A Potted History of Sweeties

While sweets as we know them today may have only been around since the 19th century, the truth is that we have always had a sweet tooth. Honey has been eaten for centuries, and in the Middle Ages, people were extremely fond of sweetmeats, marzipan and nougat - if they could afford them.

Indeed, early in the history of "sweet foods", the poor very rarely ate anything sweet unless it was flavoured with honey - it was only the rich who could pay for sweet food. The French loved their nougat in the 17th century, and let's not forget how much the Spanish loved chocolate when they happened upon it in South America. Chocolate did much to sweeten the collective teeth of Europeans, as it spread like wildfire throughout the continent. It was not, though, until the 19th century that Europeans decided to eat chocolate - it was a drink. Not just hot chocolate as we know and love it today, but a rich, smooth drink that was drunk like an espresso - and still is today if you visit Italy.

However, it was the industrial revolution - and cheaper sugar - that brought about the sweets we know and love today. The fact that sweets were no longer handmade meant that they could be mass-produced in factories, and the very first sweets included boiled sweets, marshmallows, and one of the very earliest was Turkish delight. This move over from hand-made to factory-made sweets meant that the poor got easier access to sweets - they were available en masse to the public for the first time.

Seaside rock was invented towards the end of the 19th century, along with Jelly Babies, liquorice allsorts and that fairground favourite, Candy Floss. Gradually, these sweet treats started to be associated with holidays. The Easter Egg was invented - proving that the association between Easter and Chocolate is nothing historical at all - and the 20th century saw an explosion in chocolate-based confectionery.

Crisps are a relative newcomer to the market, starting in 1960. Today, crisps and sweets are everywhere, crowding supermarkets and high streets alike, as old-fashioned retro sweet shops line up in towns around the country. Even with the demise of Woolworths in the UK, the Pick n Mix still proves incredibly popular. As health practitioners continue to tell us, sweets are bad for our diet, but the place of the sweet is more in nostalgia - nostalgia for the sweets of youth and the times associated with them. This means that the chocolate bars of the 70s and 80s have made their comebacks, a la Sinatra, with Facebook campaigns alongside innovative marketing.

Today, Pick n Mix merchants are moving online - with a greater access to a wider range of sweets, people are attracted by the possibilities and the greater focus on what they want. One thing is for sure, though - that our sweet tooth is not going to disappear just yet.

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