A Choo Choo Bar is a brittle

toffee Toffee is a confection made by caramelizing sugar or molasses (creating inverted sugar) along with butter, and occasionally flour. The mixture is heated until its temperature reaches the hard crack stage of . While being prepared, toffee is ...

liquorice Liquorice (British English) or licorice (American English) ( ; also ) is the common name of ''Glycyrrhiza glabra'', a flowering plant of the bean family Fabaceae, from the root of which a sweet, aromatic flavouring can be extracted. The liqu ...

-flavoured

confectionery Confectionery is the art of making confections, which are food items that are rich in sugar and carbohydrates. Exact definitions are difficult. In general, however, confectionery is divided into two broad and somewhat overlapping categories ...

bar popular in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. Available in a bar, packaged in a blue wrapper depicting an old steam train, ("The Choo Choo Funtime Express"), Choo Choo Bars were originally a Plaistowe product, acquired by

Nestlé Nestlé S.A. (; ; ) is a Switzerland, Swiss multinational food and drink processing conglomerate corporation headquartered in Vevey, Vaud, Switzerland. It is the largest publicly held food company in the world, measured by revenue and other me ...

. They are now made by Lagoon. There is also a raspberry-flavoured Choo Choo Bar.

Cultural context

The Choo Choo Bar is considered iconic. Choo Choo Bars are considered to be part of the Australian folklife. Academic work refers to Choo Choo Bars in this manner referring to prior Federal Governmental inquiry outcomes: They are considered to have an elevated status within Australian folklife, and are used when setting historical context. Choo Choo Bars are used as a specific reference to make a point about

Australian food Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...

, culture, or lifestyle.

History

Plaistowe released the original Choo Choo Bar in Western Australia, in the mid 1950s. In the 1980s, Choo Choo Bars became unavailable. Lagoon Confectionery, a family business from Williamstown, bought the original Choo Choo Bar recipe and reissued it. In the 1960s, the wrapper featured a little red steam train, the Choo Choo Express, being driven by a golliwog. Lagoon replaced the golliwog with a monkey. Choo Choo Bars are considered to be perennial favourites by particular generations of Australians. The

Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-own ...

used Choo Choo Bars as one of several key nostalgic items to promote the television programme ''

The Baby Boomers Picture Show ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

''.

In literature

Choo Choo Bars are referred to in Australian literature, typically when profiling a character. For example: * ''If so... this is the answer'' * ''Pangea Volume One (Creative) Pangea and Almost Back'' *''The Tin Moon''

Cultural context

History

In literature

References

Further reading