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Ovaltine was developed in Switzerland, where it is known by its original name, Ovomaltine (from ovum, Latin for "egg", and malt, originally its main ingredients).
Ovomaltine was exported to England in 1909; it was a misspelling in the trademark registration process that led to the name being truncated to Ovaltine in English-speaking markets. A factory was built in England for Ovaltine's manufacture, and the English factory exported to the United States as well. By 1915 Ovaltine was being manufactured in Villa Park, Illinois for the American market. Originally advertised as consisting solely of "malt, milk, eggs, flavored with cocoa", the formulation has changed over the decades (at one point containing irradiated yeast in the US), and today several different formulations are sold in different parts of the world.
The popular chocolate malt version is a powder-like substance which is mixed with hot or cold milk as a beverage. It is essentially a chocolate drink mix with the addition of malt extract, and sometimes fortified with vitamins. Malt Ovaltine, (a version without cocoa) and Rich Chocolate Ovaltine (a version without malt) are also available in some markets. Ovaltine has also been available in the form of chocolate bars, chocolate Easter eggs, parfait, cookies and breakfast cereals. In the last case, it is the brand name that connects the cereals with the chocolate drink.
Ovaltine also manufactured PDQ Chocolate Flavor Beads, PDQ Choco Chips and Egg Nog Flavored PDQ, which are no longer available. These drink mixes were very popular in the 1960s and 1970s. Ovaltine discontinued the PDQ products about 1995 or 1996.
The U.S. children's radio series Little Orphan Annie (1931–1940) and Captain Midnight (1938–1949) were sponsored by Ovaltine. They had promotions in which listeners could save proofs-of-purchase from Ovaltine jars to obtain radio premiums, like "secret decoder ring" badges or pins that could be used to decode messages in the program. In the popular family Christmas movie, A Christmas Story Ralphie decodes Little Orphan Annie's secret message only to be disappointed that it was an advertisement for Ovaltine. Kids from the time may remember that "Ovaltine" is an anagram for "Vital One". Villa Park, Illinois was home to the Ovaltine factory until the company's purchase and withdrawal in 1988. The Villa Park Historical Society maintains a permanent exhibit of Ovaltine advertising and memorabilia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OvaltineWithout chocolate flavor and sweetners it really is not very good IMO. I hated it as a kid and still to this day can not develop a taste for the drink
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