One of my all-time favourite sweeties as a child were Bassetts Jelly Babies. And I mean the original flour dusted version, not the more recent Maynards version. As anyone who is a regular reader to this blog might know by now is, most of my favourite things have came to me by way of my family. Jelly Babies are no exception. This particular love was gifted me by my gran, Mary Anne. My dad’s mother.
There are a few things I particularly remember about her with a fondness, and they were:
- Her love of pig-shaped piggy banks (she had dozens of them).
- Her proclivity for boiling a kettle on an old WWII paraffin stove she kept way too close to her armchair.
- Her prized roses, which were older than me at the time.
- And her love of Bassetts Jelly Babies.
She always had a crumpled bag of them at hand. A bag I was convinced filled up magically overnight, as there always seemed to be an endless supply whenever I visited her after school.
Of course my visits became a ritual. We would sit and chat about the day, I’d make tea for her, and we’d eat a jelly baby, or three, then I would help her in her tiny postage stamp sized garden keeping her roses in check. She would always give me a small bunch to take home for my mother, who adored the smell.
For me, the best part of these after school afternoon visit was, of course, seeing my gran, but also, the jelly babies. And so, long after my Gran had passed, I would buy a quarter pound of Jelly Babies every week to keep my connection to her, and keep those memories of her alive.
Fun Facts:
Did you know, Jelly Babies were invented in 1864 by an Austrian immigrant working at Fryers of Lancashire, and were originally marketed as “Unclaimed Babies”. By 1918 they were produced by Bassett’s in Sheffield as “Peace Babies”, to mark the end of World War I. Bassett’s themselves supported the “Peace Babies” name.
Also, more recently, I think it was the 90s? Bassett’s allocated individual names, shapes, colours and flavour to different “babies”: Brilliant (red; strawberry), Bubbles (yellow; lemon), Baby Bonny (pink; raspberry), Boofuls (green; lime), Bigheart (purple; blackcurrant) and Bumper (orange).
NaBloPoMo: 26/30
I know I’ve had them a few times, but they definitely weren’t common for me growing up. I remember my dad always received Licorice Allsorts at Christmas. Yuck. I saw a tin of them the other day, though, and it made me think of him <3
Food produces such powerful, enduring memories.
The original Bassetts are the best, I think Maynard does a version too but they’re awful. Oh, I love that your dad love liquorice Allsorts, but yes, they are an acquired taste. Nice though that that seeing them brought back memories of your dad. Food can trigger powerful memories.
I’m loving reading all these happy memories from your childhood. Isn’t it funny how we come to associate a thing so strongly with a person. My Grandad always had a big plastic jar, about 20 cm high, full of lollies in a cupboard in the corner of his living room. When we went there he always let us go to the jar and get something. Now my dad has a lolly jar at his house which all the grandkids love.
I think we all have one or two of these food related happy memories, Melissa. And I love how following generations have kept up the practise like your dad. How wonderful is that?
Cultural differences and all, read half this post until I understood that you were talking about candy. I was thinking about a toy first. Hah.
Ah, yes, I forget some of my readers are from other countries where English sweets may not have been sold. So yes, I was talking about British candies. 🙂
I love that you have those memories of her and that jelly babies bring you right back to them!
Just hearing the name, jelly babies makes me think of her and her rose garden, Kim. Happier times.
I had to google Bassetts Jelly Babies. I never heard of them… but what a sweet memory!
I think it’s a very British candy, not sure if they ever sold in America. I know you can get them in quite a few countries for ex-pats missing home. And yes, you could say they are sweet memories I have of my gran and me.