A Decorative Antique Pine J. S. Fry & Sons Chocolate Cream Display Counter Box
SOLD
Origin: British
Period: Early-Twentieth Century
Provenance: Unknown
Date: c.1900-10
Width: 11.5 inches
Depth: 8 inches
Height: 3.5 inches
Hailing from the Edwardian period, the antique pine lid with paper label in midnight blue and canary yellow advertising “Fry’s Chocolate Cream”.
The sides of the box are all in tact, the front panel with the repeated printed paper label, the colours to both of the labels are still vivid. The interior of the lid is stamped with 250 Prize Medals’ and the Royal Warrant, and ‘Bristol, London, Sydney’ printed under. Opening the lid, there are the remains of the original pink paper lined interior. The two flanks read “Fry’s Chocolate, Cream Tablettes (Oval) No.166…This box contains 60 Tablettes” and the rear panel reads simply “Fry’s Chocolate, Manufactured in England’. The lid is loose however, having become unattached to the pin hinges but the rest of the box is sound.
In around 1759 Joseph Fry started making chocolate and the rest, as they say, is history. The business soon moved through several names and hands before ending up as J. S. Fry & Sons. Since the mid nineteenth century over 220 products were introduced in the following decades, including production of the first chocolate Easter egg in UK in 1873 and the Fry's Turkish Delight (or Fry's Turkish bar) in 1914. The Chocolate Cream, as advertised here and still in production today, was one of the first chocolate bars ever produced; launched in 1866.
This nostalgic piece of antique confectionary ware has a distinct art nouveau influence in its design to the paper labels and is not just a decorative delight but also an important piece of advertising history; now becoming more desirable as each year passes.