Sweet Treats!

Forty-four years ago today; 15th February 1971, the UK was decimalised! I would have been eight years old then and vividly remember going to the local shops with my sister. I bought a packet of cherry Tunes and the shop keeper asked if I would like my change in new money or old. New of course! It was very exciting 'though I can only hope that I had a bad cold at the time, buying something as boring as Tunes! In those days I would have had the choice of Opal Fruits to make my mouth water, a finger of Fudge which was just enough, a Big One which stuck out a mile or Fruit Pastills which I would have had to put down or pass around. I would have known all this just by watching TV. Equally, I could have bought Trebor Mints which were a minty bit stronger and stuck them up somewhere to make them last a bit longer! I would have known this from the songs in the school playground!

In those days my sister and I each chose just one chocolate treat every Saturday. Hers would, invariably, be a Picnic and mine a Crunchie. Nowadays there is a vast array of sweets and chocolates available, 'though rarely advertised on television, presumably for health reasons. I have a very sweet tooth with a particular fondness for chocolate. So much so, in fact, that when doing a supermarket shop when my own children were younger, the checkout girl asked if I was having a party! Being the advertising man's dream that I am, I had simply stocked up on everything that was on offer! BOGOF was my mantra.

This week sees the start of Lent hot on the heels of Pancake Tuesday. I once gave up pop 'n' sweets 'n' crisps 'n' buns for Lent but made (and ate) copious trays of flapjack as a substitute. This year I aim to give up sweets although Marks and Spencers have brought out a range of vegetarian jelly sweets using pea protein rather than animal gelatine. This is good news for Vegetarians who generally have to avoid jelly sweets. However, the names of the sweets do rankle a little - Percy PIGS and Colin the CATERPILLAR!