The store of bertie bassett. George bassett founded his confectionery company in sheffield, england in 1842. bassett's licorice allsorts, the original allsorts, were first sold in 1899 and soon became the company's best selling confectionery item. In 1926, bassett's became a public company and soon after started to look for a trademark which people would associate specifically with the company. After months of meetings looking at allsorts of ideas, a winner was chosen. Thus "bertie" was born on january 1, 1929, a character to be made entirely from the individual candy pieces that make up bassett's licorice allsorts.