Aeroplane Jelly

I was going to write about Madrid today, because I paid my first visit to the city last month.  Don't know how I ever missed it before but it's instantly gone onto my list of favourite cities. But you'll have to wait to hear about Madrid, because  this morning on the radio was an item about the iconic Australian spread, Vegemite. Great sound clips, which included Barack Obama and the Australian Prime Minister discussing it, and also an old advertising jingle for Vegemite.

I spent some of my childhood in Australia, but must have missed eating Vegemite in my crucial babyhood years, so I am afraid I was NOT a Happy Little Vegemite and my mum soon learned not to buy it.  But it got me thinking to those far off days in Sydney where the highlight of the week was our Sunday trip to Coogee Beach and we had lemon trees and kookaburras in the garden.  

And although Vegemite left me cold, Aeroplane Jelly was a big deal.   I totally agreed with its advertising jingle that I liked it for dinner and I liked it for tea - trouble is, my mum didn't agree and kept giving me boiled eggs or vegetables instead.   I believe their song (composed in 1937)  is used today, but here it is for those of you who have never been to Australia.

Hearing it again, I thought how singable it is and I'm not surprised I've remembered the tune and words all these years.   And it takes me back to those childhood days when the sun really did (almost) always shine. At least, it always shone compared with England..

And, it got me thinking how advert jingles become a real part of a child's life, and if I was in advertising I'd be creating  jingles at every opportunity.

Are there any brands you still like because of the jingles?

And isn't it scary how impressionable children are?

And shouldn't I go back to Australia?  I can't believe I have never returned as an adult. My dad and mum often said they wished they'd stayed there, but Dad's tour of duty came to an end and we had to go. How different my life would have been.....