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Tracey Horsham asks (Nov.02)
I'm
attaching a picture of a Maison Lyons
Toffee tin. Hopefully someone may be able
to shed some light on it for me please. It
is the same tin, with the lid next to it.
The piece with the bars on it slots over
the other, and then you can twist it
around and see all the different animals
behind the bars.
Reply
by Peter Bird:
There
is not very much to say about this except
that the product was sold in the Lyons
up-market restaurants known as Corner
Houses. These Corner Houses (there were
only four in London: Coventry Street,
Strand, Tottenham Court Road and Marble
Arch) had large shopping areas on the
ground floor where high quality food could
be obtained (hams, hand-made chocolates,
wines, fruit, biscuits, coffee, tea etc).
Your tin appears to be a 2 lb tin
(possibly 3 lb or 4 lb) and it would have
been purchased before the start of the
Second World War, about 1936/7. A 2 lb tin
cost 2/- which was quite a lot for working
class people at that time. In fact working
class people could not afford to shop in
the Corner Houses. In today's money this
would be 10p. The toffee was made at the
J. Lyons confectionery factory at
Greenford in Middlesex and was sold to the
retail trade in smaller quantities. The
bakery salesmen with their horse-drawn
vans also sold to the public direct. I am
sorry not to be more helpful but hope that
these few comments will help. Some detail
of the Corner Houses can be found on the
Lyons website but you may want to obtain a
copy of The First Food Empire which
contains more information.
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Marjoke Rozier (Netherlands)
(Sep.02)
I'm a
collector of teabag-wrappers. By wrappers
I mean the paper or foil sealed printed
envelop around the teabag. I collect this
now 6 years and have more than 12.500
different teabag-enveloppes in my
collection. Now my question is can any of
your readers please help me obtain some
Lyons teabag-enveloppes for my
collection.
Mrs.
Marjoke Rozier - e-mail:
[email protected]
Distelvink 7
3738 SH Maartensdijk
the Netherlands
Mike Gardner asks (Sep.02)
I have
just purchased for £5 an album "Wings
of Speed" containing 24 cards
depicting "50 years of Air speed Record
Breakers". These cards were presented free
in Lyons Tea Packets. Do you know when
these were issued? The original price on
the album is sixpence. There are a couple
more in the shop - one on ships and one on
Australia.
Reply
by Peter Bird:
In
the trade these are known as Trade Cards
to differentiate them from Cigarette Cards
Lyons produced some 45 different sets of
cards dating from 1926 until 1979. The 48
card set of Australia is catalogued at
£4.00. Wings across the World at
£3.00. HMS 1902-1962 between
£2.50 and £4.00 depending on
whether they have descriptive backs. The
earliest set of Tricks and Puzzles (1926)
is valued at £250 catalogue. The
illustrated map of the UK is valued at
£23. international Footballers at
£110 and Star Trek £95.
Heather Jeynes asks (Sep.02)
I have a
Lyons Coffee maker which I think is quite
old. Its model reference is PSEL
and serial No 3887D271 and, according to
the metal plate on the back, was
manufactured by William Still & Sons
of Fellows Road, Hastings for J Lyons
& Co Ltd. I seem to remember these
from my childhood in station buffets - can
you tell me how old it is and if it has
any value?
I
know that all the Teashop tea boilers were
made by William Still & Sons but
that's a much bigger
thing.
Jackie and Graham asks: (Sep.02)
I think we
might be able to beat the last tin of
coffee (see Chris Hackworth). We have a
green tin priced at 1 shilling and two
pence. Also it has appointment to the late
king George V. The address is Cadby Hall
London W14. Have you any info on
this?
Reply
by Peter Bird:
The
Green Tin coffee was introduced
after the Yellow and Green type
(Chris Hackworth) but precisely when I
know not. The price of 1/2d obviously
dates the tin to prior decimalisation (15
February 1971). The royal appointment
which Jackie and Graham refer to is not
necessarily related to coffee. The J.
Lyons company were awarded the Warrants at
this time. It was certainly made at the
Greenford Factory, Oldfield Lane,
Greenford, Middlesex. It was a very
popular brand and is still produced today
in the same coloured tin. It is still one
of the better coffee brands on the UK
market. I do have an order form for the
Tea Division (their salesmen were
responsible for selling tea, coffee, and
other groceries) dated 1964 and it appears
on that.
Baldee asks: (Aug.02):
This
question was asked by my wife to me, but
after some thought I could'nt answer
it. What was the name an ice lolly from
the 60s or 70s it had a chocolate coating
over ice cream with a chewy toffee centre,
it probably was'nt even Lyons Maid
but it was the most popular make of
ice cream at that time. I would grateful
if you could clarify this matter as it
would help a of lot people get a good
nights sleep.
Reply by
Peter Bird:
I
suggest that he is probably thinking of a
range called Pick of the Pops. This was
launched on 17 June 1963 priced at 8d. It
had a combination of coffee and advocaat
flavours and was coated in milk
chocolate with biscuit pieces. Then
on 12 May 1969 Lyons Maid launched Luv, a
similar lolly to FAB. See page 242 of the
Lyons history. The First Food Empire. If
this is not the product then it was
probably a Wall's line. Fourteen new ice
cream were launched in 1972. Some targeted
at teenagers and others for adults. There
was the 'Angel'. A strawberry and vanilla
kreeme ice, half of it choc coated. The
adult hand-held ice creams were 'Dark
Satin' (vanilla ice cream coated in dark
chocolate at 5d), 'Nutcracker' (hazelnut
pieces in vanilla ice cream with dark
chocolate coating at 6d) 'Cornish
Treasure' (Cornish dairy ice cream with
super-fine dark chocolate coating at 7d)
and of course 'Caramel Gold'. This was
made up of slices of vanilla and caramel
ice cream with a light chocolate coating.
It was priced at 6d. Or could it have been
a children's ice cream launched in the
Spring of 1975 under the unlikely name of
Super Toffee Swisho. It was two thirds
chocolate ice cream with a toffee centre
and one third vanilla ice cream It sold
for 7p.
Eddie Thomas asks (July,02):
I wonder
if you can assist me with a little
challenge? My 84-year old father, whose
full name is Edward William Thomas, has
been telling us recently of how he was,
for a time, the smallest page-boy in
Britain when he worked at the Strand
Palace Hotel. This would have been around
1932, when he was aged 14 and measured a
whopping 3' 6.1/2''. The half inch was all
important, because six months later a lad
by the name of Johnny Maguire came along,
who was a mere 3' 6'' tall.
He tells me that one edition of a Lyons
magazine featured a photograph of the
Strand Palace Hotel doorman (who measured
6' 5'') together with my dad and his pal
Johnny Maguire. My dad was perched in the
crook of the doorman's arm, with his feet
just touching the top of Johnny's head. My
quest (which I haven't spoken to him about
as I'm not holding out much hope of
success) is to try and find a copy of this
photograph, or any other mementoes of
these long ago days. Fortunately, he
sprouted to a more reasonable height in
his later teens, and I certainly haven't
suffered, standing as I do at 6' 2''!!
Chris Hackworth asks:
I have
recently acquired a sealed tin of "Lyons
Pure Ground Coffee" priced at 1/8d for 1/2
lb, stamped on the bottom, of ground
coffee. There is a lead seal on the bottom
of the tin, a code which reads "MB5" on
the side of the tin, and a code which
appears to read "4111" on the base of the
tin, above the lead seal. It is in a green
tin with a black panel on the front, with
writing in mainly black and cream. I would
be most grateful if you could give me an
indication as to when the coffee was
produced, if it has any value, and if it
is drinkable. Thank you for your
help,
Reply
by Peter Bird:
I
have turned out a coloured photograph (a
bit faded) which depicts a Lyons 'Aroma
Sealed' coffee tin in green, black and
yellow. The background label is green. On
this is a black rectangle and printed on
the rectangle, in yellow lettering, is
'Lyons Coffee'. Between the words 'Lyons'
and 'Coffee', and printed in green is
'Pure Ground'. The black rectangle
has a yellow border. Underneath the black
rectangle, and printed in yellow, are
the words 'Aroma Sealed'. At the bottom of
the label, and printed in black, are the
words, 'Half Pound Net'. On the top of the
tin is a sardine-can-like key to open the
coffee tin. It is difficult to say
whether this tin has any value. To a
collector of these items it must have some
value but I doubt whether this would be
very high. In the UK you might get
£5-£10 I guess. The date of
manufacture is hard to estimate since no
factory production records have survived
(to my knowledge). If these were available
the numbers on the base may have given
some clues. The coffee was produced at the
Greenford Factory, Oldfield Lane,
Middlesex, England. I can say that it was
produced in about 1965. Certainly not
after 1967 as my photograph bears the
telephone number of the photographer.
This is given as Fremantle 7881. These
prefixes were changed to all-number
figures in July 1967. The coffee is
probably drinkable, providing the air
tight seal has not been broken. However,
it will be of more value if it is left in
'mint' condition. I hope this may be of
some help.
Robert
O'Fallon adds:
The
code 4111 printed on the bottom of the tin
refers to the packing date:-4th:day -
1st:week - of the 11th: month The year was
never shown.
Anna Ewart-James asks:
I am
working on a television documentary series
about Margaret Thatcher, and she worked in
the J Lyons laboratories in 1949 and 1950.
I would really like to find someone
who remembers working with Margaret
(Roberts) at this time. If, during
the course of your research work you find
anyone who may remember her, please let me
know. Many thanks and good luck with your
website,
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