Roller A-Z: Candy Films

Out of all the different roller brands, Candy Films adopted the most distinctive box design, featuring pink and white candy striping and an eye-catching logo. Such lurid attempts at packaging are likely indicative of the growing roller market at the end of the 1960s and in the early 1970s. It also shows how roller makers began to think more carefully about branding, needing to ensure that their product stood out amongst other boxes that were on sale in the backrooms of Soho’s bookshops. As with other brands from this period, it claims to have originated from Western Europe, with the text ‘Made in Germany’ printed on the rear. However, the inclusion of ‘200ft’, an imperial measurement, suggests that it was aimed at the British market.

In Under the Counter, I identified pornographer Martin Granby as the most likely person to be behind this label, as many of the titles below also appeared on a range of labels that could be linked to Granby. Interestingly, the style of text that appears on the side of Universal Films and Candy Films boxes matches. Also, the postcards stuck on the front of these boxes often use a gothic Letraset typeface, again suggesting the same manufacturer. Titles indicate a predilection for BDSM themed pornography (The Hole Story, A Taste for Leather and Bound & Gagged). Anal Sex is printed on 3M Safety film with an edge code of 109=:. 3M Safety film looks to have been the stock of choice for rollers issued between 1970-72. However, the Kinsey institute date at least four titles on this list to 1969, making it likely that Candy Films emerged alongside the other possible Granby labels Dolly Films and Svensk Films. Titles from all these labels were later reissued on Universal Films and Danish Blu Films.