Controversial Australian Sweets.

I'll give you a trigger warning for the use of slurs including racial and homophobic slurs. This is just the history of Australia, if you don't like it, do not continue reading on.

Whilst I was reminiscing old memories of my childhood and all that came with it, I thought of the sweets I had back then and how my beloved Red Ripperz aren't how they used to be. Then I was listening to one of my favourite songs ever (that will be linked at the bottom) and thought again, about how disgustingly racist Australia is. Here are some Controversial Australian sweets I have gathered to share. 

Golliwogs

From what I’ve read, the term Golliwog is from the 19th century. It was created into children’s books, dolls, and other ceramics. A Golliwog is essentially just a racist caricature of black people with jet black skin, super big frizzy hair, white rimmed eyes and big exaggerated red lips. 

In the 1950s, Guest Biscuits came out with chocolate flavoured biscuits of the Golliwog shape - taking after the toy that was already out at the time. Arnott’s bought Guest Biscuits in 1962 and changed the name in the mid 90s. Despite changing the name to Scalliwag, they kept the same shape. By the end of the 90s, they were discontinued along with a lot of other Golliwog products as these white people finally realised that this is an inherently racist concept. Though, they did make a limited comeback in 2010 - in the same shape too. I asked my mother about them, she told me she remembered them and how they were delicious. 

N*gger Boy Licorice 

It has been very hard finding any information on this particular product as it was very short lived, and also a product manufactured in another nation. 

N*gger Boy Licorice was produced from the 1950s-1985. Manufactured by the National Licorice Company (US), it was distributed all over Australia, most of the time included in show bags that would usually be a treat for children. The packaging also included racist depictions of a black child eating the licorice. This product also came as licorice cigarettes, and also as other lengths and shapes of the sweet. There were also some comic strips of this product the boy eating the licorice. Sometime in the early 1960s, they changed the name to Lucky Boy Licorice, then eventually discontinued in 1985. 

Chico's

This is one of three products that are still around. I could actually go and purchase it if I so wished to. 

Chico's are these chocolate flavoured jelly-babies. They were released in the 1970s and the name was changed to Cheekies in June of 2020. The name was changed as the whole product was racist towards Latinos. I remember all of the grown men and women complaining about the name change back then, all I thought was how pathetic they are for complaining about such a thing. I’ve also never tried these, I couldn’t imagine anything worse than a chocolate flavoured lolly (other than the fact they're racist as fuck, with the name Chico or not.)  

Fag Candy Sticks

I remember consuming these growing up, I don’t understand why candy cigarettes were ever a thing, I mean they’ve done their job, look at me. 

Fags Candy Sticks were released in 1943, they’re these thin white cigarette shaped candy sticks with a red tip to make it look more like a cigarette, with a musk flavouring. (They're much like chalk actually, not even enjoyable to consume). They had a rebrand in 1995 to not promote smoking to children anymore, but I also believe it’s because fag was becoming more recognised as a homophobic slur. They changed the name to Fads Fun Sticks and also made the packaging and product completely different, removing the whole cigarette look making these more like chalk sticks. I also recall using these as pieces of chalk when I got bored of eating them. 

Redskins

These sweets are by far my favourite childhood lollies. They say the flavour never changed with the rebrand, but I can tell the difference. 

Redskins were released in the 1950s, commonly sold at corner stores. They’re these very sticky, very chewy raspberry lollies that I only remember having at birthday parties and in the lolly-bags that would be distributed at the end. Again, this is yet another racial slur towards Native Americans and the First Nations people so they changed the name to Red Ripperz in 2020 at the exact time they changed Chicos to Cheekies. These Red Ripperz are the reason I wanted to write this blog as it was the only lolly I knew was controversial in Australia, turns out there was more than just my dear raspberry lollies that were controversial in this God forsaken land. 

I hate how racist this country is, it makes me want to do a lot of things. My sister is one of these racist fools and calls me an activist when I tell her off for being racist (especially towards me). Also, fuck you One Nation, and fuck you Pauline Hanson, imagine trying to sue someone for making this absolute masterpiece. (Released in 1998). This video and our sense of humor might be the only reason to love Australia. 

You better watch this video to the end btw. 

Anywho, I hope you found this all at least a little bit interesting. 

- Sally.