Milk Arrowroot biscuits have been part of Australian life for generations; left out for Santa with a glass of milk, popped into school lunchboxes, and in the early days crushed and fed to babies in their bottles.
SOURCE – SYDNEY MORNING HERALD, DEC. 19 1902
A large part of the company’s advertising involved testimonials. Mothers would send in photos of their ‘Milk Arrowroot’ offspring. However, it was difficult to compete with Mrs W. Morgan of Kogarah, who sent in the following photo of herself and twenty of her grandchildren. She insisted that the youngsters were all being raised on the biscuits, just as her own children had been.
A Milk Arrowroot family…happy and healthy!
Another means of promotion was to publish recipes using Arnott’s biscuits. Here are two. rib-sticking steamed puddings. A bit stodgy perhaps, but comforting during the hard years of the Great Depression. I would love them. 😍
Depression era puddings. (Source – Smith’s Weekly, December 8 1934)
My inspiration for writing this piece came from a caricature of Leslie Arnott. He headed the famous biscuit company following the death of its founder, his father William. It appeared in Smith’s Weekly, on October 8 1928.
The image was accompanied by the following rhyme;
You’ve tasted his succulent wares.
With cocoa, or coffee or claret…
He’s one of the gay millionaires
Whose arms are the sign of the Parrot.
Strong men are employed the year round
Despatching his biscuits in barrows;
The Sao he helps to compound
And milk. which he mixes with arrow.
I love this photo of the biscuits being cut from the dough at the factory ready for baking.
Here is one of the old tins they were packed in. The empty tins were supposed to be returned to Arnotts. This was particularly important during and just after WWII, when there was a severe shortage of tin plate.
One amusing incident occurred in 1943 when a tin returned from a Lithgow wasn’t completely empty. Workers at the factory discovered a set of dentures in a tin and had to contact all the town’s shop keepers to discover who was missing a set.
I bought a packet of Milk Arrowroot myself the other day.
The shape immediately reminded of the ‘faces’ my mother used to make for our baby boomer birthday parties.
Because they have that hint of sweetness they are a good accompaniment to a soft cheese and fruit platter.
But of course nothing beats the classic buttered Milk Arrowroot biscuit!
An armchair and Arnott’s Milk Arrowroot biscuits…..BLISS
