Casa Rosales

Casa Rosales

Wednesday 28 August 2013

The Confectioner's Vegetable Colours & Fruit Essences Co. Ltd.

They had snappy business titles back in the '50s, don't you think?

I was digging around in my 'chocolate box' (it has not chocolates in it, but has lots of bits that belong to my chocolate making indulgence) and I came across something I wanted to share. It's the remnants of the old mould catalogue that my Grandpa had when he first began making chocolates.

My grandpa had a sweet shop in a little village called Thornton near Bradford. Somewhere, there's a beautiful photo of him holding me as a little girl outside this shop and whilst I was too young to remember it being taken, it is a precious photo because it captures what was always a lovely relationship between us. I was so fond of my grandpa...

I've included this letter because I did try and find the company again when I started making chocolates myself...but to no avail. Can you remember four digit telephone numbers? As I grinned at the idea of anyone now being able to answer 'Chiswick 2672', a distant memory stirs as I remember our grandparents' telephone number - 'Thornton 3056'.


The following are pages from this catalogue, though I can't tell you if it's the 'readjusted' version or the original one. It's great to see which moulds my grandpa chose - which I still have - and also which ones he didn't choose!

Enjoy a browse - and imagine all of these were designed to produce a chocolate figure....some of them would not take my fancy at all!



I have the toadstools, bottom left, from this page.

Nothing here took his fancy...who on earth would want number 57?


We have 'mad bunny in car' - top left who is one of my favourites to make at Easter.

Not sure why he chose the bunny on the egg, top right. It's not one I'd have picked.

My favourite March Hare.
We have the one at top right - though bottom left looks a handsome chappie too.
The motorbike is fantastic - I'd have loved him.

We have the top left, bunnies round an egg mould and the bunny with an egg in the car, in the
middle of the photo - in two sizes, no less!

So glad that none of these appealed...


And from a different catalogue, I have some more moulds. These pages were too big to fit into the printer properly but you can get an idea of the choices available. Again, some are great and others are downright odd!


From this page, I have the pocket watch and - only just visible at the bottom of the page - the rhinoceros.



These are all moulds made of metal and haven't survived as well as the others, which are made of a clear rigid plastic, called 'Plexiglas'. I have the Santa, the Sailor and the Policeman but can't use them any more - I'd have health and safety after me!



The lion and the little bird at the bottom are the ones we have from this page - again, I don't use them for making any more but would be very loathe ever to part with them!


My grandpa did choose the pocket knife but happily, no guns. We had too the wristwatch and train. I can't tell the difference between this pocket watch and the other, but we had pocket watches. 


It's a shame that I can't use these metal moulds anymore. They are so redolent of the period and have lovely details. But as they are made from metal, some of them have rust spots now. When I first got them, I did use them, but that's twenty five years ago and even then, they didn't always turn out easily. They have spent too much time in storage recently to ever be of real use again. I have considered making silicone casts of them - it might not result in the best copy but I may think about it. Alternatively, I may continue to buy a couple of new moulds each year which are made from an excellent material - polycarbonate - which allows the chocolate to set and release beautifully.

I feel very lucky to have such a wonderful collection of moulds. I don't know if they are of any real value - obviously to me they have a huge sentimental value and I wouldn't part with them - but I am so pleased to have these old documents and catalogues in my possession, as well as the selection of chocolate moulds that my grandpa purchased from them over 50 years ago.












17 comments:

  1. These are wonderful...do make casts. It would be lovely to have them in use again.
    I particularly liked the mad bunny in car.

    I have rollers for German gingerbread biscuits and moulds for Belgian ones, given to me by one of my husband's great aunts...very rarely used - though now I feel the urge following your post - but I keep them in good order against the day...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mad Bunny is one of our very favourites..he's a nice size too so a good alternative to an Easter Egg! I must investigate making casts - apparently it's not too difficult. Famous last words...
      I'd love some biscuit rollers, Helen. In fact an urge to 'collect' is beginning to take hold. Couldn't we have a wonderful 'making session' if we could get together?
      Axxx

      Delete
  2. Fantastic! It would be good to see some chocolates made in the moulds.

    I remember my grandad buying me some chocolate pipes form a sweet shop in Abergavenny. I loved them because he smoked a pipe...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I can (and do) make chocolate cigars and they always proved very popular but never had a pipe mould. I notice there was one available but it wasn't my grandpa's choice - strict Methodist, he was and didn't indulge in weed or alcohol. Just chocolate!
      Axxx

      Delete
  3. They are beautiful Annie. Is there anyway you could display the metal ones that are not fit to be used for actual use anymore. I can imagine a spectacular framed piece, with the 3D moulds emerging from the wall. having the paperwork to go with the first catalogue is great too...what wonderful wording.
    Clearly, as the temperature cools, you are starting to think of the things you will be able to do. Christmas in Alcala could be very chocolaty this year. Jxxx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think we may have a mini-project to do together whilst you're here, Janice! I do hope you're not expecting a relaxing, conversation-only break with us...we have much planned and just about room to squeeze a spectacular framed piece in to the time I have you with me!
      There will certainly be a lot of chocolate in Villalobos this Christmas... Axxx

      Delete
  4. Wonderful trip down memory lane, lovely to have the original catalogues and moulds, rather like Janice's idea of mounting the moulds, an original for the kitchen wall perhaps.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, Janice's idea is excellent and I can imagine it myself now. I've been picking a spot on the kitchen wall for it to fit. Although many of the moulds are no longer usable, I still have lots that are so will be busy this winter.
      Axxx

      Delete
  5. Such a wonderful collection you have, Annie; fit for display even if some are not useable for consumption, but, Janice has a great suggestion. I'm reading this early in the morning on a very hot midwestern day - and craving chocolate.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm very pleased with them, Penny, and will definitely be putting Janice's idea into action. I'm hoping she'll help me too...
      A cool chocolate milkshake or some mint chocolate ice-cream might be rather nice on a hot midwestern afternoon - not sure about early morning though. I actually like making chocolate more than I like eating it!
      Axxx

      Delete
  6. These are fantastic, Annie. No wonder you treasure your grandpa's collection. They are a glimpse into another world, both the moulds and the supplier's stationery. If you could manage to make your own moulds from your grandpa's metal ones, you'd have something very different to offer.

    As for phone numbers, when DH and I got our first phone in 1977, it had a three digit number - 626. :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Perpetua - I am delighted to have them for a number of reasons. I think I'd find them really interesting even if they hadn't been my grandpas, but I treasure them the more because he had kept them too. I've been looking into the possibility of making silicon moulds from the metal ones - it should be possible. A three digit number is incredible - and 1977 doesn't sound all that long ago, does it?
      Axxx

      Delete
  7. Oh, they're wonderful! I so hoped you were going to say you had the motorbike though. And pig rather appeals to me, it would remind me not to be too piggy when eating chocolate!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thought they might appeal, Annie! I'd have loved that motorbike one - lot of chocolate in it too! A pig-loving friend also thought no pigs was a dreadful oversight. Perhaps my grandpas didn't want to emphasis the piggy connection in case people decided not to indulge...
      Axxx

      Delete
  8. Super vintage designs, Annie - people do collect these metal moulds for decorations ( rusty metal is very "in" at the moment!)
    Every child's dream - a Grandpa with a sweet shop!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Aren't they great? I'm glad to hear rusty metal is 'in' somewhere, though I'm not sure why!
      Yes - as a child, having a grandpa with a sweet shop was fantastic. As a teenagere, having parents with a fish and chip shop was not quite so great...
      Axxx

      Delete
  9. I'm looking for a rubber sweets mould. Patent 6275. No. 48. Is it available?

    ReplyDelete

I welcome your comments - it makes blogging even more fun to know someone is reading!