I don’t know how many here are old enough to remember Bakeman’s bread. Bakeman’s was a UP based company that was big in the breads and biscuit segment in northern India back in the 80s. I grew up on a steady diet of their products. They disappeared from the scene in the 90s and folded up, I don’t know when.
The only reason I gave that whole preamble is to talk about this cute little promotions they used to have way back when I was a kid. One of those was plastic animals. Teeny tiny reproductions in colorful plastic of any number of animals, birds, fish and what not, hidden away among the slices of Bakeman’s bread.
This was before the era of crazy memes and paranoid viral posts. There was no one protesting a company putting “dangerous” plastic animals in between food articles. I’m sure if someone tried this today we’d be barraged with WhatsApp posts about polycyclic Benzylothene poisoning in bread (whereas the humbler roti was not only safe but prevented 52 different types of cancer). There would be fundamentalist Hindi post on FB on how this was a ploy to poison Hindu youth and Mr. Bakeman was the first great, great grand-cousin of Lord Dalhousie, back to finish his “dirty deed”, complete with pictures of some anti-Indian rant written by said Lord on a fragment of ragged, brown paper all signed and sealed and what not. Some “citizen’s group” might have taken them to court for trying to kill Indians by making them all choke on sharp objects.
Anyway, rants apart, it was a simpler time and we bought and ate the bread and hoarded the animals like it was nobody’s business. Recently, in my drive to find macro subjects without having to leave the air-conditioned comfort of the flat, I remembered and brought out my old collection and clicked a few pics. I think I have about 80 odd pieces and I might end up photographing most, if not all.
Someone put in enough effort to paint the lion ‘s mouth a gory red!
hbhatnagar 
Thanks for sharing.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Posted by SP Singh - ERP Implementation Expert | 03/05/2020, 4:37 PMI’m glad you liked it!
LikeLike
Posted by hbhatnagar | 03/05/2020, 4:44 PMOne thing you forgot about these brakeman’s toya.
They all have one alpabet on it.
For example ‘z’ on zebra.
And company said whoesever collect AToZ toys will got big gift.
And kids are lots of packets of breads just to collect A to Z
LikeLiked by 1 person
Posted by Js | 02/03/2016, 7:39 AMI had forgotten that! Thanks for reminding me, and for being old enough to know what I’m talking about here! 😀
(that was a joke, I hope you don’t mind!) 🙂
LikeLike
Posted by hbhatnagar | 02/03/2016, 7:48 AMI was one of those kids who had a collection of over 100 animal toys.treasure it was!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Posted by henna | 13/09/2018, 9:04 AM😀 I still have mine! Hope you saved some too?
LikeLike
Posted by hbhatnagar | 13/09/2018, 5:47 PMOh yes! I remember these toys pressed between the slices! I also long for that wax coated paper wrapping… Better for the environment, I guess 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Posted by writenlive | 19/08/2015, 7:45 PMYes, and if you wanted half a loaf, the shopkeeper would simply break it in half! 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
Posted by hbhatnagar | 19/08/2015, 8:11 PMOoh! How good! I did not know that. But that packing meant I could smell the bread to ascertain if it were fresh. No such luck these days… I have to look for the best before date now 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Posted by writenlive | 19/08/2015, 8:18 PMI press the loaf to check it. still miss the warm loaves and that lovely baked aroma though..
LikeLiked by 1 person
Posted by hbhatnagar | 19/08/2015, 8:41 PMCool. I will start using that test 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Posted by writenlive | 19/08/2015, 8:50 PM🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Posted by hbhatnagar | 19/08/2015, 8:50 PMIn the middle of the post I thought it was about rant only until I read “rants apart”. He he 😀
80 such toys? You are such a nerd!
That lion- did some girl with red lipstick kiss him? 😀
LikeLike
Posted by Kritika Vashist | 18/08/2015, 11:06 PMWe all collected these toys, this was a joint collection with a friend I’ve lost touch with. 🙂
Sure, if that girl wanted her lips bitten off! What an idea! Turning a lion into a pussycat! 😛 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
Posted by hbhatnagar | 19/08/2015, 6:19 AMHahaha! xD
LikeLiked by 1 person
Posted by Kritika Vashist | 20/08/2015, 1:03 AM