I have some fairly vivid but also unclear memories of being taken as a primary school child on a tour of the MacRobertsons factory in Fitzroy. The nuns and various parents (mothers really) took us from Armadale to Fitzroy. I have no memory of how we got there but remember that school trips in my childhood often involved a special tram we had hired. So maybe that is how we got there! I do still remember the vats of sweet stuff and the sample bags we got to take home. But I had forgotten until I read Jill Robertson's book this week that McRobertsons had created Freddo Frogs, Cherry Ripes and Columbines!
Jill Roberston's book is the story of MacPherson Robertson the man as well as the story of his confectionery enterprise in Fitzroy and it is a fascinating story of rags to riches success, philanthropy that covered the Mawson Antarctic expedition, MacRobertson High and MacRobertson Bridge, and a personal life that was unusual. I loved the memories this book evoked for me, both in the text and the illustrations, and I loved the local connections for me. Fitzroy, Clifton Hill and Kew are all areas which I have connections with and with which MacPherson Robertson had connections.
