Editing Jelly Babies

{{Short description|Type of British sugar crusted sweet}}
{{About|the soft confectionery|the genus of mushroom which is also known as Jelly Babies|Leotia|specific species of that mushroom|Leotia lubrica|and|Leotia viscosa}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2021}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2013}}
{{Infobox food
| name = Jelly Babies
| image = Group of Jelly Babies.jpg
| image_size = 200px
| caption = 
| alternate_name = Peace Babies, Unclaimed Babies
| country = United Kingdom
| region = [[Lancashire]], England
| creator = Fryers of Lancashire
| course = 
| type = [[Gummy candy]]
| served = 
| main_ingredient = [[Gelatin]]
| variations = 
| calories = 
| no_recipes = true
}}
'''Jelly Babies''' are a type of soft sugar jelly sweets in the shape of plump babies, sold in a variety of colours. They were first manufactured in [[Lancashire]], England, in the nineteenth century.<ref name="Lancashire">{{cite news|last= Potts |first= Lauren |title=Sweet success: Unravelling the Jelly Baby's dark past|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-35100612|publisher=BBC|date=28 December 2015|access-date=20 September 2020}}</ref> Their popularity waned before being revived by [[Bassett's]] of [[Sheffield]] in [[Yorkshire]], who began mass-producing Jelly Babies (initially sold as "Peace Babies") in 1918.<ref name="Lancashire"/>

==History==
"Jelly Babies" are known at least since advertisements by Riches Confectionery Company of 22 Duke Street, [[London Bridge]] in 1885, along with a variety of other baby sweets, including "Tiny Totties" and "[[Ally Sloper|Sloper]]’s  Babies".<ref>''[[Lloyd's Weekly Newspaper]]'', 23 March 1885.</ref> But the pricing of these, at one [[Farthing (British coin)|farthing]] each, suggests that they were very much larger than the modern Jelly Baby.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.foodsofengland.info/jellybabies.html|title=Jelly Babies|website=Foods of England|access-date=21 April 2025}}</ref>

The sweets were invented in 1864 by an Austrian immigrant working at ''Fryers of Lancashire'', and were originally marketed as "Unclaimed Babies".<ref name="Lancashire"/><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=zlDkKCFmA2AC&dq=jelly+babies+unclaimed&pg=PA312 Sweets: The History of Temptation], Tim Richardson, Random House, 2002, {{ISBN|9780553814460}}.</ref> By 1918 they were produced by [[Bassett's]] in Sheffield as "Peace Babies", to mark the end of [[World War I]].<ref name="Lancashire"/> Bassett's themselves have supported the "Peace Babies" name.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cadbury.com/ourbrands/otherfavouritebrands/candy/bassetts/Pages/Overview.aspx|title=Bassett's|date=22 July 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080722115133/http://www.cadbury.com/ourbrands/otherfavouritebrands/candy/bassetts/Pages/Overview.aspx|archive-date=22 July 2008}}</ref> Production was suspended during [[World War II]] due to wartime shortages. The product was relaunched as "Jelly Babies" in 1953.<ref name="Lancashire"/>

A line of sweets called Jellyatrics was launched by Barnack Confectionery Ltd to commemorate the "Jelly Baby’s 80th Birthday" in March 1999.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.independent.ie/world-news/jellyatrics-revive-those-sweet-memories-415459.html|work=Irish Independent|first=Nicole|last=Martin|title=Jellyatrics revive those sweet memories|date=18 March 1999|access-date=20 September 2020|archive-date=3 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190403133641/https://www.independent.ie/world-news/jellyatrics-revive-those-sweet-memories-26156947.html |url-status=dead}}</ref> Jellyatrics celebrate "all that is great and good about the older generation".<ref>{{cite web |title=Meet the Jellyatrics |url=http://jellyatrics.co.uk/meet-the-jellyatrics/ |website=Jellyatrics.co.uk |access-date=25 January 2021 |archive-date=20 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221020051932/https://jellyatrics.co.uk/meet-the-jellyatrics/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Manufacture==
[[File:Geo. Bassett & Co confectionery factory in Sheffield, South Yorkshire.jpg|thumb|Jelly Babies in the UK are manufactured at [[Cadbury#United Kingdom|Cadbury Trebor Bassett]] (the former [[Bassett's]] factory) in the [[Owlerton]] suburb of [[Sheffield]].]]
The most noted modern manufacturer of Jelly Babies, Bassett's, now allocate individual name, shape, colour and flavour to different babies: Brilliant (red; strawberry), Bubbles (yellow; lemon), Baby Bonny (pink; raspberry), Boofuls (green; lime), Bigheart (purple; blackcurrant), and Bumper (orange).

The introduction of different shapes and names was an innovation, circa 1989, prior to which all colours of jelly baby were a uniform shape. Bassett's Jelly Babies changed in September 2007 to include only natural colours and ingredients.<ref>{{cite news |last=Willmer |first=Karen |date=13 September 2007 |title=Confectionery giants cut use of artificial additives |url=http://www.confectionerynews.com/The-Big-Picture/Confectionery-giants-cut-use-of-artificial-additives |url-status=dead |work=confectionerynews.com |access-date=6 March 2024| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211021185341/https://www.confectionerynews.com/Article/2007/09/14/Confectionery-giants-cut-use-of-artificial-additives |archive-date=21 October 2021}}</ref> There are many brands of jelly babies, as well as [[Store brand|supermarket own brands]].

Jelly Babies manufactured in the United Kingdom tend to be dusted in [[starch]], which is left over from the manufacturing process, where it is used to aid release from the mould. Jelly Babies manufactured in Australia generally lack this coating. Like most other [[Gummi candy|gummy sweets]], they contain [[gelatin]].

==In popular culture==
[[Image:Jelly babies.jpg|thumb|left|Jelly Babies]]
In October 1963, as [[Beatlemania]] was breaking out, fans of [[The Beatles]] in the United Kingdom pelted the band with jelly babies (or, in the United States, the much harder [[jelly bean]]s) after it was reported that [[George Harrison]] liked eating them.<ref>{{cite web|last=Wickman |first=Forrest |url=https://slate.com/culture/2013/10/beatlemania-origin-50-years-ago-the-beatles-played-london-palladium-and-the-term-beatlemania-was-born.html|title="BEATLEMANIA!" Is Born|website=slate.com|date=24 October 2013|access-date=18 November 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.mirror.co.uk/celebs/news/2009/05/15/letter-reveals-fab-four-s-fear-of-jelly-baby-fans-115875-21360030/|title=Letter reveals The Beatles' fear of jelly baby fans|website=mirror.co.uk|date=15 May 2009|access-date=20 September 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=de Bruxelles|first=Simon|url=http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/music/article6287594.ece|title=George Harrison's 1963 plea: stop throwing jelly babies at Beatles|newspaper=[[The Times]]|date=14 May 2009|access-date=20 September 2020 |archive-date=19 May 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090519022751/http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/music/article6287594.ece |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Perry|first=Charles|url=http://www.latimes.com/features/la-fo-jellybean19mar19,0,3284887.story|title=The secret life of jelly beans|website=[[Los Angeles Times]]|date=19 March 2008|access-date=20 September 2020}}</ref>

Beginning in the [[Second Doctor]] era of the popular British science fiction television series [[Doctor Who]], but especially during that of [[Tom Baker]]'s [[Fourth Doctor]], jelly babies were frequently featured as a plot device in which the Doctor would attempt to ease an awkward moment or prevent potential conflict with an unfamiliar being by offering, "would you like a jelly baby?"<ref name="Lancashire"/>

In the series by [[Terry Pratchett]], ''[[Discworld]]'', the country of Djelibeybi (a pun on "jelly baby", but putatively meaning "Child of the (River) Djel", and possibly derived from [[djellaba]]), is the Discworld's analogue of [[Ancient Egypt]]. The main setting of ''[[Pyramids (novel)|Pyramids]]'', Djelibeybi is about two miles (3200&nbsp;m) wide, along the 150-mile (240&nbsp;km) length of the Djel.

[[File:Jelly Baby Family (cropped).jpg|thumb|''Jelly Baby Family'', a sculpture by Mauro Perucchetti, near to London's [[Marble Arch]].]]

Australian singer, Alison Hams, released the "Jelly Baby Song" in May 2013 – its content alluding to the consumption of jelly babies by Type 1 Diabetics to overcome hypoglycaemic episodes – as a way to raise awareness for [[Diabetes mellitus type 1|Type 1 Diabetes]], for [[JDRF]] Australia (Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation) who sell specially packaged jelly babies, as the focus of their annual campaign "Jelly Baby Month".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jellybabysong.com|title=Jelly Baby Song – the official Jelly Baby Song website...|first=DigiPro Multimedia|last=Creations|website=www.jellybabysong.com}}</ref><ref>[http://www.users.on.net/~stormfront/JELLYBABYSONG/Jelly Baby Song Lyrics.pdf]{{dead link|date=November 2017|bot=InternetArchiveBot|fix attempted=yes}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.jdrf.org.au/s/media/.../jbm_2013_media_release_30_april.pdf|title=JDRF Media Release (30 April 2013)|date=30 April 2013}}{{Dead link|date=January 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Thomson|first=Warren|url=http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/newslocal/the-hills/kellyville8217s-lucy-borg-to-hold-disco-for-diabetes/news-story/fd449a8bd2e1d8cc67a46fb67ca12112|title=Kellyville’s Lucy Borg to hold disco for diabetes
|work=The Daily Telegraph|date=20 May 2013|access-date=11 January 2017}}</ref>

A popular school chemistry experiment, is to put them in a strong [[oxidise|oxidising]] agent, and see the resulting spectacular [[chemical reaction|reaction]]. The experiment is commonly referred to as "[[screaming jelly babies]]".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.sserc.org.uk/subject-areas/chemistry/chemistry-resources/screaming-jelly-baby-2/|title=Screaming Jelly Baby|website=sserc.org.uk|date=21 August 2018|access-date=21 November 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.stem.org.uk/elibrary/resource/31792|title=Screaming Jelly Babies|website=stem.org.uk|date=21 November 2020|access-date=21 November 2020}}</ref>

A poll of 4,000 adults in Britain voted jelly babies their sixth favourite sweet in August 2009.<ref>{{cite news|title=Fizzy cola bottle named Britain's favourite sweet of all time|first =Chris |last = Irvine|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/foodanddrinknews/6100530/Fizzy-cola-bottle-named-Britains-favourite-sweet-of-all-time.html|newspaper=The Telegraph|date=27 August 2009|access-date=1 April 2012|location=London}}</ref> Jelly Babies are the favourite snack of [[Basil Brush]], a British fox puppet.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://twitter.com/realbasilbrush/status/1020370884392030219|title=@realbasilbrush BASIL! The dentist told ye to stop eating jelly babies and what did ye do?|website=twitter.com|date=20 July 2018|access-date=1 November 2020}}</ref>

In the 2018 film ''[[Johnny English Strikes Again]]'', the titular character (played by [[Rowan Atkinson]]) carries a box of jelly babies with him, but they are actually disguised explosives, as in said context, "jelly" is actually short for [[gelignite]], and they blow up whomever eats them.<ref>{{cite web|last=Shattuck|first=Kathryn|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/02/movies/rowan-atkinson-johnny-english-strikes-again.html|title=For Rowan Atkinson, Comedy Isn't Always a Laughing Matter|website=[[The New York Times]]|date=2 November 2018|access-date=5 November 2020}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Traditional British sweets}}
{{Mondelez}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jelly Baby}}
[[Category:Brand name confectionery]]
[[Category:Products introduced in 1918]]
[[Category:Candy]]
[[Category:British confectionery]]
[[Category:Cadbury brands]]
[[Category:Mondelez International brands]]
[[Category:Gummi candies]]