Ice cream has long been enjoyed in Great Britain. Popularised by Italian migrants as early as the 1850s, the ice cream cone proved to be an accessible food item for entrepreneurs to sell on urban streets.[1] Most importantly, its combination of sweetness and dairy tempted the British palate then as it does now.[2] Historian Lucio Sponza examines how this treat offered economic mobility to the Italian vendors who profited from selling it on the streets of London; by 1891, the production and distribution of ice cream became the main occupation of Italians in Clerkenwell, a diverse area in London.[3] With the establishment of new refrigeration technologies resultant from the First World War, British caterers of German-Jewish origins, the J. Lyons and Company, began the sale of ice creams as it came into rapid demand during the 1920s.[4]
Television advertisements from across the late twentieth century demonstrate ice cream as a significant product to the J. Lyons and Company, sold under the Lyons Maid brand, alongside the evolution of its marketing. One commercial from 1938 features women in a health club having an ice cream cone during their break.[5] The commercial argues that this is not as counterintuitive as one would now think. Indeed, the male lead – their instructor – is pleased.
He states, “I’m glad you girls know what to train on. Lyons ice cream in summer or winter is excellent food for your health – and your figure.” The instructor provides no further evidence and one can assume he is referring to its fat content derived from a cream base. In this way it is presented as a health food, contrary to modern perceptions.
The J. Lyons subsidiary and primary frozen treats retailer, Lyons Maid, became an iconic brand over the century. One television commercial from 1975, entitled “Newsagent,” animates three children who dance along to various products on offer whilst singing, “Lots of lolly, by golly, to make you feel jolly, which is the one you’ll like best?”[6] Through this depiction the advertisement entices children and their parents to try out and consume the pre-packaged treats often sold from their local newsagent store. The product choices of “traditional ice creams,” “real fruit refreshments”, and “family bricks” are still familiar in the UK today, including Neapolitan, raspberry ripple, orange, and Cornish dairy flavours.
Another Lyons Maid advertisement from 1978 redevelops options for the home freezer which are not too dissimilar from contemporary luxury market options such as Ben and Jerry’s or Haagen-Dazs. Sold in one litre packaging with a gold seal atop, this advertisement focuses on “fresh” ingredients mixed into the cream, including strawberries and fruits, hazelnuts, and toffee.[7] It asks, “why dress up everyday ice cream?” Such choices were likely to be served as an after-dinner treat to save the housewife from preparing alternative baked desserts whilst also satisfying the immediate family.
Today, Lyons continues to sell ice cream products in wholesale quantities to shops for distribution, though are not typically found in supermarkets. A report from 2015 indicates that Lyons Maid, under British-French manufacturers, Froneri UK, continues to target small convenience stores with take-home and impulse products.[8] Their logo also remains unchanged, featuring the same three animated children from their advertisement in 1975.
[1] John Burnett, England Eats Out: A Social History of Eating Out in England from 1830 to the Present (London and New York: Routledge, 2014), p. 121; Panikos Panayi, Spicing Up Britain: The Multicultural History of British Food (London: Reaktion Books, 2008), pp. 76-77.
[2] John F. Love, McDonald’s: Behind the Arches (New York and Toronto: Bantam Books, 1986), p. 438.
[3] Panayi, Spicing up Britain, pp. 76
[4] Peter Bird, First Food Empire: A History of J. Lyons & Co (Chichester: Phillimore & Co., 2000), pp. 144.
[5] British Film Institute (BFI), 13055, 'Lyons Ice Cream', 1938, https://player.bfi.org.uk/free/film/watch-lyons-ice-cream-1938-online.
[6] BFI, 677045, 'Lyons Maid - Newsagent', 1975, https://player.bfi.org.uk/free/film/watch-lyons-maid-newsagent-1975-online.
[7] BFI, 366832, 'Ever Wished', 1978, https://player.bfi.org.uk/free/film/watch-ever-wished-1978-online.
[8] Vince Bamford, 'Lyons Maid expands to become challenger to own-label ranges', The Grocer, vol. 238 (2015), p. 43.