CORY REYNOLDS | DATE 1/14/2020

Jonny Trunk on 'Wrappers Delight' — it had to become a book.

Featured image, a 1960 wrapper for Pink Panther Strawberry Flavour Pink Candy, is reproduced from Wrappers Delight, Jonny Trunk's edit (down to 500) out of thousands of British candy wrapper designs from the 1960s to the 80s, all hailing from the collection of Stockport, UK, hoarder / archivist John Townsend, who died in 2016, leaving a five-bedroom house "full of boxes, with boxes on top of boxes, and more on top of those," according to Trunk. "And there were bags everywhere. And all the shelves were full. And there were some rooms you couldn't get into. And the attic was full. And the summerhouse outside was full. And the caravan outside was full too. And on every inch of everywhere there was something… Behind a series of boxes and running into a tall, thin chest of drawers was a set of blue folders. These were all labelled with Dymo tape and were arranged in alphabetical order. Filed by brand was a collection of sweet-related wrappers. But not the usual Mars, Marathon or Milky Way packets—no, these were far more obscure. And far more exciting. There were companies I'd never heard of, chews I'd not seen for four decades — Dad's Army sweet cigarettes, Punk gum, Lolly Gobble Choc Bomb… This had to become a book."