Spangles

Spangles

Spangles were square boiled sweets, bought in a paper tube with individual sweets cellophane wrapped. They were manufactured by Mars Ltd in the United Kingdom from 1950 to the early eighties. They were distinguished by their shape which was a rounded square with a circular depression on each side.

Regular Spangles

The regular Spangles tube (labelled simply "Spangles") contained a variety of translucent, fruit flavoured sweets: strawberry, blackcurrant, orange, pineapple, lemon and lime.

Originally the sweets were not individually wrapped, but later a waxed paper, and eventually a cellophane wrapper was used. The tube was a bright orange-red colour, bearing the word "Spangles" in a large letters. In the seventies a distinctive, seventies-style font was used.

Over the production period many different, single flavour varieties were introduced including Acid Drop, Barley Sugar, Blackcurrant, Liquorice, Peppermint, Spearmint and Tangerine.

Old English Spangles

The Old English Spangles tube contained traditional English flavours such as liquorice, mint humbugs, cough candy, butterscotch and pear drops. One of the flavours was an opaque mustard yellow colour, and one was striped.

The sweets' individual wrappers were striped, distinguishing them from regular Spangles. The tube was black, white and purple, and designed for a more mature and specific clientele than the regular variety.

Mystery Spangles

At one point a mystery flavour was released where the wrappers had question marks on them and one was invited to guess the flavour. It is not known whether this flavour was ever officially revealed. Later, circa 2001, Starburst candy also included a mystery flavour. Starburst is also a Mars confectionery product.

Discontinued

Spangles were discontinued in the early eighties, and briefly reintroduced in 1995. There are many nostalgic references to them from children who grew up with them. Spangles are associated with the 1970s and they, like Space Hoppers, have become shorthand for lazy nostalgia, as in the phrase "Do you remember Spangles?" [ [http://arts.guardian.co.uk/edinburgh2004/story/0,,1281129,00.html Stewart Lee, Underbelly, Edinburgh | Stage | guardian.co.uk ] ] [ [http://www.sfdiplomat.net/sf_diplomat/2007/12/do-you-remember.html SF Diplomat: Do You Remember Peter Kay? the long slow death of the lowest common denominator ] ]

Today the Tunes brand is the only remaining relation of the Spangles brand, sharing the shape and wrapping of the original product. In the UK, Tunes no longer have the Spangles style packaging, and they are now lozenge-shaped.

In popular culture

Spangles were mentioned in the Kinks hit song "Art Lover". In 1977, British novelty pop band Lieutenant Pigeon released an instrumental single entitled "Spangles".

The Fall song "It's a curse" on the album "The Infotainment Scan" also includes a reference to Spangles.

References


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно сделать НИР?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • spangles — n. small glittering disks sewn on garments as decoration; any small sparkling objects span·gle || spæŋgl n. small glittering disk sewn on garments as decoration; any small sparkling object v. decorate with spangles, decorate with sparkles,… …   English contemporary dictionary

  • Spangles Muldoon — Spangles Muldoon, real name Chris Cary, was a radio broadcaster best known for his work on British offshore radio station Radio Caroline. Cary was a key figure in the British rock music radio revolution of the 1960s. He was born in Chester, U.K …   Wikipedia

  • Spangles (restaurant) — Infobox Company company name = Spangles Inc. company company type = Family owned fast food chain company slogan = Freshness made to order. Spangles, it just tastes better! foundation = January 1978 founder = Dale Steven and Craig Steven location… …   Wikipedia

  • spangles — Crystal structure on hot dip galvanized metals …   Dictionary of automotive terms

  • SPANGLES — …   Useful english dictionary

  • Sprinkle Spangles — was a short lived breakfast cereal by General Mills. It was introduced in the early 90s, alongside Hidden Treasures. The cereal was of star shaped pieces covered with multi colored sprinkles. The commercials claimed that they Spangled every angle …   Wikipedia

  • The Star Spangles — are a four piece punk band from Manhattan, led by vocalist Ian Wilson. Formed in 2001, they released an album called Bazooka!!! in 2003. Their most famous single is Which of the Two of Us is Gonna Burn This House Down? .After a falling out with… …   Wikipedia

  • Yorkshire spangles — Yorkshire spangles, s. Kanarienvogel …   Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon

  • span|gle — «SPANG guhl», noun, verb, gled, gling. –n. 1. a small piece of glittering metal used for decoration: »The dress was covered with spangles. 2. any small, bright bit: »This rock shows spangles of gold. –v.t. 1. to decorate with spangles: »The dress …   Useful english dictionary

  • Julia Hummer — mit Too Many Boys im Heidelberger Karlstorbahnhof, Mai 2005 Julia Hummer (* 24. April 1980 in Hagen) ist eine deutsche Filmschauspielerin und Musikerin. Inhaltsverzeichnis …   Deutsch Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”