Bassett's
George Bassett & Co., known simply as Bassett's, was a British confectionery company and brand. The company was founded in
The company's best-known sweets, the
History
The Sheffield Directory of 1842 records George Bassett as being "wholesale confectioner, lozenge maker and British wine trader".[1] In 1851, Bassett took on an apprentice called Samuel Meggitt Johnson, who later became Bassett's son-in-law. His descendants ran the company until Gordon Johnson retired as chairman in the 1970s. Bassett's was first listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1929.[2] They opened up a factory in Broad Street, Sheffield in 1852. The site moved in 1933 to Owlerton in another district of the city and remains there today.[3] Unclaimed Babies were being produced during the 19th century, especially in the North West of England.[4] In 1918, Bassetts launched their own range of the soft sweets which they called Peace Babies.[4] They were re-launched as Jelly Babies in the 1950s and were allegedly thrown at the Beatles during concerts as they were a favourite of George Harrison.[5]
The
Barratt & Co. Ltd. was acquired in a friendly takeover by Bassett's in 1966.[7] In 1989, the combined firms were acquired by the then-united Cadbury-Schweppes company in a deal brokered for £91 million.[3] In 2016, all the products were re-marketed under the Maynards Bassett dual branding.[8]
Products
Confectionery items that use the Bassett's name today include:
- Liquorice Allsorts
- Fruit Allsorts
- Dessert Allsorts
- Sports Mixture
- Jelly Babies
- Milky Babies
- Fruity Babies
- Party Babies
- Sherbet Lemons
- Fruit Bonbons
- Lemon Bonbons
- Pear Drops
- Dolly mixture
- Sweetshop Favourites
- Murray Mints
- Mint Creams
- Mint Favourites
- Traditional Wine Gums(discontinued)
- Traditional Wine Gums (New recipe...)
- Imperials
- Imperials Spearmint
- Everton Mints
- Animal Mix
- Snakes
- Sour Squirms
- and assorted toffees
See also
References
- ^ a b Opie 2008, p. 116.
- ^ "Liquorice companies in Pontefract and Castleford" (PDF). Wakefield Council. Wakefield Council. Retrieved 20 July 2016.
- ^ a b Tuffrey, Peter (31 January 2015). "Retro; Sheffield sweet empire built by accident". Sheffield Star. Retrieved 20 July 2016.
- ^ a b Potts, Lauren (28 December 2015). "Sweet success: Unravelling the Jelly Baby's dark past". BBC News. Retrieved 20 July 2016.
- ^ "Favourite traditional sweets in pictures". The Telegraph. Retrieved 20 July 2016.
- ^ Lauren. "Liquorice Allsorts – There's Allsorts You Should Know About Them". WebsiteName. Retrieved 23 May 2023.
- ^ "Bassett offers £3.9M. for Barratt", The Financial Times, London, p. 14, 29 September 1966
- ^ "Two brands become one". Scottish Grocer. March 2016. Retrieved 20 July 2016.
Bibliography
- Opie, Robert. Sweet Memories. London, UK: Pavilion Books, 2008. ISBN 9781905400621.
External links
Media related to Bassett's at Wikimedia Commons