Yesterday I found a Babycham glass in my local Charity Shop for £1 and I had to have it.
Babycham is one of the first alcoholic drinks I remember drinking, one bottle on New Years Eve when I was about 9 or 10 in the late 80s. It’s always had a retro, nostalgic appeal but I don’t think I’ve seen a bottle in the shop for years, till today Mr Chick spotted one in a tiny wine shop and bought it for me, also for £1! So now I have the complete set for a nostalgic Friday night tipple.
When Babycham was launched into post-war Britain in 1953 it was into a marketplace where Women had started to play a more dominant role. Their entry into the workplace and the disposable incomes they had to call their own meant that they needed something to spend it on, and the traditionally male sphere of the pub needed a drink it could market to Women.
Enter Babycham.
Babycham was the first alcoholic drink to be advertised on UK television, in 1957, and was marketed as “Genuine Champagne Perry”. I personally remember it’s ill-fated attempt to become “trendy” in 1993 and being incensed at the sad loss of the Chamois logo. By 1996 they’d gone back to to the cute deer and marketing it on it’s retro appeal (therefore proving me right, why does no one ever ask me about these things?)
Whilst Women now have the freedom to order whatever they please in Pubs, the appeal of Babycham to me is still in it’s retro styling and it’s launch in an age where women were beginning to assert their right be both Women and consumers in the leisure market. It’s also a product that’s undoubtedly British, still produced in Somerset.
And if you’re really bored over the weekend, they even have a clothing range (more details on the Babycham website.)
