MR. MEN - MR. FUNNY / MR. NOISY:- Lyons Maid : MIXED FRUIT FLAVOUR ICE LOLLY 1978 Wrapper.
Lyons Maid were as big a name in '70s Britain as Pot Noodle and Wimpy's. Lyons, who first started making ice cream in 1894 for a very seasonal British market, shipped their product across the country by train. By 1954, after World War II and the banning of ice cream production due to rationing the popularity of ice cream continued to grow, bolstered by the introduction of the frozen ice lolly and Lyons Maid developed its business, expanding and buying up smaller regional companies, increasing their market share and reach.
Many of Lyons Maid's (J. Lyons & Co.) products, especially the more popular lines, were repackaged from time to time to meet the changing catering needs and growing home freezer ownership. A large number of products were targeted at children, these so-called hand-held confections started to appear after the Second World War and progressively became more sophisticated. By the 1970s this market represented about half of the total ice cream sales. Take-home desserts also became more popular as the tendency to make puddings fell off.
The Lyons ice cream subsidiaries of Bertorelli, Tonibell and Midland Counties Ice Cream manufactured and marketed their own products. Bertorelli specialised in high quality catering ice creams to hotels etc. Tonibell sold from travelling vans and Midland Counties Ice Cream made similar products to Lyons. In fact all the ice cream companies copied each other so as not to lose market share.
An early description of ice-cream manufacture at J. Lyons & Co. can be found in 'The First Food Empire, A History of J. Lyons & Co.'.
Exploring the contents of chiller cabinets from years gone by!
In the early 1960s when the ice lolly industry was in its infancy it seemed like a smart gimmick to create frozen snacks that were not just running tie-in promotions but were in themselves a tie-in to a popular brand. However the frost giants Wall's and Lyons Maid soon realised that while this sold many a lolly in the short term, what was popular in the playground tended to have a shelf life of only a few years. Hence rather than having to create and market new lines of branded lollies every couple of years to keep on getting a significant slice of the pocket money market, it was better to create lollies not yoked to the shows and characters du jour. Hence the early '70s saw the rise of competing flavours with snappy names and strong images of their own.
However, as is often the case, this kind of thing tends to come and go in cycles, and by the end of the '70s, branded lollies came once more into vogue. And in the icy palaces of Lyons Maid, it started in a small humble way with a range of fruit flavoured lollies, aimed at the under tens, and branded as frosty incarnations of popular cartoon characters. In 1971, Roger Hargreaves published six little story books with simple but eye-catching illustrations, and thus the Mr Men were born. The books were a huge hit and in 1974, they were adapted and animated as a TV series narrated by the great Arthur Lowe, propelling the book series to new heights of popularity.
Hence in March 1976, Lyons Maid launched the Mr Men ice lollies. Priced at 4p, these little lollies came in a rather vague sounding "mixed fruits flavour". But they were never designed to sell on their taste, rather the opening gambit was that one of six different Mr Men would be revealed when you opened the wrapper. OK not earth-shatteringly exciting but clearly they went down a treat with the playground crowd as the range would endure for several years. And while they retained the less than appealing 'mixed fruit flavour', later incarnations would have different Mr Men on the wrappers and boasted novelty sticks with jokes [NB: No stick is included in the wrapper sale] and wrappers with little activities such as quiz questions on them.
Evidently emboldened by the sales of the Mr Men lollies (and having gotten the younger end of the market sewn up by Mr Tickle and his pals), Lyons Maid were quick to release more branded lollies later in 1976, the Sinister Three Dancing Children who ran Lyons Maid now setting their sights on capturing older kids' pocket money...
An original 1978 full colour ice lolly wrapper with great cartoon Mr. Funny artwork, logos and details to the front, and cartoon Mr. Noisy artwork, logos and details on the reverse (+ Lyons Maid 3 children logo at the head).
I have owned this wrapper from new (in 1978) & it has been in storage ever since and never displayed, so is in good condition.
At the time of listing I cannot see any more (other than any I may be selling!) of these original UK wrappers available for sale worldwide (and none sold anytime recently - if any even exist!) - grab an extremely rare good condition bargain.
[Please no low-ball offers - if you are not prepared to come anywhere near the 'Buy It Now' price. These are extremely rare and never come up for sale, and have been priced competitively to sell already, thank you].
Perfect for all Mr. Men, Roger Hargreaves, vintage Lyons Maid or classic 1970s cartoon character fans & collectors.
Copyright 1978 Roger Hargreaves. Produced in the UK in 1978 by Lyons Maid Limited, Glacier House, Brook Green, London W6 7BT. Vitamin Content: Contains at least 20 mg of Vitamin C per 100 ml. Ingredients (as visible): Sugar, glucose syrup, citric acid, acid calcium phosphate, calcium pyrophosphate, stabiliser, flavouring, calcium carbonate, sodium citrate, colour, ascorbic acid, saccharin [not included obviously!].
(Will be sent in a cardboard box envelope by courier with extra protection for a safe delivery - or in comparable materials depending on the number of items ordered. NB: If you wish to purchase more than one item from me at a time please add them to your basket and request an invoice prior to paying for a combined postage price. I cannot combine postage on multiple orders once paid for or shipping on Global Shipping Programme orders [unless messaged first so a bespoke listing can be created with multiple items prior to payment] due to eBay policies, thank you).
The approximate (complete and flat as shown) sizes are:- Width 2.45" (6.3cm) x Height (Portrait) 5.4" (13.8cm).