How one of my childhood sweets lead to a gene discovery

Genealogy Photo a Day via Instagram – Day 3 Sweets.

When I was a kid one of my favourite childhood sweets was a thing called a chocolate fish. So you knew what they looked like I thought I would find a picture to share so typed chocolate fish into Papers Past, digitized newspapers in New Zealand.

The first piece I went to was about an orchestra entertaining in 1933 but no picture. Just a mention of large chocolate fish.

I scanned down the page to see “Mr & Mrs A.C. Kitto”, my paternal Grandparents. Now that’s a sweet find. Over two hundred people attended this dance by Mr Bert Steel’s Melody Makers’ Orchestra.

I did try to find a chocolate fish image to share however they all seemed to be under some type of copyright. If you are interested search google to see the pink marshmallow fish with the thinnest coating of chocolate.

So that is how I found out about my grandparents out dancing, in September 1933. They were Charles Adolph Kitto (1883-1953) and Olive Constance Beatrice Ireland (1887-1969).

Childhood Sweets – How did I become obsessed with chocolate fish?

How did chocolate fish become one of my favourite childhood sweets? It started when I was still 4. When you were about to turn 5 at Kindergarten you got a chocolate fish as you would be going off to primary school soon. The Christmas holidays came (in the Southern Hemisphere its summer and about a 6 week break from school) and I figured out my birthday was in the holidays so I would miss out. Apparently I went on and on for days annoying everyone and making myself upset so my Mum got me one. She even added a little candle like the Kinder teacher did for the other children.

View this #GenealogyPhotoADay along with others at my TravelGenee Instagram.

Source:
ORCHESTRA ENTERTAINS, Evening Post, Volume CXVI, Issue 75, 26 September 1933