Jammie Dodgers are one of Britain’s most beloved biscuits, but apparently there is a deeper meaning to the red heart shape in the middle of its jammy centre.
Lizzie Collingham, a food historian and author of The Biscuit: The History of a Very British Indulgence, has shared that the decorative heart references a famous British nursery rhyme.
This iconic biscuit was inspired by The Queen of Hearts, a rhyme based on the characters found playing cards in which the Knave of Hearts is punished after stealing tarts from the Queen.
Lizzie wrote: “With a heart-shaped hole in the centre through which a red jam filling could be glimpsed, it was intended to recall the nursery rhyme when the Knave of Hearts stole the tarts the Queen had baked, ‘all on a summer’s day’.”
According to Lizzie, the biscuit company Burton’s first launched Jammie Dodgers in the 1960s as a way to appeal to children, and they were originally made with plums rather than the now iconic raspberry filling.
That is not the only childhood reference this biscuit makes, as Jammie Dodgers are also named after Roger the Dodger, a beloved comic book character from The Beano.
Roger the Dodger first appeared in The Beano in 1953 and is known for going to extreme lengths to avoid responsibilities such as homework or chores.
On an older version of the Burtons Biscuits website, they wrote: “Jammie Dodgers are made in Wales, the birthplace of Rob Brydon, Richard Burton, Tom Jones and Charlotte Church.
“The name for the original cheeky biscuit came from the BEANO’s ‘Roger the Dodger’ character comic strip.
“Jammie Dodgers have been featured on The Only Way is Essex, Harry Hill’s TV Burp, Eastenders and Dr Who.”
However, Jammie Dodgers are not the only British biscuit with a deeper decorative meaning as the spiral pattern on Custard Creams is actually ferns.
It is a reference to the Victorians being obsessed with the plant after many people saw it when going on trains for the first time and houseplants became more popular due to the Wardian case, a glass case which could protect plants being imported to London.
The Victorians being obsessed with ferns is called Pteridomania, and fern motif patterns were seen everywhere, from pottery, wallpaper and even gravestones.
