The original & best. Not often seen now since they were rebooted into the inferior Maynards version.
These should really only be dispensed from a jar onto a set of scales until they read exactly 4oz & then decanted into a paper bag.
With Brexit happening this may become reality. For now make do with a 150g bag for just 49p at B&M or 37p a quarter in real money.
I can confirm the recipe is the same as it was 40+ years ago & they are still made in Yorkshire although Lion were absorbed some years ago & are now part of Tangerine Confectionery.
My childhood way of attacking a quarter of these was to save all the blacks until the end & then have an all in one liquorice hit. Happy memories.
Top comments
Hucknallred to SilverBandit
20 Jul 164#3
The Blackcurrant were in the awful Maynards reboot version. These are original & the bag proudly says ** including liquorice **.
Trust me, I'm a Midget Gem expert, these are identical to the ones I got from the corner shop in the 70s .
All comments (16)
holeymoley18
20 Jul 16#1
Never liked the black ones. Just as well though as they were my mum's favourite, so I rarely got one!
SilverBandit
20 Jul 16#2
are you sure these have licorice flavoured ones, and not the blackcurrent ones? I thought you could only get the licorice ones in the 3kg boxes now...
Hucknallred to SilverBandit
20 Jul 164#3
The Blackcurrant were in the awful Maynards reboot version. These are original & the bag proudly says ** including liquorice **.
Trust me, I'm a Midget Gem expert, these are identical to the ones I got from the corner shop in the 70s .
Hucknallred
20 Jul 16#4
I worked at a Cash & Carry in the 80s & remember those 3 Kg wax coated boxes, that were even tied up with a thin ribbon, their version of a quality seal. Different times.
sradmad
20 Jul 16#5
good find op, heat added
ally8971
20 Jul 16#6
Oh the Nostalgia... For sweeties... Where I grew up there was a shop called the chocolate box which sold sweeties from hundreds of huge glass jars.. Those were the days!
Paddy_o_furniture
20 Jul 16#7
Home bargains also sell them, think they are 79p there. They also have football gums for the same price. Both contain the licorice
Voted hot just for the memories of going to the local sweet shop with your weekly pocket money burning a hole in your pocket ready to hand over for sugary goodness from the rows of glass jars behind the counter, weighed out on proper mechanical scales (which you watched like a hawk as it crept up to the 1/4....and hopefully slightly over :smile:) and then handed over in those little paper bags.
pileemhigh
20 Jul 16#9
7shillings and 5pence to be real real :wink:
pileemhigh
20 Jul 16#10
I agree.. great nostalgia trip.. and not much waste or plastic pollution back then.. re-usable glass jars and tiny paper bags. Can remember making sure I tipped the empty paper bag into my mouth to make sure I got any sugar that may have fallen off the sweets... Oh happy days.. for dentists :laughing:
antomac1001
20 Jul 16#11
*WARNING NSFMGF (not safe for midget gem-philes)*
I didnt like the midget gems but the stories and the memories they have inspired here make me wish I did.
Our local greengrocer, Joe, would only gauge the weight of sweets on an old set of scales and he always seemed to fill the tiny white paper bags. No wonder he was popular with kids and their pocket-money.
Nice one OP - have some sticky, gelatinous heat
ollie87
20 Jul 16#12
In this HUKD thread: Old people.
Hucknallred
20 Jul 16#13
Mechanical scales what memories. Reading the greengrocer story reminded me that there were 2 types of shopkeeper. The generous ones who would let the scales approach 5oz without tipping anything back into the jar, & in my case a guy called Jack Hutchby who would get the scales within a micron of the 4oz mark. No digital displays in them days eh old uns?
We have great things in these modern times, but these are great memories for us old farts.
margamboy
21 Jul 161#14
Lost many a filling to these
Hucknallred to margamboy
21 Jul 16#16
I found the sister brand Lion Fruit Salad to be extremely efficient at removing a filling in one go.
![Fresh Breakfast Meat Box (Using code) @ Campbells Meat [Haggis / Lorne Sausage / Bacon / Black Pudding & More]](/images/topics/208684_1.jpg)
![[Xbox One] Q. u. b. e: Director's Cut on Deals with Gold](/images/topics/208716_1.jpg)
Opening post
These should really only be dispensed from a jar onto a set of scales until they read exactly 4oz & then decanted into a paper bag.
With Brexit happening this may become reality. For now make do with a 150g bag for just 49p at B&M or 37p a quarter in real money.
I can confirm the recipe is the same as it was 40+ years ago & they are still made in Yorkshire although Lion were absorbed some years ago & are now part of Tangerine Confectionery.
My childhood way of attacking a quarter of these was to save all the blacks until the end & then have an all in one liquorice hit. Happy memories.
Top comments
Trust me, I'm a Midget Gem expert, these are identical to the ones I got from the corner shop in the 70s .
All comments (16)
Trust me, I'm a Midget Gem expert, these are identical to the ones I got from the corner shop in the 70s .
http://www.tangerineuk.net/our-brands/lion/lion-midget-gems/.
I didnt like the midget gems but the stories and the memories they have inspired here make me wish I did.
Our local greengrocer, Joe, would only gauge the weight of sweets on an old set of scales and he always seemed to fill the tiny white paper bags. No wonder he was popular with kids and their pocket-money.
Nice one OP - have some sticky, gelatinous heat
We have great things in these modern times, but these are great memories for us old farts.