THE FLATLEY DRYER

[Stanley]

The other thing that sticks in my mind about the old kitchens is that the sinks were always either stone or white porcelain stoneware and the draining board was wooden. It was always wet and not the most hygienic fixture in the world!



The large stone slop stone in the warehouse at Bancroft was magnificent and had an integral stone draining surface.

[Stanley]

In those days, even modern semis like ours at Norris Avenue built in 1935 all had a brick built coal store in the back yard that would hold about half a ton if full. The ashes went in the dustbin, a round galvanised bin with a loose lid.



An old style bin in the redundant ash pit in Orchard Street in 1982. It's been modernised with a black bin liner!

[Stanley]

In Stockport and I have no doubt in Barlick as well because it was common practice, the Cleansing Department was in charge of fumigating houses if a contagions disease had been identified. This included all the bedding and clothes as well as the house. I don't know what they used as a disinfectant. Something very aggressive I have no doubt. I suppose a modern version still exists for the more exotic infections.....

[chinatyke]

I don't know what they used as a disinfectant. Something very aggressive I have no doubt. I suppose a modern version still exists for the more exotic infections.....

FLIT ?

My mother had a Flit gun.
T'was not devoid of charm.
A bit of Flit shot out of it,
The rest went up her arm.

- Pam Ayres.

Remember those?

[Stanley]

Now you mention it yes China, they were crudely made of tin plate and Pam was right, they tended to blow back at you!

[Stanley]

The other front line defence against flies was the infamous but effective fly paper. A roll of paper tape covered with a sticky substance. You hung them up and when they had gathered a harvest, burned them on the fire. Not pretty but very effective! Shambles still sells them and I have some somewhere but am temporarily uncertain of their location!

[Stanley]

Thinking about insects and the constant battle against them I can remember that the standard defence against moths in wool carpets was to spread (I think it was called....) paradichlorobenzene, white crystals, under the carpet as it was being laid. It seemed to be effective but I often wondered how dangerous it was!
(LINK) (Having read that I realise that it is in my moth balls!) that brings back another matter, does anyone remember Mothaks?



A 1940 advert for Mothaks.

[Tizer]

I've just found this among my images files but don't know where I got from. A lovely vehicle of the time!

[Tripps]

Nice van - shame about the product.....

"Steedman’s Soothing Powders were given to children to ease the pain and discomfort of teething. The ad may proclaim that “these powders contain no poison” but until the 1940s Steedman’s Soothing Powders contained mercury. Sometime before 1913 the Powders also contained opium which would have made it very soothing indeed at least until the person using the powder started to develop an addiction."

[Tizer]

Half a dozen assorted motor cars caught on camera in 1954 in Launceston, Cornwall. Have fun identifying them!

[Stanley]

David, soporifics in children's medicine used to be very common. I shall have to bump 'Drugged to Death'.... Funny thing is that some modern children's medicines also contain soporifics and a pharmacist told me that they are still bought often because they ensure young children sleep.

[Tripps]

I saw an advert yesterday on TV for Tiger Balm.
Seems it is good for headaches, arthritis etc, in fact any pain. Ancient Chinese remedy. Looks a bit like Vick ointment to me, in its latest formulation. I'm fairly sure it contained opiates in the not too distant past.

[Tizer]

Any suggestions for the identities of those motor cars? The one of the far right of the photo is an Austin A30 or A35. Could it be a Jowett Javelin parked behind it? And is the black car in the middle a Riley?

[Stanley]

I thought the one on the far right was a Standard.... I'll agree about the other two. Tiger Balm is still available as is Po Sum On, very similar but a liquid.
The remedy I miss most is Lintox which was a very good veterinary medicine for dogs. I see now the name is used for an insecticide. It used to be a red liquid.
Many old remedies contained ingredients which today would be illegal. In the 1960s you could go into a chemist shop and ask them to make up a bottle of Kaolin and Morphine if you had diarrhoea. Try doing it now. Dr J Colliss Browne's Mixture contained chlorodyne which he invented. It's a morphine derivative and I have just looked on the web and it is still available. I'm surprised, I thought it had been banned.

[Stanley]

It's a good thing that people of my generation were brought up not to go to the doctor as the first port of call for minor aliments. It must reduce the strain on GPs. At the moment I am just getting over the effects of a combined slight cold and the effects of my stupid exposure to grinding dust. Instead of rushing to the doctor I am doing perfectly well thank you with old fashioned remedies like Covonia and lemon and honey. We are winning and no extra strain on the NHS!

[Stanley]

many of the old farmers used cattle medicine to doctor themselves. Day's Red Drink was a favourite. I was once dosed with it when I was at Harrods Farm for flu.... It seemed to do me good but dangerous stuff, it had a high Strychnine content! (LINK)

[Stanley]

I mention the things I learned from my mother so often in this topic. It's quite amazing how her influence still works! I have had a chesty cold for the last fortnight, I put it down to grinding dust at first but now I'm not so sure. I think it was a slight cold and could have been something to do with a reaction to the flu jab. Always a slight cause of concern when you have been subject to as many nasties during your life as I have. I have been relying on the old stand by Covonia plus gargling with salt and water and honey and lemon. I'm happy to report that it's worked, I am almost out of the wood! (That's inviting trouble isn't it!)
The thing that raises these observations above pure medical matters is that I wonder how much, if any, of this sort of inherited lore is being passed down today. I may be wrong but in most cases I suspect it's not common. Perhaps we need a new subject in the curriculum..... One thing is certain, if put into practice it cuts down on visits to the GP!

[Tizer]

The same lack of knowledge is leading to hospital A&E departments being over-loaded too.

[Stanley]

Call me an old pessimist but I seem to see a gradual deterioration in the wider society. It's one of the areas that has been totally neglected by modern politics. Lots of lip service but no evidence of any effort to correct the worst inequalities which, I am convinced, are at the root of it.

[Tizer]

One of my sister-in-law's children, an 11-year-old, is suffering continuous anxiety. He's seen or heard about the `clowns' who are frightening people on the streets and he's scared of them now. They are dressing up as clowns and jumping out on people while their pals video it. Then they put the video on youtube and often get paid for it. Some are making 100s of pounds from it.

[Stanley]

This comes under the heading of 'pranks' doesn't it and if you look on Youtube you'll find plenty of examples. Always accompanied by shrieks of hysterical laughter and invariably stupid.... Include me out!

[Bodger]

It all started when they began getting paid for being on the pitch at Old Trafford

[Stanley]

Whoever started it should be sanctioned!!

[Stanley]

We are approaching the annual season of Bonfire night. This was marked by obsessive collection of anything that would burn, often stolen from other bonfire sites! The night before November 5th was Mischief night, all sorts of tricks including for some obscure reason taking garden gates off their hinges. The modern import of Halloween and Trick or treat is a recent innovation imported from the US. Seized with glee of course by commerce and the pumpkin growers!

[Tizer]

When I was a child my Uncle Fred collected wood on his back garden one year and invited us to come for the bonfire. I think it was an excuse really for him to have a fire and set off fireworks. But a few days before Bonfire Night all the wood was stolen and he found out that a gang of girls had taken it!