Tin Lions
The ones in your cupboard, and the ones for tourists
Guys, it’s ok!
The Lyle’s Golden Syrup logo is only changing on its plastic packaging. The iconic tins are keeping everyone’s favourite dead lion logo!
Not British / living in Britain and have no idea what I’m talking about? Don’t unsubscribe yet! It’s quite the story!
Lurking at the back of many kitchen cupboards in the the UK is a sticky tin of Lyle’s Golden Syrup. It’s a partially inverted sugar syrup and just as delicious and disgusting as that sounds!
It’s the central ingredient of flapjacks and is very tasty on toast or pancakes. My Northern husband uses it when baking parkin1 And the empty tins are perfect for storing pens and brushes!
This syrup has had the same green and gold packaging design since 1883. But a rebrand was announced this week! A rebrand?! After nearly 150 years?!!
The traditional logo features a dead lion surrounded by a swarm of bees - you know, exactly the sort of family friendly imagery you want at the breakfast table.
The lion and bees are based on a story from the Bible’s Old Testament about Samson defeating a lion and then bees producing honey inside it’s carcass. The tagline reads “Out of the strong came forth sweetness”
The brand’s logo is inspired by a painting of a dead lion, currently hanging in Manchester Art Gallery, by Sir Edwin Landseer called The Desert (also referred to as The Fallen Monarch).
Landseer first exhibited his paintings at the Royal Academy when he was 13 years old. He grew up to become a wildly popular artist, everyone loved his paintings and engravings of animals.
Queen Victoria was a big fan.
In the mid 1800’s it was decided that statues of lions should be added at the base of Nelson’s Column in Trafalgar Square, London. Sculptor Thomas Milnes created four lions depicting Determination, Vigilance, War and Peace, carved from Yorkshire stone.
His lions are full of character but they are rejected for not being “grand” enough. But, you can still visit them! They are in Saltaire, near Bradford in West Yorkshire.
The commission for the Trafalgar Square lions is given to Queen Victoria’s favourite painter of lions - Edwin Landseer.
Even though he is a painter not a sculptor.
In a wild display of machismo, the committee commissioning the project decide the lions are to be made from the melted down canons of French and Spanish ships that were defeated in the Battle of Trafalgar. And, they keep changing their minds about the poses the lions should have.
So Landseer is working in an unfamiliar medium for a client that keeps changing their mind. He is beset by “breakdowns and depression.”
I’ll bet he is!
Talk about a cautionary tale of taking on a project that isn’t the right fit!
Landseer spends years working on the statues. He draws lions in London Zoo for reference. When one of these lions dies it is delivered to his home for further study. He struggles with the lion’s paws and so gives them cat’s paws instead.
Landseer’s health deteriorates and eventually the lions are cast by Italian-French sculptor Carlo Marochetti to Landseer’s designs. They become known as Landseer’s Lions.
They are in Trafalgar Square to this day, with cat paws.
Those famous touristy lions of Trafalgar Square are directly related to that tin of Golden Syrup in the back of your cupboard! Pretty noble huh?
All my posts are remaining free and open for the foreseeable future! If you fancy getting me a cuppa tea that would be amazing! Totally up to you, we’ll still be friends!
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His recipe also uses Lyle’s Black Treacle - which has an equally beautiful tin in red and gold, with the exact same dead lion logo, but somehow the treacle tin doesn’t get as much press.
A great read Nanette! I love the photo with the giant tins on your shelf. How do you use so much syrup? I need a recipe to help me organise my materials like this!
Brilliant Nanette! I work as a Designer for packaging brands, this stuff is literally my day job. I've been in those client meetings where they are freaking out about changing a much loved heritage design. Its a tough gig! But fascinating to see and be part of those conversations. These pieces of packaging mean so much: they are not just little pieces of history, they are cultural icons, symbols of generations of family moments and memories. That's one of the reasons I love packaging design so much. I think you have researched this better than most clients I have been in rooms with! My equivalent to your tins, is a row of Marmite limited edition jars, carefully washed out and lined up in my kitchen.🤣 Although I shall be buying some tins of syrup when I'm in London next week!!