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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Seaforth News, 1954-12-30, Page 6One and For Piano ,,The Other For Beer Bransby . Williams, whose viv- ld Dickens and Shakespeare character sketches viewers have seen an TV; came up the rough way, giving turns on the saw- dust in working' men's, clubs, Hey remembers playing in a dilapidated old theatre at Con- sett in the north, more than fifty years ago, when business was back and the orchestra com- prised a bald-headed violinist who also conducted, an old cor- net -player who never once look- ed up, and a faded lady at a very tinny piano. Before the encl of the week the company knew that when she played only the bass with her left hand she was taking a drink, from a can placed on top of the piano, with her right, When she played treble only she was wolfing hot chip po- tatoes. The boys in front amus- ed themselves by shooting. dried peas at the conductor's bald head. He would turn round, threaten them with his bow, then return to the conducting, During the last act the vill- ian locked the heroine in a safe. One night a fellow in front jumped over the orchestra rail to the stage, knocking over the pianist and her can of beer, and began pitching into the villain. A roar went up when it was noticed that the pianist's chips were stuck to his book! The curtain fell on shrieks and yells. Arriving at the theatre on Saturday the company found that the huge, gypsy -like stage manager had been drinking, He met them with an iron stage brace in his hands and bent it, saying, "That's what I'll do to the darn lot of ye!" The assist- ant stage manager disappeared, and next morning they found him on the railway siding. He'd hidden and slept in the train all night! Business was bad, too, at the old wooden theatre at Stour - bridge, this veteran trouper re- calls in his lively memoirs, "Bransby Williams by 'Himself" About mid -week an old lady came on the stage, a shawl over her head, munching bread and cheese, and proceeded to call them everything but their , names. Bransby apealed to the's stage manager to have her reeea moved. "Keep it mum, boys,,:;, - It's the boss,' he replied. It was Mrs,, Patch, widow of" l 1,11T CAK BY DOROTHY MADDOX For parties, fruitcake is almost a "must" And today, with so many top-quality commercially baked fruiteakes to choose from, it is not necessary to bake your own. For your festive buffet table, have a lull punch bowl and lots of fruitcake served in different and attractive ways. ',Pry some of these variations. Party Sandwiches Cut fruitcake into thin slices and spread with softened cream cheese. Top with another slice of fruitcake. Sandwich Oakes Cut fruitcake into one -inch slices, then .out each slice in half, to make dainty -size sandwich cake. Cover top with your favourite butter -cream frosting. Decorate with coloured sugar, chopped nuts, or chopped cherry. Fruitcake Melba Place slice of fruitcake on Individual dessert plate. Spread with strawberry or raspberry jam. 'top with half a peach, cut -side down. Pour a small quantity of the peach syrup over all. Fruitcake a la Mode Serve vanilla ice cream on slices of fruitcake. Fruitcake Pudding Place thick slices of fruitcake in the top of a double boiler, Heat through. Place a slice on each dessert plate. Over the top,. pour any desired pudding custard; hot lemon or other favorite sauce. Sparkling Punch --- About One Gallon Dissolve 3 cups sugar in 3 cups hot water. Cool, Add s/s cup lemon juice and a 46 -ounce can pineapple juice. Chill, At serving time add 3 pints sparkling water, Serve in ppnch bowl with ice block. Decorate with fresh Or frozen strawberries. This makes about a gallon, or 30 to 40 small servings, Pine -Tea Punch Four cups boiling water, 1 cup tea leaves, 4 cups sugar, 4 cups cold water, 12 cups (two 46 -ounce cans) pineapple juice, 2 cups lemon juice. IN MA -Y YS A Fruitcake Buffet will be a welcome treat for your guests Add boiling water to tea leaves; let stand 5 minutes, then strain add sugar, and stir until dissolved. Cool. Add other ingredi- ents; chill. Serve in punch bowl with block of, ice, This makes about 6 quarts, or 50 half -cup servings. the man who, with his partner, Bennet, had made a fortune with the old penny "gaff," They gave Ghost Shows at all the fairs. She lived in a cottage beside the theatre, and abused the company daily as they pass- ed. She died some time after- wards, and Bransby was told she left over $250,000. When Bransby was at the Coliseum with the clown Greek, he had no sooner announced his next impression—"Wilkins Mic- awber, from 'David Copper - field' "—and proceeded to make up, than he heard a what -to-do backstage. Greek, who had sauntered down to the wings to tratch, was shouting: "Send for Oswald Stoll! This man has eopied my make-up!" Groek, .,too, wore a completely bald i° ig. He didn't know that taswber, also, had been created quite bald by Dickens in 1850. TALE dam AAnckws. After all the rich fare of the holiday season it's good to get back to the simpler, more fam- iliar sorts of dishes. So here are some dessert recipes that were good in Grandma's day — and just as good right now. OLD-TIME RICE PUDDING 3% eups milk, scalded 1 cup sugar 1 cup uncooked regular rice r teaspoon salt '.i teaspoon ground nutmeg 1 teaspoon vanilla flavoring 1 tbisp. butter or margarine Combine all ingredients in a greased 1 -quart casserole. Bake in a moderately low oven, 325° F., about 2 hours. A brown crust will form during baking, stir this in every half hour for the first. 11.4 hours of baking, Dur- ing last half hour, allow top to brown slightly. Makes 4 to 6 servings. QUICK RICE PUDDING a nice pudding made with pre-cooked rice. 3 eups milk, scalded % cup packaged pre-cooked rice !3 cup sugar teaspoon salt =z teaspoon vanilla flavoring 1 tblsp, butter or margarine Combine all ingredients in a greased 1 -quart casserole. Bake in a moderate oven, 350°F., 45 minutes. Stir every 15 minutes during baking, and once more after re -moving pudding from oven. If a brown top is desired, place baked pudding under broiler for a few minutes. Watch carefully so top doesn't get over brown, Serve warns or chilled. Makes 4 to 6 servings. 5 5 5 INDIAN PUDDING 4 cups milk 4 tablespoons corn meal as eup molasses 34 cup sugar 1 egg, well beaten 1 tblsp. butter or margarine 1,4 teaspoon salt acs teaspoon ground ginger 1A teaspoon ground cinnamon Scald 3 cups of the milk. Com- bine corn meal and molasses. Stir into hot milk and cook over moderate heat, stirring constant- ly, until thickened, about 4 min- utes. Remove from heat; stir in sugar, egg, butter, salt, gin- ger and cinnamon. Pour into a greased 1.1e -quart baking dish. Bake in a low oven, 3007., 1A hour. Pour remaining 1 cup milk over pudding and continue to bake 2 hours, Serve warm with vanilla ice cream or with heavy cream. Makes 6 servings. He Has "Smooth" Technique Artist Rudolf Urmersbach, 52, has truly a soft touch with the brush. Using a technique all his own, he paints on black velvet, Fashion Knits New Styles — Striped trim points up the cardigan, left, knitted of cotton, which conforms to the new "slim" line.' Three-quarter push-up sleeves add the final casual touch. Middy blouse, right, Is also of cotton knit. Oversize collar and contrast- ing stripes at the neckline give it an enticingly nautical look for spring wear. CHOCOLATE BLANC MANGE 2 cups milk 2 1 -ounce squares unsweet- ened chocolate 3 tablespoons cornstarch 1/2 teaspoon salt 34.eup sugar 3/4 teaspoon vanilla flavoring Combine 11/ cups of the milk and chocolate; heat in the top of a double boiler until choco- late is melted. Beat with a'ro- tary until blended. Mix corn- starch, salt, sugar and remain- ing 1 cup milk; stir slowly into scalded milk, Cook in top of double boiler over boiling water 10 minutes, stirring constantly until smooth and thickened. Cover and continue cooking 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat, stir in the vanilla. Turn into individual molds which have been rinsed with cold water. Chill blanc mange for 1 hour or until firm. Unmold on chilled dishes and serve with plain or whipped cream. Makes 4 to 6 servings. 5 4, 5 CARAMEL BLANC MANGE VARIATION Omit chocolate given above and make this syrup to add to scalded milk; Melt IA cup sugar in a heavy skillet over low heat; when light brown in color re- move from heat and slowly stir in 2/4 cup boiling water, Cook over moderate heat for 10 min- utes or until the caramel is dissolved completely, Add im- mediately to hot milk. 5 5 5 PUMPKIN. CUSTARD PIE 3 eggs, slightly beaten ?§ cup light brown sugar as cup granulated sugar 1 teaspoon salt la teaspoon ground nutmeg yy teaspoon ground cloves la teaspoon ground sugar. 1 cup milk 2 cups strained pumpkin, fresh or canned 1 9 -inch unbaked pie shell Combine eggs, brown and white sugar, salt and spices, Stir in milk, then pumpkin. Pour this custard mixture into pie shell and bake in a hot oven, 4257. for 35 to 40 minutes or until a knife inserted near one ,side comes out clean. Makes 6 servings. QUEEN OF PUDDINGS 4 eups milk, scalded 2 tblsp, butter or margarine 6 slices day-old bread, cut in 1" squares 3 whole eggs et cup sugar az teaspoon salt SEE - HEAR You'd never know this young lady is wearing a hearing aid concealed in her horn -rimmed glasses. The unit was designed to eliminate un- sightly ear plugs, cords and mic- rophones. The spectacles are fit- ted with plain glass for those who don't need lenses. 14 teaspoon ground nutmeg 1 teaspoon vanilla flavoring e cup raspberry jam Combine milk, butter and bread in a bowl. Boat 1 whole egg with 2 egg yolks; reserve two whites for meringue. Stir in ria cup of the sugar, the salt, nutmeg and vanilla, and mix with bread and milk mixture. Pour into a greased 11/2 -quart baking dish. Set baking dish in a deep pan and pour enough hot water into pan to come to within 1" of the top of baking dish. Bake in a moderate oven, 350° F„ 45 to 50 minutes, of until a knife inserted near one side comes out clean. Remove cas- serole from oven and turn oven regulator to 4257. Spread top of pudding with IA cup of jam, Next make a meringue: Whip egg whites until stiff but not dry; add the remaining Y4 cup sugar gradually and whip until mixture forms stiff peaks, Spoon over pudding as pictured. Replace baking dish .in pan of hot water and continue baiting about 5 minutes. Decorate with remaining yarn, Makes 6 to 8 servings, Used Love Letters As Walking Stick For years the average man has used a walking stick, if at all, only when walking or climbing in the country during his holidays, He has seldom carried a stick for show as his grandfather did. But during 1955 makers expect to see men becoming once more walking stick conscious. There's a true story of an ec- centric old peer who, jilted by the lovely young girl he wanted to marry, had her 3,000 love letters pulped and wound round a ' steel rod. He carried this "walking stick" with him wher- ever he went and it was always by his bedside at night. When an impoverished old bachelor of Ashland, Oregon, entered the office of his lawyer to sign a mortgage on his home in 1924, his hands, trembling with emotion, accidentally knocked over his walking stick. The agate head of the cane was shattered, revealing in the hollow stick pearls worth $60,- 000. The old man recalled receiv- ing the stick as a gift from a white man with a Sioux Indian wile in Minnesota in 1884. The man had been stricken with smallpox and abandoned by wife and friends; the bachelor had nursed him back to health. As a reward he was given the walking stick. For years the new owner car- ried it with him, little realizing it contained treasure. He pawn- ed it twice in Chicago„but each time redeemed it. Now aged he lives comfortably on a farm in Minneapolis. THIRSTY LION A. thirsty lion apparently knew exactly where to go for a drink of water in the Wind- hoek district of South-west Af- rica. Mr. and Mrs. W. G. Nel were sitting down to breakfast when the kitchen door was nuz- zled open. A fully grown lion walked in on the petrified. man and woman, then turned to the kit- chen sink where he lapped up a good quantity of water. Just as casually it turned around and walked out of the house again. Olow Out.Proof Tires Add Safe Driving n Men are acquiring ti new vo- eabulary, which has a curiously familiar ring towomen, Phrases like "slender silhouette,” "taut, slim body lines," and "new treatment of the side panel", are: creeping into masculine con- versation. Cause of it all is not Paris or even Saville Row, but Detroit. And the silhouettes are mould- ed of metal, not fabric. Never in the history of the motor -ear has so much atten- tion ttention been given to styling as has been lavished on the 1955 modals now being unveiled, . The introduction of each new oar seems to bring forth lore high- fashion terminology than is usually reserved for a Paris col- lection. Instead of the Flat Look, the Narrow Look end the H Line, motorists have the Low - Slung Look, the Forward Look and the Sloping Beltline. According to the latest De- troit dictum, the driving public wants sleek, roadhugging lines and ,higher horsepower. And according - to some automotive designers, women are respon- sible for all this preoccupation with styling. One prominent industrial de. signer actually came out recent- ly and said: "It is the little woman who buys the cars. When she looks at new cars, she -sees • -only—the—body--style, the dashboard and the upholstery in that order," Though few women would pretend. to understand what goes on _under the hood, many also take a lively interest in any new safe -driving feature. Un- fortunately, many of these im- provements in motoring have been overshadowed recently by all the drastic changes in body lines, color combinations and souped -up horsepower. New safety features are con- stantly being built into auto construction and •equipment. One part of this continuous pro- gram has been directed at over- coming the dangers of tire blow- outs. A slow leak caused by a puncture is not dangerous. But if a tire blows out even at com- paratively slow speeds, the car may swerve into a ditch or into the path of approaching auto. The new tubeless tire is one of the latest measures taken to counteract this hazard of the highways, But Fully as import- ant as the rubber in the tire is the fabric used to build the tire body. By making this fabric or tire cord, as it is called, of the strongest material known to the textile industry — nylon — some tire engineers hope to fulfil a long-time goal. This is to build a tire which will last as long as the average family keeps a car or even up to 100,000 miles, In the nylon cord tires these engineers feel they have the answer because after seven years of wear -test- ing Over the roughest roads on the continent, the first blow -out -,.--.- has yet to be recorded. The three main causes of blow -outs are moisture, heat generated by speed, gradual break -down of the tire due to repeated bending and finally damage caused by jolts against projecting objects. Since nylon cord tires proved too tough to succumb to these usually fatal conditions, they are now regard- ed as virtually blow -out -proof. A surprisingly large part of life in this country, incidentally, is spent being transported from place to place on four wheels. Today, there is one motor -cat for every 5.9 nien, women and children in Canada, while sur- ing the thirties only one in 8.7 Canadians owned a car. By de- veloping an anti -blow -cut tire, the automotive industry has taken a major step toward re- moving some of the risks we take every time we step into a car. "Shorty" Goes To College — Long after "Shorty" has passed on to the world of steaks and roosts, hell be remembered with fondness an the campus of some agricultural college. The 1100- pound Aberdeen Angus grand champion steer brought CIS a pound at auction, second all-time high price. Janice Hollinger, 16, who is shown with Shorty, plans to use her $16,650 purse to send her thfee brothers to college. t,