Foam alone
Last one in world... now unopened can of Creamola for sale
FOR decades it was the fizzy drink of choice for children the length and breadth of the land. From when production began in Glasgow during the 1950s, Creamola Foam was one of Scotland’s most iconic exports.
But changing tastes and big competition from rival soft drinks giants saw production cease in 1998.
The foam, which was produced in the form of raspberry, orange, lemon and cola crystals that dissolved in water to create a foaming, fizzy beverage, has now become a collector’s item among nostalgia-seekers.
Now a couple of shrewd Scots claim to have the ‘last ever’ unopened can and drinkable tub of the soluble granules and are putting them up for auction after keeping them in a safe for years.
Roddy and Janice Nicoll, of Yoker, Glasgow, purchased a can of lemon-flavoured 1970s Creamola Foam six years ago and have kept it under lock and key ever since.
Now the couple, both 49, are offering it up for sale online – alongside a raspberry-flavoured tub of the foam from the 1990s – in a lot they are describing as ‘two pieces of true Scottish modern history’.
Mrs Nicoll – who listed the lot on eBay – said that she and her husband have tried a small helping of the raspberry fizz and are confident it is drinkable.
She said: ‘It tasted superb and we are both still here, we had to have a glass before it went. Both of these cans were given to me as a present from my husband when he disposed of his collection of Scottish confectionery memorabilia.
‘When we moved in together the
‘Part of Scottish childhood’
deal was that all of the collection had to go.’
Mrs Nicoll said the Creamola that survived the cull has only been removed from safe-keeping during family gatherings ‘for adults of a certain age to “ooh and ahh” at’.
She added: ‘They work just like little time machines that whisk the holder back to halcyon days at the back of Granny’s pantry or begging below the top shelf at the Co-op.’
Mrs Nicoll believes there are no more than ten glasses left of the raspberry foam. ‘Use them wisely,’ she advised.
Mr Nicoll – a confectionary enthusiast who has even written a song about the drink – bought the unopened lemon can for £60 and the raspberry tub for £40.
He said: ‘It’s time to let them go. I got the metal one from an English dealer. The poor guy didn’t know what he had.
‘It’s very much a part of the Scottish childhood for anyone of a certain age. It tasted just exactly as I remembered it.’
A spokesman for Nestlé – which bought out Creamola’s parent company Rowntree in 1988 – could not confirm whether the can is indeed the last ever.
Creamola Foam’s recipe was lost when production halted. Attempts to revive the childhood favourite have hinged on confectioners being able to hunt down an original can.
In 2006 an Orkney baker and an Inverclyde businessman found themselves locked in negotiations over a can of the drink after the baker with the can demanded a cut of the profits should the recipe be rebooted.
So although current bidding for the Nicolls’ surviving cans is relatively low at £26, the couple hope bidding on the lot will sky-rocket as rival entrepreneurs look to lock down the elusive recipe.