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Sunday 24 April 2022

WEB PAGE NO. 2902 3 April 2022 Kia Ora First Picture: Kia Ora adver
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Forth Picture: Kia Ora Fruit Pastils + Kia Ora Kia-Ora is, or was, a concentrated fruit soft drink brand, made by Atlantic Industries (a subsidiary of the Coca-Cola Company) and licensed for manufacturing in Ireland and up to 2019 in the UK by Coca-Cola Enterprises Ltd. The juice drink, you may remember was only sold in a concentrated state. The brand takes its name from kia ora, a Māori language greeting which has entered New Zealand English. The first Kia-Ora was a lemon squash sold by Arthur Gasquoine in Sydney, Australia, in 1903. The brand was sold to the Dixon Family in the same year, with the first factory being established by Roland Dixon in Prahran in Melbourne. The original factory chimney still exists and is now a heritage-listed building. The first bottle off the production line is still in the hands of the Dixon family, as is the original recipe for Chilli Cordial, one of the first flavours launched, alongside orange and lemon flavours. Kia-Ora was launched in Great Britain in 1917 in orange and lemon flavours. The success of Kia-Ora prompted the Dixon family to expand the range of its drinks, and that led to many other flavours emerging: orange mixed fruit, raspberry, and pear were just a handful of the flavours created in the ever-expanding range. No-added-sugar variants were also created. Kia-Ora continued to prosper throughout the 20th century, with the World Wars only affecting the brand slightly in terms of production. The brand remained popular amongst children aged 3-10 in both Australia and the United Kingdom. From 1953, Kia-Ora was advertising with full-colour posters. In 1961, Kia-Ora was sold to the Campbell Soup Company of the US. The brand became popular in the 1970s within the UK. It was widely available in cinemas as a ready-to-drink product in cartons, paired with an advertisement spoofing the Columbia Pictures logo. In 1982, Kia-Ora launched a colourful, animated advertising campaign, directed by Oscar Grillo of Klacto Animations, which used the jingle "We all adore a Kia-Ora", and featured a child in a straw hat, a dog called Fedora who served the drink, and multiple crows who pursued the boy for a drink, with the boy responding with "it's too orangey for crows". Later promotions included Caramba's song "Fido", and the jingle was referred to in the Spaced episode "Gone". The advertisements attracted a degree of controversy in later years, with claims of implicit racism, because the boy looked similar to a golliwog. The brand was refreshed in 1987, with a series of advertisements directed by Geoff Dunbar, featuring redesigned characters, the introduction of the boy's chubby father, and new variations on the jingle. The success of the Kia-Ora brand subsequently declined, overtaken by rival juice producers such as Robinsons. Coca-Cola eventually discontinued all variations except sugar-free orange and sugar-free mixed fruit. In Spring 2019 Coca-Cola cancelled production in the UK, but production continues in Ireland, I must admit that I had not noticed it disappear from our shelves. Stay in touch Peter gsseditor@gmail.com

Wednesday 13 April 2022

Web Page 2900 17th April 2022 First Picture: Gauntlet and Walker Bottle
Second Picture: Typical Milk float
Third Picture: Jubbly Orange Drink Carton Going Out with the Milkman I do not mean going out on a date with him but assisting him on his Saturday morning round. This happened to me when I was about 12 years old when our regular milkman, Roy, from the Gauntlet and Walker Dairy asked if I would like to help him each Saturday morning for a month as his usual boy was away on holiday. I would start from our house on the Havant Road along to Rectory Avenue and as it involved not too strenuous work for half a day and paid 10/- plus all the milk and orange juice I could drink. I readily said ‘Yes’. So having got my parents agreement the next Saturday I became a Junior Milkman. Must admit that I did not realise that the job would involve quite so much walking and by the end of the round my legs really ached. Having got the knack of carrying several empty bottles at once, life was good. The biggest house we delivered to was Farlington Manor which stood in its own land on the corner of the Havant Road and Gillman Road. Here we drove round to the back of the house to deliver milk to the cook via the scullery. This was the first time I had been this close to the manor and it was all very exciting. I remember the walls of the corridors were painted cream and green and the kitchen was tiled out with white tiles. Here the cook made us tea and gave us sandwiches in case we got hungry later, a kindness we both appreciated. rested here for a time or until the Butler came below stairs and insisted we carried on with our milk round duties. I also remember a couple of other below stairs servants but they all seemed in awe of the Butler. Our next stop was to turn into a narrow gateway between the church fence and the main road. This led to Councillor Mrs Kerrs Farm which she ran with her husband. The place always looked a mess and I never did figure out what the farms main crop was apart from piles of rubbish. There is an unfortunate story of how a previous farmer had drowned himself in the cess pit there. Details of which can be found in one of my Drayton Books. By now time was getting on and by the time we reached Rectory Road it was time to look and see what goodies the cook had packed for us. Here I clearly remember a word of warning that Roy gave me over these sandwiches. Always hold the sandwich bb the crust and eat down to the crust. But do not eat the crust as you hands had been holding it and they were dirty from the milk bottles. So the crusty crust had to be thrown away. Sensible really. I only did the job for four Saturdays until the regular lad came back but by that time I had secured a part time job as a petrol pump attendant in Davy Smiths Garage in Farlington. But that was another story. Stay in touch Peter gsseditor@gmail.com