Childhood Memories

This weekend has brought some heavy rains to Melbourne and also most of the state of Victoria. Our water storages are now approaching 50% average with rainfall up to 115mm in some areas. That's a good thing.
The rainy weekend however has limited the opportunity to get out and about to take any photographs for the blog so I thought I might just post some old advertisements relating to products that I remember as a child.
I also searched out a few commercials from the past. The scary thing is that I remember most of them. Just click on the "youtube" links.


Sennitt's Ice Cream no longer exists however the odd faded sign can still be seen around Melbourne's suburban streets if you look hard enough. Usually they can be seen on an old closed down corner milk bar.





Peters Ice Cream still lives on today, possibly because, unlike Sennitts, they did much television advertising in the 50s and 60s, sometimes sponsoring whole programs.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kyghsBReB0U



 


And of course there's the iconic Australian spread, Vegemite.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7Cb4143p9E&feature=related

 It's interesting to note that many of these Australian iconic products are no longer Australian owned and only a few of the names remain - certainly Vegemite still sits in our pantry. It even travels with us in a new toothpaste style packaging.

The Four' N Twenty pie was founded in 1947 in Bendigo, Victoria and was the favored food while watching Aussie Rules Football. It was usually coated liberally with tomato sauce so that on the first bite, the sauce and meat within would spurt out onto one's clothing. The company was another that was sold off to a Multi-National company however it has returned to Australian ownership now.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-i_YNX6mXq4&feature=related



Arnotts Biscuits joined forces with Brockoff Biscuits to hold off overseas interests but eventually the names Brockoff, Arnotts and Guests were taken over and another Australian business was lost.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gX3pGyOCTuo



Fags were sold in the local lunch shop across the road from my primary school in the 50s. They were made from (as the packet states) sugar, glucose, gelatine and other non-healthy ingredients but we did feel cool pretending we were smoking. Oh! I forgot to mention, Fags were in the shape of a cigarette.
I still don't understand the concept of two young children sprinting up what seems to be a yellow brick road, hungry for a packet of Fags.
I believe they are still sold today but under another name - Fads, I think.




The Hoadley's Violet Crumble bar was introduced in 1913. Hoadley's later became Rowntree Hoadley before being acquired by Nestles. As a teenager I remember going to watch the "Hoadley's Battle of the Sounds" a national pop band competition. The Violet Crumble is still sold today and I still enjoy them.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mF1t5qDwZcM&feature=related

  It's sad to see some of these products no longer Australian owned however the world has become smaller and many overseas products now sit on our supermarket shelves. Foods that many decades ago were only known to our "New Australians" are now common place on the dinner table.

Just as a side issue - hasn't advertising changed since then? Even our terminology has changed, words and themes that would not even be considered now.