Of all the countries that have acquired permission to develop and distribute Life Savers™️, Australia appears to have embraced The Candy with a Hole.
⭕Life Savers Australasia Co Timeline
1914-1918
Life Savers...were reportedly discovered by Australian servicemen during WWI. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-04-12/life-savers-production-returns-to-australia/10994074
1921
"The first Life Savers® factory was established in Australia in 1921 on Parramatta Road in Sydney."
per https://lifesavers.com.au/about/
1922
The article gives a good start to the history of the brand in Australia.
https://australianfoodtimeline.com.au/life-savers-australia/
1924
Sweets Sales Limited sends a Life Savers salesman to Adelaide.
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/129806782?searchTerm=Life%20savers%20candy
The Life Savers waggon (sic.) reached Adelaide, Australia
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/129862965?searchTerm=Life%20savers%20candy#
?1920s-1930s
This is a great color photograph of a Musk Life savers toy truck:
https://www.bendigoadvertiser.com.au/story/707206/collector-closes-up-shop/
1930-1949
Pen-E-Mint, a Lifesaver product, was advertised via this transparency. Imagine, a roll for 1D (or three packets for 3D)!
https://collection.powerhouse.com.au/object/136395
Black and white box containing 18 rolls of lifesavers with dark blue and silver wrappers, and advertising "The Big Penny Mint 1D.", printed above the box is "Life Savers" and beneath:"Pen.E.Mint 3 Packets for 3D.", the words "Life Savers", "Pen.E.Mint" and "3D." are filled in with opaque pink paint.
1934
In Sydney, a display containing a combination of Life Saver toy vehicles and candy was presided over by a famous soccer player, Sid Malcolm.
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/94496557?searchTerm=Life%20savers%20candy#
1937
The William Smith Pavilion featured a Life Savers Australsia Ltd. exhibit including large and small packages, as well as Lifesavers Portmanteaux (small suitcases).
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/94690000?searchTerm=Life%20savers%20candy
Unknown, maybe 1940s?
Life Savers in dark blue were paired with Allen's Steam Rollers. (Later, Musk Life Savers were produced by Allen's.)
https://seniorsdiscountclub.com.au/threads/your-favourite-lolly.26987/
This is the 1st example that drives the wider product lines in Australian Life Savers. The 2nd occurs in 1986.
c. 1950
Scottish Highlanders adorned the 1950 showbag at the Melbourne Royal Museum. The following flavors were included: Butterscotch (hence, the decorations on the bag), Cryst⭕Mint, Stick⭕Pep, Orange and Lemon-Lime.
https://www.melbourneroyal.com.au/virtual-museum/collection/showbags/life-savers-showbag/
1954
Life Savers (Australasia) Ltd., 33-41 Nelson St., Annandale NSW, Sydney, Australia
1954, 31 March, The Australian Women's Weekly
c. 1960
Fruit are the decoration on the 1960 showbag. Its flavors included Mixberry, Stik-⭕-Mint, Cryst-⭕-Mint, Assort-⭕-Mint, Orange, Lemon, Lime, Pineapple, Blackberry, Five Flavor, Butterscotch, Thirst, Spear-⭕-Mint, An-⭕-Seed, Floral.
1962-1963 Annual Report
https://www.flickr.com/photos/bycroftboy/51874566406
Prior to 1967
David Robertson, the grandson of the founder of MacRobertson Confectionery, shared the following, as he opened the exhibit "Nail Can to Knighthood : the Life of Sir Macpherson Robertson KBE" at Victoria's Royal Historical Society:
There were agency and distributorship agreements with many other companies, including MacIntosh, Mars, Wrigleys (chewing gum) and wholly owned subsidiaries Life Savers and the Australian Liquorice Co.
Retrieved from https://www.historyvictoria.org.au/collections-lounge/macrobertson-confectionery/
c. 1970
An Australian event showbag with samples advertised the following flavors: Pep⭕Mint, Thirst, Raspberry, Five Flavor, Musk and Spear⭕Mint.
https://www.melbourneroyal.com.au/virtual-museum/collection/showbags/life-savers-showbag-1970s/
c. 1970s (later) to earlier 1980s
I'm a little unsure about the dating on this set. Features:
- "Thirst Disk" flavor has now been reduced to simply "Thirst"
- Musk is no longer known as Allen's Life Savers Musk
- "Life Savers" logo is smaller and proportion to the flavor names
- No company names are visible in this graphic
- If you look at the white mints floating behind everything, they are embossed with the singular "Life Saver."
Duggan, Ross. Retrieved from Behance.net/gallery399
November 1986
From Australian Financial Times,
In November 1986, Nestle acquired Life Savers [Australasia] and set up a joint venture with Allen's Confectionery, which was owned by the cigarette maker Rothmans Holdings. Nestle's 50% stake in Allen Life Savers was controlled from its head office in Switzerland. Retrieved from
So from here, there is a blend of Nestlé, Life Savers and Allen's. This is a 2nd reason that there is such wide product range in Australian Life Savers.
1986
Life Savers Australasia was delisted from Australian companies. It taken been taken over by Raleigh Nutritional Products, a subsidiary of Nestlé.
https://www.delisted.com.au/company/life-savers-australasia-limited/
June 1988
And here's the 3rd big addition to the mix, Rowntree.
The Melbourne-based confectionery maker Rowntree Hoadley became part of Nestle Australia in June 1988, following Nestle's worldwide purchase of Britain's Rowntree Plc for $5.3 billion. Until the Rowntree takeover, Nestle's local arm had had no direct involvement in confectionery manufacturing since 1980, when it appointed Life Savers to make Nestle block chocolate under licence.
1989
There was a relaunch of Rowntree and Allen; early in 1989, they became known as "Rowntree Lifesavers."
https://www.afr.com/companies/nestle-sweeps-out-the-lolly-shop-in-preparation-for-war-19901207-kantd
1990
Our blog tells the story of Life Saver Holes in the United States. Allen's had their version, as well--but it was packaged in a different sort of tube than the ill faded Life Savers Holes in the United States. https://petersmilkbar.com/lifesavers-holes-90s
November 1990
Yet another relaunch occurred, and now Rountree Lifesavers became known as Nestle Confectionery Limited.
2018
"Darrell Lea announced the conditional deal on Thursday, and said production of Life Savers would move from New Zealand to Australia, where they were last manufactured in the early 2000s.
"The deal, which also wraps up a suite of other Nestle's New Zealand-made lolly brands including Odd Fellows and Mackintosh's Toffee, is Darrell Lea’s first big move since it was bought by Quadrant Private Equity for $200 million this year."
"Mr. York said about 20 million packs of Life Savers were sold in Australia every year." (Nick Toscano)
? MacRobertson’s Steam Confectionery Works
2019 New Zealand to Ingleburn
"The machinery was then pulled apart and sent by ship to Australia, where it has been reassembled, fine-tuned and switched on.
"We mix the powder here with the sugars, flavours and colours and then that powder is then put into a pressing machine where the Life Saver is pressed into shape," Mr. Byrne said.
"It then moves onto a packing line where it's rolled onto candy rolls, so there are three parts of manufacturing a Life Saver, then they roll off the line and we ship them to customers in the country.
"The Ingleburn factory produces all products in the Life Savers range, including Fruit Tingles."
Retrieved from https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-04-12/life-savers-production-returns-to-australia/10994074
The graphic to the right is one I use in my collection to see what I do and do not have from Australia & New Zealand Life Savers flavors. Not all of these flavors have been available concurrently. Fruit Tingles is playing heavily in their product lineup at the moment, available in plastic peg bags, as well as being mixed with chocolate.
2023, July 14
Life Savers Five Flavours fans have taken to the media to point out their frustration at the removal of this iconic flavor. Apparently Musk and Fruit Tingles aren't quite enough for them. It's also nice to know the brand has a senior marketing manager, Jodi Teasdale, who indicated to Australia's Sky News that “The Life Savers Five Flavour Hard Candy Roll is an absolute classic! We are not producing them at the moment, but we do have plans to bring this nostalgic classic back on shelves one day." I wonder whether they will use the original classic five flavours, or the more recent five flavors included in the United States?
2024 Reborn ties in Life Savers with Lifesaving
https://reborn.co/work/life-savers-partners-with-surf-life-saving-australia/
SEE ALS⭕:
Lifesavers in the Age of Autos (including toys)
Life Savers™️ is a trademarked name currently owned in the US by Mars Wrigley Confectionery, having been owned and/or licensed by many previous companies, varying by country.