Wagon Wheels were invented by William Peschardt, who sold the patent to Garry Weston, son of W. Garfield Weston.[1] Garry Weston worked for his father's business in Australia before taking over his family's business in Sheffield, England. He placed two Marie biscuits around a marshmallow filling and covered it with chocolate. They were introduced in 1948.[2] The name (originally "Weston Wagon Wheels") relates to the shape of the biscuits and capitalised on the Wild West, which was popular in mass media at the time.
In the United Kingdom Wagon Wheels are produced and distributed by Burton's Foods who separated from the Weston family connection when they were sold out of Associated British Foods in 2000.[4] The original factory which produced the biscuit was in Slough but during the early 1980s production was transferred to an updated and modern factory in Llantarnam in South Wales.[1]
Weston had been producing biscuits on the Slough site since 1934[5]
and the Llantarnam site since 1938.[6]
In Canada, Wagon Wheels were originally produced by McCormick's, however they are now under the Dare Foods Limited name.[1] They come in Original, Fudge, Choco Cherry, and Raspberry flavours.[citation needed]
The inside of a Wagon Wheel
There have been many debates amongst fans of the biscuit about its size. Wagon Wheels have supposedly shrunk in size over time, but Burton's Foods Ltd has denied this.[7] It has been suggested that the supposed shrinkage is due to an adult's childhood memory of eating a Wagon Wheel held in a much smaller hand; this argument is perhaps moot, as it does not explain why the modern Wagon Wheel appears to be fatter than the original. Furthermore, in Australia, Arnott's has stated that tray packs of Wagon Wheels were in fact 'Mini Wagon Wheels' and have re-released the original 48g Wagon Wheels.[8][full citation needed]
The original factory in Prestonpans produced the biscuit with crinkled edges and corn cobbs rather than the updated smoother edges. This caused the overall diameter of the biscuit to shrink slightly, but not as much as fans of the biscuit believe.[citation needed]
As of 2006[update] the diameter of the Australian version is measured at 88 mm (3.5 in) which is 14 mm (0.55 in) larger than the UK version, while the UK Wagon Wheel is notably thicker by 4 mm (0.16 in).[1]
British comedians Hale and Pace used Wagon Wheels in their recurring "Curly & Nige" sketches, as the Curly and Nige characters won Wagon Wheels from each other by doing self-mutilating and dangerous bets.[citation needed]
.jpg)
