The History of Sweets

Book excerpt: A chronicle of confectionaries throughout the centuries—from honeycombs to Haribo. “There is much to get your teeth into within these pages.” —Best of British Magazine We all remember sweets—objects of pure delight and the endless cause of squabbles, fights even, hoarding and swapping; a chance to gorge, suck, crunch, and chew. But they’re by no means just a nostalgic thing of days past, and it’s not only children who love and devour sweets—gobstoppers, bulls eyes, licorice, seaside rock, bubble gum, and the like; grown-ups of all ages are partial to a good humbug, or a lemon sherbet or two—in the car, (annoyingly) at the cinema or while out walking—wherever and whenever, the sweet is there, the sweet delivers and the sweet rarely disappoints. Sweets then are ubiquitous and enduring; they cross age, culture, and gender boundaries and they have been around, it seems, forever. This book tells the story of sweets from their primitive beginnings to their place today as a billion-pound commodity with its sophisticated, seductive packaging and sales, advertising and marketing. It explores the people’s favorites, past and present; but there is also a dark side to sweets—and this book does not shy away from the deleterious effect on health as manifested in obesity, tooth decay, and diabetes. It delves into sweet and candy shops in supermarkets and markets, retro sweet shops, fudge makers, vintage sweets online, sweet manufacturing, chocolate, the grey line between sweets and “medicines” ancient and modern. It goes round the world unwrapping sweets from different countries and cultures and it examines how immigrants from all nations have changed our own sweet world.