Web Page 2038

29th March 2014

Top Picture:  Tea Service

Middle Picture: Sugar Tongs

Bottom Picture: Ex Government tin mug

Mugs

When did we all start using mugs as the everyday form of drinking vessel? As far as I can recall mugs were never an item in our crockery range at home. Mind you having said that I do remember an enamel one in cream and green for use when I was camping with the scouts and my Grandmother had a white and blue ex government one with the GR crest on it to keep her dripping in and a separate white and blue one to put her false teeth in at night when she soaked them in Steradent. But to sit around at home with a mug of tea or coffee in your hand was totally unheard of. Although I do actually remember plastic beakers for orange and lemon squash or Ribena!

Tea was always served in a cup and saucer and if I remember correctly there was a daily tea service and a special Afternoon Tea service.

The everyday service complete with saucers was always a relatively cheap set, often bought in the market, Woolworth’s or with Green Shield Stamps. These sets were mainly glazed pottery and were built to last so they were thick and heavy and could take no end of banging or dropping. In fact you can often see similar sets on TV dramas set in the 1950’s.

No so the Afternoon Tea Service, this was a totally different item and was solely reserved for those ‘posh’ occasions and Sunday afternoon tea. They were normally porcelain or bone china and my mother’s was a light pink with a gold design painted around the top of the cup and edges of the other items in the set. This special set was always kept on the bottom shelf of the right hand cupboard of the sideboard I the front room, a cupboard that I was not allowed to even enter. (little boys can break things!)

The set, as I remember it, consisted of a teapot, (no coffee pot) a lidded hot water jug, a milk jug, sugar bowl, slop bowl and tea strainer stand, six cups and saucers, six tea plates, one cake plate and a bread and butter plate and six desert dishes. If this lot came out of the cupboard it was either Christmas, Sunday or a relative or special friend was coming to tea. Don’t forget the tray cloth!

But that was not all because the correct accompaniments had to go with the Tea Set. Linen napkin, napkin rings cake forks, Cake stands, teaspoons, teapot stand, sugar tongs, side knives and special knives for cutting the lovingly prepared Victoria Sandwich. Sandwiches were also always served, cut neatly into quarters and were always offered around before the cake choices. All to entertain someone with a cup of tea!!! Of course this could not be the usual Brooke Bond Dividend tea or PG Tips it always had to be the best mother could by Lyons Special Blend of Typhoo.

What happened to all these bits and pieces is a mystery; they must have been lost or dispersed by my parents over the years.  Too late to ask them now! All I know is that a mug for tea or coffee was totally unheard of in our house and this went on right throughout their lives.

A whole spectrum of food related items that were used during our childhood seemed to have disappeared. Apostle spoons for your boiled egg, egg cups, toast racks, tea cosy’s, Coffee percolators which were heated on the stove, nutcrackers, tea strainers, egg coddling dishes, egg poachers, grapefruit knives and fruit knives are just a few. I am sure you could add many, many more to the list!

One final true story. My maternal grandmother lived in the Lodge on Hyde Park Corner in London. She and my grandfather moved in the 1930’s and she stayed in residence after he had died and remained there all through the war, which is when this occurrence happened. She never used an air raid shelter but relied on staying in the Lodge basement during air raids. One evening a heavy raid occurred and the Mecca Café in Marble Arch had a direct hit. Come the morning grandmother opened the back door in the basement which opened onto a sunken yard and there amongst the debris were dozens of knives, forks and spoons all with Mecca Café on the handles. She collected them and took them indoors and when she moved in with us in 1952 the Mecca cutlery came with her. I am sure that up in my loft somewhere I still have the odd Mecca fork or spoon!

Stay in touch

Peter

DUSTYKEAT@aol.com

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Anida Writes:-

As I was completing my on line grocery order the other evening it occured to me how much expense is now created by our great need to keep clean.  Back in the day as children our playground was the network of back alleyways behind the houses which as well as providing this safe, traffic free space was also the dumping ground of the ashes from the house fires.  As a consequence during the summer the ashes dried into a grey dust which coated our Clark's sandals and white ankle socks, penetrating to our feet beneath.  I cannot remember having more than one or two baths a week, oh the terrors of the geyser, but every night before bedtime a 'good wash' was required especially for the feet. The flannel also paid good attention to the back of one's neck which somehow managed to get much grubbier than today.  In between good washes there was of course that terrifying moment when your mother decided that a bit of spit on her handkerchief was required to banish all trace of your dinner from your face.

All this was achieved with some Wrights Coal Tar or Lifebouy soap, if you were very posh you had Cussons Imperial Leather, and a flannel.  Today however, the supermarket aisle is stacked with a zillion different products which apparently we must have to keep our bodies clean and fresh and smelling of a multitude of exotic fragrances.  There is a 'Men's' aisle, my Grandfather would never believed that a man needed anything more than a stripped to the waist wash at the butler sink and a rub with a very rough roller towel after a hard day in the Dockyard.  Not only do we require all these products but they must be applied every day in the shower or bath and then dried with towels softened by very expensive fabric conditioners.

Then there are hair products, whatever happened to "I am washing my hair tonight" and an application of Amami setting lotion.  Some of today's offerings seem to belong in a chemistry laboratory rather than the bathroom and does our hair really look and feel much different? 

I must admit the world is a better place for deodorants and antiperspirants, the Number 6 trolley bus from St Mary's was not the most fragrant of places on the homeward journey.

So the next time you look at your shopping bill take a moment to add up the cost of those things we seemingly need to keep us clean and our hair and bodies rejuvenated you will almost certainly find that they cost more than the food!  Must go now, Tesco's man with the van is at the door, have to pack away the shower gel, hairspray, shampoo, fabric conditioner, face wipes, blow dry lotion...............

News and Views:

Jerry Lewis has just past his 88th birthday here he is with Dena martin, Dean Martins daughter

On this Day 29th March 1960-1965

On 29/03/1960 the number one single was Running Bear - Johnny Preston and the number one album was South Pacific Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was Wagon Train (ITV) and the box office smash was Psycho. A pound of today's money was worth £13.68 and Burnley were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 29/03/1961 the number one single was Wooden Heart - Elvis Presley and the number one album was GI Blues - Elvis Presley. The top rated TV show was The Dickie Henderson Show (AR) and the box office smash was One Hundred and One Dalmations. A pound of today's money was worth £13.25 and Tottenham Hotspur were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 29/03/1962 the number one single was Wonderful Land - The Shadows and the number one album was Blue Hawaii - Elvis Presley. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was Lawrence of Arabia. A pound of today's money was worth £12.89 and Ipswich Town were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 29/03/1963 the number one single was Foot Tapper - The Shadows and the number one album was Summer Holiday - Cliff Richard & the Shadows.

The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was The Great Escape. A pound of today's money was worth £12.64 and Everton were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.On 29/03/1964 the number one single was Little Children - Billy J Kramer and the number one album was With the Beatles - The Beatles. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was Dr Strangelove. A pound of today's money was worth £12.24 and Liverpool were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 29/03/1965 the number one single was The Last Time - Rolling Stones and the number one album was Rolling Stones Number 2 - The Rolling Stones. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was The Sound of Music. A pound of today's money was worth £11.69 and Manchester United were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.