Web Page 3075 9th November 2023 First Picture: Ronson Lighter Fuel

Second Picture Elbow patches

Third Picture: Rolls Razor

Fourth Picture: Bay Rum

Memories of my father The first things that come to mind are white collar stubs. Until the advent of the attached collar my father always used collar studs. One, a larger one, went into the back of the collar and the shirt. There was also a smaller stud which fixed the front of the collar. In fact, my father, for the rest of his life had a mark near his Adams apple caused by this particular stud. My father always wet shaved so there was always lingering small of Old Spice about him; and talking of perfumes after had been to the barbers in the back of Jarmans tobacconists, in Drayton, run by Mr and Mrs Keyes, he always smelt of Bay Rum. I also remember that he also owned a compact Rolls Strop razor in its own silver coloured box. I remember him standing in the bathroom running the razor up and down the red and black strop to sharpen the blade. My father also smoked and collected the coupons out of the Kensitas packs so his clothes always smelt of smoke which was also permeated with the delicate smell of Ronson Liger Fuel. He also smoked Manakin small cigars but only at Christmas, He always kept a small Ronson petrol lighter in a small brown leather pouch in his pocket; to fill the lighter Ronson petrol was poured into the base through a screw and he always kept a silver threepenny bit in the pouch to unscrew the filler. Another thing that I remember was the way my mother sewed on leather patches onto the elbows of his jackets when they got a bit worn, she also sewed leather linings around the cuffs of his jackets for the same reason. My father was no cobbler but when it came to putting stick on soles or heels onto won out shoes he would take himself off to Woolworths in Cosham High Street and buy the required items, which he would bring home and take into the shed where he would hammer and glue the soles etc onto the offending shoes using a metal last. I still have that last stored away in my own shed. If the repair was beyond him the shoes would be taken to the cobbler on the south side of the Havant Road in Farlington. One part of my father’s life that I never knew much about until after he had died was his life as a Masonic Mason. After his death I came across a small brief case which contained all his regalia. It appears he joined the Masons whilst he was working in Ceylon for two years in the 1950’s and looking at the regalia once he moved back to the UK he became a member of two different Lodges. In the brief case were two different aprons and collars, several Masonic medals and a pair of white cotton gloves. My father never asked me to join and a lot of the things in the case where strange to me. The problem was what to do with all this stuff after he died, luckily, I managed to contact another Mason who took the regalia back to the Lodge and I believe it was then recycled to new members. His masonic membership also explained why in the wardroom he kept an evening suit and black bow tie. Stay in touch, maybe you have some memories of your parents that you would like to share. Peter gsseditor@gmail.com