Corona: What's Missing from this Picture?

From the collection of

Archif Sgrin a Sain Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru / National Library of Wales Screen and Sound Archive

Established in 2001, the National Library of Wales Screen and Sound Archive holds an unrivalled collection of films, TV and radio broadcasts, video tapes and sound recordings relating to Wales and the Welsh, from 1898 to the present day. The collection spans multiples formats and genres, both professional and amateur.

Corona: What's Missing from this Picture?

Archif Sgrin a Sain Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru / National Library of Wales Screen and Sound Archive
1946-01-01
Silent

Life is looking up! The war is over and the 'Corona Man' can visit his Corona families once more, door-to-door.

The Corona sparkle, that's what's missing! But not for much longer. As this cinema advert makes clear, Corona drinks will soon be delivered door-to-door again, the service having been disrupted during WWII when lorries and drivers were commandeered by the government. Corona drinks were manufactured by Thomas & Evans Ltd, the first factory being in Porth, Rhondda, at the Welsh Hills Mineral Water Factory (since 2000 a recording studio known as The Pop Factory).

The original Mr William Thomas and Mr William Evans were Porth grocers who, in the 1890s, decided to market an alternative to alcohol for thirsty miners. They were not successful in getting pubs to stock their soft drinks but did excellent business selling door-to-door to families, using horses and carts and, later, vans. Further factories were opened in e.g. Pengam, Maesteg and Bridgend. Corona was sold in 1958 to the Beecham Group, which kept the company brand and production continued to be centralised in the south until 1987 when the company was bought by Britvic Soft Drinks and the Welsh Hills plant was closed, production being transferred to Lancashire. The Corona brand was withdrawn in the late 1990s.

Near Your Local Cinema

Local goods for local people! Screen advertising wasn’t all national brands and chain stores.

Purpose-built cinemas began appearing around Britain shortly before WWI, booming in popularity during the War and developing into the ‘picture palaces’ of the 1920s - when adverts jostled for space alongside newsreels before the main feature. Local businesses were quick to see the potential of a big screen and a captive audience to promote their wares.

While they didn’t have access to the budgets of the national brands, regionally-specific businesses had the benefit of that personal touch. Products and services evolved over time, but that scratchy ad for your local Indian restaurant, so integral to the cinema-going experience into the 1990s, had its roots in the booming entrepreneurship of the industry many decades before.