Dairy Milk child star sells Cadbury collection

Emma was three when she starred in Cadbury's Father's Day campaign

A huge collection of Cadbury memorabilia amassed by a former child model who starred in a Dairy Milk advert is up for auction.

Emma Tighe was three and living near the factory in Bournville, Birmingham, when she was picked to be the star of the Father's Day ad in the early 1980s.

It sparked a love of all things Cadbury and since the age of 12 she has grown her collection to 369 items.

She has decided to sell it after becoming "overwhelmed" by its size.

The collection will be auctioned next Wednesday in Shropshire

Emma spent hours combing car boot sales as a child looking for mementos.

Her passion grew into adulthood and since starting her own antiques business, people in the trade have sent her dozens of Cadbury-themed artefacts.

Until recently it had all been displayed in her kitchen in Kidderminster, but next week it will go under the hammer at Nock Deighton auctioneers in Bridgnorth.

"I think I got overwhelmed with the amount of stuff I had and how long it would take to clean," she said.

"I thought, 'I've had this a lifetime, it's time for it to go'."

Old chocolate tins and cards form part of the lot

Emma said she struggled to keep on top of cleaning her vast collection

Emma said the chance of starring in the Cadbury's advert came as she was signed to a modelling agency as a child and ended up on "billboards around the world" after being chosen.

She has never seen the original advert, which also would have appeared in newspapers and magazines, and only has a copy of a photograph.

"My aunt had one in the loft but had a massive fire and it went up in flames," she said.

Her collection started with pins emblazoned with the Cadbury logo and grew to include signs, tins, posters, model cars, jigsaws, mugs and egg cups.

Commemorative cups from Easter are among the items

Cadbury's was founded in 1824 and Emma's collection features plenty of old adverts

All of it is being sold except for one enamel sign, bought for Emma by a friend. She will be at the sale on Wednesday to see where her collection ends up.

"I'll probably be sitting there crying," said Emma, who runs Vintage Dolly in Kidderminster with husband Stuart.

"Finding the rare items was always a lovely moment, but it's time to collect something else."

The collection can be viewed on Monday and Tuesday at Nock Deighton, or online.

Emma and Stuart pictured at a Peaky Blinders event at the Black Country Living Museum

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