Whatever happened to the Kn.....bocker Glory
22nd May 2012
I’ve been in love with the Knickerbocker Glory since I was a small boy holidaying with my parents in Scarborough.
A cluster of sea front cafes all advertised the lavish dessert. They always cost half a crown. That’s 12.5p now - but also more than double my one-shilling pocket money in those austere times.
Money was not really the issue, as the parents would occasionally offer me a holiday treat at mealtimes. The real bugbear was that I dared not ask for one. In those unenlightened times, knicker was a word only to be sniggered at by seven-year-old boys - and goodness only knows what a bocker was.
Years passed but thankfully I was still on the eve of my teens when I saw a nearby child about to demolish the tantalising sweet. “Can I have one of those,” I quietly asked my parents, nodding towards the child so as not to be admonished for pointing, a crime equally as abhorrent as rude words at the time.
It worked. Scrumptiously unforgettable!
Today’s versions perhaps go under more PC titles like Superior Sundae Special. And I doubt they are as alluring and exotic as those mouthwatering prototypes.
What reminded me was seeing one advertised on the chalkboard menu in the TV soaps – although I’m not sure now whether it was Mandy’s Café on EastEnders or Roy’s Rolls on Corrie. Either way I never saw anyone eat one.
Perhaps someone knows of the real thing near our TMS Media offices not far from Great Yarmouth’s bustling coastal strip.
Mind you, would I dare succumb to temptation if I spotted one in a local restaurant? Perhaps it should be relaunched as the KBG – although that needs careful handling too. But with the right PR?
Author: Roy Strowger -
