Fruitfield & Lambs

TheScribbler

Hi There,

I wonder if anyone with an interest in things nostalgic might be able to help me. I'm researching the history of Lamb Brothers who used to have a factory at Bluebell/Inchicore and I am trying to trace old labels and photographs associated with Fruitfield Jams and Marmalades from the 50s and 60s, when it was still run by the Lamb family.

Has any kind person got any images lurking in an attic somewhere?

Thank you

TheScribbler

Hello Again

I'm posting this second message in the hope of 'increasing' the thread ratings. I'm doing a paper on the history of the Fruitfield and Lambs brands and wonder if anyone may have copies of any old photographs of products, labels or even pictures of bus side advertisements for Fruitfield and Old Time Irish Marmalade that they used, or even images of delivery trucks.

Before the business was acquired by Jacobs Fruitfield it was owned for a time by Nestle and the brands were incoroprated with those of Little Chip and Chef. However up until the mid 1970s it was run as a family business adn the factory was based outside Inchicore at Bluebell.

Anyone living in the area that worked for Lamb Brothers may have some treasures stuffed in an old biscuit tin somewhere. I hope so and i would love to hear from you.

deadhead13

You have probably already come accross this....

http://www.somethingirish.com/hre-lj03.html

Fuzzy Clam

Theres probably plenty of them around, but I've a couple of old (empty) 1 LB and, I think, 2 LB jars here. Fruitfield Varsity Marmalade. Not glass, sort of glazed pottery with printed black writing.

TheScribbler

Indeed Varsity was their most expensive marmalade. It was produced in 1lb and 2lb stoneware crocks/jars which were sealed under some kind of muslin cover. 7lb crocks were also supplied to the baking and catering industry but it was quite expensive.

If you can capture a good digial pic of it, this would be most helpful, thank you

TheScribbler

Deadhead

Thank you for drawing this to my attention. Indeed I have one of these which is a reproduced copy of a showcard that was usede to promote the brnad in old fashioned grocery stores (before supermarkets arrived and eroded corporate personality).

Thank you

Fuzzy Clam

TheScribbler wrote: »

Indeed Varsity was their most expensive marmalade.

My Mum must have only bought the best:)

If I can figure out how to upload pics, I will do that tomorrow.

TheScribbler

Your mother clearly had excellent, if expensive, tastes. But if you can upload an image I will look forward to it.

Fuzzy Clam

Having a bit of trouble linking to the images
See if this works


Whey hey!

TheScribbler

Those are brilliant, now if only they were full.......

Bean123

I used to work for Lamb Bros (Dublin) ltd and know about their cousins factory in Richill Co Armagh as well as their three fruitfarms in Barley Hill and Fonstown Co Kildare and Beaverstown Co Dublin.

There are at least 3 of the founders grandchildren still alive

Contact me if interested

TheScribbler wrote: »

Hello Again

I'm posting this second message in the hope of 'increasing' the thread ratings. I'm doing a paper on the history of the Fruitfield and Lambs brands and wonder if anyone may have copies of any old photographs of products, labels or even pictures of bus side advertisements for Fruitfield and Old Time Irish Marmalade that they used, or even images of delivery trucks.

Before the business was acquired by Jacobs Fruitfield it was owned for a time by Nestle and the brands were incoroprated with those of Little Chip and Chef. However up until the mid 1970s it was run as a family business adn the factory was based outside Inchicore at Bluebell.

Anyone living in the area that worked for Lamb Brothers may have some treasures stuffed in an old biscuit tin somewhere. I hope so and i would love to hear from you.

TheScribbler

Re your note, I too used to work with them in 60s & 70s and have written an historic digest of the firm with input from two of them but trying to get suitable images is proving difficult. Can you help at all?

If you want to contact me privately I would love to hear from you.

Thanks

Bean123

I assume because of your address u worked at Richill, I would love to contact u privatly, please let me have a contact.

I worked at Bluebell from 1972 until it closed in 1980 and transferred to Nestle.

Regards

TheScribbler

Hi Bean123, I've sent you a private message if you check your Private Message box (top right of your page)

cecy

hello - by sheer coincidence i've just started gathering information about the fruit growers / pickers in north Meath/Cavan who supplied Lamb Brothers in the fifties and sixties and even later in some cases. I haven't got a lot as yet but would be very interested in staying in touch.

Bean123

Yes Please do keep intouch as u progress your project.

TheScribbler

Indeed that could be very interesting

Bean123

Hi Cecy,

You may have seen this already but if not you may find it interesting, regarding Damson Jam it was out of stock for many years in the 1970's due to lack of supply but then we got some from Wexford I think and when turned into Jam it sold out in record time.

Anyway keep in touch

www.drumconrathparish.ie/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=231&Itemid=128

Please confirm receipt of this message

Regards

Bean

cecy wrote: »

hello - by sheer coincidence i've just started gathering information about the fruit growers / pickers in north Meath/Cavan who supplied Lamb Brothers in the fifties and sixties and even later in some cases. I haven't got a lot as yet but would be very interested in staying in touch.

cecy

Hi Bean
Thanks for that; I'd like to stay in touch, I'm just starting off - lots of questions. I wonder what happened to the Barley Hill/ Drumconrath crops during that time. Do you know where in Wexford the damsons were coming from? Another question I have - how did they remove the stones from the damsons when they were making the jam? and (finally) is the factory gone altogether now?

Thanks
cecy

TheScribbler

Cecy

Just intercepting your note. Doubtless Bean123 will fill you on Barley Hill etc. However the business and the brands were acquired by Nestle (via Keillors) back in the late 70s and production ceased at Inchicore/Bluebell. However the Fruitfield and Old Time Irish brands were linked with Little Chip and other foodstuffs and manufacturing was relocated within Dublin

However the brands were bought out by some entrepreneurs a couple of years back and recombined with Jacobs to form Jacob Fruitfield, based out of Tallaght. However you may be aware that production proved to be uneconomic and while the brands are actively marketed in Ireland, they are now made elsewhere.

It is sad in many ways as it represents the end of an era.

TheScribbler

TheScribbler

Just realised how many 'Howevers' I wrote there!

Bean123

Cecy,

Thanks for reply, I am never quite sure if my messages are getting there.

I have no idea what happened to the Barley Hill Damsons during that period but they were not with Lambs. Again I only think they came from Wexford as a lot of soft fruit came from there as it did from Co Meath.

Before being turned into Jam the fruit was "cooked" and sieved to remove the stones and the stones were sent to their own farms as manure.

The business was sold in 1980 to Nestle (Williams & Woods) in Tallaght, Co Dublin but they quickly discontinued making Jams other than Strawberry Raspberry and Blackcurrent.

The real reason for Nestle buying the business was to get the marmalade business of Old Time Irish Coarse Cut and Fine Cut. That production has since stopped and all marmalades are now manufactured in UK but I think the jams are produced in Drogheda but not sure.

A point of interest and I do not know the answer is that Lamb Bros had a fruit farm near Moone Co Kildare and it was called Barley Hill Farm - I wonder is there a connection.

Anyway keep in touch

Bean

DLAMB

Hi Scribbler I am a Lamb grandson and I enclose a picture of my Grandad in the early days of Lambs Bros (Gilbert Courtney Lamb) he was the scientist and a brother of Wilfreds. My farther Richard Lamb has a number of old labels and pictures, I am sure he would have no problem showing them to you and having a chat. Contact me if you are interested - I look forward to hearing more about your project.
Kind regards

TheScribbler

Thank you I will send you a private message

Bean123

Cecy

See advert from 1920's where it says they get fruit daily from Co Meath, may be of interest to you.

TheScribbler

That adv is a real gem. I've never seen it before. The mock jar is interesting as the label doesn't confirm to any of the style conventions we came to expect from the company from the early thirties onwards.

collector

theres a fantastic photograph in newbridge house of fruit pickers from lambs.i also have a few stone jars from them theres is one jar i have had for ages and always wonder what it was for i found out today its a ginger jar from fruitfield farm.

Bean123

Hi Collector

Thanks for that, I will go out to Newbridge House some day and have a look.

I assume the stone jars you mention are the same as the ones in the photos in an earlier message.

Is there any chance of seeing a photo of the Ginger Jar, does it say Fruitfield on it.

Hope to hear from you soon.

collector wrote: »

theres a fantastic photograph in newbridge house of fruit pickers from lambs.i also have a few stone jars from them theres is one jar i have had for ages and always wonder what it was for i found out today its a ginger jar from fruitfield farm.

collector

hi,b123 its basically a earthen ware jar and the fruitfield label would be stuck on to the side .see picture below

Bean123

Thanks for photos, yes the jars are Fruitfield, one from each of their factories i.e. Dublin and Richhill co Armagh.

The other two are ginger jars but I have never seen them in the Fruitfield range, they did sell crystallised ginger in box's but I never saw Stem Ginger in jars. Where did u get the information that they were Fruitfield?

Again many thanks

collector wrote: »

TheScribbler

Hi Collector

I agree with Bean123's comments. I have no recollection of any Fruitfield stem ginger being offered in such jars. From the photograph they don't appear to be capable of being sealed to hold the liquid fast and uncontaminated unless the lid is held fast within a wire shroud.

By way of interest I lived in the US some years ago and my wife acquired a number of similarly shaped ginger jars from a Chinese merchant in San Francisco that were used to house small quantities of dry ginger from China and were imported by the local Oriental restaurant and bakery trade. As the jars were non returnable they were frequently sold on for domestic use. They ranged in size from around 1lb weight up to 1cwt (I kid you not) but I am sure their gross weight was much higher than that as the stoneware was unusually heavy. The bigger ones were often highly decorated and looked like the sort of things you might see in 'Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves.' We have one that is used as a flower pot.

Coming back to Fruitfield for a moment I was unaware that Lamb's drew damsons from Wexford but they may have contracted them locally. Damsons are a notoriously fickle fruit to grow. They benefit from high rainfall such as might be experienced in western and northern counties and are tolerant of low levels of sunshine but they require well drained soil. Crop yields can be variable with many trees not bearing fruit until quite mature and even then they often don't fruit every year.

The sieving process is much the same as for other prunus fruits but damsons are often quite reluctant to be parted from the fruit. I know this because I grow damsons at my home in Bangor and make jam with them.