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Have wagon wheels gotten smaller?

July 11, 2024   ·   1 Comments

By Keith Schell

My brother invited a friend and his girlfriend over to his place for a barbeque last summer. Performing his usual gourmet wizardry on the barbeque, he, my Mother, and their guests enjoyed a delightful and tasty meal. Then it came time for dessert.

He asked his friend, “How about a Wagon Wheel for dessert?”

His friend beamed at the thought of the tasty treat from our childhood, saying, “Oh my God, I’d love one! I haven’t had a Wagon Wheel since I was a kid!”

My brother then handed his friend a modern-day Wagon Wheel biscuit in a clear plastic wrapper. It was barely a half-inch thick and a little bigger around than a Silver-Dollar pancake! His face falling, the flabbergasted guest asked my brother the question that every current-day adult who loved this treat as a child has asked at one time or another: “WHAT THE HECK HAPPENED TO THE WAGON WHEELS?” 

Remember the Wagon Wheels we enjoyed as kids? They were as big around as your grown fist and as thick as your adult thumb and were just bursting out of the package! And they only cost five cents back then!    

When I was little, my Dad would take me with him every Friday afternoon to run a few errands while Mom was busy shopping elsewhere in town. When our errands were done, we would always end up at a local variety store, a little general store that the gentleman ran out of an extension on the back of his house on a side street in the North-central part of town.

Dad would pick up a few things in the store and always took the time to stop and chat with the owner while paying at the cash register. And while they were talking, Dad always bought me a Wagon Wheel! I remember that vividly because a Wagon Wheel back then was a tasty treat for a little kid like me. And that weekly tasty treat at the little variety store became a happy childhood memory that I still hold dear to this day.

But over the years, the Wagon Wheel seemed to go through some changes. They seem to be a lot smaller now than I remember them. 

So, what the heck did happen to the Wagon Wheels?

Originally invented by William Peschardt, Wagon Wheels were originally introduced in 1948 at the British Food Fair in London by Garry Weston, son of W. Garfield Weston and eventual Father of Galen Weston, the retired current-day Canadian Grocery Magnate who ran, amongst other things, the Toronto-based Weston Foods Empire and Loblaw’s chain of grocery stores, the largest chain of its kind in Canada (To my knowledge, Galen’s son, Galen Weston Jr., who ran things for the longest time after his Father retired, just retired himself in 2023).

After acquiring the patent from Peschardt, Weston sandwiched two Marie biscuits around a marshmallow filling, covered it with chocolate, and it became an instant hit. The name, originally ‘Weston Wagon Wheels’, was related to the circular shape of the biscuits and was trying to capitalize on the ‘wild west’ theme, which was popular in the mass media at the time. It was billed at the time as ‘The biggest chocolate biscuit bar on the market’.   

Because they were originally a British creation, they became quite popular in many Commonwealth countries, including Canada. They were originally produced in Canada by McCormick’s before being acquired by Dare Foods Limited, where they are presently being manufactured today.

So have the Wagon Wheels shrunk over the years?

To the average person like myself who remembers these treats from childhood, the answer appears to be ‘yes’. However, the manufacturers of Wagon Wheels dispute these accusations from their former childhood consumers.    

The current U.K. Wagon Wheel producer, Burton’s Biscuit Company, is quite sensitive to the accusation that the Wagon Wheel has gotten smaller over the years and has disputed that claim, once putting out a statement that read: “Contrary to popular belief, Wagon Wheels have not actually got smaller, most often our first Wagon Wheel experience is in childhood and hence our hands are much smaller.”

In essence, what they are saying is because we were little, the Wagon Wheels looked much bigger to us at the time, and as we grew up, the Wagon Wheel started to look much smaller to us even though the size of the biscuit did not appreciatively change as we got older.

So there you have it. Take it for what it is. Have Wagon Wheels gotten smaller? You be the judge.

And in the meantime, if you are able, have a glass of milk and a Wagon Wheel with your kids or grandkids and sit back and enjoy the happy memories of the times in our youth that were spent eating that tasty treat!

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