Retro sweets

How often have you heard your mum or dad tell you wistfully just how much better things were when they were kids? The holidays were longer, the summers were hotter and everything was so wonderfully cheap, they say.

Now, take sweets, for instance ... Whether you were given a threepenny bit in the fifties, a sixpence in the sixties or a ten pence piece in the seventies, you could head for the corner shop safe in the knowledge that your solitary coin would get you a positive treasure-trove of mouth-watering munchables.

Happy days when just a few pennies could buy you more sweets than you could get in all your pockets, not that quantity was a problem - the confectionery haul would always have diminished dramatically by the time home was reached!

Even today, the names of the individual sweets that sat in those large glass jars on the shelves behind the counter can still conjure happy memories for the older generations - Rhubarb and Custards, Sherbet Lemons, Chocolate Coins, Fruit Salads, Humbugs and Gob Stoppers, Fizzers and Jazzles. But if anyone thought those sweet memories of past childhoods had faded into obscurity, they should think again.

Retro-sweets are alive and well and as delicious as ever. What's more, you can order them to be delivered to your door - and that makes them the perfect present for sweet-toothed members of your family. And just watch mum, dad or the grandparents get all dewy-eyed with nostalgia as they re-taste their youth with a feast of Black Jacks, Love Hearts and Sherbet Fountains.

Perfect for Christmas, birthdays, anniversaries or just to say "I love you" (or even "I'm sorry!"), you can buy them sweet boxes, sweet jars and even sweet bouquets. And these perfect gifts can be specially made up for different occasions. How about a jar of Dracula's teeth or Giant Jelly Spiders for Halloween or a box of "Sweets for My Sweet" on Valentine's Day?

There are different sized jars of individual favourites or mixed retro-sweets for mum or dad and you can even get them personalised so there can be no doubt as to whose fingers get priority.

There are simply dozens of the old tried-and-trusted favourites - from exotic Turkish Delight and luxurious Vanilla Fudge to the very essence of historic British sweets; the Mint Imperial and the Parma Violet.

So, if you want to bring a smile to the face of a grumpy old man - or a grumpy old woman - in your life then you might like to start the mouth-watering process at www.retro-sweet.co.uk and build someone a little hamper of happiness.