An 85-year-old chocolate engagement gift given to an ‘angel’ by her beau is set to demonstrate true romance at auction.
The immaculate Little Miss Muffet Chocolate Easter egg made by Pascalls still boasts its original rose gold paper and blue bow. It was given by Jack Carter to his 17-year-old sweetheart Joyce Angell when they became engaged on April 16, 1938.
Jack, who claimed he’d married an angel thanks to Joyce’s surname, wanted to give her something special to mark their big day. At the time, with the dark clouds of World War Two looming, luxury chocolate was seen as such an extravagance Joyce could not bring herself to eat it. Plus the romance and sentiment of the present made her want to treasure it forever.
The gift is wreathed in romance for various reasons, according to Hansons Auctioneers. It will offer the vintage find (lot 3318A) on September 26 ( Sept 21-26 Antiques & Collectors Auction) with a guide price of £200-£300.
Jack gave the chocolate to Joyce on her big sister’s wedding day. Iris Angell tied the knot on April 16, 1938. The following year on November 4, 1939 Joyce, then only 18, married 22-year-old Jack at The Tabernacle (formerly United Reform Church) in Church Street, Trowbridge, Wiltshire.
The couple, who were both teenagers when they met at church in 1934, went on to enjoy a long and happy marriage. In 1989 when they were aged 72 and 68 their 50th wedding anniversary was marked in their local paper.
The cutting states that Jack, who worked for Hattersley Heaton engineering for 34 years and served in the Navy during WW2, always said he had ‘married an angel’. The couple, who first met at Trowbridge’s United Reform Church in 1934, put the success of their relationship down to love, understanding, caring and faith.
They had one son and two grandchildren and were fulfilled by a life of giving to others, hard work and simple pleasures. Joyce worked at a cloth factory and both did voluntary work. In their spare they were keen collectors, Joyce of thimbles and Jack of cigarette cards.
When Joyce died at the age of 84 in 2004 she had treasured her engagement gift for 66 years. When Jack passed away in 2012, three weeks short of his 96th birthday, the chocolate egg was still in his care. Together they had looked after it for 76 years.
It was inherited by their son who lives in Warwickshire. He said: “I was born in 1944 and for as long as I can remember the egg had been in a bedroom cupboard in its original packaging, after which we kept it in the coolest cupboard in our home. After 85 years in my family’s care, I feel the time has come to offer it at auction in the hope a collector or museum will preserve it for future generations.”
Charles said: “This gift demonstrates the art of true romance. A gift bought to mark a magical romantic moment a lifetime ago treasured forever. Times were hard and yet Jack splashed out on this luxury gift because he loved Joyce so much. Pascalls chocolate was founded by James Pascall in 1866. He set up a small shop off Oxford Street in London having worked for Cadbury’s.
“Joyce and Jack lived at a time when people had little and never took anything for granted. The chocolate, with its beautiful decorative wrapping, would have been regarded as an extravagance – too nice to eat.
“You also have to respect Joyce’s self-restraint when you consider her marriage took place a few weeks after the outbreak of World War Two in 1939. Sweet treats, especially chocolate, became a rarity. And yet Joyce still never ate a morsel. People who lived through hard times and rationing were disciplined folk. This sweet treat survives as a testament to their love.”
The chocolate Easter egg will be offered on September 26, 2023 in Hansons Auctioneers’ September 21-26 Derbyshire Antiques and Collectors Auction.
Catalogue/bidding: www.hansonslive.co.uk or www.the-saleroom.com.
To find out more, or to book a free valuation, email: [email protected]
