned upon me the soldiers were in khaki so it was possibly the Boer War. I’ve finally, just today, concluded it is the First World War as some of the men are dressed in the blue/grey tunics & red trousers of the French army of that time. This view is reinforced by the presence of the French tricolour alongside the British flag, and the French were our allies in that war.

My eyes stray to another ad. This time it’s for Cadbury’s Fruit Crêmes. I remember Fry’s Fruit Creams, but not Cadbury’s. Maybe the latter stopped making them after the merger with Frys. The variety of fruit shown is unusual too. There are strawberries, cherries & oranges. The Fry’s Fruit Creams, if I remember right, had strawberry, orange, lime, but no cherry.

My eyes stray to another ad. This ad has underneath the words “THE VICTORIAN GROCER. A picture advertisement, in which the stylish grocer’s shop of the seventies is recognised. The footman and the seated housekeeper suggest a West End clientele – or at least and Edgbastonian!” How’s that for snobbery? Reassuring maybe if you are from Edgbaston. I wonder if Edgbaston was mentioned as Edgbaston is near Bournville in Birmingham & where Cadbury’s chocolates are made. This ad is for Cadbury’s Cocoa Essence, whatever that is.

The staff behind the counter is smartly dressed in white shirts, with black waistcoats with gold fob watch chains, black tie. The scales are the balance sort that are the symbol of Libra astrologically. One man is patting some butter into an appropriate shape for the seated housekeeper.

Below is an ad for Fry’s Cocoa featuring a man climbing in what I presume is meant to be the Alps. His dress seems singularly unsuitable, with his spats & feathered hat. He dangles out from the cliff edge, supported only by his stick which is hooked into a crevice. On another shelf he had a little kettle on a camping stove & a tin of cocoa. In his other hand he has his large cup of cocoa. Much as I admit in early days you did climb in ordinary everyday clothes, this seems a bit extreme. As for the dangling it looks positively dangerous. I doubt the “Sustaining & Invigorating” effect of the cocoa would be of much help as he hurtled down the mountainside.

Then, on the other side of the jigsaw is an ad featuring a very black boy handing a very white girl a cup, presumably full of the Cadbury’s Cocoa the ad is promoting. Both the children are seated on a rug on sand(?). Presumably the black boy is emblematic of the tropical countries from which the cocoa originally came. But were the two races so friendly at this time? I would guess we were in the Victorian era. It would be nice to think they were. The black child is just that - black with slightly greenish highlights. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anybody that black, & certainly not with green highlights. Even the darkest of Africans seem dark brown to me.

The attitude to food nutrition seems different from today. One advert is for Cadbury’s Cocoa. I would guess from the fashions, this ad dated from the late Victorian/early Edwardian era. At the bottom of the ad there is a chart featuring the comparative value of foods. It compares Cadbury’s cocoa, raw beef & mutton, eggs & white bread for their “nitrogen (flesh forming)”, “carbon (heat giving)” & mineral qualities. In all categories cocoa outperforms the others. Apart from the minor detail, we would not test for nitrogen or carbon today – I would guess these would be replaced by protein for flesh forming & calories for heat – cocoa would hardly be regarded as a health food today. As a confirmed chocoholic I only wish it was! The rest of the ad shows three particular groups of people that would particularly benefit from having cocoa – children (“healthy body for a healthy mind”), sportsmen (for “muscular development”) & the elderly (for comfort”).

In the centre of the jigsaw is an advert with the simple words “Cadbury’s chocolate Made at Bournville”, surrounded by images of 6 women.  These women are labelled “The Tennis Girl”, “The Opera Girl”, “The Motor Girl”, “The Cycling Girl”, “The Yachting Girl” & “The Golf Girl”. All wear hair piled big on their heads. All wear hats except the one at the opera who has a tiara instead. The motor girl has her hat tied on with a scarf. Clearly these are the days before cars had roofs. I have visions of the old British film “Genevieve” and smile. The various sporting activities are presumably related to the athletic producing qualities of Cadbury’s Cocoa, mentioned in the previous advert. I confess my hackles go up at these obviously grown women being referred to as “girls”.

Many of the ads seem to stress that “genuine” Cadbury’s chocolate & cocoa is “Absolutely pure”. Presumably these ads date from a time when food contamination was common.

And finally one ad makes me smile. It is drawn in more comic style. You see the backs of six people looking into a shop window displaying Fry’s Chocolates. The slogan is “One touch of Nature makes the whole World kin.”  The people drawn represent various classes of society. So an old lady, dressed in shawl & raggedy skirt stands next to someone in Eton uniform, top hat & all. I’m suddenly reminded of Lord Snooty of Beano fame. I generally wasn’t allowed comics as a child, but we had friends who did regularly get them so often got a look in. For that matter it was one of the few good things about visiting the dentist’s. There was always a supply of comics in is waiting room. I can’t help smiling remembering the goings on of Lord Snooty.