Читать книгу Christmas Dodos: Festive Things on the Verge of Extinction - Steve Stack - Страница 14

In 21st Century Dodos I wrote about a number of sweets and confections that had been hugely popular in days of old but are now frowned upon, or even banned, due to their connection with smoking. Even though there is not one shred of evidence that candy cigarettes, liquorice pipes or sweet tobacco encouraged anyone to start smoking the hard stuff when they were older they are now as hard to buy in your local newsagent as Spangles, Pacers or copies of The Dandy.

I was unaware, until it was mentioned to me by author Jonathan Pinnock, that there was a remarkable Christmas variety pack of such delights known as the Chocolate Junior Smoker’s Kit. It came in selection-box style packaging and consisted of five cigarettes, two cigars, a pipe, a box of matches and an ashtray, all of which were made of chocolate! Its existence has almost been completely forgotten. Try googling it and you’ll see how few entries come up, and most of these are just passing references. There is, however, one rather grainy photograph of an original box with its contents intact, which may well prompt a sudden wave of nostalgia from fake smokers in their 40s and 50s. It appears to be the only image of the kit anywhere on the Internet.

Suggested by Jonathan Pinnock

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