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Old 06-08-2016, 08:49 AM
 
Location: Ohio, dammit!
274 posts, read 250,684 times
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I was watching a youtube vid the other day about "growing up Irish". One of the things that came up was "mum telling us to keep our hands off the good biscuits". Further internet surfing seemed to indicate that "the good biscuits" came in a tin. So I went to a few Irish grocery websites to see if I could figure out what the "good biscuits" were. I found that many brands come in a tin, but none of them seem particularly fancy or expensive. In fact, by the descriptions they seem rather bland.

At the risk of starting an opinion riot, I'd like to know what are the "good biscuits". Think of it this way; if you, your mum and your gran went to a neighbo(u)rs for tea, what biscuits could they serve that would make the three of you look at each other and think, "Oh my! The GOOD biscuits!!", regardless of whether or not you actually like that brand.

And don't even start that L***'s vs. B****'s crap!
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Old 06-08-2016, 11:08 AM
bg7
 
7,694 posts, read 10,500,515 times
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Did you grow up poor?
If not, you've really no idea its not possible to explain it to you. Expensive and fancy are relative terms. Unless you have the contextual viewpoint from which they are meant, you won't be able to understand it properly. Serving cellophane wrapper 2-for-1 pound bourbon biscuits had a totally different connotation in a "polite" working class tea sit down versus a tin of variety biscuits compartmentalized and presented differently. Does that explain it?
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Old 06-08-2016, 11:55 AM
 
Location: Ohio, dammit!
274 posts, read 250,684 times
Reputation: 851
Quote:
Originally Posted by bg7 View Post
Did you grow up poor?
If not, you've really no idea its not possible to explain it to you. Expensive and fancy are relative terms. Unless you have the contextual viewpoint from which they are meant, you won't be able to understand it properly. Serving cellophane wrapper 2-for-1 pound bourbon biscuits had a totally different connotation in a "polite" working class tea sit down versus a tin of variety biscuits compartmentalized and presented differently. Does that explain it?
Well, no, I can't say I grew up poor. I grew up in a large family, so sometimes things were a bit tight.

I understand the difference between expensive and fancy. A lot of times, in the case of food, more expensive is often better. On the other hand, that's only true if the money went into the ingredients instead of the packaging.

I understand your point, but I regret to inform you that in my opinion my question remains unanswered. I thank you for your time.
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Old 06-08-2016, 01:10 PM
 
1,472 posts, read 1,651,618 times
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Good biscuits came in a tin, usually at xmas. Inside was a selection of different biscuits in their own section of the plastic insert, many of which weren't available via the usual way (things like chocolate dipped shortbread). The usual way was buying a big pack in a cellophane wrapper from the supermarket, and was limited to ordinary biscuits like custard creams and ginger nuts.

There was no particular brand I remember other than Rover, but there were many. The fights over who got the empty tin were almost as bad as those over the most popular biscuits.
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Old 06-08-2016, 01:53 PM
 
Location: SE UK
14,808 posts, read 11,891,268 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by misterjimmy View Post
I was watching a youtube vid the other day about "growing up Irish". One of the things that came up was "mum telling us to keep our hands off the good biscuits". Further internet surfing seemed to indicate that "the good biscuits" came in a tin. So I went to a few Irish grocery websites to see if I could figure out what the "good biscuits" were. I found that many brands come in a tin, but none of them seem particularly fancy or expensive. In fact, by the descriptions they seem rather bland.

At the risk of starting an opinion riot, I'd like to know what are the "good biscuits". Think of it this way; if you, your mum and your gran went to a neighbo(u)rs for tea, what biscuits could they serve that would make the three of you look at each other and think, "Oh my! The GOOD biscuits!!", regardless of whether or not you actually like that brand.

And don't even start that L***'s vs. B****'s crap!
Perhaps you should also post this question on the European forum? Ireland isn't part of the UK so there might be more 'Irish eyes' there?
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Old 06-08-2016, 01:58 PM
 
1,830 posts, read 1,640,638 times
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Biscuits that were not "good" usually referred to plain, non-choc, or other coating, such as Rich Tea, Arrowroot, etc. that often were dipped in the daily cuppa.

Good biscuits usually referred to those with some form of choc coating or filling, like Jacob's "Kimberely Mikado, and Coconut Creams"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacob%27s


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzbw0pJkJTU
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Old 06-08-2016, 02:06 PM
 
Location: SW France
16,549 posts, read 17,317,336 times
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I don't think that this question of good biscuits is specific to the Irish.

As CBMD mentioned, a selection box of biscuits were and are a mixture of plain and 'fancy' ones.

The other point I'd mention is that growing up in Yorkshire in the 1960s, mum used to buy loose biscuits by weight at the market. They be put in a paper bag and sold by weight.

Some of the biscuits were whole, and some broken. Mum used to say that we could have the broken biscuits when we got home.

She never seemed to cotton on to the fact that when we got home and 'helped' with the unpacking that we were a bit rough with the bag.

Biscuits were also roughly broken up and mixed in with cooking chocolate to make our own chocolate biscuits.
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Old 06-10-2016, 04:52 AM
 
1,150 posts, read 1,097,424 times
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I remember my parents buying broken biscuits in the 70`s, from stalls in Edmonton in North London.
We only moved up to Family Circle tins ( I think), when we moved to Enfield and had a bigger house ( snob LOL). Our relatives, from the North, Yorkshire, ( Wetherby) used to buy broken biscuits and take them to Brimmen Rocks for family picnics. Good days.
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Old 06-10-2016, 05:23 AM
 
Location: SW France
16,549 posts, read 17,317,336 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by England Dan View Post
I remember my parents buying broken biscuits in the 70`s, from stalls in Edmonton in North London.
We only moved up to Family Circle tins ( I think), when we moved to Enfield and had a bigger house ( snob LOL). Our relatives, from the North, Yorkshire, ( Wetherby) used to buy broken biscuits and take them to Brimmen Rocks for family picnics. Good days.
Nice!
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Old 06-10-2016, 07:29 AM
 
Location: Great Britain
26,907 posts, read 13,123,741 times
Reputation: 19142
Fox's Biscuits are quite a famous brand than come in a tin, as do Huntley and Palmer, McVitie's Biscuits and Crawfords Biscuits (United Biscuits).

Fox Biscuits - Wiki

Huntley and Palmer - Wiki

McVities - Wiki

United Biscuits - Wiki








Last edited by Brave New World; 06-10-2016 at 07:47 AM..
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