People have protested a number of things over the years, but none were as iconic as the Candy Bar Protest. Known as 5 Cent Chocolate War, it saw Canadian children take to the streets to protest the three cent price increase for the nation’s chocolate bars.
On April 25, 1947, the manufacturers of Canada’s chocolate bars upped the cost of their product 60 percent. The reason for the price hike was largely attributed to the end of government wartime subsidies, which led to a surge in the cost of milk, cocoa beans, and sugar.
The nation’s children immediately launched a protest against the price hike. Demonstrations began at the Wigwam Cafe, a confectionary store and luncheonette in Ladysmith, British Columbia. The youngsters set up shop outside, calling for a boycott on chocolate bars with the slogan, “Don’t be a sucker.”
Sixteen year old Parker Williams and his school chums were outraged, signs were painted, Parker actually decorated his old car, a 1923 black McLaughlin Buick, https://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2018/08/mclaughlin-buicks-1st-ive-heard-of-them.html which they followed while chanting: “We want a 5¢ chocolate bar / 8¢ is going too darn far / We want a 5¢ chocolate bar / Oh, we want a 5¢ bar.”
A parade was staged, and it was so successful they actually turned around and went back up the street.
For three days, they protested over the lunch hour, prompting coverage in local and national publications.
At the protest in Ottawa, 60 students marched on Parliament Hill, chanting, “We’ll eat worms before we eat 8¢ chocolate bars.”
The children’s strike swiftly came to an end after the Toronto Evening Telegram published a story with the headline, “Reds Seen Duping Youth in 8-cent Bar Campaign.” An anonymous tipster had approached the publication following the Toronto rallies, alleging the National Federation of Labour Youth, an organization that had aligned itself with the protests, was backed by communists. It even went so far as to claim the group was recruiting children to further its communist agenda.
Fear of being associated with communism caused organizations and parents to drop their support for the strike. In the end, the price of chocolate bars remained at 8¢.
The Five Cent War” is a documentary film https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0470047 about this brief consumer revolt.
Above is the trompe’loel candy bar/movie poster.
Fake news did in the protesters. Nothing is new.
ReplyDeleteYeah, capitalists use communism as a fake scare tactic, and that wasn't a new thing even then.
ReplyDeletenowdays people proudly proclaim their association with being a communist
ReplyDelete