Minties
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Minties is a brand of
confectionery Confectionery is the Art (skill), art of making confections, or sweet foods. Confections are items that are rich in sugar and carbohydrates, although exact definitions are difficult. In general, however, confections are divided into two bro ...
originating in
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
and manufactured in both Australia and
New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
for their respective markets. They are hard white, chewy, rectangular and
mint Mint or The Mint may refer to: Plants * Lamiaceae, the mint family ** ''Mentha'', the genus of plants commonly known as "mint" Coins and collectibles * Mint (facility), a facility for manufacturing coins * Mint condition, a state of like-new ...
-flavoured, which on chewing become so sticky that they are notorious for causing dental fillings to come out. They were originally packaged in 5 lb (around 2.2 kg) bulk tins or 3 oz (around 85g) cardboard boxes, but now come in packs ranging from 150g - 1 kg. Minties are wrapped in
waxed paper Waxed paper (also wax paper, waxpaper, or paraffin paper) is paper that has been made moisture-proof and grease-proof through the application of wax. The practice of oiling parchment or paper in order to make it semi-translucent or moisture-pro ...
with a cartoon underneath the logo with the common caption "It's moments like these you need Minties". About 500 million are consumed each year. In the early 1990s, Chocomints were marketed, which integrated milk chocolate into the traditional recipe. Later in the 1990s, Minties released 'Spearmint Minties', but these were taken off the market for unknown reasons just before the end of 1999. In 2013, Nestlé (Australia) introduced Allen's Minties "Smooth Mints Choc & Vanilla" which had choc-mint and vanilla-mint varieties in one packet.


History

Minties were invented in 1922 by James Noble Stedman (1860–1944), son of company founder (and Australia's first confectioner) James Stedman (1840–1913). They were patented in 1926,Samson, W. S. (ed.) ''The Australian National Dictionary'' Oxford University Press 1988 and were manufactured by James Stedman — Henderson Sweets Limited at the "SweetAcres" factory at Rosebery,
New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...
. Other well-known lines made at Sweetacres were "Fantales" and "Talky Toffee". In 1968, Stedman-Henderson was taken over by Hoadleys, which was itself acquired in 1971 by
Rowntree's Nestlé UK Ltd. ( ), trading as Rowntree's ( ), is a British confectionery brand and a former business based in York, England. Rowntree developed the Kit Kat (introduced in 1935), Aero (introduced in 1935), Fruit Pastilles (introduced in 1881 ...
.
Nestlé Nestlé S.A. ( ) is a Swiss multinational food and drink processing conglomerate corporation headquartered in Vevey, Switzerland. It has been the largest publicly held food company in the world, measured by revenue and other metrics, since 20 ...
took over the Rowntree's brand globally in 1981. They are now sold as "Allens Minties" (Nestlé acquired the Allens brand in 1985.) In 1930 or 1931, a factory was set up in
Auckland, New Zealand Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...
.
Cadbury Cadbury, formerly Cadbury's and Cadbury Schweppes, is a British multinational confectionery company owned by Mondelez International (spun off from Kraft Foods) since 2010. It is the second-largest confectionery brand in the world, after Mars. ...
now manufactures the lollies as "Pascall Minties". In November 2009, Cadbury New Zealand announced they were moving production from Auckland to
Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...
and changing to a softer formulation that would be less stressful to teeth and may be consumed more quickly). Curiously, the 200g packets sold in Australia as (Nestlé) Allens Minties in 2010 are clearly labelled "Made in New Zealand".


Depression, then wartime shortages

Newspaper advertising appears to have dropped off considerably, both in quantity and quality, between 1931 and 1940. During
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
and until 1946, supply of confectionery was restricted; what output there was went to serving troops. Advertising resumed after the cessation of hostilities, anticipating eventual availability. Rationing may have been on a state-by-state basis.


Place in Australian culture

Minties had been available in shops from 1923 or earlier, but became the subject of prominent advertising as "The Universal Sweet" in June 1926. Coincident with this launch, the SweetAcres company offered a "MINTIES Magic Drawing Book for your Girl or Boy" for the price of return postage (one penny). This publication was a booklet of apparently blank pages whose pictures became evident when lightly rubbed with a soft pencil or crayon, similar to a
brass rubbing Brass rubbing was originally a largely British enthusiasm for reproducing onto paper monumental brasses – commemorative brass plaques found in churches, usually originally on the floor, from between the thirteenth and sixteenth centuries. It ...
, and was last offered in September 1932. Minties' first cartoons, and the catchphrase "It's moments like these ..." appeared late in 1926; from then they provided an episodic documentation of an era. At one stage in the 1940s, Minties were using three different cartoons a week, appearing on every form of printed advertising: the 3 oz (around 85g) boxes in which they were originally sold, newspapers and railway station
hoarding Hoarding is the act of engaging in excessive acquisition of items that are not needed or for which no space is available. Civil unrest or the threat of natural disasters may lead people to hoard foodstuffs, water, gasoline, and other essentials ...
s. The cartoons depict mishaps and unfortunate experiences, sometimes featuring recognisable sporting or political figures, but more often general comic situations, captioned "It's moments like these" or "Another Minties moment". The catchphrase "It's moments like these" has become part of the Australian language. The entry for "Mintie" in a major Australian dictionary defines the phrase as "... widely current ... used allusively as an emblem of solace". At that time, the lolly wrappers (white waxed paper) were decorated only with the text "Minties" and "The Universal Sweet" in red and green. Now the only artwork is on the wrappers; simple anonymous cartoons of people engaged in recognisable activities with no attempt at humour, accompanied by the caption "It's moments like these ...". Many cartoonists have drawn "Minties moments". While many of the cartoons were unsigned, some of the better known names are: *Dick Alderton *George Aria *
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* Jeremy Andrew


References


Sources

*Lindesay, Vane ''It's Moments Like These'' Sun Books, Melbourne 1979 {{ISBN, 0-7251-0339-6 New Zealand confectionery Australian confectionery Australian snack foods Breath mints Pascall (company) brands Products introduced in 1922