Nothing says Christmas quite like a Terry’s Chocolate Orange, and with an estimated 32 million of them consumed each year in the UK, they’ve been a longstanding household favourite.
But did you know they started here in York?
Terry’s of York was founded in 1767 by Joseph Terry, selling boiled sweets and candied fruit in a small shop near Bootham Bar, before expanding to larger premises in St Helen’s Square in 1818.
Terry’s began production of the famous orange shaped confectionery in 1932, with the classic segments, signature orange flavour and famous ‘tapability’ making it an instant success.
The Chocolate Orange was originally priced at two shillings, and the packaging has undergone various designs as the decades have passed, though the spherical design and flavour has remained consistent.
When Terry’s closed its doors in 2005 after the business passed to Kraft Foods, York Castle Museum received over 400 objects from photos and packaging to catalogues and chocolate. A selection of these items, including a Chocolate Orange from 1980 are currently on display in York Castle Museum’s ‘Sugar, Skill and Shiftwork: York’s Confectionery Workers’ exhibition.
The exhibition explores the lives of those who lived and worked in York during its confectionery heyday, revealing the everyday history of chocolate creations.
It also features the predecessor to the Chocolate Orange, a Terry’s Chocolate Apple, which was introduced to consumers from 1924 but proved not nearly as popular as it only lasted 30 years before going out of production in 1954. A Chocolate Lemon briefly hit the shelves in 1979 before being withdrawn three years later.
Traditional Christmas stockings often contained an orange, with the citrus fruit being linked to the origins of Father Christmas or St Nicholas who left gold coins in the stockings of three young girls. The orange represents the gold coins, but also during times of hardship, the orange would serve as a special treat on Christmas morning.
The Chocolate Orange has become a staple in seasonal gifting, perhaps as a result of citruses past, or simply because they are a delicious treat!
Find out more about the origins of Terry’s Chocolate Orange at York Castle Museum, as well as more festive treats and seasonal activities.
