Terry's Carousel - A Whole Sweetshop in a Single Box!

If you were lucky enough to have lived through the second half of the 20th century, then you may remember Terry's Carousel. This long-forgotten selection box was advertised as "a whole sweetshop in a single box", and included a bold and colourful combination of 12 different sweets and chocolates, including jellies, fudge and sugared almonds.

The box itself featured a vibrant and colourful splattering of flower art, which was very pretty and eye-catching, but would definitely have appealed more to female confectionary lovers.

Although it was one of my all-time favourites, Carousel never really captured the public's imagination in quite the same way as Terry's iconic Chocolate Orange.

Why was Terry's Carousel discontinued?

Carousel launched in the 1960s but was discontinued in 2000, and the reason was a steady decline in sales. Quite why sales declined is not as straightforward to answer, as there is very little information about Carousel available online.

The selection was quite similar to Mackintosh's Weekend, which was discontinued in the 1980s, so it's quite possible that there was a downward trend for mixed candies and chocolate selections.

Judging by the comments about Carousel on the social media network X, views are very mixed about the selection. On Graeme Wood's post about Carousel, replies included "Oh, why don't they make these any more? Best selection ever", and "Wonderful!". However, on another post, comments were more negative, with one response being "I remember these. They were an acquired taste" and "seem to recall most of them tasted awful".

Quite possibly, with the confectionary landscape forever changing, and Carousel being very much a product of the 60s and 70s, this meant that the selection was showing its age, with new generations of consumers opting for other selection boxes.

Whatever the underlying reason was, Carousel joins a quite extensive list of discontinued Terry's products, including York Fruits, Moonlight, Twilight and Pyramint - remember those?

List of sweets in Carousel

Hazelnut Whirl - a whole hazelnut kernel, roasted to perfect crispiness, encased in milk chocolate.

Orange Surprise - soft sugar fondant, flavoured with genuine oil of Florida oranges and coated in plain chocolate.

Coffee Walnut - chopped walnuts in coffee fondant, crystallised and half coated in plain chocolate.

Lime and Lemon - soft fondant cream, flavoured with genuine oils of lime and lemon.

Peanut Praline Log - a soft praline of fine quality toasted peanuts in milk chocolate.

Strawberry Surprise - soft fondant, flavoured with vanilla and topped with strawberry jelly, enrobed in milk chocolate.

Coconut Cream - soft fondant, spiked with shredded coconut and chocolate coated.

Lemon Jelly - a soft jelly, flavoured with genuine oil of lemon and dusted with sugar crystals.

Turkish Delight - a mouth-watering pink jelly, subtly flavoured with otto of roses, coated with milk chocolate.

The descriptions alone have me salivating, and I found many of these flavour combinations to be sublime, particularly coffee and walnut (a classic combination), although I've never been a fan of lemon jellies or any kind of sweets flavoured with lemon, as they instantly remind me of washing-up liquid!