Dudoos down town

[bamber 128]

For those Nottstalgians with a hankering for traditional sweets I noticed that a new shop has opened on Wheeler Gate. It's called The Barley Twist and they've got an excellent selection of those sweets you used to buy by the quarter.

I didn't go in but next I'll pop in and treat myself to a Midget Gem / Fruit Salad mix. Yummy.

[poohbear 1,360]

And for any of you who want the exact same sweets for half the price (yes half)and are in the Arnold area.... PM me anytime. eg.Chocolate limes,Peardrops,Menthol & Euc. 225gms.£1

Very pretty these Olde fashioned sweet shops...but damned expensive.

[Stan 386]

And for any of you who want the exact same sweets for half the price (yes half)and are in the Arnold area.... PM me anytime. eg.Chocolate limes,Peardrops,Menthol & Euc. 225gms.£1

Very pretty these Olde fashioned sweet shops...but damned expensive.

Was in Perth(W.A.) 2 days ago.Went into `the London Arcade'/Walk and there was a similar shoppe. My wife bought a 250gm.jar of Marmite,$15 !.What does it cost in the UK?Numerous jars of wonderous English sweets.

If you are ever in Australia,visit Perth -seems to be full of British migrants. I had a friend from school here until fairly recently-brought a touch of English culture to this barbaric land as director and Principal conductor of WASO(no Ashley and Firbeck,nothing to do with the bus system(which was in 3 parts in the city and completely FREE for all). (David Measham -RIP).

There is a magnificent Carillon on the Swan river esplanade next to a structure rather like the London Eye. The river is 4 kilometres wide a little further down,and well worth the price of a jar of Marmite to visit Fremantle by boat.

Twelve of the 18 bells in this tower came from London's St.-Martin-in-the-Fields church in Trafalgar Square as a Bicentenary gift to the people of Western Australia in 1988. Originally cast in the 13th century and recast in the 16th and 18th centuries, they were rung at the homecoming of James Cook after his voyage of discovery in 1771, after the Battle of El Alamein in 1942 and at the coronation of every British monach since George II in 1727.

See we are not quite as barbaric and uncouth as you think,even though the bells are a little older than the 1960`s ,Ashley.

[Ashley 288]

Marmite? £2.46 in asda, did you know marmite is made in New Zealand, whether same taste etc not sure? Can recall a couple of olde worlde type sweet shops, one used to be corner of North Gate and Rawson Street, used to visit on way to Noel St Swimming Baths, did some great "butterscotch tablets" (that was their name) only place I ever saw them, like a harder version of wine gums, whether or not you got a quarter pound for your 6d or not was debatable as his scales were hidden from view! think shop pulled down in 1970's? The other one I remember was later on Nuthall Rd near Melbourne Rd, little old lady type of place with all these wonderous old sorts of sweets, stood empty though still stocked for years in later days.

[poohbear 1,360]

The butterscotch tablets you refer to are still made...'Lion Brand' although the liquourice ones have always been more popular.Well flavoured sweets both of them,although 'Cherry lips' made by the same firm have nowhere near the flavour that they used to have.

The Nuthall road sweet shop if facing the library was for many years owned by McCarthy's...If over the road further towards the city it would have been Cooks (Burtons in the fifties)...she sold a large range of fudge and soft nougat made by Drapers who were then in West Bridgford.For some reason their products never really caught on in sweet shops but could be found on Agricultural shows,steam fairs,and the like.

The finest and best selling toffee in the country is made by 'Walkers' in wrapped sweet and slab form.

And the tastiest.... quality hand made boiled sweets are made by my brother, who's name shall remain anonymous on here.

Unfortunately at his age, and with no-one to take over, you will one day hear people saying..."Do you remember those sweets?......................

By the way did you know that Bovril (The name taken from bovine/cow) no longer contains ingredients from beef....I suppose it might upset somebody....

[Ashley 288]

yes that's them, and I now recall the lion brand, was going to mention the "black ones" but couldn't recall flavour, unsure whether liq or blackcurrant (and knew someone would jump on me if I made wrong choice) the latter shop was on same sid as the library another I recall nearby was Fords household goods etc, Another sweet I loved was like inch squares of "chunkie" esp if honeycombe had gone gooey! another one the rawson street shop sold was little round coloured ones like a smaller version of one of the midget gems that smelt very perfumed

[mick2me 3,033]

I'm sure there was a small sweet shop on Hartley road going down it was on the right just past Norton Street?

Glass helves in the window with those big jars of sweets with the plastic screw tops, that you bought by the quarter.

And of course, Facing was Barnetts sweet factory.

[firbeck 859]

Where does the word 'Dudoos' come from, I didn't quite get the title at first, then realised, it was an expression my old man used to use for sweets, he was born in a newsagents, printers and sweetshop on Mansfield Road, never heard anyone else use it though, I'm intrigued.

'Poohbears Dudoos', I like the sound of that.

[Beefsteak 305]

Can you get yoghurt out there Stan ???

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'Cause it's the only way you'll stand a chance of developing a culture

[poohbear 1,360]

Another sweet I loved was like inch squares of "chunkie" esp if honeycombe had gone gooey! another one the rawson street shop sold was little round coloured ones like a smaller version of one of the midget gems that smelt very perfumed

I take it you mean 'crunchie'...still available, chocolate covered or plain by a firm called Shoebury, ...and so are the 'Lion' perfumed gums.

Anyone remember the 1/2 penny liquorice sticks? rock hard and very strong tasting..you finished up with black lips and mouth.....used to love the chewing wood too,part of the same liquorice plant,used to chew on it till all the flavour had gone.Still obtainable mostly in health food shops.

How about the 'Beech nut' chewing gum machines fixed on the wall outside every sweet shop/newsagents...Can you imagine nowadays?...the local yobs would rip them off the wall the same day.

Ernies sweet shop on Hartley road was run by his wife for years...he was the foreman over the road at Barnetts.

'Dudoos' is still a word I come across all the time,but only aimed at toddlers...like pap pap for car or bobbo for horse.No idea where it comes from but it seems to be Nottinghamshire based.The only other meaning for the word I've come across is the ugliest potato in the bag?????

[Limey 242]

By the way did you know that Bovril (The name taken from bovine/cow) no longer contains ingredients from beef....I suppose it might upset somebody....

It did - so they put the beef back in 2006!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bovril

[poohbear 1,360]

Didn't know that...I'll buy it again.

Bought the 'new improved' one years back and didn't like it...couldn't beat a bovril on a cold winters night..makes a change from tea and coffee.

[firbeck 859]

Some good memories there Poohbear, that really hard liqurice was fantastic, it was a stick about 4 inches long with a flat stamping on the end, our Mr Oscroft used to sell it ( Bip might remember him ), you could leave it stuck in the side of yer gob for ages, ending up with brown dribble down your chin that you didn't notice till you got home and your mum gave you a b@ll@cking for looking a 'disgrace'. Same with 'Spanish Root' as we used to call it, I don't know why, as it probably came from Pontefract, you could buy a couple of sticks of that and they'd last for hours, apart from Oscrofts newsagents, I'm sure that a health shop in town on Drury Hill used to sell it, we'd get a few sticks on the way to do a bit of trainspotting at Weekday Cross, it looked like sawn off twigs of willow, but tasted rather better.

My mates mother used to work at Barnetts so we never went short of sweets, I seem to remember that she was allowed to collect the ones that had fallen foul of the wrapping machine so they tended to be a bit of a sticky mess in an equally sticky big paper bag, yum. Didn't they do a cough sweet that was almost as eye watering and unpalatable as the original Victory V's.

Beech Nut chewing gum machines, great, I'm sure they were 2d a deal, then you turned a gnurled handle and hopefully it fell into a little tray, if not, the machine got a thump, but thats as far as it went in those days. Same with fag machines, how long would they last now.

During metalwork classes at school we used to manufacture half crowns, slot machines weren't very sophisticated in those days, as long as it was the right diameter, which we cut on the lathe, had a gnurled edge and was more than heavy enough, the fag machine outside the shop at the top of Hockley would deliver a packet of 'Bennos'. One day my mate jammed the bloody thing and the shopkeeper came out to see what the fuss what about, while we were crapping ourselves, being only 14 unall, my mate went inside the shop and got a half crown refund, cheeky sod, I don't know how he got away with it, what made me laugh was that the shopkeeper never asked us the question as to why we were buying fags from a machine when the shop was open.

The other unanswered question was why, Mr K......., our metalwork teacher, gleefully let us go into full production during a lesson, I can't believe for one minute that he didn't know what we were up to, but he was an interesting man, with distinct and apparently fullfilled urges towards some of the 6th form girls, but thats another story.

[sussexred 25]

Beech Nut chewing gum machines, great, I'm sure they were 2d a deal, then you turned a gnurled handle and hopefully it fell into a little tray, if not, the machine got a thump, but thats as far as it went in those days.

Didn't you used to get 2 packets every 4th turn?

[Ashley 288]

if you drilled a half crown and tied fishing line to it you could get fags then pull it back out, till it jammed! then machine didn't work, whether it was the frustration of that or a planned job I don't know but same night a bloke attacked it with a hammer and emptied it! as regards Mr K, better the girls than the boys! !laughing!

[firbeck 859]

I also heard in those dim and distant times that somebodies Lambretta TV 175 key happened to fit all the STD phone cash boxes in Nottingham and he got rich in one night, I don't know how he palmed off all those sixpences though.

I wonder if metalwork students around the UK have worked out a method of ripping off those change machines that you find in Tesco's, I chucked a load of stuff in there once and found it very discerning, it certainly had no appetite for Hungarian Forints, at a current exchange rate of about 300 to the pound I'm not surprised.

I thought that the internet resolved everything, I can't find a picture of a Beechnut vending machine anywhere though, but if you Google it, there's a really interesting diatribe about the impact of chewing gum and US troops on the UK population during the war, it seems that Beechnut chewing gum originated in New Jersey, I bet knowing that made your day.

Incidentally, what are your favourite dudoos, I love Maynards Original Wine Gums myself, followed by Bassetts Liqorice Allsorts, I used to be quite keen on Nutthalls Mintoes, do they still exist.

What happened to Victory V's by the way, I seem to remember that they contained morphine, ether and God knows what else, when I was at college I recall sad students who reckoned to get high by devouring several packets at a time, it must have made their gobs insensitive afterwards.

[Fynger 841]

I can't find a picture of a Beechnut vending machine anywhere though

Close ??

[loppylugs 8,429]

Anybody remember those Sherbert things? Sort of yellow tube containing white fizzy powder which you sucked through a straw made out of liquorice. I used to buy them from a little bakers shop in Netherfield down on Godfrey street. Also sold great Gobstoppers. Penny a piece. How we never choked on those things I'll never know.

Foxes, Glacier Mints were a favorite along with Bassets Liquorice alsorts. Kept you regular.

Always enjoyed those Candy cigarettes. Probably not allowed in these PC days.

Good memories!!!

[Beefsteak 305]

We 'found' !! a bag of washers that were exactly the same size as an old 10p piece, the fag machine and chocolate machine on the corner of Garden City got a battering I can tell you.

Favourite sweets??.....Those Jelly beans that taste like they should , Strawberry jam that tastes like strawberry jam, pear that taste like pear, Etc Etc, a bit expensive, but if you buy a mixed jar from Costco , they work out to about £12 a kilo

Sherbert fountains Loppy Lugs

[Fynger 841]

Can still get the sherberts....had one the other day....seem so small now tho....a bit like 'Wagon Wheels '...I remember when they were big enough to fit Wagons ( try a wagon wheel cob....folk think youve got a burger ( let em have a bite )) ( suprise ha ha )

[Limey 242]

Favorites you ask? In no particular order:

Bassetts (only) Liquorice Allsorts

Pear Drops

Acid Drops (remember them - haven't seen 'em in many years)

Quality Street

Wagon Wheels (why are they so small these days?)

Walnut Whip (again, new ones are just not right - insufficient creamy stuff, and poor quality chocolate)

Victory V's

Smarties (no, M&M's are NOT the same)

Mars Bars (also seem to have shrunk)

Coconut Ice (also difficult to find of good quality)

I also like almost any Cadbury Chocolate product - fortunately most of them are available here these days and although sizes again seem to have shrunk, Cadbury quality seems as good as ever!

[firbeck 859]

Nahhh, Sherbert DIPS............

Buy one now and you'd be accused of shooting a line of coke!!

How about those wierd multicoloured flying saucers that contained the same stuff.

[Ashley 288]

yea, Mars bars used to be the same, Levi jeans actually made their pockets deeper to fit such! the ones I miss are the original "dear" dolly mixture, probably still get them (with the little hard ones and sugared hard jellies) but all I found is soft soggy ones, I'd be a bit wary of acid drops though, last time I had one I finished up in hospital, scary trip man!

[poohbear 1,360]

I've got the flying saucers..and peardrops..and acid drops,jelly beans.

Nuthalls mintoes long gone,my brother makes one that is identical..made with condensed milk..that's the secret... many mintoes made by other manufacturers have the same wrapper,but they are not the same without the right ingredients.

Posh dolly mixtures with the small square jap dessert in the mix are hard to get now.

As for Bassetts liquorice allsorts...they are not so good nowadays..bit dry...the ones made by Burtons the biscuit people are much more moist and tasty.

Quality Street mixture not what it used to be..Great Xmas pressy...but in 2007 the tin had 1.6 kilos... last year 1.3 kilos...same tin.. I think they think the public won't notice.If you have an old tin in your shed full of nuts and bolts and stuff, just notice the difference in size over the years.

Mars bars ARE smaller..

Victory Vs still available..

Candy cigarettes still made but without the pink end...so called candy sticks now..

Walnut whips now a cheaper version..originally 'Duncan Walnut Whips...then bought out by Rowntrees..and now Nestles.

Hasn't anyone heard in the press that Barratts sherbet fountains (Now owned by Tangerine Confectionery) are being produced in a resealable plastic tube because 'Elf and Safety' were concerned for child health with that soggy cardboard tube and sticky liquorice...funny how we 'aint all dead isn't it???

Pascal coconut mushrooms about the best on the market now..Marzipan Teacakes and Buttered Brazils available again but hell of a price.

Decent coconut ice is available but I can hardly look at it...Aged about 10 I nicked a quid off my Mum and spent it on a huge bag full...Dad found out and lathered me with a clothes brush, first and last time he ever thrashed me... haven't been able to eat coconut ice since...And I've still got that brush.

[Limey 242]

Poohbear - next time we come over I'll take you up on some Pear Drops and Acid Drops - Mary is addicted to Pear Drops (but she won't admit it)!

Great story on the Coconut Ice - I was drinking diet coke when I read it - you now owe me a new keyboard!