In the middle and second half of the 20th century, there was a glorious period when Shanghai's domestic products and special foods swept the country. At that time, the Internet had not yet developed, but a large number of "net red" snacks that could become the mark of the times emerged: white rabbit milk candy, peanut nougat, melisu... There are also two rather foreign malt drinks: Lekoufu and Malt Milk.
Lekoufu and Malted Milk Creamer are childhood memories of generations of people, especially shanghainese. In the 1960s and 1970s, when Chinese mainland materials were scarce, and the whole of China was reducing food and clothing, and these two drinks naturally became quite valuable drinks in the family, always saving brewing. In addition to the sweet taste, Lekoufu and MaltEdin have another place that makes the Chinese people proud: they were originally invented by the Jiufu Company under the tycoon Huang Chujiu in the Republic of China period, which is a complete "Create in China". But the truth may disappoint the old Shanghai, who believes in this: this national drink that looks like a local color is actually an imported product, and its formula is based on a European malt drink of the same type, so it can only be regarded as "Made in China".
The ins and outs of this must start with another malt drink: Hollik.
Hollik: British malt in an American factory
Malt drinks have a long history, but the originator of instant malt drinks is none other than Holick. Hollik's English name is "Horlick", a name derived from its two inventors, the Holwick brothers, who are actually another transliteration of Hollik.
The Holwick brothers, James Horlick and William Horlick, were born in Gloucestershire, England. As a teenager, the brothers went to London to develop, and it was during this period that James Horwick became a "Homeopathic" chemist and pharmacist, laying a solid foundation for his future research.
Chemists and pharmacists understand, what is "homeopathy"? In China, the "dispute between Chinese and Western medicine" often leads to a war of words, in fact, it is not appropriate to refer to modern medicine here as "Western medicine", and there are some key concepts in European history that do not conform to the traditional medicine that does not conform to the theoretical basis of modern medicine, which is the real "old Western medicine" that can be compared with "old Chinese medicine". In 1796, Samuel Hahnemann, a German physician, based on the theory of "Like cures like", proposed that "substances that can cause a certain disease can also cure this disease", thus pioneering "homeopathy" - from this "groundbreaking" point of view, it is difficult to summarize "homeopathy" as modern medicine, but can be regarded as a relatively young branch of Western medicine.
William Horwick
So where is "homeopathy" most common? That's right, it's on the shelves of over-the-counter medicines for children. "Homeopathy" is often accompanied by the label "natural" and is conceptually suitable for children. James Horwick also devoted himself to making dried baby food after learning "homeopathy", and it was this research direction that became the inspiration for James Horwick's invention of Hollik.
In 1873, James Horwick began to make a new type of baby drink made from malt and milk, but because he could not raise enough money in London, he left England for the United States. That same year, the Horrick brothers founded the "J& W Horlicks" company to develop this baby drink, and finally invented the world's first instant malt drink ten years later, and named it "Diastoid", which was The First Name of Hollik.
"Diastoid" is derived from a medical term "diastole", associated with the james Horick chemist and pharmacist's profession, and then associated with the potential "natural" color of "homeopathy", such a word as the name of the baby drink is indeed very appropriate.
In 1883, the United States granted the patent number "278967" to "Diastoid". The staff who issued the patent number at the time probably would not have imagined that this drink would be popular in the world and even climb the Antarctic ice dome, and the pharmacist who saw the invention of the drink would become a sir thirty years later.
Malted milk: The road leads directly to Antarctica
Having said all this about Hollik, what does Hollik have to do with Lekoufu or Malted Milk? The name "Diastoid" didn't last long, and in 1887, the Horick brothers finally registered the name "malted milk"—aka malt milk.
Therefore, the earliest malt milk essence is actually a water-soluble nutritional powder made by the Horick brothers from malt and milk, and is called Holick because of the surname of its inventor. According to James Horrick's original intentions, malted milk was positioned as a baby drink, supposedly a niche commodity, but its nutrient-rich, portable and non-perishable characteristics made it quickly popular with explorers. The late 19th and early 20th centuries were the last age of exploration, and explorers from all continents were struggling to explore the few remaining unknown regions of the planet. This expedition is long and dangerous and difficult to replenish, and the emergence of malted milk is undoubtedly a blessing.
However, malted milk has entered the explorers' vision and is also related to another of the Horick brothers, William Horwick. In addition to his work in food manufacturing, William Horwick is a prominent philanthropist, and two activities on his list of grants stand out: an Antarctic expedition organized by Richard Byrd and an Arctic expedition organized by Roald Amundsen. Apparently, in addition to the funds on William Horwick's list of grants, there was this bottle of malt milk that gave the explorers nutrition. In honor of William Horwick, Richard Bird named a peak at the edge of the Rose Ice Shelf in Antarctica "Horlick" – Horlick is both William Horwick's last name and the name of the Horrick Brothers Company, as well as the name of the beverage malt milk, so it is not an exaggeration to call this Antarctic iceberg Hokley Peak or Malt Milk Peak.
There are two sides to the conversation. William Horick of the Horick brothers wrote his last name on the iceberg in Antarctica, but what about James Horick, who really invented malt milk? He was no less accomplished than his philanthropist brother: in 1890, James Horwick returned to England, bringing back to his hometown the drink he invented in the United States. In the decades that followed, malted milk was popular throughout Europe and became a good nutritional supplement for soldiers during World War I. In 1914, James Horwick was made a Baron, which also meant that people politely added a "Sir" before calling him by name.
However, Hollik eventually became a product of pharmaceutical tycoon GlaxoSmithKline, which involved a series of restructurings and acquisitions of The Holwick Brothers. After the death of James Horwick in 1921, the Horwick Brothers Company split, and William Horwick continued to retain the rights to the Americas, while James Horrick's son was given the right to operate in the rest of the world. Later, the American Company of The Holwick Brothers was acquired by the Beecham Group, which was reorganized into SmithKline Beecham Company and then merged with GlaxoSmithKline in 2000, eventually forming GlaxoSmithKline Company - Holick naturally became a beverage brand of GlaxoSmithKline.
The earliest malt milk is Hollik, but as more and more food companies join the battlefield of malt milk drinks, malt milk - or malt milk extension has gradually become wider, in addition to Hollik, the more famous are Ah Hua Tian, Mei Lu, Gao Lego and so on... This classification also subsequently influenced the naming of Chinese malt drinks.
Le KouFu: The imprint of the times in old Shanghai
When Hollik and Ah Huatian were popular in Europe and the United States, China was also nurturing its own malt map. How to say that the "father of Hollik" is the Horick brothers, then China's earliest instant malt drink originated from a business legend in the Republic of China period: Huang Chujiu. As an industrialist, Huang Chujiu has been involved in many fields such as medicine, securities, entertainment, finance, real estate, catering, tobacco and many other fields, known as "hundred managers": China's first local pharmaceutical company Dragon tiger company, China's first entertainment club Shanghai New World, China's first entertainment media "Big World" These landmark enterprises are all from the hands of this business wizard, in addition, there are such as China Film Company, Samsung Real Estate Company, Dachang Tobacco Factory, Bath Dechi, Luochunge Tea House...
The story begins with the Jiufu Company founded by Huang Chujiu in 1923, but Huang Chujiu did not think of developing instant malt drinks before his death, and jiufu company mainly produced drugs. After Huang Chujiu's death, Jiufu Company was inherited by his son-in-law Zang Boyong, who was seriously injured by being involved in a suspected false lawsuit, and Zang Boyong was painfully determined and began to discuss with the company's pharmacists how to transform. Because of their foundation in the production of medical infusions, their eyes soon turned to instant malt drinks.
At that time, the main thing that dominated the shanghai instant beverage industry was Ovaltine malt milk extract imported from Switzerland. Switzerland? Warford? Ovaltine？ In fact, the Warford malt creamer here is an instant malt drink called "Ovomaltine" invented by the Swiss in 1904, which means "malt" in Latin. This drink was a misspelling when it was trademarked in the UK, and it became... Ovaltine. In 1937, Jiufu Company finally developed the first Chinese instant malt beverage on the basis of introducing similar Swiss products: Lekoufu Malt Creamer. "Malt milk" here is a product, "Lekoufu" is a trademark, and Solekoufu Malted Milk is one beverage and not two. Because of the low price and the "emotional points" of domestic products, Lekou Fu Malt Milk Essence has swept Shanghai as soon as it was launched. Unfortunately, the rapid arrival of World War II quickly crushed the market, and Lekou Fu Malt Creamer became a victim of the war, until the establishment of the republic, Jiufu Company had only 11 employees.
In the 1960s, Lekou Fu Malt Milk Creamer finally ushered in the "second spring". In 1961, the Shanghai Coffee Factory took over Lekoufu MaltEdin, reformed the beverage recipe, and simplified the name of Lekoufu MaltEdin to Lekoufu. This simplification does not matter, with the wide influence of Lekoufu, the three words "Lekoufu" gradually rose from a trademark name to a product name, and eventually became synonymous with this malt drink.
Until this point, however, Legusfour and Malted Milk could still be mixed – just as Hollig and Malt Milk were originally. So what led to the parting of Lekoufu and Malted Milk? There is a special historical reason behind this.
After the cultural revolution began, Lekoufu's "Fu" trademark and name were regarded as "four olds" and were forcibly renamed "Shanghai brand malt milk extract". At the same time, due to the difficulty of importing cocoa at that time, the Shanghai Coffee Factory developed a malt milk extract without cocoa powder. The shanghai brand malt creamer that has just come out coincides with the change of formula, so it naturally gives customers the impression that Lekoufu is malt milk creamer containing cocoa powder, and malt milk creamer is Lekoufu without cocoa powder. Hong Kong people refer to the mix of Hokri and Ah Hua Tian as "black and white Mandarin Duck", one black and one white, the difference lies in cocoa. This should be placed in Shanghai, and the "black and white Mandarin Duck" is probably Lekou Fujimai creamer. But the Shanghainese didn't mix them up in the end — fans of malt drinks had their own tastes, and Lekoufu and MaltEdin had their own years.
The American Holrick Brothers Company that invented malted milk was merged by GlaxoSmithKline several times, and China's Lekoufu was eventually acquired by the British United Company, along with the Swiss Arwartian. In addition to these, the "star" products in instant malt drinks also include the High Lego produced by the Spanish Nudrelesba Group. In that era of scarcity, these drinks themselves also hid a "chain of contempt": Gao Lego was stronger than Ah Huatian than Lekoufu was stronger than malted milk, which ranked at the bottom, but it was also contaminated with more human fireworks.
The most impressive thing about the times is eating malted milk extract. Taking advantage of the absence of adults, the child quietly picked up the large iron can containing malt milk, pried open the tin lid, and directly scooped it up with a spice spoon and sent it to the mouth, the taste is unknown how many people's childhood taste peak... There are four big Kongs in the old Shanghai breakfast, which are the most pyrotechnic flatbread, fritters, rice and soy milk. In this way, Qingjia, Milk Beer, Lekoufu and MaltEdin may be called the four Kings of old Shanghai drinks. Although the lights of the Ten Mile Ocean Field are brilliant, it is always these most simple food tastes that Wu Nong shouts out softly.
Author: Jiang Yinlong
Image: Wikipedia
Editor: Wang Xiaoli