Those of you a few years either side of my own age will probably remember MB Bars. As MB stood for Monster Bar, when you asked for an MB Bar, you were actually asking for a Monster Bar Bar - which is daft when you think about it. I first started buying MB Bars from a newsagent's called Chambers in a street named Chalmers Crescent, back around 1963/'64, on my way to school and sometimes after. (And probably weekends too, come to think of it.)
20 years later, I was back in that same shop and was amazed to see that it still sold MB Bars. Now, I'd probably bought a few in different shops over the years as I grew up, but I hadn't seen them in ages, so to see them on sale where I'd first bought one quite appealed to my sense of nostalgia. This time they came in a cellophane wrapper (with the name, ingredients, and maker's name), and when I asked why, I was told it was because of EU hygiene regulations (or some such equivalent). They were still made by the original manufacturer as far as I recall, and I bought quite a number of them over several weeks. I'm not quite sure when it happened, but they suddenly disappeared one day and it was a good few years before I saw them again.
They reappeared in one of my local shops sometime in the mid or late '90s (without the wrappers), and are still available today (they are in Scotland anyway), though usually only in small, independent sweet shops. (This time round, they come in clear cellophane wrappers with no markings.) However I believe it's a different manufacturer that now makes them and the quality isn't quite as good. Whether they're using the original moulds or new ones cast from an actual bar I'm not quite sure, but they look the same as they did in the '60s. Think I might buy one today - just for old times' sake.
(You'll be happy to hear that I'm not going to make a joke about having a monster in my trousers when I had an MB Bar in my pocket, because that would just be crass, wouldn't it? Snigger!)
(You'll be happy to hear that I'm not going to make a joke about having a monster in my trousers when I had an MB Bar in my pocket, because that would just be crass, wouldn't it? Snigger!)
So, "MB bar" is a tautology. Like using an ABM missile to intercept an ICBM missile. Or typing in your PIN number when using an ATM machine.
ReplyDeleteIndeed, TC. It's also a bit like saying "From whence do you come?" As 'whence' means 'from where', what you're then actually saying is "From from where do you come?" Not quite the same thing, but similar.
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