NINETY years ago, Rowntree’s of York launched the world’s first concentrated jelly cubes. Available in 10 tantalising flavours (such as pineapple, vanilla and greengage), they dissolved in half the time of any rival. The year 1932 also saw the publication of Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World and these magic cubes, which allowed the preparation of a ‘thrilling’ dessert in a mere 80 seconds, might have sprung from the pages of his novel, as a glistening, fruity glimpse of mankind’s future.
Rowntree’s ‘cube-moulded’ instant jelly was the final stage of the quivering pudding’s slow procession from the palaces of the Pharaohs, via royal wedding feasts, to the paper bowls of a million children’s parties. The rubbery squares would carry jelly to the very peak of popularity, only to see sales shiver and collapse under a
