The following is a collection of all the information I have gathered together so far
I hope you find it interesting........
The above is a picture of children collecting rose hips in the early 1950s
in Deerhurst, a Gloucestershire village.
Wartime
During the war it was not possible to import oranges for vitamin C so researchers looked for other sources from which to obtain the vitamin.
Researchers in Bristol and Newcastle-upon-Tyne discovered how to extract vitamin C from rose hips.
Children were then recruited to pick the rose hips and received payment. During the war some children were allowed time off school and were even bussed out to certain areas to undertake picking of the rose hips.
The rose hips were then used to make Rose Hip Syrup - one of the manufacturers being Delrosa.
1950s & 60s
During the 1950s & 60s children picked the rose hips and in the mid 50s were paid 3d ( old pence ) per 1 lb of rose hips rising later to 4d.
After picking a certain quantity of hips the child was then awarded a badge, on collecting 4 badges a different badge was then awarded. The organiser of the picking kept a record and at the end of the picking season the child who had collected the most rose hips then received a Highest Collector badge.
Badges
As there seems to be three types of badges issued & I have seen three different types of badge then I am assuming the following -
The undated badge was awarded for picking the first quantity required to gain a badge
On obtaining 4 of the undated badges then a year badge was awarded
The highest picker of the season at each collection point was awarded the Merit Highest Collector badge - this I do know to be correct.
Online Information
I have found some old film clips of Rose Hips at this BBC website
http://www.bbc.co.uk/nationonfilm/topics/school/
Picking Rose Hips - 2mins
The Rosehip Syrup Factory - 4 mins
