Sherbet Fountains

We used to have these if we were good as a treat. They were sherbet powder in a yellow paper cylinder and out of the top would be a piece of liquorice. The liquorice used to have a hole through it and you used to suck up the sherbet through it. Only trouble was it would always go down the wrong way and you used to end up coughing and spluttering with your eyes watering. Great fun!

Alan Williams

Comments




Still readily available, but in plastic tube which spoils the fun, but probably much more hygienic.
pete22-May-2013, 08:40:18 AM

The liquorice was hollow but you had to bite the closed ends off first, then suck...
Doon the Toon23-Nov-2011, 10:23:42 PM

used to love these. i ate loads as a kid and never once managed to suck the sherbet through the liquorice
Baz02-Oct-2010, 03:41:20 PM

I remember my mate emptying a whole packet into his mouth on his way to school,gagging and exploding like some kind of Wonka-esque volcano finally spitting the whole lot out onto the pavement. The puddle was still fizzing as I passed it on the way home!
neilo6729-May-2008, 02:37:05 AM

I don't think the liquorice is or ever was hollow. Though I'm sure you could get hollow liquorice sticks to do that trick. I was never keen on the liquorice, didn't like it too much anyway, used to give it to my friend and then just chug down the sherbet. Mmmm, bliss.
thecholl02-Nov-2007, 06:44:42 PM

I always though these were a bit rubbish. I liked the fact that they looked like a big pencil, but they did go soggy and I didn't like the sherbet much - seemed a bit boring. I don't remember the liquorice being hollow either.
vic21-Oct-2007, 08:18:26 PM

up until a few years ago you could still buy these in packs of four in TESCO, I have not been able to find them in any shop recently but you can find them on the net. I might even try making them myself, its only really sugar and bicarbonate of soda, how difficult can t be?
neil14-Apr-2007, 10:04:29 PM

my corner shops just started selling those again. I reckon they've just found an old box in the back and thought they'd sell them to 90s kids like me!
DYR14-Apr-2007, 04:17:43 AM

To Caroline The liquorice was indeed hollow, and still is. I remember them very well. We used to have races, put ALL the sherbert in your mouth take a sip of water the last to suvive without spilling or exploding is the winner.
Graham18-May-2006, 09:23:25 AM

I remember those, the stuff used to get everywhere, used to be horrible if it got up ur nose!!!
MaRk15-Apr-2006, 11:53:25 PM

I am another Ian Seddon - not the one who previously shared a memory of Sherbert Fountains. They used to be made in a factory near Crown Point in Denton, Manchester and I went out with a girl called Brenda who worked there in 1964!
Ian Seddon04-Feb-2006, 08:43:00 PM

The head said, make the drink with tapwater. The heart said : just eat the sherbet ! Haven't seen them in Ireland in yonks, are they still on sale in the UK ?
Aidan14-Nov-2005, 11:30:36 AM

Sherbert Fountains were great - impossibly sweet sherbert sucked through a sweet liqourice tube or dipped in. Being 45 i need to look after my teeth now so it all remains a fantastic teen memory!!
Ian Seddon12-Nov-2005, 11:04:06 AM

i dont think you can suck the sherbert through the liquorice, cause it wasnt hollow. For anybody who's tried them the yellow and red paper that surrounds the tube always got soggy and when you went to empty the rest in to your mouth half the paper got swalloed aswell.
caroline25-Mar-2005, 11:48:10 PM

eBay

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