Scho-Ka-Kola!

In my never ending search for items to outfit the BGS bicycle, I ran across a number of web sites dedicated to German WW2 reenactment, both items for sale and how to outfit an authentic military impression. In the middle of this, I found out that there is a German candy company that has been making a caffeine, ground coffee bean and dark chocolate candy since 1935. It seems that this candy was issued to the German WW2 troops in large quanities in their rations. The "candy" is called Scho-Ka-Kola and is still made today, sold in the same type of tins and with nearly the same labels as they used in the war! I know you can buy tins of the new made candy off of the web, but I'd like to find a store out here to buy a tin or two in person. If I can't find a tin or two locally, I'll probably break down and order one just to give them a try and have a "real" tin on hand.

A little more hunting through Google gave me enough .jpeg images to doctor up a set of genuine counterfeit labels of my own! I printed the labels with a high quality print setting on regular white office paper, covered the print with a clear laminating sheet, affixed double sticky tape on the back and then cut them out. For my first prototype, I used an empty mink oil tin (cream oil for leather boots) that I had cleaned out and painted black. A small, round mint tin would make a more correct replica..............




I"ll use it to carry small items in the bread bag on the rear rack of the BGS bike. The tin is not correct, but the effect is still pretty good!

There are a number of different period labels for Scho-Ka-Kola that I could have chosen from, but I felt that having a label that fit the early post-war period would be best (translation: label without swastika!). Here are a few WW2 period labels.