How lucky for Adrian Chiles that he didn’t live in the German Democratic Republic (Rose’s Lime Marmalade? Gone. Dark chocolate Bounty? No more. But what about their heartbroken fans?, 8 April). After reunification, there were street markets selling the last of products from the old days, and there was an exhibition in a national museum – memorably called “They’ve even taken our tomato ketchup” – lamenting the loss of many food products and other features of former times, such as children’s TV programmes.
Derek Janes
Duns, Scottish Borders
• Can Adrian Chiles tell me where to find Halls’ chocolate sour lemons? Maybe they stopped being made because they turned your tongue black, but they tasted great. And you had a black tongue to stick out at your friends. And, no, chocolate limes aren’t a substitute.
Roy Kettle
Hitchin, Hertfordshire
• Adrian Chiles bemoans the fact that Izal medicated toilet roll is no longer available. I will refrain from comment on its intended use, but I do remember that it made excellent tracing paper.
Mike Chalk
Leicester
• Sorrow at the demise of lime marmalade and butterscotch Instant Whip (Letters, 10 April) is as nothing compared to the grief experienced over the death of Mapleton’s Fru‑Grains in the 1970s. By their fruits we no longer know them.
Christopher Cook
Deal, Kent
• My recollection of the Jubbly, mentioned by Adrian Chiles, was that the object of the exercise was to suck out all the flavour to leave a lethal, solid ball of ice, to be hurled from our school bus as it passed a rival school.
Pete Lawson
Sunderland
• My own tragedy is the demise of Bath Olivers – cheese and biscuits have lost their magic. I’ve tried Bath Squares and even attempted to follow a recipe – to no avail!
Jane Wynne Willson
Birmingham
• And what about Gentleman’s Relish? Vanished from the shelves (Report, 9 April).
Anne Laurence
Oxford
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