Today I’m taking a look at a series of wrappers released by Cadbury UK in the early-1970’s which featured characters from the classic children’s television show, The Wombles.
The first Wombles television show was produced by the BBC using stop-motion animation and aired from 1973 to 1975. The Wombles were a race of pointy-nosed creatures whose unusual-yet-noble purpose was to find litter and dispose of it properly. That, and to perform catchy musical numbers. Yes the 1970’s were a magical time.
The Wombles promotional photo
Based on children’s books of the same name, The Wombles became something of a UK pop culture institution with countless media mentions and more than a few revivals over the past four decades.
Here’s a video clip of The Wombles appearing on the UK program Top of the Pops in 1974: [Check out the presenter as I believe he’s holding a few Cadbury Creme Eggs in his hand.]
The heyday of The Wombles popularity was the 1970’s, which built upon the success of the television show and led to musical albums as well as a 1977 film and many licensed products including two series of Cadbury Dairy Milk bars.
From what I can tell there were two series of Wombles bars produced. I’m not certain how many wrappers there were across those two series, though I have thirteen different examples in my collection. Here they are:
UK – Cadbury’s – The Wombles Bungo – Bungo’s Musical Instrument – chocolate candy bar wrapper – 1970’s
UK – Cadbury’s – The Wombles Great Uncle Bulgaria – Great Uncle Bulgaria’s Paperweight – chocolate candy bar wrapper – 1970’s
UK – Cadbury’s – The Wombles Madam Cholet – Madam Cholet’s Pomander – chocolate candy bar wrapper – 1970’s
UK – Cadbury’s – The Wombles Orinoco – Orinoco’s Noise-Machine – chocolate candy bar wrapper – 1970’s
UK – Cadbury’s – The Wombles Tobermory – Tobermory’s Thingummy Box – chocolate candy bar wrapper – 1970’s
UK – Cadbury’s – The Wombles Tomsk – Tomsk’s Vase – chocolate candy bar wrapper – 1970’s
UK – Cadbury’s – The Wombles Wellington – Wellington’s Helicopter – chocolate candy bar wrapper – 1970’s
The next six wrappers differentiate themselves as they feature six numbered “Womble Hints”:
UK – Cadbury’s – The Wombles Great Uncle Bulgaria – Hint No 1 – chocolate candy bar wrapper – 1970’s
UK – Cadbury’s – The Wombles Tobermory – Hint No 2 – chocolate candy bar wrapper – 1970’s
UK – Cadbury’s – The Wombles Orinoco – Hint No 3 – chocolate candy bar wrapper – 1970’s
UK – Cadbury’s – The Wombles Bungo – Hint No 4 – chocolate candy bar wrapper – 1970’s
UK – Cadbury’s – The Wombles Wellington – Hint No 5 – chocolate candy bar wrapper – 1970’s
UK – Cadbury’s – The Wombles Tomsk – Hint No 6 – chocolate candy bar wrapper – 1970’s
Those are all of the different Wombles wrappers I have in my collection though I do have one interesting variation to show.
Much like Cadbury’s Monster Bar wrappers I wrote about in 2012, Cadbury’s New Zealand division released a set of The Wombles bars that featured the same wrapper designs used in the UK, but in their case in a smaller size. Here’s a comparison of a UK Wombles wrapper next to the smaller version released by Cadbury New Zealand:
New Zealand – Cadbury The Wombles – Bungo – Hint No 4 – chocolate candy bar wrapper – 1970’s
Special note: From what I’ve read online, The Wombles are set to return to television in 2015 for a new CGI version of their program.
That’s everything I’ve got to share today on The Wombles and their 1970’s Cadbury chocolate wrappers. See you next time!
About Jason Liebig
A New York City based writer, editor and sometimes actor. After spending much of the 1990′s in the comic book business helping tell the stories of Marvel Comics’ X-Men as series editor, he has since split his time between developing his own entertainment properties while still consulting and working on others.
Having been described as “the Indiana Jones of lost and forgotten candy”, Jason is one of the country’s premier candy collectors and historians with his discoveries appearing in countless blogs, magazines, newspaper articles, and books.
Always happy to share his knowledge and unique perspectives on this colorful part of our popular culture, Jason has consulted with New York’s Museum of Food and Drink and has also been a featured guest on Food Network’s Heavyweights, France’s M6 Capital, and New York’s TheActionRoom.com.
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I remember these well as a child, I was a big wombles fan. They were around the same time as Nestle’s Pink Panther strawberry chocolate which I also was a big fan of!
Freaky! I never heard of them before.
I collected these as a kid, and as far as I know I still have them (although I can’t find them at the moment). The artwork on them is gorgeous, and I wish it was possible to find out who the artist/s was/were, or to see high-quality reproductions of them.
Just to clarify, though :- the set of six with the full-length shots were the first set released; the set showing head-shots of the characters were released after… perhaps the following year. The second series was expanded to include Madame Cholet..
Although I never saw them myself, I have recently become aware of a third set showing each character in some kind of activity. The picture I’ve seen shows :- Tobermory driving; Tomsk riding a Big Dipper; Wellington outside what appears to be Buckingham Palace; Bungo playing a tin-can like a drum (?); and MacWomble cracking walnuts. Also include in this set was Great Uncle Bulgaria.
I hope this information is of some help to you, and maybe pictures of the mysterious third set will show up!
Wow, amazing information Kevin. Thank you! -J
Too bad , the chocolates never made it to the United States. I wish the candies had. Of course, I also wished there were Lego sets of Wombles, but that’s me.