Sunday 22 May 2011

Friar & Goblet

I can't tell you how long I've waited to get my hands on one of these. I must have seen it first as a boy, perched up on grocers' shelves. We were a Bird's Custard household, but I remember wondering about the connection between a monk and a glass of custard. Much later I read that the custard makers were Monkhouse & Glasscock, where sometimes funnyman Bob's father was chairman, hoping vainly that his son would follow him into the business. As we all know only too well he didn't, and M&G got subhumed into Bird's. Such an evocative brand, and further round the tin there's a full-size monk holding up the glass and saying "At last. At last". How true.

28 comments:

Miss Rayne said...

16 Pints?
Large family then.

rashbre said...

I'm having a sort of flashback that tells me I've seen that type of custard powder before.

Peter Ashley said...

Yes, 16 pints is rather alarming.

Sue Imgrund said...

That's 2 gallons. Takes me back to my college days where we had a tradition called "The Custard Vote" - whoever won/lost got approx. the contents of this tin made up chucked over them. Probably Birds', though.

Peter Ashley said...

Ooh I like that Sue. More custard stories please.

Wartime Housewife said...

I'm so pleased for you, you've wanted a tin of that for so long.

Mr_Handley said...

Were you at St Custards with Nigel Molesworth and Basil Fotherington-Thomas!!!

Philip Wilkinson said...

An inspired piece of branding. An an effective answer to the nagging question: 'Whatever can you DO with a name like Glasscock?"

Peter Ashley said...

I failed the entrance exam to St.Custard's, but Ron Combo over at 'My Grappa Hell' certainly went there.

Val said...

Yes, yummy, but I think I'd rather be Dom Perignon drinking champagne the first time - "I am drinking the stars."

Just a minute, why not champagne AND custard?!

Jon Dudley said...

A fine tin Mr.A - such fun. Rather ironic that a local design group which has produced a huge range of packaging for the locally-based produce and café group 'Bill's' has 'sourced old food and crate labels' as the illustrative element for new packaging design. We could yet see bits of these old designs adorning some trendy new labels for in this case something like 'Father Ambrose's organic shampoo'....I do hope not.

TIW said...

I love custard. And just for the record, I could easily drink 16 pints of it. Might take a day or two, mind.

Peter Ashley said...

I loved school custard for some now obscure reason, in anodised metal jugs. Always had seconds. (And thirds.)

Fred Fibonacci said...

Bird's v. Monk & Glass: a custardy battle? (Sorry...)

Philip Wilkinson said...

Couldn't stand school custard. Terrible stuff full of lumps and skin that wound its way round the corners of your mouth; yuck. I remember the anodised jugs, though...

Sue Imgrund said...

Monks are more usually used to adorn beer labels over here and custard is made by Dr Oetker and called Vanilla Sauce. I can't imagine Molesworth at St Vanilla Sauce's, but maybe Dr Oetker's Academy?

Mr_Handley said...

Or St Crème Anglaise's for that matter!!

The Vintage Knitter said...

Just for the record, I love my custard lumpy with a nice thick skin on it.

Ron Combo said...

I second Wilko. School custard at my St Custard's was execreble (incidentally a handy word when you've had a filthy meal in a restaurant and the waiter says "did you enjoy your meal sir/madam?" and you reply, "thank you it was execrable". they usually say "I'm so glad"), anyhoo, custard doesn't exist here in the English sense, although they do a sort of faggy thin version as noted by Mr Handley.

renzo said...

What would the label have looked like if they'd decided on 'House & Cock' instead?

Peter Ashley said...

Oh Renzo, I must design it NOW.

Unknown said...

I am really hoping you can tell me the ingredients listed on the tin please. I am searching for old products to compare the ingredients to modern ones.
Sonia

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