Bosco Chocolate Syrup

Bosco Chocolate Syrup is a brand of chocolate syrup first produced in 1928. The company, Bosco Products, Inc., is based in Towaco, New Jersey, and products are sold throughout the United States and Europe.[1]

Not to be confused with Bosko, a cartoon character.
Bosco chocolate syrup
Bosco truck

History

Bosco Chocolate syrup was purportedly invented in 1928 in Camden, New Jersey, by an unknown physician.[2] The William S. Scull Company, founded in 1831 in Camden, acquired the manufacturing license. The Scull Company's most famous product was Boscul Coffee, which gave the product its brand name, "Bosco".[3] In the 1950s, Corn Products Company acquired Bosco, and Bosco Products, Inc. acquired the brand in 1985.[1] The name recalls the Greek word βόσκω, "I nourish."

The trade name "Bosco" was first used in 1928, but not registered until 1968. The website "bosco.com" is unaffiliated with the cocoa product and its producer; the domain name was subject to arbitration.[4]

The company has branched out and makes other products, including candy bars bearing the brand name.[5][6]

Nutritional and food value are reported.[7]

Production process

Bulk materials are added via automatic measuring devices into stainless steel cooking vats. Minor ingredients and flavorings are blended into the batch separately, through a custom blender device, adhering to stringent product handling and quality assurance codes. While in the vats, Bosco is pasteurized for product uniformity and then cooled for bottling. Computers measure and monitor the product temperatures. Malt extract is added, which combined with Bosco cocoa powder yields the distinctive Bosco taste.

Bosco was once packaged in glass jars, but is now sold in plastic squeeze bottles.

As of 2015, Bosco is produced in several flavors in addition to the original chocolate: strawberry, sea salt caramel, fudge brownie, sugar free, and mocha (the last of which was added ca. 2012, replacing berry blue).[8]

Cultural references

Advertising
  • Bosco Chocolate Syrup, at that time called Bosco Milk Amplifier, was heavily advertised on children's shows during the late 1950s and early 1960s, such as The Popeye Club, a local Atlanta, Georgia, program featuring Popeye cartoons, as well as live action sequences.[9] An important feature of many of the television advertisements was the jingle, I love Bosco.
  • Bosco commercials were featured frequently as some of the "retromercials" used in lieu of commercial breaks on TV Land during its earliest years.
  • Bosco ads often featured the "Bosco Chiller-Diller" concoction.[10][11]
  • Bosco TV and radio ads also featured the "Bosco Nova" song and dance, set to a bossa nova beat.[12]

Art

Books
  • In 2001, Michael Moore's "Stupid White Men" stated that Bosco was one of a number of things "rendered useless by nature", along with the typewriter, college degrees, and the US Supreme Court.[17]

Film

Music

Television
  • In Season Two of The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Murray is called to bring Ted Baxter a glass of milk, saying, "had I known it was for you, Ted, I'd have put some Bosco in it."
  • In the Season 4 Laverne and Shirley episode, "Supermarket Sweep", Laverne wins a three-minute shopping spree at a local grocery store. All their friends request certain food items, but Lenny and Squiggy only want Bosco.
  • In the MASH episode, "Dear Mildred" (season 4, episode 8), Radar states his aunt would not let him dip his zwieback in his Bosco.
  • In Night Court the season 3, episode 22: "Hurricane", Harry asks Mac to fix him a "stiff Bosco".
  • In the season 2 Seinfeld episode "The Baby Shower", George Costanza reveals that it was "Bosco" that Elaine's friend, Leslie, threw on his new red collared shirt three years ago during her performance at a warehouse on the waterfront in Brooklyn that she invited him to on a date. She then left with another man, never apologizing, saying goodbye, or calling George again.
  • In the season 8 Seinfeld episode "The Fatigues", Jerry Seinfeld mentions that "Bosco" is one of the parts of comedian Kenny Bania’s poorly received milk-themed stand up act.
  • In Married... with Children, season 4, episode "At the Zoo", Steve Rhoades refers to "Bosco" a sea turtle at the aquarium. Al Bundy thinks he means the chocolate syrup brand and says, "You got Bosco!? I'll spit in a glass and we can mix some up!"
  • In Mork & Mindy, season 4, episode 17 "Midas Mork", Quentin (the butler?) says "Can I get you a before dinner Bosco?" to Mearth, who replies "No, you can’t get me a before dinner Bosco. You know why? You just like to say Bosco!", Quentin says "To be sure." and leaves.

See also

References
  1. Linda J. Barth (20 August 2013). A History of Inventing in New Jersey: From Thomas Edison to the Ice Cream Cone. The History Press. pp. 69–70. ISBN 978-1-62584-675-4.
  2. Sietsema, Robert (July 7, 2009). "A Short, Unsatisfying History of Bosco Chocolate Syrup". Village Voice. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
  3. "Boscul Coffee – William S. Scull & Company". dvrbs.com/. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
  4. Carmody, James A. (June 29, 2000). "Bosco Products, Inc., Towaco, NJ, USA COMPLAINANT, vs. Bosco E-Mail Service, Vancouver, BC, Canada and Mailbank.com, Point Roberts, WA, USA RESPONDENT. DECISION Claim Number: FA0005000094828". Retrieved November 21, 2015.
  5. "Makers of Bosco Syrup to Offer Chocolate Bars". Candy Industry. January 4, 2011. Retrieved November 22, 2015.
  6. "Bosco Natural Milk Chocolate Bars: 12-Piece Box". Retrieved November 21, 2015.
  7. "Bosco Chocolate Syrup". fooducate.com. Retrieved November 23, 2015.
  8. "Syrups & Bars". Bosco. Archived from the original on November 22, 2015. Retrieved November 20, 2015.
  9. McClellan, Don (26 September 2009). "'Flip the Spoon' rarely remembered". Don McClellan's half-a-century with WSB Television. Retrieved 3 November 2013.
  10. "Bosco Chiller Diller (advertisement)". Lowell Sun. Lowell, Massachusetts. August 6, 1959. p. 9.
  11. "Bosco Chiller Diller (advertisement)". Middletown Journal. Middletown, OH. August 17, 1959. p. 20.
  12. "Vintage 1962 Bosco Chocolate Drink Mix Commercial". TV Toy Memories. 1962.
  13. Barth 2013, pp. 69–70.
  14. Goldberg, Vicki (September 25, 1998). "ART REVIEW; It's a Leonardo? It's a Corot? Well, No, It's Chocolate Syrup". The New York Times. Retrieved November 23, 2015.
  15. The Last Supper in Ten Unusual Mediums
  16. "Just in time for the holidays, a $110,000 syrupy portrait". USA Today. Reuters. October 3, 2007. Retrieved November 23, 2015.
  17. "Stupid White Men", Michael Moore, 2001, Penguin UK, page 150 of 279
  18. "Bosco Syrup Introduces Mocha Flavored Syrup: The First New Flavor In Nearly A Decade". The Wall Street Journal. 22 April 2013. Archived from the original on March 3, 2014. Retrieved 25 February 2014.
  19. Marion Brown Quartet – "La Placita" – Live In Willisau (1978) Netherlands: Timeless Records
  20. Gardner, Urban (1 August 2011). "Burnishing the Bosco Brand". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 20 November 2015.(subscription required)

Sources
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