Loose sweets

lemoncurd · 24/05/15 - 23:05

There's a sweet shop around the corner from me. I like it because you can buy from tubs, like we always used to, rather than them being pre-packaged.
However, if I ask for a quarter of Rhubarb & Custards, I'm told I cam only order by "100g". This is an odd response. Surely scales can still measure out a 1/4 lb? I've nothing against metric measures per se, but surely sweets have always been sold be the quarter?

swingaleg · 24/05/15 - 23:16

With you there !

you still get a pint of milk even tho' it's now in millilitres (?)

why can't they sell the sweets in 50 grams or whatever the equivalent is and just call it 'a quarter'.......

pick and mix......:D

Beenbag · 24/05/15 - 23:41

lemoncurd wrote: »

There's a sweet shop around the corner from me. I like it because you can buy from tubs, like we always used to, rather than them being pre-packaged.
However, if I ask for a quarter of Rhubarb & Custards, I'm told I cam only order by "100g". This is an odd response. Surely scales can still measure out a 1/4 lb? I've nothing against metric measures per se, but surely sweets have always been sold be the quarter?

Hi, Lemoncurd
A quick google confirmed what I thought . Your shopkeeper's scales should be showing
both units and if requested serve imperial, so a touch of in theory and practice in your case:D
It stems from a test case when a group of traders carried on with imperial only after the law was changed. So us Traditionalist's can still use proper measurements! 😸

TrollHunter · 25/05/15 - 00:15

Ah, a quarter of bonfire toffee. That brings me back.

cah · 25/05/15 - 00:53

swingaleg wrote: »

With you there !

you still get a pint of milk even tho' it's now in millilitres (?)

why can't they sell the sweets in 50 grams or whatever the equivalent is and just call it 'a quarter'.......

pick and mix......:D

100g would be the equivalent of a Quarter swinga ,it's just under to be precise ,so if he'd just popped another sweet on the scale it'd probably have weighed a Quarter anyway

:D

coldcomfort · 25/05/15 - 01:24

I've never converted from Imperial to metric. I still use pounds, ounces, feet inches, etc.
It's not because I'm old-fashioned; I just never felt the need to do it and it's never been a hindrance.

grumpyscot · 25/05/15 - 08:25

It is a legal requirement for all shops to sell food in metric. Even butchers sell per kilo, but will weigh in imperial. If the shopkeeper is caught selling in imperial, they can be done by Weights & Measures people. So please don't shoot the shopkeeper, he's only trying to keep his license.

fleabee · 25/05/15 - 08:36

When I buy meat in Tesco, I always ask for it in Lbs. And school taught me metric. It just follows from my parents and cooking, I can't visualise cooking in metric.

grumpyscot · 26/05/15 - 08:08

Strange thing is, I measure:
distance in miles, length of wood in metric;
fuel in litres, milk in pints;
Sugar in kilos, flour in ounces;
water temperature in fahrenheit, weather temperature in centigrade.
I buy eggs in dozens in Asda, but in 10s in Lidl

SJ_Mental · 26/05/15 - 08:22

grumpyscot wrote: »

Strange thing is, I measure:
distance in miles, length of wood in metric;
fuel in litres, milk in pints;
Sugar in kilos, flour in ounces;
water temperature in fahrenheit, weather temperature in centigrade.
I buy eggs in dozens in Asda, but in 10s in Lidl

http://media.giphy.com/media/ReDLLlU9fDqmI/giphy.gif

noise747 · 26/05/15 - 08:25

We have a self serve one here, part of a chain store called Jessicas, never heard of them until they opened here. The range is amazing and being self serve, you put in what you want. they also sell a lot of American stuff, but so expensive.

Also got a couple of independent ones which I use more than the chain one and they will weigh in quarter pounds or as close as they can.

I love getting sweets this way, cola cubes and bom boms.

tellywatcher73 · 26/05/15 - 08:38

Maybe they just didn't know how much quarter was in grams. Most places just measure out to the closest as most people ask for a quarter or half a pound. Even the pre-packed sweets in my local shop are called half pounders.

shackfan · 26/05/15 - 08:53

lemoncurd wrote: »

There's a sweet shop around the corner from me. I like it because you can buy from tubs, like we always used to, rather than them being pre-packaged.
However, if I ask for a quarter of Rhubarb & Custards, I'm told I cam only order by "100g". This is an odd response. Surely scales can still measure out a 1/4 lb? I've nothing against metric measures per se, but surely sweets have always been sold be the quarter?

But surely sweets HAVENT been sold by the quarter for years. Seriously when did you last by a quarter of sweets? Do keep up. You'll discover colour TV soon.

Orbitalzone · 26/05/15 - 09:00

Don't shops legally have to sell in metric? pretty sure it's been a legal requirement for some years.

I use both metric and imperial like mentioned above.....

Maxatoria · 26/05/15 - 09:13

Technically shops have to sell in metric so when i had a shop if someone asked for a quarter of some sweets we'd just measure 113grams of it as its the same thing so its the same thing but with a scale with both metric and imperial measurements on it there was no problem anyway as they could see the sweets being weighed

SherbetLemon · 26/05/15 - 09:23

tellywatcher73 wrote: »

most people ask for a quarter or half a pound.

Really? Half a pound? Greedy buggers. I've never heard of anyone asking for that much. I used to get 2 ounces of sweets as a childhood treat in the 70s, and that was plenty for a kid. A quarter was huge so can't imagine feeding on a half pound.

SJ_Mental · 26/05/15 - 09:34

SherbetLemon wrote: »

Really? Half a pound? Greedy buggers. I've never heard of anyone asking for that much. I used to get 2 ounces of sweets as a childhood treat in the 70s, and that was plenty for a kid. A quarter was huge so can't imagine feeding on a half pound.

I wasn't aware the whole amount was for immediate consumption

SherbetLemon · 26/05/15 - 09:37

SJ_Mental wrote: »

I wasn't aware the whole amount was for immediate consumption

LOL. The sweets would stick to the paper bags they were sold in, so they were never very nice after a while, if left.

francie · 26/05/15 - 09:49

SherbetLemon wrote: »

LOL. The sweets would stick to the paper bags they were sold in, so they were never very nice after a while, if left.

Whenever I see your name it brings back childhood memories of sucking sherbert lemons (even with bits of paper bag stuck to them)

francie · 26/05/15 - 09:52

shackfan wrote: »

But surely sweets HAVENT been sold by the quarter for years. Seriously when did you last by a quarter of sweets? Do keep up. You'll discover colour TV soon.

I still find myself asking for a "quarter" of such and such...if they look at me funny I just say the "equivalent of then". It's no big deal.

TrollHunter · 26/05/15 - 10:30

It only dawned on me some years later that a 'quarter' was actually a measurement of weight. I'd always thought it was just another term for how the sweets were packaged, such as a bag of crisps, a tube of Pringles, a slab of chocolate.

Bedlam_maid · 26/05/15 - 10:57

If the sweets are priced per 100g them I daresay some people would have problems making the conversion unless they had scales that did it for them.

lemoncurd · 26/05/15 - 21:01

Speaking of buying loose sweets, does anyone remember the penny sweet tray on the counter. Either a wooden or yellow plastic affair with little sections containing chews, flying saucers, chocolate cigarettes, lollies etc. At my local corner shop, they were further split into halfpenny, penny and two penny sweets.

coldcomfort · 26/05/15 - 21:20

lemoncurd wrote: »

Speaking of buying loose sweets, does anyone remember the penny sweet tray on the counter. Either a wooden or yellow plastic affair with little sections containing chews, flying saucers, chocolate cigarettes, lollies etc. At my local corner shop, they were further split into halfpenny, penny and two penny sweets.

I loved the 'penny tray'. I used to grovel down the side of chairs for real clunky pennies to boost a purchase from it.
Sherbert lemmons used to cut my trap to shreds.
When the spogs stuck to the bag in a quarter, I'd chew the paper till the sweetness was sucked out.
I could never eat enough spice as a kid.

seacam · 26/05/15 - 21:25

Can you even buy proper kola kubes any more? and oh what I'd give for some real dairy toffee bom bons---bliss.

And who remembers, Spangles?

Bedlam_maid · 26/05/15 - 22:39

And Horlicks tablets.

Hey there!

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