1939: Marshmallow Easter Eggs

April 10, 2023

By AHNZ

For 80 years the twin-lobe marshmallow chocolate egg was a fixture of New Zealand’s Easter. 1939 Is the earliest date I can find and it was in 2019 that they were discontinued.

According to Te Awamutu Courier in 1950 chocolate Easter Eggs had ceased to exist apart from in the minds of New Zealanders who remembered life before the war. “Luxury confections now but a memory….More than one Easter shopper has looked in vain for the luxuriously packaged, outsize hollow cholocate Easter eggs of pre-war days.” The advertiser nudged Kiwis seeking their chocolate sacrament toward marshmallow eggs instead on grounds of economy and efficiency. Those are not selling points that would work on 2020s Kiwis but in the post-war ethic this was recognised as good branding.

From 1949 the marshmellow egg was indeed being rebooted, especially in Whangarei thanks to proximity to the Onerahi chocolate factory; Northland Sweets.  “Machinery for the making of conventional marshmallow eggs is in store waiting installation when the factory at Onerahi is extended. Until this is done, novelty lines are being produced under difficult conditions.” reported the Northern Advocate.

From the description as well as this picture (image, below-right) from the Ashburton Guardian it’s clear that the twin-lobe form had been established. Back in 1938 Wardells grocery offered “marshmellow eggs” which were probably Queen Anne brand as stipulated directly in the same advertising issued in 1940. So, Darian/History Never Repeats/Long White Kid is right in pointing to the late 1930s as the genesis of this great, lost, product.

“When is something half of what it used to be for the same price? Why, when it’s a product from the ‘Ain’t Broke But We’ll Fix It Anyway’ crew, known to most as Mondelez. Apparently taking most of the jobs away wasn’t enough, they now want to take most of your eggs too! Also pretty sure the part where they say ‘it’s not possible to make them the same way’, they actually mean it IS possible because they have been doing it the same way since the 1930s until now #IJS. Instead of swallowing this blatant rip-off accompanied by a generous helping of lies – go and buy Whittaker’s instead. At least they have ethics. Plus their product tastes ten times better.” – History Always Repeats: Remembering New Zealand, Facebook (2019)

“The earliest record I have for actual chocolate marshmallow eggs is by Adams Bruce Ltd. for the Queen Anne brand in the 1950s, which are fondly remembered by many. I am sure that Aulsebrook’s and Cadbury also launched theirs at this time…” – Bite Size: Mallowed With Time, Long White Kid (2014)

“Kiwis have been left heartbroken after Cadbury announced its popular Marshmallow Eggs would be changing design…Not only has the design changed, but the eggs no longer are wrapped in foil…Cadbury senior marketing manager Mel Yates told the Weekend Herald. “…we’ve invested in more modern equipment which will ultimately deliver more consistent quality.” – Kiwis heartbroken over change to Cadbury’s Marshmallow Eggs, NZ Herald (2019)

This bit of social history is important as another example of the perfidious march of Shrinkflation. Ref. 2020s: Shrinkflation, AHNZ

This is a supply-side problem, a lack of productivity. The demand is still there but manufacturing a product known to every living New Zealand generation can no longer be produced. Yet these are a Kiwi icon created and enjoyed by our ancestors at a time when steam trains, horses and carts, coal range ovens, and slide rules were mainstream technology. We have the advantages of modern supply lines, 80 years of advance in chemistry and food science, instant communications, electronics, and computers. Yet, our economic technology prohibits us from engaging with dozens of heritage foods¹ and national culinary rites.

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eg. Aborted or replaced beyond recognition: Snifters, Sparkles, Tangy Fruits, Toppa Strawberry Ice Cream, Roses chocolates, Mellow Puffs,  Le Snaks, Pods, Ernest Adams cakes and slices,

Image ref. Twin-lobe marshmellow Easter egg from 2012, Bite Size: Mallowed With Time, Long White Kid (2014)

Image ref. Ashburton Guardian (1950,) Papers Past

Ref. 2009: Cadbury Switched to Palm Oil, AHNZ

Ref. Te Awamutu Courier (1950,) Papers Past

Ref. Northern Advocate (1949,) Papers Past

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