Sweet Shop

Gethin Thomas
2 minutes ago
12 min read

A while ago, while visiting Babbacombe in Devon, I discovered a dream sweet shop which took me back to my childhood. It is a veritable grotto of bright colours and sugary scents from my past. Britain has an amazing history of sweets, in almost limitless forms, and many famous confectionary brands, going back decades, some even into the 19th century, and there are many familiar names here that people of a certain age will remember.

This is Lovell's Chocolate Box, in Reddenhill Rd, Babbacombe. When I first visited the shop I had the idea to return with my camera and make a post about sweets. So here I am, at this former butcher's shop in a Victorian seaside resort.

My first question, of course, was, are you Mr. Lovell. But no, this is Graham Andrews, founder of Lovell's Chocolate Box, who started this business about four years ago and named it in honour of his mother's maiden name. You never know what sort of response you are going to get when you ask if it is OK to take photos in a business, so I was relieved when Graham invited me in and let me click away happily.

The interior of the shop is stacked high with goodies of every description, including the classic wall of colourful jars of loose sweets we all remember. Those jars were made of glass until 1985. My memories go so far back that when I had chosen my particular favourite to be weighed out and tipped into a small paper bag, back in the day, not only was the weight a "quarter" not "100 grams" as it is now, but my small bag of sweets was also 4 pence, not £1.40.

My recent visit was triggered by a quiz I took part in, yes I am an avid quizzer. During that quiz, set by my friend Tom, one of the rounds was a sheet of photos of old sweet types, for us to name. I remembered seeing them all apart from one that looked like small jelly pints of Guinness, although I couldn't remember all their names. We scored well but it wasn't 100%. Here's one I missed, and although I remembered the sweets I didn't remember what they were called. These are Jazzies and of course while in the shop I had to buy 100 grams for Tom.

A pip is another word for a seed and these tiny sweets, below, are indeed the size and shape of an orange pip. Pips bring us to another traditional British confectionary manufacturer name, Dobson.

The home of the famous Yorkshire Mixture, Joseph Dobson’s is a fascinating story of a family owned business which has prospered to become one of the largest family owned confectionery businesses in England. The company continues to manufacture high quality boiled sweets and lollipops to traditional recipes meeting all the challenges of a 21st century market place but also still maintaining the ‘old fashioned’ tastes and traditions of the 19th and 20th centuries. dobsons.co.uk

"Pip" - (seed) originates from 14th-century Middle English pippe, shortened from pippin (Old French pepin), often referring to small seeds in fruits like apples or oranges, likely from a root expressing smallness.

"Pips" came up in the quiz although I hadn't remembered how many different "Pips" there were. The "Bon Bons" on the next shelf down were ones I remember well, particularly the lemon version, another point there.

"Bonbon" - (or bon-bon) originates from the French reduplication of bon ("good"), literally meaning "good-good". The term, originating around the 17th to 18th century, was initially a nursery word or affectionate term for small sugared sweets or chocolates, which later came to define small candies with fillings.

Nestling in the heart of the Westcountry is the ancient market town of Crediton. It is here, since 1932, the Bristow family has made an extensive range of products which are made from only the best ingredients under the strictest hygiene standards. Everybody remembers the wonderful taste of traditional bonbons. Suck away the sweetly sour sugar coating to get to the Devon toffee centre. bristowsofdevon.com

I was never a fan of liquorice but these were incredibly popular with those who did like it.

"Liquorice Allsorts" are probably the most iconic British sweet of all time, with their equally iconic Bertie Bassett cartoon figure made from Allsorts. Liquorice allsorts are liquorice confectionery sold as an assortment. Made of liquorice, sugar, coconut, aniseed jelly, fruit flavourings, and gelatine, they were first produced in Sheffield, England, by Geo. Bassett & Co Ltd.

We have Charlie Thompson to thank for "allsorts". Charlie was the stereotypical sales rep of Bassett's in 1899, who, when visiting a client in Leicester with his liquorice samples, tripped over and dropped them into a jumble on the floor. He hastily gathered them up and rearranged his sample tray as best he could while his customer became intrigued by the resulting mixture, which went on to make confectionary history. You'll be glad to know that mixing up the different patterns does not require them to be thrown on the floor anymore.

Bertie Bassett, is a figure made up of liquorice allsorts, which has become a part of British popular culture. The character's origins lie with advertising copywriter Frank Regan, who, in 1926, used the sweets and some pipe-cleaners to construct what was the original version of Bertie.

Bassetts of 1842, was swallowed up by Cadbury in 1989.

Daily News (London) - Wednesday 13 March 1935

"Rhubarb and Custard" was a popular boiled sweet named after a popular dessert. You can read all about rhubarb on my post Picked by Candlelight.

Rhubarb and custard sweets originated in the UK, likely during the early 20th century, as a boiled sweet adaptation of the traditional British stewed rhubarb and custard dessert. The sweets are based on the Victorian pudding, which became popular as sugar became cheaper and more accessible, making it a popular dish by the 1800s.They were designed to mimic the sharp rhubarb and creamy custard flavour combination in a portable form, often featuring red and yellow striped colours. No single inventor is credited.

The original Kola Cubes were created by the confectionery company Pascall in the 1940s. These iconic British red, cube-shaped, hard-boiled sweets were originally produced with a chewy, soft centre, distinguishing them from many modern, solid versions. Pascall sweets, originally a British confectionery brand established in 1866, have undergone significant changes in the UK market. While the historical Pascall's of Mitcham factory closed in 1970, the brand remains a staple in Australia and New Zealand.

Nougat, Fudge, and seaside Rock all came wrapped in crinkly clear cellophane. We've always thought of Cellophane as a plastic but how many of you knew it was "plant based" just like Deborah Meaden.

Made from regenerated cellulose in wood pulp and invented in 1908 by Swiss chemist Jacques Brandenburger it was yet another industrial accident. Jacques was trying to make a water proof coating for tablecloths to prevent wine stains when his attempted coating peeled off and he was left with a crisp shiny crystal clear film. It was the single biggest factor in changing our food shopping habits from manned corner shops where everything was weighed out by assistants, to self-service grocery stores and ultimately supermarkets, as food could be pre-packaged in a see through bag.

True cellophane is naturally biodegradable and can break down in soil within a few months, making it an eco-friendly alternative to traditional plastic.

Choosing from the jars, which sweet you were going to have, was always exciting and tragic at the same time, because picking one always ruled out all of the others. There was also the dilemma of choosing something new, what if you didn't like it? Play safe or be daring?

As a kid, although packaging like this had the wow factor, these were for grown ups and way out of our league. The only time we might ever have sampled the contents of an actual Chocolate Box would have been at Christmas when mum might have had a box that we could sneak one out of.

"Chocolate Brazils" are another classic British sweet but again for grown ups. Chocolate-coated Brazil nuts, featuring whole nuts in thick chocolate, have long been a staple British festive treat. While they originated as a high-status treat in the 17th century when cocoa was first imported to England, a notable commercial launch was by Swizzels in the 1950s, which was their first chocolate product.

My Mum's favourite was Turkish Delight and I don't think, before she died in 2020, I had celebrated a Christmas for at least forty years without buying her a box. Although there are many varieties, she always favoured the traditional lemon and rose pairing.

Turkish Delight entered the UK in the 19th century, brought by travellers, (think of the Orient express), and popularized by Victorian-era importers, becoming a luxurious, exotic treat. It gained mass popularity in 1914 when Bristol-based Fry's launched the iconic rosewater-flavoured, chocolate-covered "Fry's Turkish Delight" bar.

Fry's have another claim to fame which is a good quiz question too. What is the oldest chocolate bar brand in the world?

Fry's Chocolate Cream, launched in 1866 by J.S. Fry & Sons in Bristol, England, is considered the world's oldest mass-produced chocolate bar. It was a dark chocolate bar with a fondant centre and is still manufactured today under Cadbury. Fry's also introduced the first solid chocolate bar in 1847.

The approach of Easter played quite a part in the displays on my visit, with bunnies, eggs and chicks aplenty. Which came first the chocolate egg or the chocolate chicken?

Once again Fry's led the way, producing the first hollow chocolate egg in 1873.

Much like Turkish Delight, Nougat has it's origins in the Middle East and spread to southern Europe before being imported into Britain in the early 19th century. The early 1930s saw the rise of mass-produced nougat bars, such as the Mars Bar, created in Slough, England, in 1932.

The usual version in Western and Southern Europe is made from a mousse of whipped egg white sweetened with sugar or honey. Various nuts and/or pieces of candied fruit are added to flavour and texture the resulting paste, which is allowed to harden and then cut into pieces for serving.

Eggs have been associated with Easter for over 1,000 years, with roots in early Christian traditions in Mesopotamia (dating back to the 2nd century AD or earlier) and ancient springtime fertility rites. They symbolize the resurrection of Jesus (the shell being the tomb) and were originally stained red, while the 13th-century English court already decorated them.

Another association revolves around fasting during the period of Lent which precedes Easter. Eating eggs was prohibited during Lent and the prohibition was lifted with the arrival of Easter.

Bunnies have been associated with Easter for over 350 years, with the earliest documented mention of the "Easter Hare" (Osterhase) in German folklore dating back to at least 1678. This tradition, originally involving a hare rather than a rabbit, began as a German Lutheran custom where the hare judged if children were well-behaved.

Being in Devon, fudge is de rigueur and never far from a sweet display. Fudge has been strongly associated with Devon for over 35 to 40 years through modern artisanal brands, with some local recipes and manufacturers tracing their roots back to the 1930s.

Seaside rock is a must have to take home from your holiday and a few years ago an elderly neighbour, Richard, would habitually say to us whenever we went away anywhere, "Don't forget my stick of rock". It was meant in jest but whenever we could, we always got him one.

I am not sure when cables arrived on the scene, but I don't remember them. They may be a regional thing, and I think they are probably an extension of the "Liquorice Bootlaces" that I do remember.

After a Google around it turns out I was right not to remember them as they are a relatively recent creation. Still considered a retro sweet which is making me feel old, they are from the early 2000's, so it's nice to see there are still new additions being made to the sweet displays.

They became highly popular in the early 2000s in the UK, often sold in large plastic tubs in corner shops. These sweets are distinct for being long, flexible, and having a powdery, chewy texture.

Liquorice bootlaces are thin, rope-like liquorice twists that gained popularity in the mid-20th century, with the earliest known reference appearing in 1952, according to the Oxford English Dictionary. They evolved from the longstanding tradition of manufacturing liquorice as long, chewable sticks or ropes, often produced alongside assorted shapes like liquorice allsorts.

There were also white chocolate "Jazzies" which were called "Snowies", another one we missed in the quiz.

Jazzies and Snowies are classic British bite-sized milk or white chocolate discs topped with multi-coloured, crunchy sugar sprinkles (nonpareils), originally known as "chocolate nonpareils." Popularized in the 1970s and 80s, these retro treats evolved from 17th-century French confectionary techniques, featuring a simple, nostalgic combination of milk chocolate and sweet crunch.

Nonpareil - "Without Equal": The name is derived from Middle French, meaning "not equal" or "peerless," indicating its status as a superior, intricate topping.

Here are two classics together, "Love Hearts" and "Parma Violets". I loved "Love Hearts" because they were compressed sherbet and I loved sherbet, even though I was not a particularly romantically inclined twelve year old. They were always for me and not for any amour. They are older than I am, being first produced in 1954 by Swizzels and have been modernised to include sugary emojis.

To this day I have not discovered anyone who likes "Parma Violets" but the fact that they have been making them for eighty years and they are still going strong attests to the fact that there are clearly many closet "Parma Violets" connoisseurs out there. I actually tried some recently, just to be sure and yes, I still think they are like eating miniature bath bombs.

I am reassured by this description that it wasn't just me. Known for their delicate, floral perfume, they are polarizing sweets that create a "love them or loathe them" reaction. They are another Swizzels speciality.

Founded in 1928 by Alfred and Maurice Matlow in London, Swizzels began by making jelly sweets before merging with David Dee in 1933 to create fizzy compressed tablets like Fizzers. Relocating to a former Derbyshire textile mill in 1940 to escape the Blitz, they pioneered iconic, enduring brands including Parma Violets (1946), Love Hearts (1954), and Drumsticks (1957). Swizzels

It's in the name "Sherbet Fountains", so of course these were one of my favourites. They have also been modernised, but in a way that keeps their iconic 1925 appearance. Yes, believe it or not they have been making these for 101 years.

Loose sherbet inside a tube with a piece of liquorice inside that was used to lick and coat with sherbet. This was the closest we got to buying something "interactive". You had to work for your sherbet. Of course, me being me, once the sherbet was exhausted the liquorice was discarded. Back in the day the black top was the liquorice stick poking out of the paper wrapper at the top. Now it is a plastic lid with a black top which mimics the liquorice stick, all carefully modified for modern hygiene standards, and no danger now of being coated in a cloud of sherbet when the whole operation went badly wrong.

Sugar mice were for girls. Sorry, you feminists out there but it's true, sweets were very gender based back then. Sugar mice are literally what they claim to be, sugar in mouse form. This was the prescribed way for little girls to lose their teeth.

Marzipan is another liquorice, so to speak, love it or hate it. I have always loved it. It is mainly associated for historic reasons with Christmas although like most things it is available all year round. This is a sweetmeat that goes back at least to Elizabeth I, and was one of her favourites. It is said to have originated in the Middle East and returned via the Crusades. In any case, wherever it originated it is now long established in most of Europe.

Sweetmeat is an old English term for a sweet delicacy, specifically fruit preserved in sugar, candied peels, or nuts, as opposed to actual meat.

I wonder if the marzipan disguised as small fruits relates to the lack of actual fruits in the middle of winter at Christmas time. Sweet things were lacking in the diet and therefore were considered an expensive luxury, a situation that didn't really start to change until the Industrial Revolution introduced cheaper ingredients in the 19th century, not to mention the lifting out of poverty of hundreds of thousands of new customers.

While shortbread dates back to the 12th century it wasn't until the 20th century that an unknown genius had the idea of coating it in chocolate. To be fair, coating anything in chocolate is a pretty ingenious and safe bet.

These were a new one on me but the packaging explains both in writing and in style that these go back to 1921. Things don’t change much here at Simpkins! The Original British Liquorice pellets under the Original Nipit brand, which was first used in the 1920s – Simpkins Aniseed Liquorice Pellets – the handy little pocket tin that contains some of the world’s finest liquorice pellets help clarify the voice, clear the throat and can help with annoying tickly coughs. Ideal for singers and speakers. alsimpkin.com

The jelly glasses of beer I mentioned earlier were actually called "Pint Pots" and I didn't see any at Lovell's although I may have missed them. What I did see though was something no child with his "Pint Pots" should be without and that is some tobacco to go with them. Real loose tobacco for adults is not seen so often today, but when I was a child my uncle and grandfather always "rolled their own" as it was called. They both had tobacco pouches that flipped open to reveal a fascinating little rolling machine that magically produced little white cigarettes, from the small paper squares and loose leaf tobacco.

As well as "Sweet Tobacco" and "Pint Pots" there were also sugar cigarettes. Life as a kid was just perfect back then.

Just to finish this post I have added a few shots of the shop itself to illustrate it's own history. Above the main window there is an integral D logo window air vent which stood for Dewhurst's the butcher. There is no glass in this big D as fresh cooling air was a characteristic of butchers shops.

Torquay Times and South Devon Advertiser - Friday 11 December 1931

There is another grill above the door for maximum freshness. The original frosted glass number of the street address and the tiled walls are still notable features. Interestingly Graham the owner, pointed out that all of these features also benefit the stocking of chocolate which needs to be kept cool.