J. S. Fry & Sons Cocoa Container
name: label: maker
content: J. S. Fry & Sons
notes: label: Description
content: This small, cardboard box was used to store and market Fry's Concentrated Cocoa. The top of the box contains a multicolored vignette of a cat and a dog riding a skateboard that is groomed to look like a lion. The scene has a red and white border.
label: Description
content: J. S. Fry & Sons was a British chocolate company owned by Joseph Storrs Fry and his family. In 1759, Joseph Fry started making chocolate, with Joseph S. Fry gaining control in 1795. That same year, he patented a modified Watt steam engine used to grind cacao beans. This marked the beginning of the mechanization of chocolate production. In 1847, Fry’s made the first molded chocolate eating bar by removing excess cocoa butter, then slowly adding it back into the melted chocolate. In 1919, J. S. Fry & Sons merged with Cadbury’s, and by the early 1980s, the Fry name was removed from company packaging.
label: Description
content: Chocolate had been known and treasured by Native Americans in Central and South America for thousands of years prior to the arrival of the first Spanish explorers in the late 1400s and early 1500s. Cacao beans were so highly prized by Mayans and Aztecs that they were used as currency in many areas of the Americas. When first taken back to Europe by the Spanish, the chocolate drink continued to be produced exclusively for the enjoyment of royalty or the extremely wealthy. As the cacao bean gradually made its presence known throughout Europe, it still remained trapped in this exclusive section of society well into the 19th century.
label: Description
content: The chocolate trade to North America began more than 300 years ago, primarily centered in or near major port cities of the time, such as New York City, Boston, Philadelphia and Newport, RI. Due to lower transportation costs, chocolate was often less expensive in the Americas than in Europe and therefore had a broader consumer base. The Industrial Revolution radically changed chocolate production and helped propel it into the hearts and stomachs of the working class. Instead of being a labor intensive product, it became entirely machine made reducing costs even further in the late 19th and early 20th century. During this time, chocolate went from being something a person drank to being something to eat, finally becoming a treat for the masses.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United Kingdom: England, Bristol, City of
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Production and Manufacturing
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content: Food
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content: Advertising
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: ZZ.RSN80525Z74
objectType: label: Object Name
content: container, cocoa
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: cardboard (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 2 in x 1 1/2 in; 5.08 cm x 3.81 cm