Jelly Babies
 Bassett's jelly babies |
|
| Origin | |
|---|---|
| Alternative name(s) | Peace babies |
| Place of origin | England |
| Region or state | Sheffield |
| Creator(s) | Bassett's |
| Details | |
| Type | Gummi candy |
| Main ingredient(s) | Gelatin |
Jelly Babies are a type of soft confectionery that are shaped as babies in a variety of colours.
About
Jelly babies were launched by Bassett's in 1918 in Sheffield as "Peace Babies" to mark the end of World War I. Production was suspended during World War II due to wartime shortages. In 1953 the product was relaunched as "Jelly Babies". In March 1989 Bassett's were taken over by Cadbury-Schweppes.
Each Bassett's jelly baby now has an individual name and shape, colour and flavour: Brilliant (red - strawberry), Bubbles (yellow - lemon), Baby Bonny (pink - raspberry), Boofuls (green - lime), Bigheart (purple - blackcurrant) and Bumper (orange). The introduction of different shapes and names was an innovation, circa 1989, prior to which all colours of jelly baby were a uniform shape. In 2007, Bassett's jelly babies changed to include only natural colours and ingredients.[1]
There are currently several other brands of jelly babies, as well as supermarket own brands. A line of sweets called Jellyatrics were launched by Barnack Confectionery Ltd to commemorate the Jelly Baby's 80th birthday.[2]
Like most other gummi sweets, they contain gelatin. Jelly babies manufactured in the United Kingdom tend to be dusted in starch which is left over from the manufacturing process where it is used to aid release from the mould. Jelly babies of Australian manufacture generally lack this coating.
Jelly babies are similar in appearance to gummi bears, which are better known outside the United Kingdom, though the texture is different — jelly babies have a firmer outer layer and a softer, less rubbery centre, making them more similar to the American jelly bean or Belgian Cuberdon.
In Popular Culture
When Beatlemania broke out in 1963, fans of The Beatles pelted the band with jelly babies (or, in the USA, the much harder jelly beans) after it was reported that George Harrison liked eating them.[3][4][5]
In the British television programme Doctor Who, jelly babies were often mentioned in the early series. They became most associated with Tom Baker's fourth Doctor, who had a predilection for offering them to strangers in order to defuse tense situations, though the second, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth and eleventh Doctors also offered them up in different episodes. The Master in The Sound of Drums offers them to his wife aboard the Valiant.
Jelly Babies are briefly mentioned in the first episode of the Machinima.com series Clear Skies, as well as in Rick Riordan's novel, "The Serpent's Shadow."
Other
In 2009, a poll of 4,000 British adults voted jelly babies their 6th favourite sweet.[6]
A popular science class experiment is to put them in a strong oxidising agent and see the resulting spectacular reaction. The experiment is commonly referred to as "screaming jelly babies".
In Australia the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) stage a "Jelly Baby Month" campaign annually in May. [7] In May 2013 Australian singer Alison Hams wrote and released "Jelly Baby Song" for this campaign. [8]
References
- ^ "Confectionery giants cut use of artificial additives".
- ^ Martin, Nicole (18 March 1999). "Jellyatrics revive those sweet memories". Irish Independent.
- ^ "Letter reveals The Beatles' fear of jelly baby fans" Daily Mirror 15/05/2009
- ^ "George Harrison's 1963 plea: stop throwing jelly babies at Beatles" The Times 14 May 2009
- ^ "The secret life of jelly beans" LA Times 19 March 2008
- ^ Chris Irvine (27 August 2009). "Fizzy cola bottle named Britain's favourite sweet of all time". The Telegraph (London). Retrieved 1 April 2012.
- ^ http://www.jdrf.org.au/help-find-a-cure/jelly-baby-month
- ^ http://www.jdrf.org.au/s/media/jbm2013/jbm_2013_media_release_30_april.pdf
