120-year-old chocolate found in poet's papers by library staff

A 120-year-old box of chocolate has been found hidden in the recently acquired papers of the late poet and journalist A.B. “Banjo” Paterson by the staff at the National Library of Australia.

The discovery was made by the library staff while unpacking the contents of a box with A.B. “Banjo” Paterson’s papers as the souvenir tin was filled with chocolate. The purpose of unpacking the box was to digitised the contents and made freely available online.

According to the National Library of Australia (NLA), the souvenir tin was commissioned by Queen Victoria and sent to South Africa during the Boer War as a gift to troops serving on the front.

It is believed that the poet, who wrote ‘Waltzing Matilda’ and ‘The Man from Snowy River’, had bought the chocolates from a soldier while serving as a war correspondent in South Africa for the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age for nearly a year starting in October 1899 before returning to Australia.

The NLA conservator Jennifer Todd said that there was quite an interesting smell when they were unwrapped. It was an old tin of chocolates, belonging to Banjo, with the chocolates still wrapped in the box, added Todd.

Paterson’s papers were passed down by his family after his death in 1941 before the library donation in 2019, however, the poet never referenced the chocolate bar in his writing.

Cadbury UK created the historical chocolates for British troops, as Buckingham Palace placed an order for 70,000 to 80,000-pound tins of cocoa that was to be paid out directly from the Queen’s own purse, Dailymail UK reported.