Chicory was mixed with coffee to reduce the amount of coffee bean required to be used. This coffee "substitute" was due to the repeated fluctuations in availability of coffee beans (and price fluctuations) in the USA in the late 1800s and early 1900s resulting in the search for substitutes and additives to bulk out the available supplies. This was especially so during times of the major World Wars. Chicory was an excellent choice of fillers as it did not greatly influence the strong coffee bean taste. The first choice in USA households was coffee not tea and the influence of the American servicemen's thirst for coffee was a major thrust into the Australian "colonial" preference for a "cuppa" tea. Rural areas took longer to acquire a coffee "break" but with more and more subliminal advertising through "American" films the rural regions developed a growing preference for coffee, however the tea break alias "smoko" has lingered on.This coffee and chicory blend tin container is very significant to the Kiewa Valley in that it demonstrates that even in rural regions of Australia tastes and drinking preferences have changed by subliminal advertising as time goes by. The American "influence" whether by the "invasion" of friendly troops during the major wars or the avalanche of "American films" has altered some of the "dinky-di" Australian "true blue" tastes and mores. The availability of "straight " coffee supplies to rural areas was also in proportion to the level of all weather transport routes. In the late 1800's and early 1900's road freight had to contend with dirt roads, flooded roads, bush fires and grazing cattle/sheep in rural areas. The easier access that city households had with regard to replenishment of food and drink products, up until the mid 1900's, was severely retarded in rural areas. This extensively rusted tin of "Bushells Blue Label" Coffee and Chicory has an octagonal shaped body with a "push/pull" lid(tin).Three sides has reproduced painted ladies in "Roman dress" ladies picking the coffee beans. There is no reproduction of any chicory roots. There are two "Indian dressed" field workers(pickers) with turban head dress. On one side of the tin is "directions of use, net weight and manufacturer details."Bushells Coffee & Chicory", "NET 1-Ib. weight", " No. 144" "Under the Pure Food Act N.S.W. 1938" "by Bushells Ltd. No 144"chicory / coffee drinks, tin hydrated drink, rural food and drink consumption patterns, tinned food and drink

Before the era of powdered instant coffee; the main method of non-percolated coffee was to have a bottle of 'coffee essence' on hand. These bottles contained a thick liquid compound of coffee and chicory and were added to hot water to make a drink. The product is still available. The earlier bottles had the name of the manufacturer embossed into the glass but later versions had a label panel onto which a label was affixed. This allowed for several different flavours or variations to be sold in one type of bottle with different labels. The bottles came in brown or clear glass and have a distinctive shape. Bottle One has a screw top enclosure with 'Robur Tea Co. Limited' on a side panel. The bottle manufacturer's mark is AGM; used post 1938. It is a 2-piece mould and mould marks are visible on the shoulders and through thread of screw top. The neck is slightly askew and looks stretched on one side; perhaps because it was removed from the mould before being fully cooled. Bottle Two has a cork stoppered neck in clear glass. It has no embossing and has the AGM monogram on its base. It is from a 2-piece mould with a strong mould mark through to the top of the stopper closure. Bottles are 8 ounce size and were recovered from the garden of a GHS member.Small collection of 3 bottles.bottles, glass bottle, coffee and chicory essence bottles

This item was produced by a Melbourne Tea, Coffee and Cocoa Merchant importers(1898-1960). It was a time when local production of, coffee had yet not begun. Imports from India and the Asian region had dominance in the market place. The blending of coffee with chicory was a cheaper method of providing a flavour enriched drink which was marketed as "containing not less than 55 parts per cent by weight of coffee" The coffee weighed heavier than the chicory. This was a time before strict accurate consumer information/content became mandatory and legally enforceable.This empty container of "Sunbeam" Coffee and Chicory finely ground "instant - just add boiling water" beverage was the start of the "fast" breakfast drink. The use of grinding the coffee beans and percolation to obtain the final drink was at the start of the rural sector's decreasing the time for casual drinking. The once casual countryside psyche was now (mid to late 1900's) becoming more "on the go".This cylindrical container (coffee and chicory) is constructed from pressed cardboard with both ends enclosed by tin(pressed) lid and bottom. The outside wrapping is promotional and descriptive in the colours of purple background and information label areas with purple lettering on a white and silver background. The cylinder is made from 2 mm pressed cardboard.Main label " No.1" underneath "Sunbeam" underneath "COFFEE and CHICORY" UNDERNEATH "Containing Not Less than %% Parts Per Cent By Weight of Coffee" underneath in Hand Writing" Griffiths Bros Limited", below this "TEA ,COFFEE & COCOA MERCHANTS" Below this" Mellbourne, Sydney, Adelaide" and lastly "net 1lb weight". Alternate side "The Following Well Known Economical & Flavoury Teas" underneath this "Packed Specially For The Trade" underneath "SUNBEAM & VICTORY SIGNAL COCOA" and in smaller print "Absolutely Pure, Made in Australia" underneath Equal To The Best Imported"breakfast containers, food storage, instant coffee, speed breakfasts, domestic

This tin which once contained coffee with chicory was purchased in a period when the importation of coffee beans into Australia was quite expensive and to counter that local distributors of coffee mixed it with Chicory, a blended coffee, flavoured slightly milder depending on the amount of coffee(percentage) per serve. This provided a cheaper cup of "coffee" drink. This mixture was a spin off from the 1930's Great Depression and the naval blockages of World War II (imports from India and other regional coffee growers) and the scarcity of secure ship supplies. As supplies became more secure "pure" coffee as a drink became available at reasonable costs. This "insignificant" coffee/chicory tin is very significant as it demonstrates that the Kiewa Valley was becoming more accessible to reliable coffee supplies and general food items.This was brought about through reliable roads and an ever increasing population The need for travelling supply caravans to the area, and with the establishment of grocery stores in Tawonga and Mount Beauty the supply of previously "hard to get" groceries vanished. This transition was precipitated by the SEC Vic Hydro Scheme of the 1940's to 1960's which increased the valley population two fold.This container of McKenzie's Coffee and Chicory is made from pressed steel and has a tight fitting lid (steel with a protruding lip to allow finger pressured removal). The tin has one pressed seem (holding the cylinder together). The backdrop of the outside of the tin is "grained" brown painted with dark brown (worn) lettering and central between McKenzie's/Coffee is a figure of an eagle with its wings outstretched. All the letters and figure have been embossed into the tin surface. The weighted contents are listed at a capacity of 1Ib Net.On one side (front) "McKenzie's Coffee and Chicory 1lb Net". On the other side "COFFEE & CHICORY" underneath "Guaranteed under the Victorian Pure Food Act 1905" "No. 1000 guaranteed under the Pure Food Act 1908, N.S.W. by Jas F. McKenzie & Co. Pty Ltd., No. 1000." "No 22 Guaranteed under the Food and Drugs Act 1910 by Jas F. McKenzie Pty. Ltd No. 22 (Tasmania)." Further "No. 1000 Guaranteed under the Health Acts by Jas. F McKenzie & Co. Pty Ltd No. 1000 (Queensland) "Containing not less than 50 percent of coffee." And at the bottom Jas.F. McKENZIE & Co. Pty Ltd Melbourne and Sydney"tin food/drink mild steel containers, food/drink storage containers