A Victorian Treat The Sweet Makers


A Victorian Treat

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Sweets...

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they're our guilty pleasure.

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Today, British confectionery is a £6 billion industry.

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But where did it all begin?

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We've asked four modern confectioners to go back in time...

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to work their way through three eras that revolutionised their trade.

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From the birth of their profession four centuries ago,

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where they'll craft luxuries for Tudor aristocrats...

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SHE GASPS

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It's cracking, Cynth. It's getting worse, look.

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..to Georgian entrepreneurs storming the high street

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and tempting the fashionable middle classes.

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-Moulds.

-Chocolate?

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-Jelly?

-Both?

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And finally, they'll work on the production line

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of the 20th century factory, making affordable goodies for the masses.

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You're a cog in a wheel.

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I'm a chocolate dipper.

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Our 21st-century confectioners will be learning to make

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the sweet treats of the past.

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They'll be using the ingredients, recipes and equipment of the time.

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It looks like a tape worm.

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This is bum clenching stuff.

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They'll experience first-hand the triumphs...

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CHEERING

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..and the trials of their profession.

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-It's hot.

-Hot, hot, hot!

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And they'll be creating sugary masterpieces,

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which haven't been tasted for hundreds of years.

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Oh, my God, that is amazing!

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But as well as making the treats of the past,

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our confectioners will be exploring the bittersweet story of sugar -

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an ingredient that transformed Britain, shaping our Empire,

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bankrolling our cities, igniting our slave trade...

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The cruelty's just terrible.

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..and changing the way we eat forever.

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CHEERING

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They've already been high-status servants to the Tudor aristocracy,

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and run their own luxurious shop, catering to the Georgians.

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Now, in the Victorian era,

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confectionery finally becomes available to all,

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with the dawn of mass production.

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It's 1875 and our confectioners Cynthia Stroud, Paul A Young,

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Andy Baxendale and Diana Short are in Blists Hill in Shropshire.

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By the middle of Queen Victoria's reign,

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the Industrial Revolution had transformed manufacturing,

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and, with it, the confectionery trade.

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I'm Emma Dabiri, a social historian,

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and together with food historian Dr Annie Gray,

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I'll be introducing our team to the world of the Victorian confectioner.

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-Well, look who's here.

-Hi!

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-Good to see you.

-You too.

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Welcome to 1875.

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Lots of changes afoot.

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Over half the population now live in towns,

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so many, many people have swapped the rural existence for urban life.

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Wages are going up, and the price of food is going down,

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you'll be glad to hear.

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Now normal people, everyday people have the opportunity

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to spend some of their wages

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on things just beyond the bare essentials.

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Which is what you're taking advantage of, of course.

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So now you can see sugar and nice things spreading out

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to more than just the upper and indeed upper middle classes.

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You are now sweet shop owners.

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This is your confectioners.

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Wow. Fantastic.

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You need to stock your shop.

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Some confectioners had workshops behind their shops,

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but others took advantage of the fact

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that there were perhaps more insalubrious areas

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where rents were cheaper, and had bigger workshops elsewhere.

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So you are going to be of this new breed of confectioners.

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Let's go and have a look.

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Now that everyone, rich and poor, has access to sweets,

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the confectioners' success

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depends on making as many products as possible

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and selling them at the lowest price.

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And these are no longer just treats for adults,

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they have a brand-new market - children.

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Look at all the equipment! Oh, it's very industrial, isn't it?

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-It is.

-Are we making motorbikes?

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I was not expecting this at all.

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This does not feel like a kitchen.

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New mechanised equipment and technology

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has transformed the confectioners' workplace and their craft.

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We've got a thermometer!

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-We don't need to put our fingers in any more.

-No!

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Victorian confectioners no longer had to be highly skilled artisans.

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As little as £5, £500 in today's money,

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would buy sweet makers enough sugar boiling equipment and ingredients

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to set up shop.

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-Ooh, colours.

-Ooh, and flavours!

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Look, it's just like what you'd get now.

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They're lovely, aren't they?

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I think this is the first time we've seen

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artificial colours and flavours.

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Oh, my God, that smells amazing.

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I can't believe that's Victorian.

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That is such a... That is such a modern essence.

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-Absolutely.

-Isn't it?

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-Aniseed.

-What flavours have we got?

-Orange, strawberry.

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Go on, let's have a sniff.

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Ooh, that reminds me of my grandma.

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I mean, I think this is definitely Andy's bag, all this stuff.

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Absolutely.

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As the only confectioner who works in boiled sweet factories,

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Andy will find a lot of equipment that's familiar

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in their Victorian workshop.

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It looks like I'm in charge again.

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First impressions?

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-Amazing.

-Fantastic. Oooh.

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LAUGHTER

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This is almost a factory.

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It's not all singing, all dancing,

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you haven't got steam pipes pumping out smoke and all the rest of it,

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but you will be producing a lot of sweets.

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And, as ever, you will be using a lot of this.

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-Sugar.

-Granular sugar.

-Nice and white.

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But it has a new origin, I'm sure you'll be relieved to hear.

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-Oh.

-Oh, my goodness!

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Coming from this guy.

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-Wow.

-Oh, my gosh.

-The sugar beet.

-That's huge.

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-That's huge.

-Massive!

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Sugar from beets tasted identical to cane sugar.

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By the end of the 19th century,

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it would make up two thirds of the British supply.

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The Caribbean is still producing cane sugar,

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but with the end of Britain's involvement in the slave trade,

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it's not as accessible and it's not as cheaply available

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to British suppliers.

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So British suppliers now have a source that is far closer to home,

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and these are the fields of France, Germany and Austria-Hungary,

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where the sugar beet is grown.

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Gorgeous.

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The influx of this new crop,

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combined with the end of import taxes,

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saw its price drop by 50% between 1872-1884.

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But there was still money to be made.

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So vast was Henry Tate's fortune from his lucrative refineries

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that he was able to fund what's now the Tate Britain Art Gallery -

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a lasting testament to the sugar money that built Britain.

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The first thing you're going to be producing,

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which you may possibly have guessed,

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is going to be that staple of the marketplace, boiled sweets.

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-Ooh.

-Yes!

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Obviously some of your market will be youngsters,

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and, like flies to treacle,

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you want to bring them in with your brightly coloured,

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beautiful confections.

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A little bit of magic in their lives.

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-Great.

-But you have not yet met your guide for this week.

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-OK.

-So, meet Mr Skuse.

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-A book.

-A book.

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This is one of the most important books published for confectionery,

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really, ever.

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It comes out in the late Victorian period

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and is in print until 1957.

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The book's particularly brilliant

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because in amongst all of the advice on how to manage your colourings

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and how to set up your business,

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he also has lots and lots of recipes,

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and illustrations of the latest machinery, so top-notch.

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He does have some extra advice for you, in terms of quantity.

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He suggests that you can make two hundredweights of sweets a day.

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-Wow.

-So, by the end of today,

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we would have expected you to have filled

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all 20 of those jars behind me.

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-That's a lot.

-A lot of sugar.

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Three kilos a jar, you were saying, Andy?

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So you've got to be very good to differentiate yourselves.

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It's a competitive, cut-throat market out there.

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The confectioners have never had to make this many sweets before.

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But if they're going to have enough stock for their shop,

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they need to hit Skuse's target for the day.

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The biggest one of those two?

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Yeah, yeah let's see how it looks in there.

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OK.

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Andy and Cynthia are starting

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with an original Victorian boiled sweet recipe for Mint Drops.

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So this is all a revelation to me

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and I feel like I'm learning something completely new here.

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And Diana and Paul are making Skuse's recipe for Rose Rock.

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Sugar and water had always been the basis for boiled sweets...

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-7 lb?

-8 lb, wasn't it?

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8 lb.

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But by the late 19th century,

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confectioners were adding a new substance...

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Glucose...

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Ooh, look at that. It does look beautiful, doesn't it?

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..a flavourless starch syrup derived from plants.

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Vital ingredient to our boiled sweets.

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Look at it go. That's like Play-Doh.

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It is like Play-Doh, but clearly spreads.

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Stick your finger in it.

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It's a cheap way for our confectioners

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to bulk out their ingredients.

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That's a lot of sweets.

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When you look at the size of what we're using,

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you know immediately that the game and the plan has changed,

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and your target is completely different.

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Definitely. A much bigger end point.

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Oh, look, it's gone completely soft.

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Making boiled sweets depends on getting the temperature

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of the sugar syrup to 312 degrees Fahrenheit.

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We've got thermometers now.

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Thermometer, quite right.

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In previous eras, the confectioners were judging the heat by touch,

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using their bare hands.

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200...

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Invented in the 1860s,

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sugar thermometers could withstand the high temperatures

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without shattering and leaking poisonous mercury.

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225.

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Paul and Diana are using a cold water table

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to quickly cool their syrup and speed up production.

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I'll take this over, OK?

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Like their Victorian counterparts,

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the confectioners are embracing

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newly available synthetic colours and flavours...

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A little bit of red colour, just into our mix,

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is it going to be enough? A little bit more?

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-A little bit more, yeah.

-Yeah.

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Enough to make the whole thing a nice, rosy colour.

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I've done what I said don't do earlier. Don't breathe it in.

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..Little realising most were derived from coal tar waste,

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and often highly toxic.

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That smells gorgeous.

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Colour to make them appealing to the younger generations.

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-OK.

-Beautiful.

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-Tartaric acid.

-Tartaric acid, going in.

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This is going to get lots of zingy flavour.

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Beautiful. Smells incredible, doesn't it?

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It's not just the confectioners' ingredients that have changed,

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there are new techniques to master.

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It's a lovely, rosy colour.

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We're pulling it on the hook,

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to incorporate air into it to make it a little lighter.

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We get this - a nice, light, creamy colour.

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-So we need to make this into a flat sheet.

-OK.

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It's the speed, because as soon as the heat goes,

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we'll never get it through the drop roller.

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Once the required consistency is reached,

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the mixture must be fed through the drop rollers

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to mould the individual sweets.

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If they're too slow, though, the boiled sugar will set hard.

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If we don't start the nobble... It's important to eek in.

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I don't know what a nobble is.

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But it's going to be fed into here.

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-Ooh, ooh, ooh!

-SHE LAUGHS

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Oh, I've lost me end!

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That's not looking good, is it?

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Oh, can we not just snip it?

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This is bum-clenching stuff...

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SHE LAUGHS

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It looks like a tape worm. It doesn't very appetising, does it?

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Wahey!

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Diane and Paul, watch this and weep.

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We're not going to be able to fill 20 jars at this rate.

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We're under producing.

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While Paul and Diana wrestle with their tapeworm...

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..Cynthia and Andy's mint drops are going swimmingly.

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They've got a jar of sweets already!

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The confectioners' new customers are the urban factory workers,

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working ten hours a day, six days a week.

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They needed up to 4,500 calories per day to keep going,

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and sugar was now the cheapest source of sustenance.

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In poor households, men were allocated any costly meat,

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while women and children survived and a diet of white bread, jam,

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treacle, sugary tea and a treat of boiled sweets.

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We've made sweets!

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-Right, let's crack on. Clean down.

-I think so.

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When the sheet is partly set,

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cut the whole length of it with scissors into strips one inch wide.

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For the next batch,

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Paul and Diana are attempting Skuse's recipe for barley twists.

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But they're reading it a touch too late.

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"To make these goods, the operators must be very quick

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"with their movements, the slab on which the sugar

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-"is poured must be warm."

-Oh,

-BLEEP!

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Wow, so we've got...

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LAUGHTER

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..not to swear... and crack on, crack on.

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-It's already setting.

-It is!

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Should we turn it over?

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-Oh!

-HE LAUGHS

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The syrup has cooled and is now too brittle to shape.

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-We'll boil it again.

-We'll boil it again.

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Get it back in, get it back in.

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Do it again, because this is warm now.

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-Let's get it back in.

-I'm doing it, I'm doing it.

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Let's get it back in.

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It's back on the boil for the barley twists,

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and all hands on deck as the confectioners try to salvage them.

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Hot, hot, hot!

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Well, I'm really thinking now about how we get these the same size,

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the same width, the same length

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so that customers buying them get the same product every time.

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-It's really hard, isn't it?

-It's quite hard.

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I'm really disappointed that the first time we did it,

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we couldn't cut it into twists, and we had to re-melt it.

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We've re-melted it, and they've gone from these beautiful,

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clear twists to an opaque twist.

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We haven't really got an even twist at all.

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Victorian sweet makers couldn't afford to produce a shoddy batch.

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Profit margins were smaller than they'd ever been before,

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and our confectioners don't have time to redo the twists.

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I'm really frustrated that we couldn't get the barley twists

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clear and beautiful. I'm just annoyed.

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I think we should have been able to nail that,

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I don't think there should have been a problem with it.

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But there was. And I burned my thumb.

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We both run our own small businesses,

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and if these kind of mistakes happen in our business today,

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it's wasted money. It's a wasted time, isn't it?

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The frustration is the same.

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We get disappointed in ourselves, because we're perfectionists.

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Exactly.

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In every town and village,

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small-scale confectioners created their own versions

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of the classic boiled sweet.

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-Where's our peppermint?

-Where's the peppermint? There.

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Lemon and lime mixed together.

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Paul and Diana are turning their back on Skuse

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and designing a unique sweet, using a beautiful, Victorian mould.

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The other one I feel very interested in is sarsaparilla.

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It's nondescript, herbally, botanical, slightly aniseed -

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a little bit like Germolene.

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Antisepticy.

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I think you and I both have an absolute key favourite thing

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-on the shelf.

-I'm drawn to the Devon butter.

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Yeah, me too. I think it has to be.

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Are we going for Devon butter fish?

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Devon butter fish!

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-Do you know what? it's delicious.

-I think it needs the...

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I think it needs the peppermint with it

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to give it that buttermint flavour.

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So maybe they can be...

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Buttermint Bass?

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-Yeah, butter...

-Buttermint Bass.

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Buttermint Bass sounds fantastic.

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That's it. Pour it all.

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Cut it in half.

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It's a tricky game, this.

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-Right, are you ready?

-Yep.

-Sorry.

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Go on, pull!

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Go on!

0:17:170:17:18

Shoal of fish!

0:17:200:17:22

Shoal of fish.

0:17:220:17:24

My heart is racing.

0:17:240:17:26

My heart is like...

0:17:270:17:28

Iridescent blue and green.

0:17:290:17:31

Oh, my God.

0:17:310:17:32

We don't know what it's going to taste like.

0:17:330:17:35

-It's just like buttermint.

-It is buttermint, yeah.

0:17:380:17:40

We got that right.

0:17:410:17:43

That's very nice.

0:17:430:17:45

-We have a jar full of fish.

-We do have a jar full of fish.

0:17:450:17:47

After nine hours in the workshop,

0:17:520:17:54

the confectioners are still four jars short of Skuse's target

0:17:540:17:57

of 20 jars in a day.

0:17:570:18:00

Next one.

0:18:000:18:01

We can do it.

0:18:010:18:03

Time was money for the Victorian confectioner,

0:18:030:18:06

and night is falling.

0:18:060:18:07

This is our final batch.

0:18:110:18:12

Come on!

0:18:180:18:19

Three, two, one...

0:18:300:18:32

CHEERING

0:18:320:18:34

20 jars in one day.

0:18:360:18:39

But these 20 jars of boiled sweets are just a fraction

0:18:390:18:42

of what they'll need to produce to stock an entire shop.

0:18:420:18:45

They have to keep this pace up every day

0:18:460:18:49

if they're going to succeed as Victorian confectioners.

0:18:490:18:52

12 hours a day, you're standing on your feet.

0:18:530:18:56

The sort of machines we're talking about,

0:18:560:18:57

you still need a lot of physical... You know, you need brute force.

0:18:570:19:01

This feels industrial now.

0:19:010:19:02

It's the end of an exhausting first shift in their Victorian workshop.

0:19:040:19:08

-Long day at work?

-Very.

-Mmm.

0:19:120:19:14

Life is very tough for confectioners at the end of the Victorian period,

0:19:140:19:17

and it's getting steadily tougher.

0:19:170:19:20

You're no longer confectioners to the upper classes,

0:19:200:19:23

you're peddling mass-market products to people with no money.

0:19:230:19:27

Let's look at York, it's got a lot of the small-scale confectioners.

0:19:270:19:31

A lot of people like yourselves.

0:19:310:19:32

Most of them lived in an area called Walmgate.

0:19:320:19:34

There are a few other areas as well.

0:19:340:19:36

About 69% of the housing was deemed to be pretty much unfit to live in.

0:19:360:19:41

So those are the areas that you would be living in,

0:19:410:19:43

as Victorian confectioners.

0:19:430:19:45

This is a photograph of Walmgate.

0:19:450:19:48

Oh, it's not joyous, is it? Dark.

0:19:480:19:51

You wouldn't want to go home, would you?

0:19:530:19:54

Golly! That's quite a shock, isn't it?

0:19:540:19:57

Grim and foreboding that, isn't it?

0:19:570:19:59

There is no safety net at this point for those people who end up failing.

0:19:590:20:04

If you fail at your business and cannot get another job,

0:20:040:20:06

you will be in the workhouse.

0:20:060:20:08

York was once dominated by the confectionery trade.

0:20:180:20:21

Curator Faye Pryor, from the Castle Museum,

0:20:230:20:25

is an expert on the pressures

0:20:250:20:26

facing the smallest sweet makers in the city.

0:20:260:20:30

There were so many small confectioners working in York

0:20:310:20:34

in this period, and these were family businesses.

0:20:340:20:37

There was, firstly,

0:20:370:20:39

quite a struggle for them to make money on a local basis.

0:20:390:20:41

But then they're competing against more established families,

0:20:410:20:45

who've had a lot longer to develop their businesses,

0:20:450:20:48

who are now becoming national brands.

0:20:480:20:50

The big three in the country at this point are Cadbury's,

0:20:500:20:54

Fry's and Rowntree's.

0:20:540:20:56

And by the 1870s, these are all national brands.

0:20:560:20:59

They're absolutely massive.

0:20:590:21:01

In the 1870s, Rowntree's have 100 employees,

0:21:010:21:04

Cadbury's have 200 employees.

0:21:040:21:05

By the 1890s, Rowntree's have over 800 employees.

0:21:050:21:09

Interestingly, what unites them all

0:21:090:21:11

is that they were all founded by and run by Quaker families.

0:21:110:21:15

The Quakers weren't allowed to go into certain areas -

0:21:150:21:18

military, politics, law - in this period.

0:21:180:21:22

And so they tended to go into trade instead.

0:21:220:21:24

Banking, insurance, for example -

0:21:240:21:26

but confectionery was a really big one.

0:21:260:21:28

Quaker companies tended to do a lot of business with each other,

0:21:290:21:32

because the knew they could trust each other.

0:21:320:21:34

That sounds like something of a paradox, though,

0:21:340:21:37

because they're supporting each other,

0:21:370:21:39

but they're also competing with each other.

0:21:390:21:41

You know, they're running businesses on a national scale,

0:21:410:21:43

especially Cadbury's, Fry's and Rowntree's,

0:21:430:21:45

where they are trying to sell the same kind of products

0:21:450:21:49

to the same customer base,

0:21:490:21:51

and trying to make sure their product

0:21:510:21:53

is the one going to be bought, instead of their competitors'.

0:21:530:21:56

So it's quite a complicated relationship that they have.

0:21:560:21:59

The rivalry could be fierce, but in 1879,

0:22:060:22:09

the Quaker firm Rowntree's were handed a secret French weapon.

0:22:090:22:12

A new type of sweet that no company in England

0:22:170:22:20

had yet been able to produce.

0:22:200:22:23

What we're going to be doing today is quite a specific thing.

0:22:250:22:28

There is a particular branch of high-end confectionery

0:22:280:22:31

that still sells mainly to the rich and has not yet reached the masses,

0:22:310:22:35

and they are French-imported pastilles.

0:22:350:22:39

This is something very beautiful, but the story is about to change.

0:22:390:22:43

In 1879, a Frenchman called August Claude Gaget

0:22:430:22:47

approaches a manufacturer in York called Rowntree's

0:22:470:22:50

and suggests to him that he has developed a process

0:22:500:22:53

for making fruit pastilles,

0:22:530:22:55

which will make them the kings of confectionery.

0:22:550:22:58

And so Rowntree's employ him

0:22:580:22:59

and put him in charge of the French confectionery department.

0:22:590:23:03

Gaget took three long years to develop the top-secret recipe

0:23:030:23:08

for a British pastilles, or fruit pastille,

0:23:080:23:11

that was high-quality, but also cheap enough for the market.

0:23:110:23:15

Oh, wow!

0:23:170:23:18

That's gum arabic.

0:23:190:23:20

It's rock-hard, isn't it?

0:23:200:23:22

That rock-hard thing is going to make our gums chewy?

0:23:220:23:24

Certainly will.

0:23:240:23:26

-Are we nearly there?

-No.

0:23:280:23:30

-There we go.

-There we go. God, it's a lot.

0:23:300:23:33

The confectioners are working from a pastille recipe

0:23:380:23:40

from 1890 edition of Edward Skuse's Handbook,

0:23:400:23:43

as the original has remained closely guarded.

0:23:430:23:47

We're going to need quite a lot of starch, aren't we?

0:23:470:23:49

Well, we are making a lot of sweets.

0:23:490:23:51

They only need to be about an inch thick, I think.

0:23:510:23:53

Oh, I'd overfill it and scrape off the rest.

0:23:530:23:55

One of the innovations Gaget introduced to Rowntree's

0:23:570:23:59

was the use of starch trays,

0:23:590:24:02

which rapidly dry the outer layer of the sweet,

0:24:020:24:04

but leaves the centre chewy.

0:24:040:24:06

How much space do we leave, do you think?

0:24:080:24:10

I'd leave as much as you can, just in case you move...

0:24:100:24:15

Oh, look!

0:24:150:24:17

In previous eras, our confectioners have the satisfaction

0:24:170:24:20

of making each sugary dish from start to finish.

0:24:200:24:23

Now, sweet making was broken down into a series of simple tasks,

0:24:240:24:28

and often divided along gender lines.

0:24:280:24:31

I'm sure that women working in the starch rooms had targets to meet.

0:24:310:24:35

They'd have an aim, wouldn't they, for the day? For sure.

0:24:350:24:39

Like female workers in the Victorian confectionery trade,

0:24:410:24:45

Diana and Cynthia have been allocated a job

0:24:450:24:47

requiring manual dexterity -

0:24:470:24:50

making precise indentations in the starch.

0:24:500:24:53

There is an art to it, because it's not quite as easy as it looks.

0:24:530:24:57

Obviously, this misbehaves if you put

0:24:570:24:59

just the wrong amount of pressure.

0:24:590:25:01

You can see where the lightness of touch comes in.

0:25:010:25:03

Men were assigned the boiling jobs.

0:25:060:25:09

So Paul and Andy are making the fruit syrup

0:25:090:25:12

with gum arabic, sugar, water, colours and flavours.

0:25:120:25:15

We need some lime flavouring and some saffron colour.

0:25:170:25:20

-Not very strong.

-It's not citrusy.

0:25:220:25:25

We'll have to use quite a bit of that.

0:25:250:25:29

-Especially with this, because this'll hold the flavour.

-It will.

0:25:290:25:32

OK. Let's light the fire, get this on.

0:25:320:25:35

Imported fruit was still an expensive luxury.

0:25:360:25:39

Sweets like these meant that even those on the most meagre budget

0:25:390:25:43

could enjoy the exotic taste of lime and lemons all year round.

0:25:430:25:48

-Are we ready?

-Yeah.

0:25:480:25:49

As we'll ever be.

0:25:490:25:51

Ooh, it's heavy.

0:25:510:25:53

The confectioners need to get their rapidly cooling

0:25:530:25:56

rose- and lime-flavoured mixture into the starch moulds.

0:25:560:25:59

We're going to have to work fast, aren't we? Shall we spoon?

0:25:590:26:02

But the skill of their Victorian counterparts is becoming clear.

0:26:020:26:07

-Andy?

-Mmm-hmm?

-I'm frustrated on the first one.

0:26:070:26:11

This is not productive.

0:26:110:26:12

This is not going to make a single bit of profit.

0:26:120:26:15

-This won't come out.

-Mine's stuck now, look.

0:26:150:26:17

Yeah, so's mine.

0:26:170:26:19

THEY LAUGH

0:26:190:26:21

After half an hour, they've only filled one tray.

0:26:210:26:25

Looks like balls of snot.

0:26:270:26:29

It's stuck to my scissors as well.

0:26:290:26:31

It's a bit... I think you're going to need your imagination.

0:26:310:26:34

Perhaps they should have heeded Skuse,

0:26:340:26:36

who warned that pastilles are "a little tedious".

0:26:360:26:40

OK, shall we stack for drying?

0:26:400:26:42

Our masterpieces of gum.

0:26:440:26:46

There's some interesting shapes up here, Cynthia.

0:26:470:26:50

Lovely, thank you.

0:26:500:26:51

The division of tasks wasn't the only thing

0:26:560:26:58

that had changed Victorian confectionery.

0:26:580:27:00

New, steam-powered machinery had transformed the industry.

0:27:000:27:06

Ooh, she's noisy, isn't she? OK.

0:27:060:27:09

Let's pop them in.

0:27:090:27:11

In the Tudor era, confectioners painstakingly applied

0:27:110:27:14

layers of sugar by hand to make treats like comfits.

0:27:140:27:17

Now, mechanised rotating pans could coat up to three tonnes of sweets

0:27:190:27:23

every week - more than 20 times what was possible by hand.

0:27:230:27:27

-LOUD WHIRRING

-Wow.

0:27:270:27:28

Wow!

0:27:320:27:34

What do you think you'd think, coming in for the first time,

0:27:340:27:37

seeing that this had been installed?

0:27:370:27:39

Well, I would think, "My job is at risk.

0:27:390:27:42

"This is going to deliver significant amounts of product."

0:27:420:27:47

But do you not embrace it, thinking,

0:27:470:27:48

"Wow, this is going to make my job so much easier"?

0:27:480:27:50

I would, but I might lose some of my team well.

0:27:500:27:52

This is going to do more than my team can do.

0:27:520:27:54

Let's have a try. Ooh!

0:27:570:27:59

Quite chewy.

0:28:010:28:02

Sugar makes a difference, actually.

0:28:020:28:04

Mmm. The sugar'll bring the flavour out much more.

0:28:040:28:06

That reminds me of a Rowntree's Fruit Pastille.

0:28:060:28:09

The confectioners have only managed to make six jars of fruit pastilles.

0:28:110:28:15

Following their launch in 1881,

0:28:170:28:19

Rowntree's were churning out four tonnes of pastilles and gums

0:28:190:28:22

every week to keep up with demand.

0:28:220:28:23

As the bigger Quaker companies invested in machinery,

0:28:250:28:28

smaller firms found it increasingly hard to compete.

0:28:280:28:31

By the end of the Victorian period,

0:28:380:28:40

small-scale confectioners like yourselves are struggling.

0:28:400:28:43

The big boys are getting ever bigger, and, I'm afraid to say,

0:28:430:28:47

we really are in a situation of innovate or die.

0:28:470:28:50

One of the products that really does change the market at this point

0:28:500:28:53

is toffee. You've heard of Mackintosh's of Halifax?

0:28:530:28:56

Well, John and Violet Mackintosh, they became Mackintosh's of Halifax,

0:28:560:29:00

they were a couple. He worked in a mill, she had a small-scale shop,

0:29:000:29:03

and they developed a radically different type of toffee.

0:29:030:29:06

It crossed over, really,

0:29:060:29:08

the divide between American, caramel-style toffees

0:29:080:29:10

and British, very brittle, hard toffee.

0:29:100:29:13

Now, we don't know what was in the recipe,

0:29:130:29:15

it was always kept a secret.

0:29:150:29:16

But one of the products that we do know

0:29:160:29:18

that was revolutionising the confectionery industry at the time

0:29:180:29:22

-was condensed milk.

-Ooh, lovely.

0:29:220:29:24

And it ends up being used in an wide variety of products,

0:29:240:29:27

of which toffees are one.

0:29:270:29:29

So, you're going to go away, Andy and Cynthia,

0:29:290:29:31

and work on a toffee recipe to turn around your business.

0:29:310:29:35

The condensed milk has been added to sugar, butter and water.

0:29:390:29:42

-That'll do.

-Ah, smells so good!

0:29:420:29:46

And the flavouring isn't even in yet.

0:29:460:29:48

It actually smells really buttery.

0:29:480:29:50

That'll go darker as we go along.

0:29:500:29:52

I'm afraid to say, however, you have a slightly more challenging role,

0:29:540:29:59

which is try and cheapen your existing product

0:29:590:30:02

so you can make more profit.

0:30:020:30:03

I have fear and trepidation in my soul.

0:30:030:30:06

This just feels like something I don't want to do already.

0:30:060:30:08

This is plaster of Paris.

0:30:080:30:10

Paraffin wax, so similar to what you put into oil lamps.

0:30:100:30:14

And this one is limestone.

0:30:140:30:16

These are adulterants that we know people were using in sweets.

0:30:160:30:19

Although that had been various acts passed, anti-adulteration acts,

0:30:190:30:23

and the worst excesses have largely stopped,

0:30:230:30:26

that doesn't mean people aren't still doing it.

0:30:260:30:28

The Adulteration Of Food And Drink Act had been passed in 1860,

0:30:290:30:33

partly prompted by an accidental mass poisoning in Bradford,

0:30:330:30:37

when a confectioner's arsenic-laced lozenges killed 20 people,

0:30:370:30:41

including young children.

0:30:410:30:43

But it wasn't the last time arsenic turned up in sweet shops.

0:30:430:30:47

Here is an article from the Saint James's Gazette, 1904.

0:30:490:30:52

"Sweets or poison?

0:30:520:30:54

"One reason why children are deteriorating."

0:30:540:30:57

-Oh, my goodness.

-Yes.

0:30:570:30:59

And look, here again, over and over again,

0:30:590:31:01

"Cheap glucose contains arsenic."

0:31:010:31:04

"It is a terrible evil.

0:31:040:31:05

"The children, of course, buy where they can get the most

0:31:050:31:08

"for their money, and get these goods, every line of which -

0:31:080:31:11

"it's not saying too much -

0:31:110:31:13

"is poisonous or dangerous and injurious to health."

0:31:130:31:16

It feels a little bit like the Child Catcher, you know?

0:31:160:31:18

You have these beautiful, glistening, colourful sweets

0:31:180:31:21

in the window. "Come, taste my wares."

0:31:210:31:23

-Deceiving.

-Yeah.

-Well, this is what you're going to do,

0:31:230:31:25

because you need to turn out a product that will pass muster.

0:31:250:31:28

Because, at the end of the day, you won't be able to sell these things

0:31:280:31:31

to customers if they don't taste and feel good.

0:31:310:31:34

While Cynthia and Andy are pouring their quality toffee out to set...

0:31:350:31:39

..Paul and Diana are making a cheaper version,

0:31:400:31:43

adulterated with paraffin wax.

0:31:430:31:45

Paul, what do you think, does this look quite a lot?

0:31:480:31:50

Let's have a look.

0:31:500:31:52

No, it doesn't, actually.

0:31:520:31:53

There's a lot of butter there. We could take that bit off.

0:31:530:31:56

Let's be brave, we need to make some money.

0:31:560:31:58

That will go into our next batch.

0:31:580:31:59

No-one will know, because we'll put lots of nice flavour in there.

0:31:590:32:02

And they just say 7% will kill a child.

0:32:020:32:05

Oh, my God!

0:32:050:32:07

It's brutal, isn't it?

0:32:070:32:08

-It's in, it's in.

-That's so much!

0:32:110:32:14

Well, look, you can't see it,

0:32:170:32:19

I don't think you'll be able to taste it. I wonder how far we go?

0:32:190:32:22

-This is just the beginning...

-Slippery slope, isn't it?

0:32:220:32:24

-Slippery slope.

-Yep.

0:32:240:32:26

It's in there. The liquid looks great, exactly like toffee.

0:32:260:32:30

There's a kind of an almost waxy texture to it.

0:32:320:32:36

There we go.

0:32:380:32:39

The Mackintoshes understood the power of packaging.

0:32:440:32:47

Every one of their toffees was individually wrapped

0:32:470:32:50

and sold in beautiful tins, embellished with their name.

0:32:500:32:54

Distinctive packaging helped differentiate their quality products

0:32:540:32:58

from the less wholesome alternatives

0:32:580:33:00

being produced by some small confectioners.

0:33:000:33:03

I mean, just looking at them now,

0:33:050:33:07

I want to put my hand in and unwrap them,

0:33:070:33:09

so hopefully this will be the money-maker as well for us.

0:33:090:33:12

Rainbow of toffee.

0:33:120:33:13

But how does Paul and Diana's paraffin-wax-loaded toffee compare?

0:33:150:33:19

Could they sell this and get away with it?

0:33:190:33:21

Try a bit of ours.

0:33:220:33:24

Smell, smells good.

0:33:240:33:27

-Mmm. Just a little piece.

-There's a little piece, yeah.

0:33:270:33:29

OK.

0:33:300:33:31

Good grief.

0:33:330:33:35

-It's got a hardness to it, hasn't it?

-Mmm.

0:33:350:33:38

-You wouldn't know.

-You wouldn't know there's wax in this.

0:33:380:33:41

It doesn't taste a lot different, does it?

0:33:410:33:43

The texture is different.

0:33:430:33:46

But only if you eat these two side-by-side.

0:33:460:33:48

Yeah.

0:33:480:33:49

The truth is, you probably wouldn't in a shop, would you?

0:33:490:33:52

With the sugar, you can almost get away with anything,

0:33:520:33:55

because you've got that sweetness.

0:33:550:33:56

But we both did it with a sadness.

0:33:560:33:59

Kind of horrified, really, that it's possible.

0:33:590:34:02

It's a finished, lovely tasting product.

0:34:020:34:05

-Yeah, yeah.

-With more yields, higher yields and higher profit.

0:34:050:34:09

But, right now, would I do this at work?

0:34:090:34:12

-Absolutely not!

-Oh, no!

0:34:120:34:13

Even if I was at the breaking point, no.

0:34:140:34:18

Smaller confectioners struggled as the big Quaker firms

0:34:200:34:23

became trusted household brands, making reliable, safe products.

0:34:230:34:27

And they had a captive market of sugar addicts.

0:34:270:34:30

By 1900, every person in Britain was eating the equivalent

0:34:320:34:35

of 33 bags of sugar a year.

0:34:350:34:38

More than 60,000 people were working in confectionery.

0:34:380:34:41

And the Quakers were even building pretty model villages

0:34:430:34:46

to keep their staff content.

0:34:460:34:48

Cadbury's had already established Bournville outside Birmingham,

0:34:490:34:52

and Rowntree's soon followed suit with New Earswick near York.

0:34:520:34:55

These workers were needed to meet the explosion in demand

0:34:590:35:02

for a new type of confectionery

0:35:020:35:04

that would transform the trade in the 20th century.

0:35:040:35:07

Look what she's got!

0:35:080:35:10

My favourite thing in the world.

0:35:100:35:12

Right up your street.

0:35:120:35:14

-I almost don't have to say anything.

-No.

0:35:140:35:17

By the early 20th century,

0:35:170:35:18

a revolution has taken place in chocolate.

0:35:180:35:21

Up to this point, really, most chocolate still consumed as a drink.

0:35:210:35:26

But partly because, quite frankly,

0:35:260:35:28

the eating chocolate that was on the market in the 19th century

0:35:280:35:30

wasn't very good.

0:35:300:35:31

It was still quite grainy, it didn't have that beautiful,

0:35:310:35:34

smooth texture that we want from our chocolate.

0:35:340:35:37

In the late 19th century, various technological developments happen

0:35:370:35:41

and, as a result, we start to see the first types

0:35:410:35:44

of beautiful eating chocolate.

0:35:440:35:46

And one of the key types is milk chocolate.

0:35:460:35:48

The first chocolate bar was invented by Fry's in 1847,

0:35:500:35:53

who added cocoa butter.

0:35:530:35:55

But it was Swiss confectioners who made the crucial addition

0:35:570:36:00

of dried milk to develop milk chocolate.

0:36:000:36:02

Rodolphe Lindt then invented a process called conching,

0:36:040:36:07

that repeatedly kneads the chocolate to create a super-fine texture

0:36:070:36:11

and melt-in-the-mouth taste.

0:36:110:36:12

Let's have a good look.

0:36:160:36:18

Finally then, finally we're working with...

0:36:180:36:21

-Real chocolate.

-Proper chocolate.

0:36:210:36:23

Unlike the Tudor one, it is actually sweet.

0:36:230:36:25

It is very, very sweet. So...

0:36:250:36:28

Smaller confectioners bought in slabs of pre-prepared chocolate

0:36:320:36:36

from the big factories.

0:36:360:36:37

I got that in my hair!

0:36:390:36:41

Lovely.

0:36:440:36:45

Chocolate was still an expensive luxury

0:36:480:36:50

at the beginning of the 20th century,

0:36:500:36:52

and fancy boxes, the Victorian equivalent of the selection box,

0:36:520:36:56

were a lucrative product.

0:36:560:36:58

They normally included a range of chocolate-covered fondants.

0:36:580:37:01

How do I get some more flavour into this?

0:37:010:37:04

So the confectioners were experimenting

0:37:050:37:07

with some fashionable flavours.

0:37:070:37:09

Go gently with it.

0:37:090:37:11

Ooh la la. It's tutti-frutti in it.

0:37:110:37:16

-I quite like that.

-Do you?

0:37:160:37:17

Oh, it reminds me of Juicy Fruit chewing gum.

0:37:170:37:19

Exactly, it reminds me of my childhood.

0:37:190:37:21

-Oh, no.

-It's very, very strong.

0:37:210:37:23

That's enough!

0:37:260:37:27

THEY LAUGH

0:37:270:37:29

To make enough fancy boxes will require our confectioners

0:37:290:37:32

to work as a tight team, and break down each stage

0:37:320:37:36

into tasks to speed up production.

0:37:360:37:39

Andy, if you're doing centres...

0:37:390:37:41

Prepare the centres, OK.

0:37:410:37:43

I'll temper the chocolate.

0:37:430:37:45

-OK.

-Cynthia, dipping.

0:37:450:37:47

Diana, we need our boxes, we need to have them looking beautiful,

0:37:470:37:51

-don't they?

-Yeah.

-Packed and made to look gorgeous.

0:37:510:37:53

-We've got a lot of boxes to fill, haven't we?

-Yeah.

-Ready?

0:37:530:37:56

They look absolutely gorgeous.

0:37:590:38:01

They smell strong, don't they, still?

0:38:020:38:04

Tutti-frutti diamonds.

0:38:040:38:05

Nice.

0:38:050:38:06

Cynthia, I won't start tempering

0:38:120:38:13

-until you've got your fillings just about ready.

-Okey doke.

0:38:130:38:16

So I've got about 15 minutes.

0:38:200:38:22

-OK.

-To get this tempered for you.

0:38:220:38:24

-We'll give you ten.

-I'll give you five to get enough.

0:38:240:38:27

THEY LAUGH

0:38:270:38:28

Chocolatier Paul is a master of tempering,

0:38:300:38:33

as it's still an important part of his modern job.

0:38:330:38:36

Moving the chocolate around subtly controls the temperature

0:38:360:38:39

as it cools, to produce silky smooth, glossy chocolate

0:38:390:38:43

which snaps when you bite it.

0:38:430:38:45

Do you see it crystallising on the surface?

0:38:450:38:47

-Yeah.

-When I push it, it wrinkles.

0:38:470:38:49

-See all the crystals?

-It's not there yet, then?

0:38:490:38:51

That's when it absolutely has to come off the slab.

0:38:510:38:54

There we go.

0:38:540:38:55

Cynthia, you ready?

0:38:580:39:00

-Ready.

-On there.

0:39:000:39:01

-Are you ready to go?

-Yeah.

-Excellent.

0:39:040:39:06

Alongside their tutti-frutti diamonds,

0:39:090:39:11

the confectioners have made a range of chocolates,

0:39:110:39:14

including orange and rose fondants,

0:39:140:39:16

coconut pralines and caramels for their fancy boxes.

0:39:160:39:20

Do you mind if I come and dip with you, Cynthia?

0:39:250:39:27

-Go for it.

-Good.

0:39:270:39:28

-Shall I start on these ones?

-Yeah.

0:39:280:39:31

I think this is a more efficient way of doing things, don't you?

0:39:310:39:34

Rather than us all doing one task?

0:39:340:39:36

Absolutely.

0:39:360:39:37

It is nice to know that things are going step, step, step, step.

0:39:370:39:41

-Yeah.

-Very methodically.

0:39:410:39:42

Once you get into your stride, it's very efficient.

0:39:440:39:48

Imagine if you had ten times the amount of people doing this.

0:39:500:39:53

-Good grief.

-We'd fly through product, wouldn't we?

0:39:550:39:57

There's not enough satisfaction or creativity in doing this.

0:40:020:40:07

You're a cog in a wheel. I'm a chocolate dipper.

0:40:070:40:11

That's my job, you know?

0:40:110:40:12

Certainly my productivity has gone up,

0:40:120:40:14

but my creativity has gone right down.

0:40:140:40:16

I love the fact that these chocolates are being prettied up

0:40:220:40:25

and dressed in a beautiful box.

0:40:250:40:27

You know, this feeling that they are something special,

0:40:270:40:29

they're not just to be sort of scoffed.

0:40:290:40:31

My philosophy has always been that chocolate should be a treat.

0:40:320:40:35

The sort of modern-day demonisation of sugar,

0:40:350:40:38

and chocolate in particular, is misplaced,

0:40:380:40:40

because chocolate was never meant to be something

0:40:400:40:42

you ate every single day.

0:40:420:40:44

Fancy boxes were items to be saved up for,

0:40:440:40:47

with gifts such as cigarette cases and watches

0:40:470:40:50

nestled between the handmade chocolates.

0:40:500:40:53

No eating the sweets on the job, either.

0:40:530:40:54

-No.

-No time.

0:40:540:40:56

In 1904, the cost of a top range box was 21 shillings,

0:40:560:41:01

equivalent to the weekly average food budget for a working family.

0:41:010:41:05

We have some lovely coconut pralines down here as well, girls.

0:41:060:41:09

OK.

0:41:090:41:11

Cadbury's now made over 450 different fancy boxes,

0:41:110:41:15

with wonderfully romantic names such as Peach Oh Mine and Dorothy.

0:41:150:41:21

This would have been hard work, though, wouldn't it?

0:41:210:41:23

You know, it's quite backbreaking.

0:41:230:41:25

-It's constant, isn't it?

-Yeah, nonstop.

0:41:250:41:27

It doesn't end, doesn't stop.

0:41:270:41:29

But the booming confectionery industry was thrown into chaos

0:41:320:41:35

when Europe erupted into war in 1914.

0:41:350:41:38

As the conflict spread,

0:41:490:41:50

the continent's beet fields and refineries were destroyed...

0:41:500:41:53

..and Britain's supply of sugar was drastically reduced.

0:41:540:41:57

Tate's business lost 80% of their imports.

0:41:580:42:01

As the shortages kicked in,

0:42:020:42:04

companies slashed their product ranges,

0:42:040:42:06

and chocolate became more precious than ever.

0:42:060:42:09

So, Christmas of 1914, the Sheriff of York and the mayor

0:42:120:42:18

sent thousands of chocolate boxes to the young men on the front line,

0:42:180:42:22

to just kind of try and boost their morale

0:42:220:42:25

and just send them a little something from home.

0:42:250:42:28

The young men are really touched by this.

0:42:280:42:32

Paul, perhaps you could read this one.

0:42:320:42:34

"Dear sirs, undoubtedly you will be more than surprised

0:42:340:42:38

"at receiving a few lines from me,

0:42:380:42:41

"but I feel that I ought to send my very best thanks

0:42:410:42:45

"for the nice box of chocolates

0:42:450:42:47

"which I received so unexpectedly yesterday morning."

0:42:470:42:51

And what a box of chocolates has done...

0:42:510:42:53

For people to write back in those circumstances is...

0:42:530:42:57

-touching, isn't it?

-Absolutely.

0:42:570:42:59

"I should have liked to have spent Christmas at home with my parents."

0:42:590:43:04

-Oh.

-I know.

0:43:040:43:06

"But duty before pleasure.

0:43:060:43:08

"I shall prize the box etc as long as God spares me.

0:43:080:43:13

"One never knows what a day brings forth.

0:43:130:43:17

"I'm proud to be able to say that I'm a York lad

0:43:170:43:19

"and I'm looking forward to a speedy termination of this cruel war."

0:43:190:43:23

"Your humble servant, Henry Bailey."

0:43:260:43:29

Do you know that letter,

0:43:320:43:34

it speaks of a young man who doesn't actually think he's coming home.

0:43:340:43:38

-It is.

-He sounds really young.

0:43:390:43:41

He sounds like he's seen some horrific...

0:43:410:43:43

We know that he died shortly after this.

0:43:430:43:47

He was killed in active duty, so he never made it back to York.

0:43:470:43:51

By the end of the war,

0:44:060:44:07

over half the men working for Cadbury's at Bournville

0:44:070:44:10

had been called up,

0:44:100:44:11

and many of the companies' factories requisitioned for war work.

0:44:110:44:14

But with peace came a gradual return to normality.

0:44:170:44:20

By the 1920s, beet sugar was now being produced in Britain

0:44:250:44:28

and demand for confectionery was growing again.

0:44:280:44:31

The big brands increasingly turned to a new form of advertising

0:44:330:44:37

to give them the edge.

0:44:370:44:38

ADVERT: You can always fill the gap with tuppeny bars of York Milk.

0:44:410:44:45

THEY LAUGH

0:44:450:44:47

HORN BEEPS

0:44:490:44:51

What an escape!

0:44:540:44:57

THEY LAUGH

0:44:570:44:58

-It's so bizarre, isn't it?

-But cute.

0:44:580:45:01

The advert that we've just watched is significant for many reasons,

0:45:010:45:05

not least of all the fact that this is the first animated advert

0:45:050:45:10

with sound ever made.

0:45:100:45:12

That's quite extraordinary, when you think it's for a chocolate bar.

0:45:120:45:15

So this was Rowntree's attempt at competing with Cadbury's,

0:45:150:45:18

who were their biggest rivals at the time.

0:45:180:45:21

Did you notice when they present the bar

0:45:210:45:24

and they use it as a bridge and they're saying it fills the gap?

0:45:240:45:27

Yeah, so they're introducing that idea of using the bar

0:45:270:45:31

for elevenses or even to replace a meal.

0:45:310:45:34

There's an introduction of, you know,

0:45:340:45:36

it is OK to eat again before lunch.

0:45:360:45:40

-Exactly.

-And it's OK to eat chocolate.

0:45:400:45:42

-Have a snack and a treat.

-Before lunch, you know?

0:45:420:45:45

The more chocolate you eat, the more you want it.

0:45:450:45:48

Sugar's such a powerful, addictive substance,

0:45:480:45:51

you've just created a whole industry for yourself, and it's brilliant.

0:45:510:45:54

You're smiling all the way to the bank.

0:45:540:45:58

British spending on confectionery doubled in this period.

0:45:580:46:02

Crucial to chocolate's success was the development

0:46:020:46:04

of cheaper treats and memorable brands for the mass market.

0:46:040:46:07

Oooh, ice cream?

0:46:100:46:12

Stop me and buy one.

0:46:120:46:14

We're now in the 1930s -

0:46:140:46:16

boom time for chocolate confectionery -

0:46:160:46:18

and a lot of the household names that we know and love

0:46:180:46:21

in the 21st century are introduced.

0:46:210:46:23

-Wow.

-What do you reckon?

0:46:230:46:24

Aero, I love a bit of Aero!

0:46:240:46:26

Rollos, oh.

0:46:260:46:29

Flake.

0:46:290:46:30

Is that right, it was that early, Flake?

0:46:300:46:32

-Blimey.

-Wow.

0:46:320:46:34

One of the really lovely things about this period

0:46:340:46:36

is the level of innovation,

0:46:360:46:38

and it's innovation from the big manufacturers.

0:46:380:46:41

They work out that you can sell a new type of bar,

0:46:410:46:44

a bar called a combination bar.

0:46:440:46:47

Now, combination bars are exactly what you think they are.

0:46:490:46:53

So there's a combination of nougat or toffee or biscuit,

0:46:530:46:57

whatever it is, with chocolate.

0:46:570:46:59

The secret bit is that the stuff inside is cheaper

0:46:590:47:02

-than what's outside.

-Cheaper than chocolate, right.

0:47:020:47:04

So, of course, you can sell them for a lot less money.

0:47:040:47:07

These bars opened up a whole new market

0:47:070:47:09

for the big confectionery firms.

0:47:090:47:11

A Kit Kat introduced in 1937 sold for tuppence,

0:47:110:47:15

half the price of a Dairy Milk.

0:47:150:47:17

By the end of the 1930s,

0:47:170:47:19

Britons were eating the equivalent

0:47:190:47:21

of three small bars of chocolate every week.

0:47:210:47:24

Everyone can have chocolate.

0:47:240:47:25

The child on the street, the worker in the factory,

0:47:250:47:29

the domestic servant who's on a day off.

0:47:290:47:31

This is really the democratisation of chocolate.

0:47:310:47:35

So is this going to hit our sweetie sales, then?

0:47:350:47:37

Yeah. Yeah.

0:47:370:47:40

As factories get bigger and bigger and bigger,

0:47:400:47:42

and the technology increases,

0:47:420:47:44

you're really looking at something that you just, in terms of scale,

0:47:440:47:47

sheer scale, thousands, millions of bars being produced,

0:47:470:47:51

and from your point of view, well...

0:47:510:47:54

-No way, no way could keep up with that.

-No.

0:47:540:47:56

The ability of the big confectionery firms to innovate,

0:47:560:47:59

to mass-produce cheap chocolate and to advertise it everywhere

0:47:590:48:03

made them impossible to compete with.

0:48:030:48:06

Increasingly, small confectioners' shelves

0:48:060:48:08

were filled with products made by others.

0:48:080:48:11

But, at certain times of the year,

0:48:150:48:17

there was still real demand for beautiful handmade treats.

0:48:170:48:22

-Diana...

-Oh, big boy!

-Look at the size of my egg!

0:48:220:48:26

-I say.

-How fantastic is that?

0:48:260:48:28

That's like a bomb.

0:48:280:48:30

Shall we unclip it and see the inside?

0:48:300:48:32

-And see, yeah.

-In the window, this kind of just sets us apart from

0:48:320:48:34

everybody else, doesn't it?

0:48:340:48:36

I tell you what? I hold one side, if you kind of unclip.

0:48:360:48:38

Oh, it'll lift off. Oooh.

0:48:380:48:41

Gives us a nice big canvas to work on, doesn't it?

0:48:410:48:43

Yeah, we can do all sorts on the outside, can't we?

0:48:430:48:45

Love it!

0:48:450:48:46

Decorated eggs at Easter are a centuries-old tradition,

0:48:470:48:50

linked to the Christian Church.

0:48:500:48:52

They were painted and turned into beautiful gifts for children

0:48:520:48:56

after the privations of Lent.

0:48:560:48:58

I like that...

0:49:020:49:03

Look at that!

0:49:080:49:09

OK, you start swirling right to the edge.

0:49:090:49:12

It's a big responsibility for a little shop,

0:49:120:49:15

in terms of raw materials, time...

0:49:150:49:17

-It is.

-Look at the size of it.

-This is our draw.

0:49:170:49:21

The first chocolate eggs appeared in 1873,

0:49:210:49:24

designed by Fry's,

0:49:240:49:26

and by the 1930s, all of the big Quaker firms had their own ranges -

0:49:260:49:30

from fancy eggs which were cardboard with treats inside,

0:49:300:49:34

to hollow milk and dark chocolate versions,

0:49:340:49:37

elaborately iced and often coming with a novelty gift.

0:49:370:49:40

And they didn't stop at eggs.

0:49:420:49:44

-This fills my heart with joy.

-It does.

0:49:450:49:48

HE GASPS

0:49:480:49:49

That is an epic and very, very grand elephant, isn't it?

0:49:490:49:53

These are very different, aren't they? An elephant, for Easter?

0:49:530:49:56

Yeah, yeah. Although we do see chocolate fish,

0:49:560:49:58

we don't see them at Easter time, do we?

0:49:580:50:01

-I'm not sure about an Eastery bear.

-An Easter bear...

0:50:010:50:04

This is really scary - frightening baby.

0:50:040:50:07

It's a little bit Chucky.

0:50:070:50:09

Do you know what's even worse, when you see it in 3D, look at that.

0:50:090:50:12

-She's beautifully made, but...

-That's scary.

0:50:120:50:14

It's like a traditional doll, dolly, isn't it?

0:50:140:50:18

The big Quaker companies made chocolate synonymous with Easter,

0:50:180:50:21

so our confectioners are working

0:50:210:50:23

on their own spectacular window display

0:50:230:50:26

to draw customers into their shop.

0:50:260:50:28

I've never worked with metal moulds before,

0:50:280:50:30

I've only worked with polycarbonate moulds,

0:50:300:50:32

so it will be interesting to see what a difference it makes,

0:50:320:50:35

if any, to the way things turn out.

0:50:350:50:38

We're going to take it up to the top.

0:50:380:50:40

-Say when.

-When.

0:50:400:50:42

I'm just going to move it around, so that the chocolate...

0:50:420:50:45

It takes some highly skilled jiggling of the mould to completely cover it

0:50:470:50:51

in chocolate, or their perfect centrepiece will be ruined.

0:50:510:50:56

Clip!

0:50:560:50:57

This will keep us fit.

0:50:580:50:59

THEY LAUGH

0:51:010:51:02

-Your turn.

-Thank you.

-You're very welcome.

0:51:020:51:05

It certainly is a beast.

0:51:050:51:06

I wouldn't like to meet the bird that laid this!

0:51:090:51:11

This has to work, it has to.

0:51:130:51:14

This is the thing I have butterflies in my tummy about.

0:51:140:51:17

I'm not going to sleep tonight.

0:51:190:51:21

I'm really nervous about tomorrow.

0:51:210:51:23

It's their final day as Victorian confectioners,

0:51:320:51:35

and the enormous Easter egg centrepiece for their shop window

0:51:350:51:38

has been drying overnight.

0:51:380:51:40

-It's the big reveal.

-I'm actually quite nervous.

0:51:410:51:44

Let's lift her forward.

0:51:440:51:45

Do you think we should give her a little tap?

0:51:450:51:47

Give her a little tap.

0:51:470:51:49

-Shall we unclip?

-Yeah.

0:51:490:51:50

OK. Ooh, it moved, without...

0:51:520:51:54

Pop a knife in.

0:51:550:51:56

Ooh.

0:51:580:51:59

Shall we do it?

0:52:000:52:01

Ooh, it's a bit scuffy.

0:52:030:52:06

That's just some scratches on the mould itself, isn't it?

0:52:060:52:09

-Yeah.

-But, it's not cracked, it's shiny.

0:52:090:52:13

We can hear a pin drop.

0:52:150:52:17

-OK.

-Let's do half and half, towards us.

0:52:170:52:21

-Yeah.

-Ooh.

-Oooh.

-METAL CLANGS

0:52:210:52:23

-Ooh.

-Ooh.

0:52:290:52:31

-Can you feel the static?

-Yeah.

0:52:310:52:32

But will the more unusual chocolate shapes come out of the moulds?

0:52:340:52:38

If this elephant comes out in one piece, I'll be made up.

0:52:410:52:44

-Oh!

-Oh!

0:52:470:52:49

Man!

0:52:490:52:50

No. Andy will be distraught.

0:52:540:52:57

Come on, please work, please work, come on.

0:52:570:53:01

-Ooh!

-Nice!

0:53:010:53:03

-Yes, yes, yes.

-Oh, my God, wow.

0:53:030:53:06

-Look at that.

-Brilliant. Look at that.

0:53:060:53:08

That's my favourite piece so far.

0:53:080:53:10

-Oh, my goodness.

-Really successful.

0:53:100:53:12

I've never piped with chocolate, and it behaves completely differently.

0:53:180:53:23

You don't have time, that's the thing with piping chocolate,

0:53:230:53:26

you don't have time. Just when you're getting into your flow,

0:53:260:53:29

it sets up and you have to start again.

0:53:290:53:31

Good job, team.

0:53:310:53:33

Good. Are you sure?

0:53:330:53:37

Great, brilliant.

0:53:370:53:38

After four days of backbreaking work,

0:53:440:53:47

it's time to finally stock their shop.

0:53:470:53:49

This has been the most productive period.

0:53:510:53:54

It's been the busiest, in terms of volume,

0:53:540:53:58

how much product we have to get out of every single batch.

0:53:580:54:02

We haven't had two minutes to sit down.

0:54:020:54:05

The fish are great, aren't they?

0:54:050:54:07

What about that?

0:54:070:54:09

There's your lovely bear.

0:54:100:54:12

How's it looking, Cynthia?

0:54:230:54:24

Is it going to lie on its back in the straw?

0:54:240:54:26

Doesn't it look amazing?

0:54:410:54:42

You can imagine that once we open those doors,

0:54:420:54:45

people are going to come in and want to peer around.

0:54:450:54:49

BELL RINGS

0:54:490:54:51

-Gosh!

-Hello.

-Hello.

-Wow.

0:54:510:54:53

-You did make a lot.

-Look at all these delights, you've been busy.

0:54:530:54:56

-Pastilles?

-Fruit pastilles!

-Fruit pastilles.

0:54:560:55:00

That's really yummy.

0:55:010:55:03

Ooh, I like the texture.

0:55:060:55:08

Very fruity.

0:55:080:55:10

-Very chewy, isn't it?

-So intense, as well.

0:55:100:55:12

Let's get this big egg in the window.

0:55:120:55:14

If you grab the base for me, Annie, pop that in the window,

0:55:140:55:18

and we'll position it facing out.

0:55:180:55:20

That's spectacular, isn't it? It's such a statement there.

0:55:220:55:26

-That will draw people in.

-Yeah.

0:55:260:55:27

Mass production dramatically reduced the cost of confectionery.

0:55:320:55:36

By 1935, 96% of the population could now afford

0:55:360:55:40

to treat themselves to sweets.

0:55:400:55:42

Well, it looks as though your Easter customers have arrived,

0:55:430:55:47

so we shall leave you to it.

0:55:470:55:49

Thank you.

0:55:490:55:51

Hello, come on in!

0:55:520:55:54

Hope you've brought lots of money.

0:55:540:55:56

We have some lovely sweets here.

0:55:560:55:57

Diana, can we have a little bag of lemony sweets please?

0:55:590:56:02

Who else has money to spend?

0:56:020:56:04

Two shillings. There you go.

0:56:040:56:06

Strawberry sweets.

0:56:060:56:07

Could we have another bag of strawberry sweets please, Diana?

0:56:070:56:10

-Yeah.

-Who loves chocolate?

0:56:100:56:12

Oh, we've got a shop full of chocolate lovers.

0:56:140:56:16

Does anybody want any Easter eggs?

0:56:160:56:19

We have small eggs, look.

0:56:190:56:21

Yellow, green, red...

0:56:210:56:24

TILL RINGS

0:56:240:56:25

Guys, there's an Easter egg hunt!

0:56:250:56:28

CHEERING

0:56:280:56:30

Our confectioners have experienced a revolution in their trade,

0:56:370:56:41

from highly skilled servants in the Tudor kitchen,

0:56:410:56:44

to production line workers of the 20th century.

0:56:440:56:47

Dramatically different.

0:56:470:56:49

Went through a high, you were a celebrity chef, really,

0:56:490:56:52

in the Georgian period, and now at the end of this stage,

0:56:520:56:56

we are at the bottom. That's quite humbling.

0:56:560:56:59

It's quite shocking.

0:56:590:57:01

I think it's reenergised me, doing all that chocolate work,

0:57:030:57:07

and making all those hard-boiled candies.

0:57:070:57:10

Actually getting your hands dirty and getting down to it again,

0:57:100:57:14

it was brilliant, I really enjoyed it.

0:57:140:57:16

You followed, you know, the life of a confectioner through every stage,

0:57:170:57:21

and I have a lot of empathy for them, and a lot of admiration.

0:57:210:57:24

I feel really privileged to do the job I do.

0:57:250:57:29

Today, our modern confectioners are part of a renaissance

0:57:310:57:35

in beautiful handmade confectionery,

0:57:350:57:38

an echo of the early history of their trade.

0:57:380:57:41

There is still a place for mass-produced confectionery

0:57:410:57:44

and there is still a place for the artisan,

0:57:440:57:46

so in a lot of ways, we've come together.

0:57:460:57:49

Everybody has the choice, though, and that's the difference.

0:57:490:57:52

The mass confectionery of this period,

0:57:520:57:55

it gave everybody the chance to try the things

0:57:550:57:58

that were once the preserve of the rich.

0:57:580:58:00

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