HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Seaforth News, 1958-09-25, Page 2ScrAnnb a For
Royal Souvenirs
Princess Margaret once had a
champagne cocktail at a fashion-
able West End club — and left
her deep -red lipstick hnprint on
the glass. The bartender prompt-
ly put the glass aside, And com-
plete with lipstick imprint it
occupies a place of honour in the
ehina cabinet of his home,
A Yorkshire housewife once
welcomed the Queen to her little
council house. Ever since then
the doormat on which Her Ma-
jesty wiped her feet has been
switched to the place of honour
in front of the hearth.
Though it's a commonplace cus-
tom in Britain, Dutch burghers
were shocked when guests poc-
keted the place cards after a
State banquet for the Queen
during her recent visit. Yet such
souvenirs as Ascot royal enclo-
sure badges, invitations to royal
garden parties and tickets for
investiture at Buckingham Pal-
ace are cherished today in thous-
ands of homes.
The souvenir habit sometimes
troubles royalty. When the old
royal yacht Victoria and Albert
was broken up the Queen her-
self stipulated that there should
be no souvenirs.
An astute dealer realized,
however, that much of the fur-
nishing would pass through a
Portsmouth auction room with
other ex -government stock.
He awaited his opportunity
and entered his bids—and in due
course a reconstruction of the
state -rooms of the world-famous
yacht was staged in a New York
store, where many of the fur-
nishings of the vessel' subse-
quently changed hands at gross-
ly inflated prices.
Not long ago a casual crayon
drawing by a boy of nine, scrib-
bled on a sheet o£ writing paper,
was offered at Sotheby's world-
famous are auction room, But
the paper was headed Windsor
Castle, the artist had been King
George V as a boy—and an art
collector considered the trophy
a bargain at $100.
It was structly souvenir value,
too, when Queen Victoria's gold
cloth coronation canopy was sold
at Sotheby's for '6120.
A woman who has always kept
a tiny piece of the Queen's wed-
ding cake recently rfeused $900
for her treasure. Each in a small
white cardboard box with the
royal initials "E R" on the lid
is silver, thousands of such
pieces — from eleven cakes! —
were sent out from Buckingham
Palace. Though the contents were
nearly always gobbled up for
luck, it is likely that most recipi-
ents have kept the boxes.
Thousands of homes, too,
treasure crested salver forks and
spoons from Buckingham Palace.
Be many disappeared with
garden party guests years ago
that when a private firm took
over the catering it was decided
that ordinary cutlery — stamped
with the firm's name — should
be used. Naturally enough. few
of these vanish.
Pince Philip has often been
the target of souvenir hunters.
He made no attempt to conceal
his indignation when yet an-
other of his hats vanished from
a royal car. Not long ago, too,
he suffered a plague of radiator
cap snatchers. When he was in-
volved in a trifling motoring col-
lision, souvenir -hunters even
ran off with the glass splinters.
At one time, clergymen would
often write to Buckingham Pal-
ace to ask for a pair of the
Queen's old gloves to be auc-
tioned to help a church sale of
work. The Queen, of course,
wears out one or two dozen pairs
of gloves each year, but when
it was found that royal gloves
sometimes found their way into
chop windows as curios, such
donations to charity bazaars were
discontinued.
Naturally, members of the
Royal Family cannot take part
in a souvenir "traffic." A rare
exception was made when the
Queen Mother drove with . Prin-
cess Margaret to receive the
freedom of the City of Landon
and autographed a menu card
for the Lord Mayor. At a train-
ing centre for the disabled, too,
the Queen and Prince Philip
once watched a man with me-
chanical arms type a message of
welcome, They were both so
impressed that, ignoring formal
procedure, they autographed the
message as a souvenir.
No doubt the grisliest royal
souvenir was snatched when the
coffin of Charles I was opened
in the vaults below St; George's
Chapel, Windsor, The purpose of
the opening was to settle sch01-
ary doubts on the exact position
of interment, but one of the' gen-
tlemen present could not resist
snatching a lock of hair from
the severed head, a piece of neck
vertebrae and a tooth.
''Years later King Edward VII
heard of the existence of these
grim relics and insisted that they
should be restored to the coffin.
One wonders, too, what has
happened to all the souvenir
horsehairs stolen from the Royal
Mews, Some 300 people a
week are privileged to visit the
Mews to see the Coronation coach
and other exhibits and the
other exhibits and the grooms
who show them round have to
watch souvenir snatchers. Not
long ago one of the veteran
horses, Snow White, had his por-
trait painted. So many people
had surreptitiously pulled hairs
from his tail for luck that the
artist asked for a false tail to be
fitted.
Record Sneezes
Photographers have been snap-
ping our sneezes. High-speed
camera shots reveal that when
we sneeze germ -laden particles
shoot from the mouth—not the
nose—at the amazing speed of
10 feet a second.
Not to be sneezed at, too, is
the astonishing fact that sneezes
are often a symptom of frus-
trated young love, according to
a doctor who has studied them.
In the United States a man
was taken to hospital because he
had sneezed so hard that he dis-
placed his shoulder blade. Doc-
tors gave him a whiff of ether
which caused him to sneeze again
so violently that the bone slipped
back into place.
For four months a steel en-
graver worked on the resign of
a new banknote for a South
American republic. One day he
sneezed, ruined the design and
had to start all aver again.
You never know with sneezes.
One terrific "atishoo" brought
down a war veteran's nose a
bullet which had remained in
his head since he was shot twen-
ty years earlier.
A woman in Portugal told her
doctor that she had seen her
husband almost prostrate with
sneezing- all because a speck of
flower pollen happened to blow
in a window or a tiny soap bub-
ble got into his nostril while he
was shaving,
"A particle of dust brushed
from his overcoat or hat sets
him sneezing for hal' an hour
or more," she said.
Such sneezes, say the experts,
are symptomatic of a sensitive
nose rather than a germ -laden
state. They keep out germs in-
stead of spreading them.
The record sneezer' An Edin-
burgh man sneezed 690 times in
succession in 1927. A Stowe
schoolboy in 1949 sneezed about
1,200 times an hour.
Mrs. Betty Grose, of Califor-
nia, was called the world's
greatest sneezer. She sneezed
200,000 times and er*ery time
complained of a piercing whistle
lasting ten recon .s in her left
ear.
AT THE POLLS — Old timer Tom Gibson, who crrived In the
Klondike gold country In 1898, is helped to the polls in Fair-
banks to cast his vote far statehood for Alaska.
ELECTRONIC NURSES' AIDE—There's a boxful of service at Dionne
Benson's finger tips in Wesley Memorial Hospital. She can
make house calls as well as outside calls on the one-piece tele-
phone. Electronic cabinet enables her to adjust room temp-
erature, make adjustments of her hospital bed, open or close
windows, control room lighting and operate closed-circuit TV
connected with the visitors' lobby. In addition, she can talk
via intercom to nurse on duty at the desk, tune in favorite
radio programs and see the time on a built-in clock. The device,
manufactured by a leading electronic control firm, is designed
to boost patient morale and help solvethe acute hospital
personnel problem.
TA OLE
s;t(-
eJaue 4r dvws.
4US
Streusel Coffee Cake, with the
purple plums and crunchy
brown sugar bits atop and
throughout, has unusual texture,
richness, and flavor — and is
just plum good eating! It's easily
and quickly prepared for a
leisurely breakfast, excellent a
second day served cold or heat-
ed, and still delicious enough to
serve warm later in the day as
dessert, topped with slightly
sweetened whipped cream, dairy
sour cream or cream poured
from a pitcher.
STREUSEL
34 cup brown sugar
3 tablespoons all-purpose
flour
2 teaspoons cinnamon
i s teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons softened butter
IS cup finely chopped walnuts
Combine sugar, flour, cinna-
mon, and salt. Mix well. Work
butter into dry ingredients, using
a fork or pastry blender to form
crumbs. Stir in the nuts.
BATTER
16 plums, halved and pitted
Le cup sugar for coating plums.
last, cups sifted all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
s4 cup sugar
le teaspoon salt
?!t cup softened shortening
1 egg, beateR
Is, cup milk
Mix plum halves gently with
the Ye cup sugar until fruit is
evenly coated. Combine in sifter
the sifted flour, baking powder,
sugar, and salt. Sift into mixing
bowl. Cut shortening into dry
ingredients with pastry blender.
Add egg, beaten until thick and.
lemon -colored, combined with
the milk. Stir just until dry
ingredients are moistened.
Spread half of batter into but-
tered 9 x 9 x 2 -inch baking dish.
Sprinkle with a half the streusel.
Distribute 16 of the plum halves
evenly over the surface. Spread
remaining batter over the plums;
cover with rest of the streusel
and top with the other plum
halves. Bake in a 350" P. oven
until done, about 50 minutes.
Yield: 16 generous scares.
Note: Wrap any leftover cof-
fee cake in foil to keep fresh for
eating cold or heated the next
day. a.
If you are canning peaches,
you may think they might re-
quire a flavor booster and a
very good one is a combination.
of vanilla end almond extract—
about V4 almond to se vanilla,
Add this, a little at a time, to the
syrup until the taste is right for
you. Orange peel is another good
booster; just drop a few pieces
into the syrup when you start
cooking it and fish them out
when the syrup is delicately
flavored. ,, •
Beet Relish
2 cups cooked beets, chopped
1 cup horseradish
• cup sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
14 cup vinegar
Combine all ingredients. Cov-
er and let stand overnight,
o * 5
Piquant Relish
r' cup hot vinegar
1 cup tomatoes
a/ Cup diced cucumbers
,4 cup chopped onion
1 cup cropped celery
Vs teaspoon each, mustard seed
and celery seed
?/ teaspoon salt
Mix all ingredients together.
Chow -Chow
2 medium heads of cabbage
t4: peck bell peppers (sweet)
peck green tomatoes
1 dozen sour cucumber pickles
2 each, red and green peppers
(hot)
8 large onions
4 pounds sugar
3 quarts vinegar
1 tablespoon ground horse-
radish
1 tablespoon ttuneric (to color)
1 tablespoon dry mustard
2 tablespoons each, celery seed
and ground cinnamon
3 tablespoons each, allspice and
cloves
Put the first six ingredients
through the meat grinder, using
coarse blade. Sprinkle lightly
with salt; let stand half a day,
or several hours. Place vinegar,
sugar, and spices in a large ket-
tle and bring to boil, Squeeze as
much juice as possible out of
first mixture and add mixture to
sugar -vinegar -spice mixture In
the kettle. Bring to boil and boil
20 minutes. Pack into clean jars
which need not be airtight, but
should have good covers.
* • •
"I make a cranberry ice that
is not used entirely as a dessert,
but can be. I often serve it in
sherbet glasses at the side of the
plate to be eaten with turkey or
special holiday dinners," writes
Mrs. Myrtle Campbell to the
Christian Science Monitor.
Cranberry Ice
1 quart fresh cranberries
Juice of 2 oranges and 2
lemons
314 cups sugar
1 box lemon -flavored gelatin
1 quart boiling water
Cover cranberries with water
and boil until soft. Put through
sieve, reserving liquid. Add the
liquid to pulp. Add orange and
lemon juice. Let cool. Dissolve
lemon -flavored gelatin in the
quart of boiling water. Let cool.
Combine the 2 mixtures. Put in
ice cube tray and freeze. Makes
3 or more pints of ice.
-
5 5 5
"Here is a candy recipe that
is more than 100 years old. It
came from the farm home of
my great -great grandmother in
Rhode Island," writes R. T.
"When cold, it should be chewy
but not brittle."
Chocolate Taffy
1?4. cups sugar
1 cup molasses (scant:
3 cup milk
2 squares chocolate
1!.i cups chopped nuts (walnuts
or butternuts)
?3 cup butter
Combine sugar, molasses, milk
and chocolate and bring to boil;
boil until quite thick. Add but-
ter and continue boiling to the
hard -ball ,stage. Remove from
heat and fold in nuts. Pour into
buttered pans in thin layers.
When candy is cold, mark into
squares.
• 5
"This candy recipe of my
grandmother's is about 80 years
old," writes R. T.
Butterscotch Candy
1 cup sugar
1 cup molasses
1 cup butter (less will do)
Combine ingredients and cook
to brittle -ball stage. Pour into
buttered pan (or cooky sheet).
When hard, tap pan to break
Cindy into irregular pieces,
Parson invented
Knitting Machine
England was a sad and sav-
age realm in the early years of
the first Queen Elizabeth. Later
she was cheered and hailed as
"Good Queen Bess," but during
the early part of her reign voices
in taverns and market. places
were constantly raised against
her.
The old religion, perverted by
Henry Tudor and made a mock-
ery by the persecutions of
Bloody Mary, still lingered as
an aching memory in the hearts
of the people.
Statesmen might clamour . for
reform, but common folk mur-
mured of revolution. The fires "
of Smithfield and the block on
Tower Hill might hold terror,
but they were not strong enough
to uphold tyranny,
It was during this uneasy per-
iod in English history that Wil-
liam Lee was born. The ne'er-
do-well` son of a middle-class
family, he studied at Cambridge
and became a clerk in Holy Or-
ders. — that is, a parson of the
reformed church.
Lee seems to have had his
share of the vices of youth, but
little or no vocation for his
spiritual calling, He might have
lived and died in obscurity had
it not been for his inventive
mind,
The tavern seems to have ap-
pealed to him much more than
the pulpit, and before long he
found himself forced to marry a
barmaid in whom he had taken
rather more than a spiritual in-
terest.
The lilac -scented village of
Cambridge held' no attraction for
Young Willem. There is no rec-
ord of his having been posted
to any living, and it seems un-
likely that he ever practised his
calling as a parson.
What he did do was to invent
the frame knitting -machine.
What impelled him to this
achievement can only be guess-
ed, It certainly brought him lit-
tle or no reward, although it was
destined to make a fortune for
his successors,
Was it a nagging wife, weary
of child-bearing and drudgery,
who drove Lee to seek distrac-
tion in the invention still asso-
ciated' with his name? Or could
it have been the monotonous
clicking of knitting needles in
the smoke-filled hovel where he
lived?
Whatever it was, Lee laboured
until he had, developed a knit-
ting frame with automatic lock
movement that would knit
hosiery in a tenth of the time
it took on knitting needles,
When he had perfected his
machine, he wrote to the Queen
begging an audience, His aim
was to demonstrate his marvel
to Her Majesty and gain her pa-
tronage for his invention.
The audience was granted and
Lee, with hope pulsing through
his joyous heart, demonstrated
his machine at Court, A few
days later the Queen wrote to
Lee refusing the monopoly
rights he sought, and affirming,
in no uncertain terms, that she
wouldn't finance his nefarious
scheme for making hosiery by
machine.
One can almost hear the strid-
ent, masculine voice of the
Queen when, in refusing assist-
ance, she writes: "It is of no
avail to seek our assistance, lest
it may take the bread from the
mouths of my poor subjects who
earn their livlihood by the craft
of knitting."
It is an amazing thought that,
about two hundred years before
workers attempted to destroy
machinery which they maintain-
ed was endangering their liveli-
hood, a precedent for this reae-
tipnary behaviour was set by the
Queen of England!
Some years after his - stormy
interview with the domineering
Queers, Lee, travelled through
France and Belgium still trying
to sell the machine that he hoped
would make him his fortune. No
one was interested. All his ard-
ent endeavours to free women
from drudgery were of no avail,
Broken in psirit, he died in ob-
scurity somewhere on the Con-
tinent.
Then suddenly, and with ter-
rible irony, the tide turned. Lee's
brother returned to London
bringing with him the cast -out
and forgotten fraine knitting -
machine, He tried to win the in-
terest of woollen merchants
who were slowly migrating from
London to the Midlands. After
some weeks he met with suc-
cess and a small company was
formed to manufacture the ma-
chines and use them to produce
hosiery for sale at home and on
the Continent,
The new industry thrived;
soon several home factories were
equipped with the revolutionary
knitting frame - and whole fami-
lies were finding regular employ-
ment in the manufacture of jer-
syes, jackets and stockings.
So successful was the venture
that, a century later, the hand-
knitters of Leicestershire sent s
petition to the mayor and alder-
men of Leicester, seeking pro-
tection from the encroachment
of the frame knitters on the
hand -knitting industry.
An obscure parson's dream
had become a reality. Theidea
scorned by a queen and rejected
by the people had become so
much part of the industrial life
of developing England that the
Worshipful Company of Frame
Knitters had been called into
being. It exists to this clay, and
of course knitted products are
a big part of British trade.
SL'U14IBER TIME
The Dodgers had a big inning
going and Chick Fewster, sitting
next to manager Robinson, be-
gan pounding the dugout steps
wit a bat to rattle the opposing
pitcher.
"Stop that!" comanded man- -
ager Wilbert Robinson,
Chick looked at his manager
in astonishment. "Why?" he
asked, "Ain't we got a rally
going?'
Robbie pointed toward a cor-
ner of the Dodger bench where
his star pitcher, Jess Petty, was
snoring away.
"Don't wanna wake up of
Jess," he whispered.
E FOR EUROPE—A symbolic bird
of peace perches atop a large
"E" in this new 40 -pfennig
(about 10c) Europa (Europe)
stamp to be issued by West
Germany Sept. 13. It is blue in
color, with a red stripe within
the "E".
Younger Set Fashion Hirst