tarzan jubes

chained_bear commented on the word tarzan jubes

"You look at the lollies behind the streaky glass—tarzan jubes, traffic lights, licorice allsorts, musk sticks in three colours, freddo frogs, jelly babies, eucalyptus diamonds, and just the way they sit there in their cardboard boxes tells you to expect goitre, canker, wall-eye, gout, crutches."

—Peter Carey, Illywhacker, 528

April 18, 2009

bilby commented on the word tarzan jubes

Sometimes just called jubes. But the Tarzan bit is good.

April 18, 2009

chained_bear commented on the word tarzan jubes

Yes, I wondered as I was reading it how many of the terms are dated to the early twentieth century and aren't exactly what they would be today.

Are they anything like the candy Jujubes? (Pronounced joo-joo-bees) I'm guessing they're similar. *now craves Jujubes*

Edit: Wikipedia says the Australian version is chewier. Hmm. More like Jujyfruits?

April 18, 2009

bilby commented on the word tarzan jubes

My grandmother, born 1901, called them jubes rather Tarzan jubes. Basically jubes are jellied fruit lollies covered in sugar. I have a feeling Tarzan was one of those brand names that came to be inextricably associated with the common item, although it might have been post World War II. Jubes, in Nanna's time, were considered the ideal small gift for someone you didn't know very well. They were universally liked, considered a 'treat' and yet weren't outrageously expensive. A poor person's chocolate, if you will.

April 18, 2009

chained_bear commented on the word tarzan jubes

That's what I would assume, except they're not capitalized in the novel. Not capped here either. *shrugs*

April 20, 2009

reesetee commented on the word tarzan jubes

From what I could see, it may have started out as a brand name and then became the common name for that type of candy, as bilby says.

April 20, 2009