Peanuts In The 1950S

[bainbrig]

Older ABers - do you have any recollections of peanuts in the 50s?

I remember freshly-roasted peanuts for 6d a bag in Romford Market, and horrible peanuts & raisins covered in soapy chocolate.

B

[dannyk13]

Yep remember both those.

[dannyk13]

I remember that the roasted peanuts were smothered in salt.

[hc4361]

Were the chocolate covered ones in a box and made by Paynes?

[dannyk13]

hc. I think they were a KP product.I remember Paynes Chocolate Brazil Nuts,

[bainbrig]

Yes, box at Xmas - and the chocolate really was soapy!

[hc4361]

I'm thinking of the little boxes - Paynes Poppets, maybe?

[dannyk13]

Yes, I remember Payne's Poppets.I believe they are now manufactured by Fox's and still available.

[New Judge]

The governor (Bruce was his name, I seem to recall) of a central London pub I used to frequent in the 1980s/90s always used to get two or three sacks of peanuts (in shells) every Friday lunchtime. He placed them in large dishes on the bar and around the pub. The drill was that you ate some of the nuts and ground the shells into the floor (an old bare wood job, none of those poncey carpets). By 3pm (we had a decent break for refreshments in those days) the entire pub was two or three inches deep in ground up peanut shells. Happy days!

[murraymints]

NJ The emporium in Green Lane did that..knee deep in shells almost..think it is still there

[woofgang]

They were also sold in petshops for feeding to parrots and mynah birds.

[Jackdaw33]

I also remember Tiger nuts, very sweet and chewy but almost indigestible.

[rowanwitch]

Remember them in the sixties, small greasy little ones served hot from Woolworths, from a jar in the sweatshop, they still sold them in Romford market in the 70s. Never liked the cheap and nasty chocolate coated ones. But I did like the toffee coated ones from the same stall

[bainbrig]

rowanwitch: thanks for the memories of Romford market foodstuffs. The peanut seller was outside the Shopping Hall, wasn't it? My mum used to buy all sorts of cheap sweets there (broken slabs of toffee, for instance), but for some reason never the peanuts.

All changed now, of course, not that I've been back for many years.

BB

[rowanwitch]

Lived in Essex from 1980 but went to the markets with friends from Elm Park from the mid 70s, there was another shop in the arcades on the opposite side to the market halls that sold huge bags of cinder toffee, one of my favourites

[horselady]

Now there's a memory Rowanwitch, used to go and stay with my cousin in Elm Park when I was little.

[rowanwitch]

Not a big area, did you know any of the Muschamp family?

[Buenchico]

>>> horrible peanuts & raisins covered in soapy chocolate

I begged my mother to buy those for me. Delicious!

[horselady]

No I didn't Rowan, my cousin's name was Jenny Arthur and they lived in Northwood Avenue.

[rowanwitch]

Chris, they sell chocolate peanuts and raisins in Poundland that are not far off.

[andres]

My gran was always roasting nuts and mum made peanut brittle toffee in the 50s.