The British have not always been a sweet-toothed nation. According to G. M. Trevelyan, the country only consumed a mere 10,000 tons of sugar, even as late as 1700, although she had prosperous sugar colonies of her own. By the turn of the nineteenth century the position had altered drastically, the figure having risen to 150,000 tons. As Trevelyan pointsout, allowing for the population to have doubled, the average use of sugar by each person had risen seven and a half times during the eighteenth century. As might be expected the production of containers for the sweetener increased proportionately. (more…)