I just can't get that jingle out of my head!!
The person I have decided to honour in this my 100th blog for Rookwood Cemetery Discoveries (I can barely believe how fast that number has been reached!), is someone I expect most of you wouldn't know by name, but his top selling product would be familiar!
ADOLPHUS HERBERT (BERT)
APPLEROTH
Adolphus or Bert as he
became known was born in December 1886 in Stanley Street West Melbourne to
Wilhelm Berndt Albert Appleroth and Emma Audebairt, their only son. Wilhelm was
from St Petersburg Russia and was rumoured to be a Russian-Finnish sea captain
who jumped ship in Melbourne and his mother was the daughter of a wine
merchant. Bert's elder sister Alberta Mabel died in 1887, the same year his
mother gave birth to his sister Leonora Alexandra.
The family were residents of
Sydney when Bert began work in 1902 as a messenger boy at Lipton's Tea Agency
then took a job as a tram conductor. He began experiments with mixtures of
gelatine and sugar in the bath in his parents' home at Paddington, (hmmm..) and
sold the jelly crystals that he produced door to door using the trams as his
personal delivery mode.
In 1910, aged 23, he married
Ferri Marion Wotzasik, a dressmaker and eldest daughter of the late Count Emil
Wotzasik.
Bert left the tramways seven
years later and rented premises in which to manufacture his jelly crystals
where he marketed some under the name "De-Luxe". In 1926 he formed
Traders Ltd and was joined by a partner Albert Francis Lenertz who became the
Managing Director. The business operated from Sussex Street in the city before
moving to Alice Street Newtown the following year. With so much interest in the
feats of aviation, Bert named his product "Aeroplane Jelly".
In 1930 Lenertz wrote the
words and music of the Aeroplane Jelly song. Originally, the song was a tribute
to Prime Minister Billy Hughes, but he rewrote the lyrics, and it became an
extremely popular advertisement for the product later that year.
The jingle was first
recorded by Amy Rochelle, a music hall entertainer who did child imitations and
that version was used until 1938 when it was re-recorded by a seven-year-old
girl, Joy King, who had won a NSW wide competition to find a new singer. Her
recording was used for more than 50 years! Lenertz produced and announced radio
programmes over Sydney station 2KY and 2SM and used the song as the signature
tune. The song was eventually broadcast 100 times each day.
"I like Aeroplane
jelly,
Aeroplane jelly for me,
I like it for dinner, I like
it for tea,
A little each day is a good
recipe..."
When Lenertz left the
company in 1934, Bert chartered a Tiger Moth aeroplane, decorated with his
product's name to make deliveries to rural areas. This form of advertising
proved extremely popular with children who were the greatest consumers of his
product. In 1935 Bert held a model aeroplane display in Centennial Park Sydney
and with other publicity stunts and together with the popular jingle, he made
his product a national icon. By 1949 Bert's factory had an annual turnover of
£170,000.
Tommy Dawes, who was one of
Joy King's contestants in 1938, became a feature of the Aeroplane Jelly
packaging as the whistling boy from 1950. He stayed in various forms on the
packaging for another 20 years and then revived several times thereafter.
Bert was a freemason and
gave donations to the Federation of the NSW Police-Citizens Boy's Club and to
the Hospital Saturday Fund. He gave back to his major consumers, children.
Bert suffered from high
blood pressure and died from a heart attack in July 1952 at his home in
Croydon, his wife, Ferri and son surviving him. Ferri was appointed the
managing Director of several family companies.
In 1970, Aeroplane Jelly was
launched outside of NSW and into Victoria, Queensland, SA and WA.
After Ferri died in 1972,
the company remained in the name of Traders Ltd. until 1988 when it was
acquired by McCormick and Company.
Bert, Ferri and their son
Herbert are buried in the Anglican area not far from the Rookwood General
Cemetery office.
In 2021 Appleroth Street in
Melrose Park was dedicated to Bert. It was the area where Aeroplane Jelly was
manufactured from 1973 to 2017.
It's amazing to think that
jelly crystals, so much a part of Australian lives, started as an experiment in
the bath at Bert's home in Paddington. Thank you, Bert, for daring to believe in
jelly crystals and making them an Australian icon.
I wish I had a dollar for
everytime I've sung the jingle or eaten Aeroplane Jelly - Port Wine flavour was
my favourite - it made me feel grown up!!
For today's 100th blog I
have referenced ancestry.com; the Australian Dictionary of Biography entry by
Paul Brunton; Aeroplane Jelly History; Marrickville Heritage Society article
from 10 November 2012; Parramatta History and Heritage and various Trove newspaper
entries for births, deaths and marriages.
Let me know your association
with Aeroplane Jelly or add any other insights into its story at the comments
below or at the group Facebook page found under
rookwood cemetery
discoveries
or simply send me a personal
message at
lorainepunch@gmail.com
I'd love to know your
favourite flavour!
Until next week
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