Richard Cadbury was a talented amateur artist and he put his creative talents to excellent use at the company.
Cadbury began producing fancy gift boxes of assorted chocolates after buying a revolutionary cocoa press in 1866, and this development together with the rise in commercial lithographic printing meant new design possibilities.
The first chocolate box designed by Richard Cadbury was decorated with a painting of his young daughter Jessica holding a kitten – he often used his own children as models, or painted flowers and scenes from holidays. These new decorated boxes were very popular, helping both the Cadbury business and the confectionery trade in general. Many of his original boxes still exist to this day.
Cadbury produced a huge range of fancy boxes of chocolates from 1868 to the end of the 19th century. An illustrated price list from 1897 includes 30 pages of boxes with seven or eight on each page.
The Victorians and Edwardians loved elaborate chocolate boxes and they were made to be treasured. Boxes might be in the shape of horseshoes or hearts, crescents or shields. Some were made of velvet and silk and all of them made to last. After the chocolates were finished the boxes were used as jewel or glove boxes, or to keep handkerchiefs in, and there were even workboxes and cabinets with eight miniature drawers for love letters.
Designs for the cheaper boxes began to be influenced by art nouveau, while expensive products carried more conservative designs of flowers and landscapes.
The passion for elaborate chocolate boxes lasted into the 20th century right up until the Second World War. In the post-war years chocolate boxes changed with a move towards the strongly branded all-year chocolates and seasonal and presentation boxes that we see on the shelves today.