ORDER XIV.—MAKERS OF FOODS, DRINKS AND TOBACCO

Sub-order 1.—Makers of Foods

435.—Sugar Confectionery—Makers, Moulders and Coverers

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almond paste maker, almond paste worker

as for marzipan worker (machine process).

barley sugar twister

cuts strips of half-cooled barley sugar, rolls it by hand on slab until twisted into required shape; is sometimes employed part time in other work, e.g. as sugar boiler (drinks) (434) q.v.

bon-bon maker (sweets)

puts fruit pulp on slab of half-cooled boiled sugar; folds sugar over fruit; puts fruit, with sugar folded over it, into machine having shaped rollers which mould and elongate it; starts and stops machine by moving a lever; cuts bon-bon lengths, by hand, into strips ready for breaking up; or cuts folded slabs into small fancy shapes with hand tools, and moulds them in moulds.

braker, lozenge machine ; lozenge cutter, lozenge machine hand, lozenge pinner

a worker who attends a brake machine and performs one of the three following operations;

(i) sets rollers of machine, by means of a screw device, so that they will roll lozenge paste to thickness required; puts lozenge paste into hopper of machine, whence it passes automatically between rollers, which roll it into a sheet of required thickness; guides paste as it emerges from rollers on to an endless conveyor; starts and stops machine by moving a lever;

(ii) is stationed at centre of brake machine to see that paste travels "true" under lozenge cutters; guides paste as it is carried along on conveyor; screws in or unscrews cutters, as required, for cutting lozenges of different sizes;

(iii) picks up lozenges from delivery conveyor and puts them on trays; carries trays to drying room.

cake maker (liquorice) ; caker, Pomfret cake maker, Pontefract cake maker

nips off and hand stamps boiled liquorice paste into cakes or buttons; is sometimes employed part time in other work, e.g. as a machine minder, lozenge cutter q.v. or in boxing, packing, etc.

cake presser (liquorice)

a cake maker (liquorice) q.v. who works a hand or power press to stamp out liquorice shapes.

caker

see cake maker (liquorice).

chocolate tablet maker

covers sugar tablets with chocolate; duties as for chocolate coverer.

confectioner, confectionery hand, confectionery maker (sugar), sugar confectionery maker ; spice maker (Yorkshire), sweetmeat maker, sweetstuff maker

general terms for any worker engaged in any process of making sweetmeats, including coverer, cutter, moulder, runner-out q.v.

coverer, chocolate ; chocolate dipper, cream coverer

(i) places block chocolate on a steam-heated slab, and regulates temperature of slab by means of steam valves; when chocolate is of correct consistency (ascertained by testing with fingers) throws almonds or other sweet centres into it; takes out centres, now covered with chocolate; if necessary, adds leaves, i.e. leaf-patterns in sugar, cream, nuts, etc.;

(ii) see covering machine attendant.

coverer, cream

see coverer, chocolate.

coverer (sugar confectionery)

immerses almonds or other sweet centres in chocolate, icing, or other paste, as for chocolate coverer or covering machine attendant.

covering machine attendant, chocolate cream covering machine attendant ; chocolate coverer, chocolate dipper, cream coverer

(i) (male worker) attends a number of chocolate machines (usually about 10); pours chocolate into hoppers of machines; governs temperature of chocolate by regulating hot water or steam valves; regulates speed of revolving drums, etc., so governing feed, and ultimately, thickness of chocolate covering; starts and stops machines by loose pulley or power switch;

(ii) (female worker) places centres on travelling band conveying them through tunnel in chocolate spraying (covering) machine and/or removes chocolates from conveyor as they emerge from machine and places them in cooling trays.

cream hand (liquorice)

see roller-out.

crystalliser (sweets)

crystallises jellies, pastilles, etc., by placing wire baskets, filled with sweets, in steam-jacketted pans containing melted sugar; removes basket when sweets are impregnated with crystallised sugar; allows sweets to drain, and spreads them on trays to dry.

cutter, liquorice cake; liquorice paste cutter

cuts hot or cold sheets, rods, or tubes of liquorice paste, by hand roller knife.

cutter, lozenge

see braker, lozenge machine.

cutter, nougat

(i) places slabs of nougat on a travelling band, which carries them under mechanical cutters; takes them off at other end, and places them on another travelling band, set at right angles to first, which carries them under another set of cutters; takes off machine and stacks slabs of nougat (which are not cut quite through); starts and stops cutters and travelling hands by moving levers;

(ii) passes slabs of nougat between crimping rollers which indent them, i.e. partially cut them through, to make it easier to break them into squares; starts and stops machine by moving a lever;

(iii) cuts nougat into bars with a power-driven circular saw, which is set in motion by moving a lever.

cutting machine hand

feeds sheets of "all sorts" paste, i.e. sweetmeat containing liquorice, into cutting machine and operates machine by levers.

decorator, confectionery

see piper, confectionery.

depository hand (sweets) ; dropper (sweets)

fills a funnel, having one or more holes, with marshmallow or other sweet paste; presses a rod or hand plunger, which forces enough paste through funnel to fill a starch mould or rubber mat mould.

dipper, butter (sweets) ; toffee dipper

puts almonds or other nuts into copper pan of hot butter toffee, with a wire spoon; regulates temperature of pan by turning on or off gas or other source of heat; withdraws nuts when covered, and puts them on trays to set and dry in current of cold air.

dipper, chocolate

see coverer.

dipper, fourre; fondant dipper

heats fourre mixture (cream) in a steam-heated pan, and regulates temperature by means of valves; throws in almonds or other sweet centres and picks them out, covered with fourre, with a spoon; gathers up a quantity of cream with a fork, i.e. a small metal ring mounted on a handle, and forms therewith whorls or other designs; adds leaves (leaf patterns in sugar, etc.) if required.

dipper, toffee

see dipper, butter.

dropper (sweets)

(i) see depository hand;

(ii) see runner-out (sweets).

fondant maker (sweets)

a runner-out (sweets) q.v. engaged in filling moulds with fondant cream.

French confectionery maker (sweets)

makes marzipan fruits, coloured and flavoured marzipan squares, fondants and other French confectionery, by hand or by machine; weighs out ingredients in exact proportions, so that, when mixed, they will produce colouring and flavouring required; feeds mixing machine with these ingredients, controlling machine by means of a lever; blends creams, if required; sometimes shapes articles e.g. strawberries, in hand-filled moulds, and decorates them with hand tools; cf. moulder, runner-out.

gum maker (sweets)

see moulder, gum.

jube maker, jujube maker

a runner-out (sweets) q.v. engaged in moulding jujubes.

kneader

see paste strainer (liquorice).

liquorice machine hand

ladles liquorice paste into feed trough of machine, whence it passes automatically between rollers, which roll it to desired thickness; thence it passes under cutters, which cut it automatically to required shape, e.g. cushions, or through dies, which force it into shape of rods, tubes, etc.; starts and stops machine and takes out and replaces dies, as required.

lozenge hand

see lozenge maker.

lozenge machine hand

see braker. lozenge machine.

lozenge maker ; lozenge hand

general term for any worker engaged in any process of making lozenges, including lozenge cutter, lozenge pinner, lozenge paste mixer q.v.

lozenge pinner

(i) see braker, lozenge machine;

(ii) (less usually, and only in small firms) rolls lozenge paste into a slab with metal hand roller; regulates space between rollers of rolling machine by means of a screw device; passes slab of paste between rollers of machine, which compress them into sheets of required thickness; stamps or prints name of lozenge in rows over entire sheets, and cuts out lozenges, with name in centre, with a hand punch.

marzipan maker, marzipan mixer

an almond paste maker q.v. making paste for marzipan.

marzipan worker, marzipan roller

(i) (machine process) measures out ground almonds, sugar colouring, and other ingredients, in proportions determined by French confectionery maker q.v-; pours ingredients into automatic machine fitted with rollers, which reduce them to a paste for use in making marzipan cakes or other sweets; starts machine and adjusts rollers during rolling process, by a screw device, so that paste is gradually reduced in thickness;

(ii) takes a number of differently coloured sheets of marzipan paste made by machine (as above), lays them one above another in layers, and rolls them lightly by hand, in preparation for cutting into fruits, squares, oblongs or other shapes; sometimes also moulds them, by hand, into fruits and fancy shapes, using hand moulds and small tools.

mixer, lozenge paste

attends three or four mixing pans, in which lozenge paste is mechanically mixed; weighs out ingredients, e.g. sugar, glucose, gelatine, colouring and flavouring, in exact proportions according to recipe; throws sugar, glucose, and gelatine into metal pan of machine, where they are mixed by whirling arms; towards end of mixing process adds colouring and flavouring; when paste is properly mixed, scoops it out of pan.

mixer, nougat ; nougat whisker

mixes boiled ingredients of nougat in a pan fitted with whirling arms, see lozenge paste mixer; when correct consistency is reached, scoops nougat out of pan and leaves it to cool in trays.

moulded sweets maker

see moulder (sweets).

moulder, chocolate ; templer

(i) weighs refined chocolate paste from machine into moulds for making tablets or bars; shakes mould well to remove bubbles in paste and ensure solidity;

(ii) spreads chocolate paste, intended for making Easter eggs, cakes, etc., in metal moulds, places moulds in cool place to harden chocolate, then knocks it out of mould.

moulder, confectionery

see moulder (sweets).

moulder, cream (chocolate)

a runner-out q.v. who pours cream (for chocolate centres) into hopper of machine, which automatically fills starch moulds or rubber mat moulds therewith.

moulder, fondant (sweets)

a runner-out q.v. engaged in moulding fondants.

moulder, gum (sweets) ; gum maker

a runner-out q.v. engaged in moulding gum sweetmeats.

moulder, marzipan

moulds prepared marzipan paste info fancy shapes in hand moulds; cf. marzipan worker.

moulder (sweets) ; confectionery moulder, moulded sweets maker

general term for any person making moulded sweets, including depository hand, marzipan moulder, runner-out q.v.

mould maker (sweets)

forms moulds for use in moulding fondants, gums, jujubes, etc., by making impressions in surface of powdered starch contained in trays; uses a row of pat terns attached to a flat strip of wood; work usually done by runner-out q.v.

nougat hand

(i) general term covering workers engaged in making nougat, who are interchangeable, including nougat boiler (434), nougat cutter, nougat mixer q.v.;

(ii) mixes almonds or pistachio nuts into sugar paste, by hand, and rolls mixture flat in a shallow tray.

nougat whisker

see mixer, nougat.

novelty maker (liquorice)

see piper, liquorice.

paste hand

general term for any worker engaged in making paste goods, e.g. lozenges, nougat, etc.; includes almond paste maker, lozenge pinner q.v.

paste strainer (liquorice) ; kneader

fills hopper of kneading machine with liquorice paste, lumps in which are broken up by machine; starts and stops machine by means of a lever.

pellet maker (liquorice)

pushes and guides sheets of liquorice paste between rollers of drop machine, which shapes paste into drops or pellets; starts and stops machine by moving a lever.

piper, confectionery ; confectionery decorator

decorates larger sweetmeats, e.g. Easter eggs, with designs by squeezing over them icing (sugar paste) through a metal tube, which is fastened to a linen bag filled with icing; sometimes also does work of marzipan worker or lozenge machine hand q.v. or may be partially engaged in packing, labelling, etc.

piper, liquorice ; novelty maker (liquorice)

makes paste, received from paste strainer q.v., into "novelty" pipes, by hand.

Pomfret or Pontefract cake maker

see cake maker (liquorice).

rock hand

(i) weighs out, in exact proportions, according to a formula, ingredients of rock, i.e. a hard sweet, usually sold in form of sticks; boils them in steam-jacketted pans, regulating temperature by means of steam valves; builds up a mass of rock on bench, by lapping, i.e. placing layers of red and white boiled sugar carefully, one on top of another, so that they form words and remain in correct order and undistorted when rock is pulled; takes one end of mass between the fingers and pulls it so that it becomes gradually elongated and attenuated, and assumes a cylindrical form; when plastic rock has been drawn to required length (gauged by means of standard rods) passes it to less skilled rock hand, who keeps rolling it to retain its cylindrical shape until chief rock hand is ready to continue pulling it to its final diameter;

(ii) (less usually) pulls a certain quantity of boiled sugar from the "mass," by hand, and draws it out until it becomes attenuated into a long plastic cylinder; or feeds with boiled sugar, automatic machine, which works it up into rock on slowly revolving bars; starts and stops machine by moving a lever; removes rock, when worked to proper consistency, from bars of machine; lays lengths of differently coloured sugar, while still plastic, together to make fancy rocks, and works them into patterns, by hand or by machine.

roller, ball (ball sweets)

passes prepared sticks of half-cooled boiled sugar between rollers of balling machine (operated by means of a lever) which cuts and rolls sticks into small balls; clears delivery tray of machine.

roller, caramel

a roller q.v. who rolls caramel paste into a flat slab.

roller (sweets)

pours paste or other material, into hopper of rolling machine; regulates space between rollers of machine, if necessary, by screw device; starts and stops machine and clears delivery tray; is often employed part time on other work, e.g. as marzipan worker, or rock hand q.v.

roller-out (liquorice) ; cream hand (liquorice)

a roller q.v. who rolls liquorice cream into liquorice sheets; cuts it to shape required for allsorts, i.e. sweets containing a layer or rod of liquorice paste.

runner-out (sweets) ; dropper

makes chocolate creams, gums, fondants, jellies, etc., by pouring cream, gum, etc., into hopper of machine, which automatically fills starch moulds or rubber mat moulds therewith, by allowing cream, gum, etc., to drop on to moulds moving at a regulated speed on conveyors; starts and stops machinery by moving a lever.

slab hand (sweets)

general term for any worker engaged in manipulating boiled sugar on slabs or tables, or in attending moulding machines, including toffee maker, bon-bon maker, barley sugar twister q.v.

spice maker (sweets)

Yorkshire term seeconfectioner (sugar).

starcher, starch hand (sweets) ; starch room worker

assists generally in starch room; fills trays with dry powdered starch before they are taken to moulding room; knocks out moulded sweets from, starch trays; sifts them clear of starch, and stacks them in trays in packing room.

starch machine hand (sweets)

a runner-out q.v. attending machine in which gums, etc., are moulded in starch moulds.

starch room worker

see starcher (sweets).

sweetmeat maker, sweetstuff maker

see confectioner (sugar).

templer

see moulder, chocolate.

tracer (chocolates)

traces patterns in chocolate or icing sugar on top of chocolate sweets by squeezing warm liquid chocolate from an icing pipe.

Turkish delight maker

weighs out correct proportions, according to recipe, of ingredients for' Turkish delight; puts them in correct sequence and at specified intervals, in steam-jacketted pan, and regulates heat by means of valves; sometimes also cuts product into squares or lumps, which he rolls in powdered sugar.

worker-off

a slab hand q.v. who rolls plastic boiled sugar into a thick roll, which is afterwards drawn into long sticks by drawer-off (449) q.v.

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From: A Dictionary of Occupational Terms Based on the Classification of Occupations used in the Census of Population, 1921,
Ministry of Labour, 1927. Digitised by Peter Christian, August, 2016.   This text is in the Public Domain.