Archives New Zealand call it "one of the jewels in the Kiwiana crown." What is it? It's the 1896 patent, filed by William Hatton, confectioner of Caversham, for the making of hokey pokey.
"A mixture of about 20 to 30 pounds of sugar and five to ten pounds of glucose is boiled with a little water to a degree not exceeding 400 degrees Fahrenheit; and then from 2 to 3 ounces of Carbonate of Soda is added causing the mixture to froth and become light. It is then poured out and moulded into any desired shape."
Hatton was probably not the inventor of what we know as hokey pokey - there are references as early as 1825 to "honeycomb" or "cinder toffee." He was originally from Bristol, England and had a long career in Dunedin manufacturing sweets of various kinds in David St, Caversham. In 1885 he declared bankruptcy and his manufacturing equipment was advertised for sale. A fire which destroyed his Hanover st factory two years earlier would not have helped his business.
In 1894 he is manufacturing in David st, Caversham and advertising for workers. Presumably it is in David st where he began to make hokey pokey.
William Hatton died in 1936 and was buried in the Southern Cemetery.
Southern Cemetery, Dunedin. DCC photo.
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