THE 'ORRIBLE 'OUSE OF TERRIBLE OLD TAT #18 - It Came From Beyond the Chiller Cabinet... Or Possibly Skaro (Slight Return)

Welcome once again dear fiends to the 'Orrible 'Ouse of Terrible Old Tat! Now then, on your past few visits, we been hanging around a vintage freezer and exploring the weird and wonderful world of ice lollies of yesteryear. Last time we saw how the long-running Sky Ray lolly had a hugely successful tie-in with Doctor Who, and this week we are looking at a time when the lolly world once again caught a dose of Dalekmania... 

As we have previously documented, well at least in the slack arsed mixture of trivia and flippant remarks that passes for historical research around here, the 1960s were the beginning of the Great Lolly Wars, a groovy time when many corner shops gained a chiller cabinet, which in turn played host to a new wave of frozen confectionary and icy snacks. Now it didn't take long for the highly competitive new market to realise the power of the tie-in, and as well as the previously discussed Doctor Who promos, there were other tie-in campaigns with properties popular with the pocket money crowd. For example, the Orbit lolly had a tie-in with Captain Scarlet, the Sky Ray rival Zoom allied itself with another Gerry Anderson Show Joe 90, while the Fab lolly rather cleverly featured Lady Penelope and Parker from Thunderbirds on its wrappers for a time.

However in the 1970s, the lolly makers would change tack. Throughout the '60s numerous new species of lollies had been concocted, but few ever lasted more than a few years. So then instead of trying to breathe new life into an existing lolly, one that was already looking a little long in the tooth, with some tie-in promotion, they hit upon the idea of cutting out the middle-man and launching lollies directly branded to the tie-in property. And one of the earlier and finest examples of this approach hit the shelves, well the chiller cabinets in 1975. 

Now in the closing overs of 1974, a new Doctor had taken over the TARDIS, with Tom Baker beginning his long-running tenure of the role. And this newly minted Fourth Doctor would meet some old enemies in his first season, most notably with a six part adventure now regarded as one of the great classics of the original series - Genesis of the Daleks which aired in March and April 1975. This tale not only introduced the iconic villain Davros, the twisted genius who created the Skaroine terrors, but also kicked off a fresh wave of Dalekmania.

As we heard last time, lolly giant Walls had made a pretty penny in the first great wave of Dalekmania back in the mid '60s with their Sky Ray tie-in. However while Sky Rays were still rocketing out of chiller cabinets throughout the '70s (and indeed into the '80s too), rather than dust off the old market strategy, instead the boffins at Walls' secret labs created a brand new lolly just for the Daleks! Sporting a tasty combination of mint and chocolate ice cream, in 1975 the Dalek's Death Ray hit the shops! 

Now many of these kinds of novelty brand lollies never lasted long, however the Dalek's Death Ray terrorised the nation's freezers for three glorious years. However apart from having a great flavour - which is more than can be said for other tie-in lollies I could mention), Walls cunningly made the wrappers of these lollies collectible in themselves. The first wave of Death Rays in 1975 - retailing at 5p! -  came with three variants - 

• Plain (no feature) 
• Make A Dalek 
• Win a Real Life-Size Dalek 

However the following year, in 1976, Walls started branding the lollies with the tag-line "From the World of the Daleks", and launched a series of wrappers to collect, that featured art and text all about the Daleks. Here a listing of the full series -

• Transmol
• The Grenium Invisibility System
• Dalek Officer
• The Cyclops Z-Ray
• Daleks and the Ancient Britons
• When the Daleks Flooded the Earth!
• The Swamp Creatures of Terroth
• A Dalek Deep Space Battle Cruiser

And in 1977, Walls repeated the same trick, with Dalek's Death Rays now featuring a series of wrappers detailing "The Incredible Daleks" -

• A Dalek Raid against the primitive Megapods
• How Daleks bend time
• A Dalek ‘Buggy’
• The great Dalek workshops on the planet Styros
• Venusians attack a small Dalek base
•  A fleet of Dalek Starships in a meteor storm
• The Great Laser ‘Destructor’ used to conquer the planet Ur

Now on the face of it, it might seem that these collectible wrappers were something of a step down from the '60s Sky Ray tie-ins, which boasted individual, full colour cards to collect, plus send-offs for books and badges. However while it was undoubtedly a cheaper promotion, it did have some advantages. Firstly the smaller number of wrappers - 8 in the From the World of the Daleks range, and 7 in The Incredible Daleks - meant that it was far easier for kids to collect and complete their sets - by way of contrast the '60s Sky Ray lolly promo featured a whopping 36 cards. Secondly they were also easier to collect - the earlier cards that you had to buy sight unseen, whereas with these, you could just sort through the lollies in the shop and select the wrapper you didn't have.

And I have no doubt that if the Daleks had appeared again on TV in the late '70s, this rather tasty lolly would have lasted longer too. But as it was, the Doctor was not fated to meet his oldest foes again until 1979 in Destiny of the Daleks, and hence with no new appearances to stoke the fires of Dalekmania, sadly the Dalek's Death Ray never returned for the summer of 1978. Of course, by then there was a  new kid on the scifi block and naturally that summer the chiller cabinet was visited by a lolly from a galaxy far far  away... But that's another story! 

THE 'ORRIBLE 'OUSE OF TERRIBLE OLD TAT #17 - It Came From Beyond the Chiller Cabinet... Or Possibly Skaro

Welcome once again to the 'Orrible 'Ouse of the Terrible Old Tat! That's it, come in! Be careful not to trip over all the dropped 'H's mind... Anyhow, what can I get you? Cup of tea? Pack of hedgehog flavoured crisps perhaps? No? Well, at risk of sounding like the Child Catcher from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, can I offer you a lolly?

Now then, last time we were taking a look at some of the cunning promotions employed to hawk one of Britain's longest-lasting species of ice lolly, the space age Sky Ray from Walls. Now in the mid-60s, this rocket-shaped delight had offered assorted merchandise under the name of Moon Fleet, a kind of pretend NASA for the nation's kids. However later in the decade, in 1967, Walls changed tack and netted a very lucrative tie-in deal indeed. For there was a new figure in the world of SF, an eccentric fellow who travelled in a blue box...

The timing of this Sky Ray tie-in is very interesting, for it comes at the beginning of the Second Doctor era, just as Patrick Troughton was taking over the reins from William Hartnell. Now aside from the excitement this first regeneration brought, the show itself was changing direction too. Hartnell's Doctor had met many strange creatures and interplanetary folk, but he had also journeyed into the past, encountering famous figures, and providing some educational history in a dramatic guise. However in the Troughton era, this sort of story - dubbed  "historicals" by fans - was to disappear. And in its place came more monsters and alien invaders, and the show pioneered what we now refer to as "the base under siege" story line. Of course, the most famous of the show's monsters were the Daleks, and it's no coincidence that the first season of the Second Doctor's adventures featured not one but two Dalek stories, Power of the Daleks  at the beginning, and Evil of the Daleks at the end.

We should also note that in licensing terms the Daleks were very much their own brand. Their copyright belonged to their creator, Terry Nation, who had quickly spotted the market for merchandise. Hence by the time the Sky  Ray promotion came around there were already Dalek branded toys, badges and books, produced separate from any Doctor Who paraphernalia. Hence this Sky Ray promotion was effectively a double tie-in! 

But what of the promotion itself? Well as you can see from the full page, full colour advert reproduced above that appeared in comics such as in the legendary Eagle, this was a two part deal. Firstly each lolly came with a full colour painted card, and secondly by collecting wrappers you could send off for Doctor Who's Space Adventure Book. And in this tome, there were puzzles, Dalek facts, a board game, and of course, pages where you could stick in all the cards and read the story behind the pictures! All of which added up to a double bonus for Dalek fans and lots of repeat sales for Walls as kids collected the cards and wrappers. And thanks to the magic of the interwebs, you can see the full set of cards mounted in a book here

As you can see, the actual Sky Ray lollies themselves turned up in the tale as the vehicles of the Special Duty Space Commandos! A very nice touch! Yes, the Daleks apparently did once have to fight a bunch of interstellar ice lollies! And you thought the Movellans were rubbish enemies!

However it has to be said, the Doctor doesn't exactly closely resemble Patrick Troughton. Some have wondered whether the art was originally done when Hartnell was still the Doctor and hastily (and not very convincingly) altered at the last minute. Of course also by this time, there had been two big screen Dalek movies, starring Peter Cushing as the Doctor, so possibly the somewhat odd looking Doctor is a three-way hedged bet - sort of like a Fly style transporter pod accident involving Hartnell, Troughton and the Cush! 

The campaign was also promoted heavily on the TV, and you can see the original ad here -

And yes, that's not dear old Pat Troughton either! The chap doing his best to hide from the camera is a fellow called Gerry Grant apparently - who surely must take the prize for the most obscure and briefest performance as the Doctor ever!

However this wasn't to be the only time that the Daleks invaded the nation's chiller cabinets... Next time, we'll voyage into the 1970s, to a time when a trip to the corner shop could bring you face to face with a Dalek death ray!

THE 'ORRIBLE 'OUSE OF TERRIBLE OLD TAT #16 - It Came From Beyond the Chiller Cabinet Again...

Hello again dear fiends! And welcome once again to the 'Orrible 'Ouse of Terrible Old Tat! Now then, currently we are sweltering in the kind of freak heatwave that was once a sure sign that a super villain or invading aliens were messing about with a weather machine! If this was 1970, I'd give you good odds on either Steed and Mrs Peel, or the Brigadier and the boys from U.N.I.T. turning up at any minute to sort it out. However the sad truth is that this is now what laughable constitutes the summer British summer... But on the upside, it is also one of those rare occasions when we are quite glad that the benighted halls of the 'Orrible 'Ouse are so draughty for once. However all the same, given the extreme temperatures, do you fancy something from the freezer

Last time we met we were discussing the Great Ice Lolly Wars, and as promised, today we are having a look some relics from those golden days when manufacturers of chilled goods attempted to prise the pennies out of kids' pockets with any gimmick they could think of. The first and most basic approach was to create a lolly that reflected the zeitgeist, or at least if not the spirit of the age, the spirit of the playground du jour. Now in the '60s, the world was buzzing with talk of the stars - satellites and space probes were being launched with great regularity, there was a serious race to reach the Moon, and pop culture was awash with scifi. Hence ice cream titan Walls was quick to capitalise on the fever for all things spacey, with a ice lolly called the Sky Ray. Now taste-wise this was very much the usual affair - a couple of fruity flavours in colourful bands, frozen in ice on a stick. However the Sky Ray's main attraction that this was a lolly for the space age, as it was shaped like a rocket ship. Well, sort of... 

Now this might sound a bit flimsy, but in the cut-throat world of the Lolly Wars where new brands frequently only lasted a summer or two, this interstellar gambit proved to be a winner. So much so that, arch rivals Lyons Maid even produced a lolly of almost identical flavours and shape called the Zoom. However this particular space race was to be won by the Sky Ray, which outlasted the groovy space-age fads of '60s, continued to flourish in the '70s, survived a brief rebrand as Starship 2000, and was still to be found in chiller cabinets in the late '80s. And make no mistake, the Sky Ray's success was nothing to do with its flavours. Originally it was composed of two "stages" of fruity ice, orange and strawberry, but later became more rocket-like with three tiers (at one point orange, strawberry, and lemon and later orange, strawberry and lemonade). 

Obviously Sky Rays had to taste at least a little bit nice, for after all, a lolly that put you in mind of licking dog widdle off thistles wouldn't last long. But it wasn't what the Sky Ray delivered to the tongue that made it such a long-lived success. And indeed, it's rarely the flavours that people remember about it. No, what was important was what the Sky Ray promised the imagination. This was a lolly that looked to the stars, the iced snack choice for a generation of kids who believed they'd be taking a rocket to work, living on the moon, and bossing robots about. Now the marketing boffins realised that very quickly indeed...

..And thus the Sky Ray Moon Fleet was born, a series of promotions designed to capitalize on the lolly's intergalactic image. By collecting wrappers and whatnot you could send off for a series of fun Moon Fleet merch, such as badges, books and even a space outfit! And very fine they were too - so much so that Moon Fleet items now bring in very handsome prices, which no doubt helps to cushion the retirement of aging Moon Fleet personnel everywhere who are still slightly annoyed not to be voyaging the dripping forests of Venus. 

Over the years, Sky Ray had other promotions - for example, feeling that perhaps the space thing was played out at the end of the 1960s, they did have a series of promotions tied into stamp collecting. But despite inventing a not-so superhero to promote the joys of philately, this particular era of Sky Ray history is still overshadowed by the campaign that followed on from the Moon Fleet promotions... For those canny folks at Walls netted a tie-in to the biggest SF craze going. And we'll have a look at that next week!