"These are the boxes that single ladies get and the married ones dream of" 

Sweets for the Sweet narration, 1934

Yes our choco research has led us down a glorious British Pathé route which we thought was too wonderful to keep to ourselves. Now that the archives have all been digitised, anyone is free to search  Pathé and dig out some treats! I warn you though, subsequent link clicking may lead to spending several hours watching old adverts and giggling...

Sweets for the Sweet, 1934. A glimpse into the early Somerdale plant featuring some wonderful narration; "modern wrapping machines are amazingly clever; they handle the chocolate bars as dextrously as a conjuror and as gently as a woman"

http://www.britishpathe.com/video/sweets-for-the-sweet-1/query/chocolate 

And since we're nearing Easter a rare treat from 1931, Those Easter Eggs, showcasing the handmade decoration of Easter eggs which were invented in Bristol don't you know.

http://www.britishpathe.com/video/those-easter-eggs/query/chocolate

"Now there are scenes of the greatest activity!" It's all go in the Nigerian Cocoa Trade in this busy little film from 1949.

http://www.britishpathe.com/video/nigerian-cocoa-aka-nigerian-cocoa-trade

Enjoy!

Well things are steaming ahead with The Chocolate Plant after a brief hiatus for Christmas and Bea's play, And Then Come The Nightjars at the Bristol Old Vic (more details on her blog)

We're kicking off 2012 with our own session on the bill of the International Challenging History Conference on the 25th February, a  It's a great line up and we're looking forward to bringing chocolate to the discussion (perhaps literally but definitely metaphorically) and seeing what comes out.

The next stop after that will be a work in progress showing at the wonderful Tobacco Factory's Prototype season on March 4th. We'll see if we can get a flavour of all this chocolate research into our 15 minutes but I must admit, the more you delve the more fantastically rich detail emerges.

We are also delighted to be welcoming a new addition to our team, Beshley Bwye Turner. Currently studying for an MA in musicology at the University of Bristol, Beshley is a specialist in West Country music and has kindly volunteered her services in helping us dig out some authentic music for the show. I can't wait to see or rather hear what she retrieves from the archives.

Talk of which neatly brings us on to a very special mention; you may have read in the news that Elsie Griffin was commemorated with a blue plaque at St. Michael's On The Mount Primary School where she was a student in the early 1900s. If the name is unfamiliar you are sure to recognise her as "the voice of World War One"; Elsie was a Fry's Angel, an ordinary Bristolian factory girl who became an international opera singer and one of the greatest stars of her day. The beautiful soprano who made "Danny Boy" and "The Roses of Picardy" world famous is finally being recognised in her home city, not least due to the efforts of her cousin, Anne Colley, who has been kind enough to get in touch and tell us all about her family's remarkable story.

See, I told you there were fascinating stories in chocolate.