During the Second World War, a girl would do anything for an American soldier if there was "candy" on offer.

Which explains why a huge sigh of relief went up on February 4, 1953, when sweet rationing was declared well and truly over.

And although girls no longer come running at the dangle of a Malteser, boycotting a large slab of Dairy Milk in the name of cellulite still has many a female blubbing into her bowl of salad.

In 2001, Brits spent a staggering £5.7bn on chocolate and sugar confectionery, a phenomenon which is believed to have stemmed from the Empire days.

Tim Richardson, author of Sweets: A History of Temptation (Bantam Press, £15) said rationing was particularly hard for us because we are, by nature, a "sweet race".

"All the English-speaking countries like their sweets and the reason is the Empire," he said.

"When tea and sugar were imported, the British took to mixing them and we've had a sweet tooth ever since.

"During rationing, there was a huge black market for rock - just about the sweetest of all sweets - as it was something people missed hugely.

"I found newspaper reports about "rock spivs" who would travel to Blackpool, buy rock and then sell it in London."

Our obsession with sweets was demonstrated during the 1940s when the supply was restricted.

For 11 long years, from July 26, 1942, kids could only get two ounces of sweets and chocolate bars per week, so when rationing was over, being able to buy as much as they could afford was a key moment in many youngsters' lives.

With sweets in such short supply, it is unsurprising that children became even more desperate for them than usual.

Sweet rationing had actually come to an end in April 1949, but such was the demand for all things sugary that the Government was forced to re-introduce it in July of that year.

But it was still possible to get some sweets during the rationing.

"We used to be able to get barley sugar sticks and liquorice sticks, which were wonderful because they would last for hours," said Mrs Ashby.

"Lemonade powder was another favourite - you just dipped your finger in the powder and licked it off. Teachers could always tell what you had been doing as you had yellow fingers and a yellow mouth.

"When the rationing stopped I went out and bought a box of chocolates - I think we all went a bit overboard during the 50s."

And if you were desperate to indulge your sweet tooth during the war, American soldiers stationed nearby could be a valuable source of "candy".

"Some girls would do anything if they were offered a bar of chocolate," said 76-year-old Jean Edwardes from Kent.

"When rationing ended, I was over the moon and went out and bought two bars of Fry's Chocolate Cream," she said.

With the end of rationing, sweets that had disappeared from the shelves came back again.

Cadbury, for example, reintroduced some of their products after factories that had been turned over to manufacturing parts for planes went back to producing perennial favourites such as the Dairy Milk bar.

Children - and, let's face it, adults - could freely gobble lemon sherbets, blackjacks, gobstoppers, jelly babies and pastilles.

After the end of rationing, boiled sweets were still hugely popular, but in subsequent decades we have developed more of a taste for chocolate.

"Chocolate is an extraordinary substance," said Richardson. "It contains chemicals such as caffeine and theobromine, which have psychoactive properties. We don't really know how they work, but they certainly make us feel good.

"However, chocolate might also have become more popular because it's quick and easy to eat - sometimes it's not easy to eat a boiled sweet with dignity."

The traditional sweet shops with glass jars lining the shelves are now a dying breed, but sweets still have their admirers - including Richardson, who counts Bond's Rhubarb and Custards as his all-time favourite confection.

And despite all the warnings that came out from the 1970s onward about the effects of sugar on health and gums, the sweets and chocolate industry is still massive. So did the health warnings have any impact?

Richardson, the "world's first international confectionery historian", said that in the past few years sugar-free products have become more popular.

One other trend is, of course, the diversification of products. Chocolate bars now have many cousins, such as ice-cream bars, miniature versions, and cake bars, and Richardson thinks this will carry on for a few more years yet.

But some things never change.

"If you look at the Top 10 sellers in the 1930s most of the names are still instantly recognisable today," he said.

"Aero, Kit-kat and Mars are all classic products and we tend to be loyal towards them."

A lot has changed since 1953, but one thing has remained constant - we love our sweeties and would hate to lose them again.