Cleaner Victoria Gordon, 44, from Lincoln, discovered a 35-year-old Mars bar while clearing a home in North Lincolnshire. The item appeared gargantuan compared to modern versions, prompting her to buy a bar currently on sale to compare the two side by side.
Ms Gordon operates a cleaning business that specializes in crime scenes, post-death clean-ups, hoarded houses, and other biohazard cleaning sites. She said she was shocked by the stark contrast in size between the two chocolate bars.
"Even though I knew it was big, I was surprised when I bought one to compare," Ms Gordon said. "It is a shame really. While I do totally understand inflation, shrinkflation is a bit of a swizz, as my mum would say. The size difference was greater than I expected."
Size and price comparison
In 1991, a standard Mars bar cost between 25p and 30p, weighed 65 grams, and measured 14cm long. Today, the chocolate bar costs £1.20, weighs around 40 grams, and measures 9.5cm in length.
Despite her surprise at the discovery, Ms Gordon revealed that unearthing old items is her favorite aspect of the job. She told digital culture magazine creatorzine.com: "My absolute favourite part of the hoarder clearances are finding treasure like that. I find so many old and vintage things. I find it fascinating."
Ms Gordon posted a video clip of the chocolate bar online, which has gained more than 700,000 views. "I have had videos go viral before," she said. "Hoarder houses are always popular but I am surprised how this has taken off."
