{"id":4300,"date":"2012-06-05T14:41:16","date_gmt":"2012-06-05T18:41:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.collectingcandy.com\/wordpress\/?p=4300"},"modified":"2014-10-04T01:58:05","modified_gmt":"2014-10-04T05:58:05","slug":"our-big-rolo-roundup-75-years-of-rolo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/collectingcandy.com\/wordpress\/?p=4300","title":{"rendered":"Our Big Rolo Roundup! 75 Years of Rolo!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Today is unofficially my 100th article for CollectingCandy.com, so I wanted to make it a big one. \u00a0 [Note: This is actually post 105, but several of those were directing readers to other things, so this would be my 100th real candy article, give or take a post.]<\/p>\n

Though I only launched this site back in February, it’s been a whirlwind few months, and as much as I thought I knew about candy, I continue to learn more and more as the weeks and months go on. \u00a0 It’s been great sharing this little corner of consumer and pop culture with everyone these last hundred posts, and I hope that the next several hundred are going to be even more fun.<\/p>\n

Today’s piece is a bit of a beast.\u00a0 I spent the last three days scanning and digging through my files to bring it together, and when I sat down to start writing yesterday, I had over sixty different photos and scans to present.\u00a0 I trimmed it down as much as I felt I could, and I hope you enjoy what I came up with.<\/p>\n

—————————————————<\/p>\n

The Rolo was first sold in the UK by Mackintosh’s in 1937.\u00a0 Checking my calendar, that means that this simple little chocolate covered caramel treat is celebrating its 75th birthday this year.\u00a0\u00a0 A perfect time to have a big Rolo Roundup, don’t you think?<\/p>\n

Before 1937, Mackintosh’s were apparently best known for their toffee treats, and the Rolo was simply a chocolate covered version of one of their classic toffee rolls.<\/p>\n

[Note: After posting this article, I was fortunate to acquire an example of the very first Rolo wrapper from 1937 – click here to check it out<\/a>.]<\/p>\n

The earliest Rolo wrapper I’ve ever tracked down is one from 15 years after their introduction, a wrapper from 1952.\u00a0 It’s simple and elegant, sporting the design that would continue to be used without much alteration for the following three decades.\u00a0 This early Rolo wrapper is a beautiful example with an almost Art Deco Mackintosh’s logo.\u00a0 It’s a confectionery classic:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

UK – Mackintosh’s – Rolo – chocolate candy wrapper – 1952<\/p><\/div>\n

Though that 1952 Rolo wrapper is a UK variety, you might be surprised to learn that I found it in a scrapbook from Parker, South Dakota and assembled throughout the 1950’s and 1960’s.<\/p>\n

I’ve often stated here that finding old candy wrappers is not easy, so you have to sort of get lucky to find the odd place where they were tucked away.\u00a0\u00a0 This scrapbook is a great example of that.\u00a0 Shortly after World War II, a girl in Parker signed up for a European pen pal.\u00a0 In addition to photos and letters, she and her pen pal from England would spend a number of years exchanging sweets with each other.\u00a0 Fortunately for me, that girl in South Dakota kept a record of what she received by saving the wrappers in a scrapbook.\u00a0 Eventually the scrapbook would end up on eBay and in my collection.<\/p>\n

Another wrapper from that scrapbook that I want to share today is this early Mackintosh wrapper, likely for the brand that predated Rolo:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

UK – Mackintosh’s – Toff-o-Luxe – roll candy wrapper – 1952<\/p><\/div>\n

So the Rolo was a British creation, but it wasn’t long before it made its way across the Atlantic to the United States.\u00a0 At first, it appears to have been sold directly by Mackintosh’s, but soon it was produced and distributed (under license) by the New England Confectionery Company – of Necco Wafers and Sky Bar fame.\u00a0 Here are two early American Rolo wrappers.\u00a0 These date somewhere from the late 50’s to the early 60’s:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

USA – Mackintosh’s Rolo 10-cent candy wrapper – 1950’s 1960’s<\/p><\/div>\n

\"\"<\/a>

USA – Mackintosh’s – NECCO – Rolo 10-cent candy wrapper – 1950’s 1960’s<\/p><\/div>\n

It’s interesting to note that the New England Confectionery Company must have brought production stateside fairly rapidly, as I believe those two early American Rolo wrappers aren’t separated by too many years.\u00a0 That Necco licensed version is also notable as we see the inclusion of an illustrated Rolo candy, a design element that would be carried on for American Rolo packaging, and persists to this day.<\/p>\n

Right around this same time, the Mars company must have taken notice of Rolo’s success and introduced their own take on the treat.\u00a0 They called their version of the chocolate-covered caramel, Marsettes (and what a beautiful wrapper they designed for them!):<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Mars – Marsettes – 10-cent roll candy wrapper – 1950’s<\/p><\/div>\n

Necco was still producing Rolos here in the United States up to the very early 1970’s, though they would eventually lose the license to the Hershey Company (who still produce all of the Rolos for the United States today).\u00a0 Here’s an example of what was probably the last style of Rolo wrapper to come out of the New England Confectionery Company:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

USA – Necco – Mackintosh’s Rolo candy wrapper – early 1970’s<\/p><\/div>\n

I have not been able to suss out the details of how Hershey ended up becoming the US licensee for Rolo, but while Necco had been producing the product locally for over a decade, initial Hershey Rolos were produced in the United Kingdom and imported.\u00a0\u00a0 Here’s the earliest Hershey Rolo wrapper I’ve been able to turn up:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Hershey – Rolo – 20-cent candy roll wrapper – 1976-77<\/p><\/div>\n

That early Hershey Rolo wrapper indicates that the contents were “Made in England”.\u00a0 That again makes me curious how this all went down?<\/p>\n

If you’re wondering why Hershey simply didn’t acquire Necco’s Rolo-producing machinery; well, Necco had other plans.\u00a0 They may have lost the license to sell Rolos, but apparently they felt they could still sell the confection they’d been making all those years.\u00a0 They just changed the name, as you can see here:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Necco – Milk Chocolate Caramel Roll – Rolo – roll candy wrapper – mid-1970’s<\/p><\/div>\n

By 1978, Hershey was also producing its Rolos stateside, as indicated on this 20-cent wrapper:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

USA – Hershey – Rolo – 20-cent 155 ounce candy roll wrapper – 1978<\/p><\/div>\n

That 20-cent wrapper would change to a 25-cent version, and eventually lose the printed-on price altogether.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

USA – Hershey – Rolo – 25-cent 1.74 ounce candy roll wrapper – 1979<\/p><\/div>\n

\"\"<\/a>

USA – Hershey – Rolo – 1.55 ounce candy roll wrapper – 1981<\/p><\/div>\n

With Hershey’s marketing power behind it, Rolo’s reach in the marketplace expanded in the late 70’s and into the 80’s.\u00a0\u00a0 The way the product was merchandised was also expanded.\u00a0\u00a0 Here’s a larger multi-bag that would have contained individually foil-wrapped Rolo candy pieces:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Hershey – Rolo – multi bag candy package – 1981<\/p><\/div>\n

From here, my roundup of Rolo could get a little sketchy if I’m trying to go chronologically, as I’ve got UK Rolos, American Rolos, Canadian Rolos, and even a cool German Rolo flavor variant.<\/p>\n

In order to keep this somewhat clear, I’m going to go forward focusing just on the evolution of American Rolo packaging, then come back around to the vintage pieces I have from other parts of the world.<\/p>\n

Early on in the 1980’s, Hershey increased the size of their packages across the board, so things like Reese’s Pieces and Hershey bars got larger, and this also applied to Rolo.\u00a0 This may have been a response to inflation and an attempt to appeal to value concerns of consumers.\u00a0 Here’s what the Rolo wrapper from that promotion looked like:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

USA – Hershey – Rolo – Now 9 Pieces – 1.74 ounce candy roll wrapper – 1982<\/p><\/div>\n

The look of the Rolo logo had remained the same since at least the early 1950’s, but later on in the 80’s or early 90’s, it would be redesigned to become bolder.\u00a0 [This change occurred earlier in the UK, but I’ll get to that a bit further down…]<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

USA – Hershey – Rolo – 1.93 ounce candy roll wrapper – late 1980’s to early 1990’s<\/p><\/div>\n

Soon after the addition of Nutrition Facts to all US packaging, Rolo still sported this design and look:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

USA – Hershey – Rolo – 1.91 ounce candy roll wrapper – 1990’s<\/p><\/div>\n

\"\"<\/a>

USA – Hershey – Rolo – 1.91 ounce candy roll wrapper – 2000<\/p><\/div>\n

In the early 2000’s, American Rolo packages would get their most significant redesign yet with a change to this look:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

USA – Hershey – Rolo – roll candy wrapper – 2003 – Image Courtesy CandyWrapperArchive.com<\/p><\/div>\n

And that brings us finally up to the modern American Rolo package, seen here:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

USA – Hershey – Rolo candy roll wrapper – 2012<\/p><\/div>\n

And that’s my evolution of Rolo wrappers, focused on the American versions.\u00a0 But there’s more…\u00a0 Here are some highlights of Rolo packaging from around the world.<\/p>\n

Rolos from Around the World<\/strong><\/h1>\n

As I said, the bulkier Rolo logo was introduced in the UK much earlier than it was in the United States.\u00a0 Here are a few of those:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

UK – Mackintosh’s – Rolo – 4p chocolate candy wrapper – 1970’s<\/p><\/div>\n

\"\"<\/a>

UK – Mackintosh’s – Rolo – chocolate candy wrapper – 1970’s<\/p><\/div>\n

\"\"<\/a>

UK – Rowntree Mackintosh – Rolo – one extra free – 62g candy roll wrapper – 1980’s<\/p><\/div>\n

This next wrapper is the earliest I have to sport the Nestle ownership:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

UK – Nestle Rowntree Mackintosh – Rolo – 57g roll cany wrapper – 1990’s<\/p><\/div>\n

In the mid-1990’s Rolo would get the candy bar treatment as you can see here (the Nestle name also takes top-billing now):<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

UK – Nestle – Rolo Bar – NEW – chocolate candy bar wrapper – 1995<\/p><\/div>\n

1995 must have been the end of the sharper-edged Rolo logo, as 1996 saw the introduction of the more fluid look for Rolo Bar:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

UK – Nestle – Rolo Bar – chocolate candy bar wrapper – 1996<\/p><\/div>\n

Here are a few other fun late 1990’s and early 2000’s UK Rolo packages:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

UK – Nestle – Rolo – Sony 1000 Prizes – candy roll wrapper – 1998<\/p><\/div>\n

This next wrapper is for Rolo Cookies.\u00a0 They basically added a cookie core to the caramel center.\u00a0 Sounds a bit like little bite-size Twix.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

UK – Nestle – Rolo Cookies – new – candy wrapper – 1999<\/p><\/div>\n

\"\"<\/a>

UK – Nestle – Rolo – Win a 24ct Gold last Rolo – candy wrapper – 2004<\/p><\/div>\n

Rolo isn’t known for having mascots, and truth be told, I’ve only ever found mascots represented on a Rolo package once.\u00a0 It was for the UK’s “Little Rolos” which were first put on sale in 2002 – the mascots are featured on the reverse of the package and they’re quite fun:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

UK – Nestle – Little Rolo – NEW – candy package – 2002<\/p><\/div>\n

The evolution of Rolo in other English-speaking parts of the world like Canada and Australia has followed that of the UK more closely than the USA.\u00a0 Following is a selection of packaging from those two countries:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Canada – Rowntree-Mackintosh – Rolo – 11 Pieces – candy roll wrapper – 1980’s<\/p><\/div>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Canada – Nestle – Rolo – 11 pieces – candy roll wrapper – 1980’s<\/p><\/div>\n

Not sure what makes this next one a “Special Edition”, as there’s nothing that points out just what is special about it.\u00a0 Anyone see something I don’t?<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Canada – Nestle – Rolo – Special Edition – chocolate candy roll wrapper – 1990’s<\/p><\/div>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Canada – Nestle – Rolo – roll candy wrapper – 1997<\/p><\/div>\n

This next version of Canadian Rolo looses the individual makeup of the Rolo and turns it almost into a bar of sorts.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Canada – Nestle – Rolo – New Shape Extra Creamy – roll candy wrapper – 1990’s<\/p><\/div>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Canada – Nestle – Rolo – candy roll wrapper – 1990’s 2000’s<\/p><\/div>\n

And here’s a wrapper for a roll of Jumbo Rolos I picked up a couple of years ago:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Canada – Nestle – Rolo Jumbo roll wrapper – 2010<\/p><\/div>\n

And now for some of the Australian\/New Zealand pieces:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Australia – Nestle – Rolo – roll candy wrapper – 1998<\/p><\/div>\n

In Australia and New Zealand, they put out something called Rolo Smooth.\u00a0 I’m not exactly sure what differentiated it from a standard Rolo – if anyone knows, please leave a comment:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Australia – Nestle – Rolo Smooth – NEW – candy bar wrapper – 1998<\/p><\/div>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Australia – Nestle – Rolo Smooth – NEW – King Size – candy bar wrapper – 1998<\/p><\/div>\n

Australia also seems to have the corner on the oversized European style versions of Rolo, as evidenced by the following pair of big 200g wrappers:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Australia – Nestle – Rolo Smooth – 200g big bar chocolate candy wrapper – 1999<\/p><\/div>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Australia – Nestle – Rolo – 200g big bar chocolate candy wrapper – 1998<\/p><\/div>\n

And that’s the end of the standard Rolo wrappers.\u00a0 Whew!\u00a0 I’m going to round out today with a selection of other Rolo branded items that I’ve come across in the UK and Canada.\u00a0 In the United States, Rolo is a time-tested favorite, but in the UK and Canada it is a brand that has been attached to so many other things.\u00a0 It’s a bit like the way our Reese’s is here.\u00a0 So there are countless Rolo items in the UK and Canada, but here are just a few:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Canada – Nestle Nesquik Rolo – in store – Fall 2009<\/p><\/div>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Canada – Nestle Rolo ice cream bars – in store – Fall 2009<\/p><\/div>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Canada – Nestle – Rolo Egg – candy package – Easter 2012<\/p><\/div>\n

\"\"<\/a>

UK – London – Nestle – Rolo Doughnuts – Sainsbury – November 2011<\/p><\/div>\n

And no, I didn’t end up getting the Doughnuts.\u00a0 The next time I make it back to the UK, if I find them, I’ll make it a point to sample these exotic treats.\u00a0 While I didn’t try those, I did manage to put away a few Rolo infused cookies.\u00a0 Here’s the evidence:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

UK – Nestle – Rolo Cookies – Sainsbury’s package – November 2011<\/p><\/div>\n

And that’s all I have for you today…well, one more thing.\u00a0 This is the most unusual piece of Rolo packaging I’ve ever come across, and it’s the only example I’ve ever seen.\u00a0 Released in Germany sometime in the late 70’s or early 80’s, this is one of those near-mythical pieces.\u00a0 It’s certainly one of my absolute faves.\u00a0 A wrapper for a Rolo Mint…<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Germany – Mackintosh’s – Rolo – Peppermint – candy roll wrapper – late 70’s early 80’s<\/p><\/div>\n

How cool is that?<\/p>\n

I wanted to assemble a big timeline for today’s piece, but just ran out of time, and I’m not quite sure how all of this material would fit together in a timeline anyway.\u00a0 I may still do it, and if I do, I’ll post a link to it here.<\/p>\n

With that, I hope you’ve enjoyed this extensive look at the history of Rolo and Rolo packaging through the decades and around the world.\u00a0 It was a big task to bring it all together, so I hope it makes up for the last few days without posts.\u00a0\u00a0 I spent all weekend working on this one.<\/p>\n

See you back here tomorrow for another edition of CollectingCandy.com’s Wacky Wednsedays!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today is unofficially my 100th article for CollectingCandy.com, so I wanted to make it a big one. \u00a0 [Note: This is actually post 105, but several of those were directing readers to other things, so this would be my 100th … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[87,49,24,6,35,75,56,116],"tags":[1212,1208,1206,1205,1207,88,51,27,13,36,103,10,321,328,181,18,224,324,77,66,78,38,326,1216,21,25,325,327,15,122,12],"class_list":["post-4300","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-1950s","category-1960s","category-1970s","category-1980s","category-1990s","category-british","category-chocolate-2","category-nestle","tag-1950s","tag-1960s","tag-1970s","tag-1980s","tag-1990s","tag-50s","tag-60s","tag-70s","tag-80s","tag-90s","tag-anniversary","tag-candy","tag-candy-collecting","tag-candy-collector","tag-caramel","tag-chocolate","tag-collectibles","tag-collecting-candy","tag-collection","tag-collector","tag-confectionery","tag-history","tag-mackintosh","tag-nestle","tag-packaging","tag-retro","tag-rolo","tag-rowntree","tag-sweets","tag-uk","tag-vintage"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2aFGk-17m","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/collectingcandy.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4300","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/collectingcandy.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/collectingcandy.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/collectingcandy.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/collectingcandy.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4300"}],"version-history":[{"count":72,"href":"http:\/\/collectingcandy.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4300\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14854,"href":"http:\/\/collectingcandy.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4300\/revisions\/14854"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/collectingcandy.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4300"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/collectingcandy.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4300"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/collectingcandy.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4300"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}