THE FLATLEY DRYER

[Stanley]

I heard a news item this morning on the Huff Post investigation into botched plastic surgery figures, mainly in 'fillers' administered by 'cowboys'. It made me think back to how incredulous people would have been 75 years ago if they had been told about this. It's a perfect example of how attitudes towards medical intervention have changed. In those days it wasn't unusual for operations like tonsillectomy to be done on the kitchen table by the local doctor, in those days it was dead simple, a stainless steel wire loop was fixed around the tonsil and it was torn off. Experience showed that a torn would healed faster than a clean cut. Lancing painful carbuncles was done without anaesthetic in the home and was a dreaded procedure. Another common procedure was for the doctor to cut the gum membrane over the tooth of a child suffering from teething, it worked like a charm because it relieved the pressure. John Wilfred Pickard told me about this and said he had done it with all their children but today the fear of infection precludes it. Things are so different today! The last time I came across a procedure like that was when a local doctor excised a couple of sinuses that were bothering me on the site of a healed carbuncle. That was a few years ago and I doubt whether it would be done today.

[Stanley]

Talking about operations reminded me of going to the dentists. Joyce Lawson came to me one day and asked if I could make sure that Ted went to get his teeth fixed. Ted was frightened of the dentist. A lot of us were in those days because all we had ever had from dentists was pain. Half an hour with a pedal operated drill grinding slowly next to a nerve was enough to put anyone off, we’d go to work with broken bones but when it came to anything to do with teeth, forget it! I arranged to be in Barlick and at the appointed hour, met Ted and took him to Pinder’s on Park Avenue. (At that time he was doing the West Marton milk round in Barlick with a horse and float.) We tied the horse up to the lamp post outside and went in. While we were waiting Ted was telling me how hard-bitten the horse was, he kept getting the bit between his teeth and you had to haul back on the reins to get him to stop. I saw him into the dentist’s chair and waited outside. After about 20 minutes they helped him out, still groggy after the general anaesthetic. “OK” I asked? “No way” said the dentist, “We got him in the chair and put him under but all he did was grit his teeth and shout “Whoa you b****r!”, they were frightened of damaging his mouth and after trying to get it open decided to give up. Ted had been driving the horse in his dreams!
I had a bad tooth ache one day. It had got to the stage where I had bursts of red light behind my eyes so I gave in and went into Atkinson’s who at that time practised in Croft House on Station Road where my accountants is now. I went in and there was nobody else there. I told him what the trouble was and he had a look in my mouth and said it was rotten and wanted to come out. I asked him how much it was and he said five shillings or two and six. I asked him what the difference was and he said that for five shillings he would inject me with cocaine, wait for the gum to go numb and then pull it, for two and six he would just pull it. I only had four and six so I went for the half dollar treatment. I sat in the chair and his wife cupped her hands over my head and forced me down with my head back. I’d never noticed until then that an old-fashioned dentist’s chair has a depression it the seat up against the back and if someone forces you down into it you are immobile. Atkinson went straight in and grasping my tooth, first pushed it down, then screwed it round each way to loosen it and then pulled it and threw it into the corner of the room. I supposed that he had done this so I couldn’t see it in case any roots had broken. That was it, one fraction of a second of violent pain and then blessed relief. As I swilled out he went in the back and I heard a bottle neck clink on a glass. When he came in I gave him the four and six and he asked me what the extra two bob was for, “Give me some of whatever it is you have in that bottle in the back!” He came back with a glass of rum and told me to wash my mouth out with it and spit it out. I washed my mouth out all right but I didn’t spit!
What surprised me was the comparison between this and a local anaesthetic. If it happened to me again I wouldn't be frightened, far more preferable than drilling for a filling and over in an instant. Good historical research!

[Stanley]

I have another dental matter that illustrates how much things have changed in the last 60 years. I never had good teeth, largely because I can't ever remember being taught any dental hygiene, I never owned a toothbrush. By the time I was 20 years old this was catching up with me and in the end I went to see Mr Pinder on Park Avenue. He took one look in my mouth and told me that my teeth were poisoning my system and there was only one cure, out with the lot and pot gobblers. We started that day, he took all my bottom teeth out!
Next day I had a load to take to Nestles at Ashbourne. No big sweat but I had had all my bottom teeth taken out the day before. Now my Mercury was the best motor in the world but it had the worst heater, it was virtually useless. On a hard frosty morning like it was that day the inside of the cab window used to freeze up as your breath hit it. My dad had warned me not to get frost in my jaw and by the time I got to Ashbourne I realised he had been right, I was in agony. The pain had gone right round the back of my neck and it was like an iron band so when I got to the tipping point I had a word with the lads and they said they’d tip me and wash out while I was with the Nurse, because Nestles were a big firm they had a nurse on duty in the ambulance room day and night. She took one look inside my mouth, got four aspirins down me and a hot drink and then she spent half an hour massaging my gums with oil of cloves. I was still in pain when she’d finished but nowhere near what I had felt when I arrived. One of the lads found me a scarf and I wrapped that round my head, I must have looked like the invisible man! It wore off a bit on the way home but I told father about it, he had been quite right.
I’ve heard of young women being given money to go to the dentist and have all their teeth out as a wedding present. This sounds crazy now but in those days it was a passport to a pain-free future, this was certainly how I saw it. Once my bottom jaw had settled down a bit I went back to Mr Pinder and he pulled all the teeth in my top jaw and temporarily fitted my teeth, all done under cocaine injections. The idea was to wait until the gums had totally healed and then go back for the final fitting. At this visit he made me pick the colour of teeth I wanted and told me that he was going to make my new ones slightly bigger than my own teeth because he thought large teeth were manly. I’ve never quite worked that one out but I thought I’d better let him have his way! After putting up with the temporary teeth floating round in my mouth for about three months I went back and got the final set.
I remember that the waiting room was full and Mr Pinder asked me why I was fidgeting in the chair. I told him that I was bothered about the fact that we were holding up the other patients. Mr Pinder said that these teeth would be with me for at least 45 years and it was worth spending 45 minutes to get them right. He also told me that if there was such a thing as a prize for having a good mouth for false teeth I would stand a good chance of winning it, whether this was true or just something he said to all his patients I don’t know. All I can report is that forty years later (fifty at the time of editing) I am still using the same set of teeth and apart from the bottom set cracking and needing an emergency repair once, I’ve had no problem with them and haven’t had any pain either in my mouth or my wallet. There is much to be said for well-fitting pot gobblers!
Over 50 years later the bottom set broke and I went to the local NHS dentist and they were aghast when they found out how old my top set was and wanted to give me a complete new mouthful but I told them to leave the top ones alone! I got a new bottom set and everything is fine.
Now here's the change, they told me that Mr Pinder's solution was unthinkable today and would hardly ever happen. Even a simple extraction needs the opinion of two professionals before it can be done. I can understand this but I can't help thinking that there is a hidden agenda here, it means more employment and expensive procedures for the dentist. All I can say is that in terms of utility and economy I have never regretted having a full mouthful, have never had any problems and can still eat apples and bite my fingernails.
There is another advantage, If I take them out I can do gurning like you have never seen and this will keep young children entertained for hours once they have got used to the initial shock of seeing them come out. It is of course completely outside there modern experience.

[plaques]

Looking back my fear of dentist started with the school dentists in Burnley. During my first tooth extraction, I was about 10 old at the time, I cold hear and feel everything that was going on. I knew that I was having two back teeth taken out but couldn't understand form the banging in my mouth why they seemed to have removed two front teeth. Actually they had chipped the front ones trying to get the molars out. It was always said that that school dentistry was the training ground before they let them out on the population at large. Years later and now with an absolute fear of dentists I went to Mr Emery on Wellhouse Rd. What a mess. he said. I'll take two out and fill the rest. No problems what so ever. I realised how foolish I'd been. During subsequent visits he said "I just got this new air powered drill but nobody will let me try it out on them, what do you think?" OK give it a run. From that point he always remembered it and I always got a big hand shake from him.

Stanley, even with pot gobblers you should have a 'soft tissue' checkup every so often. As you grow older its probably more important that the teeth themselves.

[PanBiker]

Stanley, even with pot gobblers you should have a 'soft tissue' checkup every so often. As you grow older its probably more important that the teeth themselves.

Indeed, especially as you are a pipe smoker, it's been a part of the NHS checkup for years now. I am due for a checkup but can't get an appointment with any NHS practices in Barlick until mid January.

[Stanley]

Ah, but you forget, the top set does a very good job of protecting your palate from the pipe smoke. My mouth is fine thanks and I take good care of it.
P, you're comment about school dentists is well taken. In my childhood we had regular inspections and access to a dentist who had a pedal-powered drill. I can still remember the drill grinding slowly into my teeth! That's why people like Ted and I had such a fear of dentists so you are not alone. The consequence was of course that I never went near them until I went to Mr Pinder and he sorted me out. Since then I have had a life free from pain or expense so on the whole it was a good thing and looking back I have no regrets.

[PanBiker]

Ah, but you forget, the top set does a very good job of protecting your palate from the pipe smoke. My mouth is fine thanks and I take good care of it.

A dental soft palate check is not just the roof of your mouth the check is for all the tissue from your ears down each side of your neck around the bottom jaw then upper and lower gums and inside cheeks. I offered the smoking only as a contributory factor of potential higher risk which is a fact and cannot be dismissed simply by the fact that you wear dentures. As always the choice is yours.

[Stanley]

Ian, If I sat down and started to worry about my exposure to more poisons than you can poke a stick at during my life I would only see one way out, top myself! Needless to say I shall not do this, I'll just carry on doing what I have always done, live one day at a time. So far it has served me well! You pays your money and takes your choice.
I was listening to a radio discussion of the attacks on the Marsh Arabs in Iraq by Saddam Hussein and they mentioned that he dropped thousands of 'butterfly bombs' and other booby traps in his efforts to wipe his 'opponents' out. It reminded me that during the war we schoolchildren were warned about butterfly bombs and told not to touch them. I never saw one but there is no doubt they were deployed. Just another small example of the hazards I have been exposed to. As I often say, the miracle is that I have got so far and I am really enjoying it!
Another thing springs to mind. Napoleon was once listening to recommendations for new generals he was promoting. At one point, after listening to the praise heaped on one candidate he is reported to have said "Yes. But is he lucky?" Good question.....

[Stanley]

At the beginning of the war we were all issued with Gas Masks in Cardboard boxes with a piece of strong string to go over the shoulder. We had to carry them at all times and had regular gas mask drills in school. As the air raids slacked off in late 1942 and the dangers of gas receded we stopped carrying them and they became another surplus item cluttering the home. Even later in the war and in the post war period gas masks became desirable items for an unexpected reason. Petrol was always rationed but towards the end of the war a separate type of petrol was introduced for use in commercial vehicles, it was coloured with a red dye so that spot checks could be made at the road side to detect if any private motorists were using 'red petrol' illegally. The spivs soon found that the activated charcoal filters in gas masks were just the job for filtering red petrol and removing the dye.
As I wrote this I remembered that long after the war, this red colouring was used again in duty free diesel used for agricultural purposes and on building sites or anywhere where it was used as a non road vehicle fuel. Roadside checks were frequent and especially in agricultural auction market car parks as the farmers were prime suspects. We used to describe the Customs and Excise men who did this duty as the 'water diviners'.

[Wendyf]

Red diesel is still used for agricultural vehicles on farms Stanley, but is not legal on public roads. I just checked and farmers are allowed to drive tractors up to 1.5km to access outlying fields.....mmmm.

[Stanley]

That could cause problems Wendy! As far as I know, 60 years ago there were no restrictions, I used to go regularly into Stratford on Avon for spares from Savilles and that would be about a 25 mile round trip.
There was another common fuel that was duty-free, TVO, Tractor Vaporising Oil, which was basically high grade paraffin. It must still be available because the vintage tractor gang will still need it. The David Brown tractor I used was a paraffin model and at that time there were still plenty of the old Ford Standards in daily use. They had two tanks, a small one for petrol (no duty free, normal duty paid fuel) and one for paraffin. The reason for this was that they couldn't run on paraffin until the exhaust manifold had got hot enough to vaporise the incoming paraffin on it's way to the carburettor. The way you managed this was when you finished work you turned off the fuel from the paraffin tank and let the engine run until the float chamber was dry. That way, the following day when you went to start you turned the petrol on and knew you had straight petrol for starting. If you had not done this, there was a drain cock on the float chamber that allowed you to empty it. You let it run for a while on petrol until the manifold was hot enough and then shut off the petrol cock and opened the paraffin one. If you had it right the engine would keep running, a bit of white smoke from the exhaust at first but that soon cleared up as you got to work. Paraffin ran very hot and if you were doing anything heavy like ploughing or scuffling, as the light failed in the afternoon you had a nice blue flame coming out of the straight through exhaust pipe. No silencers on the old paraffin tractors as the baffles burned out so quickly with the heat. They pulled better on paraffin as well.

[PanBiker]

Like a Primus stove with wheels. Meths used for the preheat though, although all portable, I have one of the smaller models that packs into a small tin for your rucksack. I preferred the full size one for camp cooking though. Never fancied the petrol versions though, too volatile.

[Tizer]

Something about this discussion makes me think of `Dad's Army'!

[Stanley]

Known to us initially as the 'Look, Duck and Vanish!' The acronym LDV actually meant 'Land Defence Volunteers'. Initially ridiculed as they paraded with broom handles and wooden rifles but as time went on and they were better equipped and organised they became a credible defence force. We forget now but some of them were trained in commando tactics and were, in effect, a suicide squad within the general structure.The importation of the American paraffin tractors was regarded with suspicion at first but as the War Agricultural Committees took charge of cropping they revolutionised farming and the effect was a springboard for the post war improvements in crop yields and cutting back on food imports. The latter were reduced to far below what we import today and yet we neglect the farms again and talk about incentive schemes which are more to do with preserving the look of the countryside than producing food. We made this mistake in the 1930s by simple neglect of the sector. History may be repeating itself.

[Bodger]

In similar vein , my mother during the war was in the ARP along with other locals they went out at night scanning for air craft raids etc.

[Stanley]

That could have been the Observer Corps Bodge. This was a branch of the ARP who manned observer stations and reported on orientation,altitude and size of incoming bomber formations. They were equipped with a phone which was a direct link to the local HQ.
When we were in the choir after the war and illegally climbed the tower of St Paul's church on Heaton Moor there was an observation table fixed up there and we all knew what it was. The tower was about 80ft high and the church was on a ridge so it was a good view. It must have been a cold lonely job!

[Wendyf]

We have the the phone used by Earby ARP in the history society archive.

[Stanley]

There's quite a lot about the ARP in the Calf Hall Shed Company minutes for the war years. They had an office in Butts Mill during the war.
Like many other measures, the ARP was formed very quickly at the beginning of the war, plans had obviously been laid previously. This was true of many war measures and it has led me to argue frequently that when we are tempted to complain about civil servants we should remember how well they do in many areas which don't receive attention, it's the occasional cock-ups that hit the news. Another matter was the search for suitable premises to use as shadow factories for the aero industry, the need and the subsequent search were recognised well before the war and by the time they were needed they were available. Think Food Rationing and all the war regulations, we were well served.

[Stanley]

So many famous names have vanished from the High Street recently that the shop frontages we were used to in the 50s and 50s are now Flatley Dryer territory. Some of them so well established that possible failure was an absurd notion. Woolworth's and British Home Stores were part of my childhood.
This process hasn't stopped and it makes you wonder whether the concept of the High Street itself where the businesses reinforce each other's footfall is in danger of vanishing. One telling pointer is the rising unemployment of retail workers, jobs in that sector have almost vanished and they have to seek other employment.

[Tizer]

See my latest bad experience on the High Street in the `Attention' thread. I get the feeling that the retailers are running down the shops and want to do away with all the costs of shop staff and have online only. But then how would we get to see products `in the flesh' before buying them?

[Stanley]

I hadn't thought about that Tiz and you could well be right. It's almost as though the High Street v. Online Shopping is a battle that has been won by online.
Can you remember the days of advertisements in the paper with a form you cut out and mailed off with a Postal Order? (Often including the Drip System as well!)

[Stanley]

Thinking about advertising can you remember when the winnings on Football Pools were capped, for a long time I think it was £75,000. Also, the companies were forced to include the percentage retained for expenses from the stake money. I seem to remember it was around 27%.

[Tizer]

Do you remember when they used to build houses properly? I complained on here, probably about a year ago, about the mortar in joints not lasting long in recently built walls. At the time I was referring to garden walls but it's obviously more widespread and causing big trouble for some people with new-build houses...
`New homes 'crumbling due to weak mortar' LINK

[Stanley]

One of the reasons is that you can get on faster bricklaying if the bricks are dry and porous and the mortar mix is stiff. This means less settlement and you can crash on putting weight on the courses. The old chimney builders used lime mortar which was more plastic and had a rule of 3ft of height a day.
For the strongest wall the bricks should be soaked in water for at least a day before laying and the compo kept as thin a layer as possible. Some specifications called for the bricks to be rubbed in on almost liquid compo but this can only work if the bricks are very accurately made. Nori bricks were laid like this, they were what is known as a plastic face brick and had the appearance of a matted glaze like terracotta mouldings which is what they were actually.
The other place where rubbing in is an advantage is when laying Class One refractories in flues and furnaces. They were very accurate as well to allow this method. Ordinary firebricks are too irregular for this but were very often used.
For the very highest quality the brickies went one step further, they rubbed the bricks in against each other to get the most intimate fit, especially if they were shaped bricks in structure like groins and arches. You hardly ever see this done, the only example I know is in the internal structure of the arches at the Old Stables at Gledstone where a transition had to be made from a square building to a circular cloister round an internal yard. A perfect example of the best brickwork.

[Stanley]

On a completely different note...... How many of you remember Yma Sumac? (LINK)