Money for Jam

It was money for jam when the Colson family of New Plymouth earned a living by sweetening up the town over 100 years ago.

Ralf Drayton Colson established a jam factory on the corner of Pendarves, Liardet and Gilbert Streets in the late 1880s and churned out large quantities of fruit jams, candied peel, lemon syrup and tomato sauce until the factory burned down in the early 1900s.

This 'Strawberry Conserve' stencil, which would have been used to mark up boxes of Colson's products, was discovered in a food storage safe in the thick walled brick basement of the old family homestead in Pendarves Street during the 1940s. It was donated to Taranaki Museum, along with a number of other items from the business, in 2000.