Radio Malt was an early to mid-20th century brand of malt extract preparation that followed the Minadex trend.[1] Produced by British Drug Houses, it contained vitamin A, aneurine hydrochloride, riboflavin, and calciferol.[2] The contents were sickly sweet, with a consistency between molasses and treacle. It is much loved by George Molesworth ("Molesworth 2"), brother of the classic schoolboy character Nigel Molesworth.[3]
Radio Malt was being sold in the UK by the mid-1920s[4] and was studied at this time as a treatment for rickets.[5] In India it was trademarked in 1942.[6]
A favourite of film producer and politician David Puttnam,[7] Radio Malt was often used in English boarding schools in an attempt to change skinny young girls into prettier roundness[8] and given to post–World War II children to give them more bulk.[9]
