In the this isn’t news department:

It’s has admittedly, been some time since I’ve come across a “this is the best sauce evah!” thread on any forum, so its with interest that I came across one today on the social news site Reddit.com. So go on, have a go and comment up your favourite brown sauce!

This past week I received the following email from Paul B who writes:

Hi. I have just got hold of an original paper card cut-out model (unbuilt) of the Houses of Parliament produced by HP Sauce, presumably as a promotion or mail order offer. I was told it dates from the 1930s but there is no date on the model itself. Are you aware of this item and do you have any info on it?

I found it on Ebay whilst looking for model kits (you know – Airfix kits – been building them since I was a kid in the 60s) and decided to go for it as it’s the kind of cornflake-packet thing I’d have built back then. I’ve scanned it, will build the print out, then take a photo of the finished article for you.

The attached pics are of the front and back faces of the sheet and the “HP Sauce” reference – this is all I know. The seller claimed it was circa 1934 but I’ve no idea if this is correct – examining the background to the base section (it folds up through 90 degrees to help the 3D effect) reveals more greenery and space than I would expect so it’s possible, I suppose.

The size of the sheet is 630mm (24 and 3/4″) long and 282mm (11″) wide.

Thanks for your submission Paul. I’ve looked through a few materials I have lying around which I thought might contain some reference to this model, but I haven’t found any reference to this promotion. Thank you for sharing your find with us, as I’ve not encountered anything like this before!

If  someone out there has any additional information on this unique item, please comment on this post. Let’s see if we can help Paul out!

*Edit: May 18th, 2010 – Paul has sent an update with a completed version of the model.

Here’s a pic of the finished HP model. It was quite complicated and fiddly and took the best part of a day to complete. I suspect that most of today’s Playstation generation would lose patience with it pretty quickly! Big Ben’s tower lists a little as the fixing tabs project through the base and give it an uneven surface. Sill looks good though and is an impressive piece. Will probably rebuild it with thicker card rather than photo paper and to a larger scale some time in the future.

That’s a fantastic model Paul. Thank you for sharing it with us!

Happy New Year everyone!

We have a request today from someone with an old bottle holder. Perhaps you can help him out?

Message: This is an Old Hall sauce bottle holder c. 1936, not catalogued in any of their sales lists for the period. Can anyone shed light on that unusual octagonal shape? Is it for H.P?

– Michael Bennett

I have seen photos of bottle holders of this vintage, but not in an octagonal shape such as this. Do you know what type of bottle this holder was meant for? If so, please comment!

Back when the Birmingham HP Sauce factory was in its final death throws, a man named Stephen Godwin stepped up and made an impassioned plea for Branston Brown Sauce as not only a viable, but tasty alternative to HP Sauce. He not only wrote me to plead his case, but went as far as to send me a sampler of Branston products which aren’t available on Canadian store shelves. Two years on and Branston Brown Sauce still finds its way into my fridge, only these days I regularly pick it up at the local import shoppe – The Brit Cafe. Tasty stuff indeed! If you’re at all dissatisfied with your current brand of brown sauce, I highly recommend Branston.

Moving on, Steve emailed me once again this past week to introduce us to another sauce he deems worthy of our attention. Thanks for remembering us Steve!

We have a program in the UK call Dragons Den where budding entrepreneurs show their wares. In this case some eccentric raster musician called Levi Roots gave them his pitch and the rest is history as they say. This stuff is amazing and is selling like hot cakes. This is old news in the UK but certainly worthy of “Brown sauce” recognition.

Levi Roots’ pitch on Dragons Den (YouTube):

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At first he gave sole franchise to Sainsbury’s but now it is in all major stores and his range is ever increasing.

The original Jerk sauce he came up with has its “roots” in the Worcester / HP camp but is slightly redder in appearance and is a bit loose compared to traditional browns.

“A follow-up episode of Dragons’ Den aired on July 18, 2007 revealed that Sainsbury’s had expected the sauce to sell 50,000 bottles in its first year. In fact it sold 40,000-50,000 bottles per week[4], and continued to be a high-selling product.[citation needed]“ – Steve

Again thanks for keeping us informed Steve, and by all means send us over a bottle!

The official website for Reggae Reggae Sauce is: Levi Roots’ Reggae Reggae Sauce. Put music in your food!. Try it out, let us in on what you think of it! Is this sauce worthy of brown sauce distinction?