Shirriff then issued a 40 decal set of
Salada Antique Cars in 1965:
I'm not sure whether these decals were also available in boxes of Salada Tea but they were certainly free inside bags of Shirriff Potato Chips:
(Not mine.)
I don't specifically remember these decals since they may date from the fall of 1965 when I was attending a boarding school in Kennebunkport, Maine. I do though have a set in my present day collection!
Shirriff then issued a fabulous set of 175 Hockey Coins in its Jelly Desserts and Pudding Mixes in 1968-69:
(Not mine.)
(The Oakland Seals Coins are actually a dark olive green despite their nearly black appearance in the scan above. The Minnesota North Stars Coins are a straight green.)
All 12 NHL teams were included but there was a different number of players featured for each team. Moreover several players for each team were added near the end of the promotion and these are short prints with the Oakland Seals short prints now being particularly tough to find. Here are the number of Coins for each team with the short printed number in brackets:
Montréal Canadiens - 18 (3)
Toronto Maple Leafs - 18 (3)
Boston Bruins - 16 (4)
Chicago Blackhawks - 16 (4)
Detroit Red Wings - 16 (4)
New York Rangers - 16 (4)
Minnesota North Stars - 13 (3)
Oakland Seals - 13 (3)
Philadelphia Flyers - 13 (3)
Los Angeles Kings - 12 (2)
Pittsburgh Penguins - 12 (2)
St. Louis Blues - 12 (2)
This set of 1968-69 Shirriff Hockey Coins now vies with the 1964-65 Topps Tall-Boys as the most coveted Hockey set of the post WWII period. I completed a set in the late 1990's. Here are a few more pictures from my collection:
As a corporate entity Shirriff has long since disappeared.
Shirriff Potato Chips had already started to disappear from London variety store shelves in the late 1960's in the face of aggressive competition for shelf space from Humpty Dumpty Potato Chips. The last time I saw any Shirriff Potato Chips was on a family trip to African Lion Safari near Rockton just southeast of Cambridge, Ontario circa 1974-75 and I was quite surprised to see them being sold even then.
Shirriff Jelly Desserts remained at least as popular as Jell-O in Canada into the 1970's anyway. Dr. Oetker bought the Shirriff dessert mix business in 1992 and discontinued the Shirriff Jelly dessert mixes some 20-25 years ago. Shirriff Lemon, Chocolate, Vanilla and Banana Puddings and Pie Fillings continue to be offered though:
Shirriff Mousse Dessert mixes in flavours such as Strawberry, Chocolate and Vanilla are also still available on store shelves:
Shirriff of course remains my brand of choice because of my fond memories of the Hockey and Baseball Coins and I still buy their pudding and mousse mixes on occasion.
What's interesting though is that Shirriff got its start back in 1883 as a producer of flavour extracts but these disappeared from store shelves some 20-25 years ago:
(Not mine.)
By 1903 Shirriff branched out into producing marmalades and the company's Good Morning Marmalade introduced in 1930 became the best selling marmalade in Canada. The J.M. Smucker Company bought the Shirriff jams, marmalade and ice cream toppings/syrups business in 1988 and continues to produce Shirriff Good Morning Marmalade:
I'm a regular user and buy another jar whenever I run out.
Smucker discontinued the Shirriff ice cream toppings business shortly after purchasing the product line. Interesting that this billboard for Shirriff Dessert Toppings appeared on Wharncliffe Road in my home town of London, Ontario circa 1960:
A mere 100 yards or so from Labatt Memorial Park which dates back to 1877 and is thus the oldest ball park in continuous operation in North America:
