Free Gift Transfers with Confectionery

Page Thirty-three of Thirty-four pages

Nutella: Goofy Olympiade Rubbelbilder [1972 & 1976]

There were two sets of Letraset transfers free with jars of Nutella to celebrate the Olympics in 1972. One set, I believe, were tucked inside the jar labels; the other fitted into the tops of the lids. Each of these sets, I've been told, contained twenty different transfers.

My sources could well be mistaken about there being two separate series of twenty: I've never seen 1-10 in the rectangular style, or 11-20 in the round style; a preferable hypothesis might be that the first ten were round & the latter ten rectangular, making twenty transfers in all.

But a single counter-example would be all it takes to disprove my hypothesis — so by all means supply one if you can!

pic

Above are the four examples I've been able to obtain for scanning. If you're wondering about the reversed text, it's telling you to turn the transfer over, so you don't try to rub-down the wrong side! Along the lines of "if you can read this, you're too close".

pic

Original photos courtesy of hasentanz66

If you thought the almost unique white borders on the above transfers were confusing, wait 'til you get a load of these! But as they say, they're definitely printed by Letraset…

pic

Four years later, for the next Olympics in 1976, there was another set of eight transfer strips in the lids of Nutella jars, & they were also rub-down transfers, as the instructions make clear. But they do not look like Letraset; they appear to be Hasbro-style, or perhaps by Trans-Action products.

Unfortunately, I haven't been able to obtain any of these items to examine them in the flesh, & those people I've contacted for permission to use their images have refused it. All I can tell you is that each lid label unfolded to reveal three related transfers depicting the same sporting event — like a rub-down comic strip.

However… there's nothing to stop me quoting the text on these transfers, since that's a matter of public record:

    So wird's gemacht:
  1. Unbedrucktes, weiXes Schutzpapier vorsichtig abziehen.
  2. Rubbel-Bild mit dem Motiv nach unten auf Papier oder eine ähnliche glatte Unterlage legen.
  3. Mit der Rückseite eines Bleistifts oder Kugelschreibers oder mit dem Fingernagel das Motiv sorgfältig abrubbeln (siehe Zeichnung).
  4. Trägerpapier vorsichtig abziehen.
    How to do it:
  1. Carefully peel off the unprinted, white protective paper.
  2. Place the transfer image face down on paper or a similar smooth surface.
  3. Carefully rub off the picture with the back of a pencil or ballpoint pen or with your fingernail (see drawing).
  4. Carefully peel off the backing paper.

It really is a shame I can't shown you the images, because the more I look at them, the more I suspect Trans-Action — & I'd value your opinion.

• Next Page: Duplo / Hanuta: Asterix [1976-1978] →

Pages in this article about Free Gift Transfers with Confectionery:

Three additional pages on Topps Baseball Bubble Gum:

Picture Credit: The SPLAT Scan Archives — hasentanz66