Humbugs

Humbugs brought back so many memories from my childhood!

Tasting

   Well, I have to say I decided to try humbugs just because I read they were mint-flavoured. I bought a small package of them at Sainsbury’s and went for the surprise.

   Of course I liked them, because I usually like mint sweets. They have a balanced flavour between the strong, refreshing mint and the sweet, honeyed taste of syrup and caramel. The texture is also very good – you can’t chew it, but it’s also not that kind of bothering hardness. They also look good, and the transparent wrapping gave me a sense of nostalgia, of old-fashioned sweets.

Unfortunately, I don't have many pictures of me
eating when I was a child. This one is probably
from 1995 or 1996, when we were on a family trip
to the beach. Thank you dad for catching me
on such a great angle! hahaha

My own sweet memoir

   I can’t really remember when I started to like mint sweets. I just know I did. First I was obsessed with small mint candy, and then after that came the bubblegum… When I actually learned how to not swallow them.

   Everytime my father asked me which treat I would like from the restaurant’s sweet counter, I would always pick the mint or peppermint flavoured ones. I really really liked a sort of bubblegum that came with a soft thick filling… I think they still sell them back in Brazil. I also was really into an old-fashioned one called “Mentex”, which my mother once told me she and my dad would always share when they used to date.

   My sister hated any kind of mint sweets. It was funny when dad said we should choose our sweets together to share, because she would never want to have them. Most of the times we would get strawberry bubblegum or any other fruity sweet. Sometimes, if I was alone with dad, I would choose these really strong-flavoured mint drops called “Halls”. Carol would always make a funny disgusted face when I offered them to her. Of course she would also make a big deal about it, but we’d be fine in about just five minutes, because that’s just how we were. And in the end it was great because I could have the whole pack just for myself :P

   Until I was 10 or 11, we used to live in a building that had a sweet shop just across the street. It was called “Itu Doces” – Itu was the name of my city and “doces” means sweets in Portuguese. Very creative. Actually, the store seemed more like a huge warehouse where you could find pretty much any kind of sweets you wanted to. The walls were grey and there wasn’t much light at the end of the corridors, but I liked it anyway. My mom wouldn’t take me there a lot though, because I would definitely freak out with all the options they had.

   Humbugs seems the kind of sweet that they would sell if there were any in Brazil. I would probably convince dad to buy one of the big packages they would have – because they would sell everything in big packages at Itu Doces – and then have one humbug everyday after dinner. Or maybe I’d just stick with the chocolates. I don’t know.

Humbugs and tragedy

   It is believed that sugar has started being used in Britain in the 14^th century, and only very rich people could afford to buy it. Historic researches point that, during that time, a pound of sugar would cost approximately 2 shillings, which would be almost £50 nowadays. This happened because sugar cane could not be cultivated in Britain’s cold climate – it had to be imported. During the 18^th century, for example, most of the supplies came from the West Indies and then refined at only 120 sugar refineries across the country. Only 30,000 tons of sugar were produced each year and taxes on the “white gold” were very high.

Definitely going to take some humbugs home when I leave! Delicious!

   Because of that, sometimes sugar was mixed with other substances, such as sulphate of lime, plaster of Paris and powdered limestone, and then sold to the working classes for cheaper prices. Even though sugar didn’t taste the same, it was still safe to ingest.

   In 1858, though, arsenic trioxide was accidentally poured into the mixture by the pharmacist who provided the supplies for Joseph Neal’s factory, in Bradford. Poisoned humbugs were produced and then purchased by William Hardaker, known as “Humbug Billy” by the locals, and sold at the Green Market at the centre of the city. The tragedy caused the poisoning of over 200 people and made other 20 die.

Humbugs in British culture

   I was really surprised to find out that not only humbug means a kind of sweet, but can also be used as a verb or noun related to deceiving and misleading. According to the Merriam Webster dictionary, the word humbug can mean a wilfully false, deceptive or insincere person; an attitude or spirit of pretense and deception; or even to engage in a hoax or deception.

   One of my favourite bands, Arctic Monkeys, has entitled their third album “Humbug”. Most people thought they were referencing to the “mean” side of the word, but according to Alex Turner, the singer, it was named after the sweet: “You’ve got to suck it and see”. Interestingly, they have named their next record as “Suck It and See” as well.

   Another nice reference to the word humbug happens is Charles Dickens’ novel “A Christmas Carol”. The main character, called Ebenezer Scrooge, uses the catchphrase “Bah, humbug!” to say that Christmas traditions are a fraud. This quote is still famous nowadays and used a lot to criticise Christmas advertisements. Dickens’ critic to industrial capitalism in this book is also still very praised, and his work has been adapted to film, opera and stage.