Fairy Floss – Reminiscing Your Childhood Memories

Girl’s hair or Grandma’s hair, candy floss – they all refer to the same thing which is a ‘candied cloud’ popularly known as ‘cotton candy’ but is also commonly called ‘Fairy Floss’ in Australia. Does this sugary, fluffy cloud on a stick or paper cone or plastic bag bring you back memories of your childhood?

Yes, any human being who has had an average childhood can easily relate to the fairy floss reminiscent of their childhood days. For how can you ever forget the sweet treat that you so relished with gusto on Easter, during fairs, festivals, carnivals and circus days when you were younger?

Pretty sure, all kids have this peculiar attraction to the fairy floss as they watch the master candy man expertly spin sugar in his machine and turn it into a fluffy cloud of delight right before their very eyes! Yes, it was something to behold to a child, like magic!

Now, on a more serious note, the fairy floss is a confection made from spun sugar, the final output of which looks more like cotton, either machine-spun or hand-spun just like the vanilla Persian fairy floss in Australia.

You can find these sugary goodies abundantly sold in places where there are social occasions or events such as circuses, carnivals, fairs and festivals, even during Easter, and so on. Originally, the fluffy delicacies were held with a stick, later on these were served on paper cones and much later, you can see the treats placed on zip-lock plastic bags.  

The Humble Beginnings of the Cotton Candy

A resident of New Orleans, Louisiana, a dentist named Joseph Lascaux, was able to invent in 1921 a cotton candy machine that produced a sweet confection. He had it patented as ‘cotton candy’. Eventually, the new name overtook the old name, ‘fairy floss’ which surprisingly, is still being used in Australia today.

But, did you know that a man by the name of William Morrison who also happens to be a dentist, was the first to create the cotton candy? He, together with his partner, John C. Wharton, built a machine back in 1897 that was designed to spin heated sugar through a screen. And the result was a sweet thing with a floss-like structure hence, the name ‘fairy floss’.

Fast forward to 1970 when state and county fairs were popular. An automatic cotton candy machine was already in wide-scale use that made the candies and put them in a packaging that can be quickly sold out to customers with ease. Today, the cotton candies we now know are easily produced with these portable machines! And these are not only being sold during events – they can now be seen in shopping malls and cinemas, too.

Now, if you’re thinking of re-creating your childhood memories in the comfort of your own home, why not order your fairy floss in Australia online? Check out this page today to see how.