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The Seaforth News, 1958-06-19, Page 2That OldITime Button Box!' For some time I've had a note here, reminding me to write a ]piece some time about the but - ion box,But I've never done it, and I almost doubt it I do. It doesn't round itself out, s'ome- how.. You see, the workaday me- ehanics of these dispatches fol- low an erratic but solemn sche- dule, It's kind of hard to tell ' anybody holeyou write anything. You can tell them how to make u fair dill pickle, and it seems es if writing ought to be about the same, You take certain in- geedients and follow certain trules, and allowing for blending, :know-how, and touch', you come up 'with a result, good or bade You ought to be able to do it with a button box. ' The way it works with me, 1'11 be hunting through the bushes for an ax I lost off the sled last winter, and I'll see a toadstool, or something, and that puts me its mind of something else,. and If I happen to remember what it Was I make a note when I get home and stick it behind the clock. Like this one here — it says: "Who decided news should be pronounced knee-youse?" This is on the back of a feed bill, and es growing mash was then sell- ing for. $2.37 a cwt. I guess that note has been there a long time. So has the one that says, "But- ton box." What happened, or did not happen, with the button box was a matter of jell. There wasn't anything much to go with it, and it remained a note and nothing more. This is odd, because the button box was an institution of Importance, and there ought to be a great deal to write about it, At least as much as goes with gudgeon grease, soap, and buggy whips. For a wlule I thought about doing something with button collectors. They are hobbyists. They put their buttons on cards and go to button club meetings to swap and compare and make speeches. But they are specialists, and take no particular notice of the button box as an adjunct of a former civilization. They for- get that a button box was for accumulating, not collecting. Buttons were an asset, not a treasure. The button box was for using, not for showing. I think it's nice people collect but- tons, but I didn't want to em- phasize the modern aspects. The economy was such in those bygone days that buttons didn't get discarded, They clipped them off Aunt Min's silk shirtwaist with the same frugal shears that Slipped then). eff Uncle Aaron's long -handled 'underwear. And aley popped both kinds in the game box to await the unfolding of the future. So, you would gain on buttons because you never threw any away, and then from time to time somebody acquired some new ones in a splurge of style, i suppose we ought to empha- size the importance of buying new buttons then. I can remem- ber how they were shown around, still attached to their card, and opinions were solicited es to their suitability. The wo- men would hold the card against the material, and debate if the Thread matched. The buttons at- tracted much attention even be- fore the garment was cut out on the big table. The button box was notewor- thy in itself, for it was one of the containers no longer made. They were piggin, puncheon, or (firkin style, often wooden. Some- times a former courtship was remembered when a chocolate box survived for buttons. Tin biscuit boxes were another fa- vorite. Then there was a dovetailed wooden box for horseshbe nails, with a slide cover. I remember o$Se pretty good fight over such a box — Grandniether needed more room for buttons, and she went out in the shop and ac- quired Grandfather's horseshoe nail box. It wasn't empty yet, so • she dumped the few nails in a maple sap bucket, Grandfather found • his all=important horse shoe nails unceremoniously loose, and suspecting what had hap- pened he went leto the house and dumped the buttons' into a Vase and took his horseshoe nail' box back to the shop. Grand- mother shouldn't have done that, The button box was a won- derful tranquilizer tor active children who couldn't find any_ thing to do. You could spend hours looking at buttons. One" trick was to fetch a length of Aunt L' yddiee and a needle, and set the child to stringing all those that were alike. It would cheat the tedium of an afternoon while the older folks visited. You could damp the buttons out on the rug and take either the short string or the long string tack. Plain clamshell shirt buttons were easiest to find, and you could make a string six feet long. Or you could go for fancy coat buttons and hunt all afternoon for the six you'd finally string. This was your choice and when you got 'all of one kind on a thread you could, tie them orf and put them in the "other" but- ton box. There was one box in which all the buttons were strung, you see, a kind of record of Sunday afternoons. I suppose we ought to mention, to, the "twister." You could hunt a big overcoat button from the box and loop it on a string and make a toy of sorts that must have been a forerunner of the gyroscope and other physical formulae, On Hallowe'en you could twist this button against a neighbor's front window and put the whole family tip on the parlor organ. It was an infernal racket, I remember one twister that went afoul in Susie Westlake's long red hair, and Susie's yell of dismay haunts me even now as it echoes down the corridors of memory. Susie's hair was yanked back so she couldn't shut her eyes for weeks. T didn't know how to go about retrieving my twister, and I suppose Susie's mother cut the button from Susie's hair and then put it' in her own button box. But there never seemed to me to be enough material• there to round out a presentable piece, and I've left the .old button box as was. We still have some but- ton boxes, but times have led us astray and we don't use them the way folks used to. I don't have mnch 1)se for a Mutate: now and bbuttbiek probably no longerbeak their former relationship to the economy. So, perhaps I'd better toss this note away.—By John Gould in The Christian Science Monitor. (Editor's Note: We weren't acquainted with "Aunt Lyddie" either. John tells us the refer- ence is to "Aunt Lydia's" thread, a heavy, coarse product for rugs and buttons and farm chores— •"A very old trade mark, but you can still buy it.") BRAVES TO THE END When Dick Culler was with the Braves he seldom saw any action. Sibby Sisti was the reg- ular shortstop, One day the Braves were los- ing by a lopsided score and manager Southworth, deciding to rest Sisti, told Culler to warm up and get into the game. Then, as -an afterthought, he asked one of his coaches what the score was. "It's 9-2," his assistant in- formed him. "Sit down, Dick," Southworth ordered Culler. "We ain't giving up yet." STEPPING ALONG - Keeping in perfect step as they go out for their evening stroll, are Kathy White and her two, all -black kittens. One of the nice things about living in a small sown, says 10-yegr•old Kathy, is that you con walk in the street if ycu feel like it. WHERE REVOLT IS SPREADING The Algerian Gaullist revolt against the Paris government is reported to have spread to the Corsican capital of Ajaccio,' shown here. TABLE TALKS "Pudding" has always seem- ed such a comical word to me that as I received many recipes for this dessert from readers, I looked it up in my unabridged dictionary. There areseveral definitions, but the one that re- fers to cookery is not a joke' but has dignified and definite mean- ing writes Eleanor Richey ,John store "Pudding," says Webster, "is a dessert having flour or some other cereal as a foundation, with added eggs, milk, fruit, sugar, spices, etc.; as, a plum, rice or bread pudding. Puddings zeem originally to have been boiled in a bag or cloth, but are. now m o r e often steamed or baked." 5 One of the pudding' recipes we have received is a bread pudding that is cooked in the top of a double boiler. "It serves four to six—if they're hungry children, four," writes Mrs. Harold D. Reed. Glorifleel Bread Pudding 3 slices any kind of bread, broken 1 tablespoon butter 1 cup brown sugar t cup seedless raisins (optional) 2 eggs 1 tablespoon sugar '/s teaspoon salt 1,41 cups milk Put broken bread in top of double boiler and put butter on top, then brown sugar and rais- ins. In a bowl beat eggs, white sugar, salt and milk. Pour over top of bread mixture, Cook over boiling water for 1 hour, (Brown sugar makes delicious caramel sauce.) "Wonderful hot — still good cold," Mrs; Reed says. * 5 * With an eye to economy, Mrs. Clara B. Simek suggests that "next time you have your oven on for a roast, the slow roasting way — 300 degrees - 325 degrees 1'. — make your dessert in the same oven, saving fuel and time. This is a family recipe and has been tested by me many times it is simple and simply de- licious. Creamy Rice Pudding 3 cups milk. le cup sugar 'et eup rice (scant) 1 teaspoon vanilla 1 pinch salt Butter a 1 -quart baking dish; pour all ingredients into it; stir to dissolve sugar and place in oven, Stir twice during cook - mg period (2-21 hours), once after first half hour and once again as it browns on top. Re- move from oven and let stand to cool slightly. Serve with berries or a large spoonful of raspberry jam. (Note: This is similar to my own family recipe for rice pud- ding, but I always serve it with plenty of thick cream.) a * Some of the pudding recipes received do not contain t h e "flour or some other cereal as a foundation," as Mr. Webster thinks they should. Neverthe- less, we do call them puddings. One of these, from Mrs. Edith Moore, can be made as a prune whip or made with apricots, or peaches, or pineapple. "The fa-'- vourite desserts at our house are now fruit whips — I vary them all the time," she writes, "and serve . with a custard sauce," Prune Whip 2 cups prune pulp- le ulpl% eup sugar Juice of et, lemon 2 egg whites, beaten stiff Soak prunes overnight; cook slowly in water to cover; re- move pits and mash to make pulp. Combine prune pulp, su- gar and lemon juice, Fold 19 beaten egg white;. Place in but- tered casserole; place casserole in pan 01 water; bake 20 minutes at 350 degrees F. Pineapple variation: Suhsu- tute 1 cup crushed pineapple for .1 cup prune pulp; reduce amount of sugar to 2 table- spoons. Apricot variation: Substitute 2 cups apricot pulp for ,thes prune pulp (make it the same way). Omit lemon juice. Peach variation: Substitute 2 cups peach pulp Sar the prune pulp; add a pinch cream of tartar to egg whites while beat- ing. , ,, Custard Sauce 2 egg yolks, beaten 1/6 cup sugar (scant) 1/2. teaspoon vanilla (use almond for apricot and peach whips) Dash nutmeg 311 cap' milk • Combine egg yolks, sugar and milk; cook in top of double boiler over hot water until mix- ture coats a spoon. Add flavour- ing. Ser v e over whip while custard is still warm. Sprinkle top with nutmeg, * -* Everyone seems to like lemon pudding• and a recipe has been resit by Mrs. Winifred B. King, for a baked lemon ,dessert. Queen of Lemon .Puddings 1 cup sugar 5 tablespoons softened butter 1 i teaspoon salt 6 tablespoons sifted flour 1 egg yolks, well beaten Juice and grated rind of 1 lemon 1;{ cups milk egg whites, beaten until stiff but not dry 5 * * Cream together the sugar, salt, and butter; add flour, egg yolks, rind and juice of lemon and the milk; mix. Fold beaten egg whites into first mixture. Place in slightly buttered cas- serole; set hs pan of hot water, bake 1 hour at 300 degrees F. Serves 6. * * k "We have •used this recipe in our family for '75 years," writes Mrs, Aylmers Hanks Bruce. Woodford Pudding 3 eggs 1 cup sugar le cup flour 1 eup jam ?e cup butter 3 teaspoons sour milk 1 teaspoon soda Cinnamon and nutmeg to taste Dissolve soda in sour milk. Cream together the butter and sugar; add eggs, flour, jam, and milk. Season with spices. Pour in deep buttered pan. Bake at 300 degrees F. (It rises and then drops). Serve with the fol- lowing sauce. Sauce 1 cup sugar 1 tablespoon brown sugar ea cup water 1?2 tablespoons _butter Heat, stirring, until all ingre- dients are blended. "Thi, is a pudding we enjoy very much," writes Mrs, Ger- tattle Sandbach, Rhubarb Pudding 4 cups rhubarb out in Winch pieces (don't peel) 11/2 cups dark brown sugar, firmly packed z/z cup white sugar 1 small can crushed pineapple, partly drained Mix well in glass casserole; cover and bake 30-40 minutes at 350 degrees F. leo not stir, but allow rhubarb to remain whole. Juice should be thick when -taken from oven, Serve with cookies or cup cakes. * * * ,Apricot -Pineapple Ice Warm summer days will soot be here when refreshing ice will be a popular desse`rt.' This re- cipe serves 4. Force 1 cup un- sweetened cooked dried apricots through coarse sieve. Combine with 1 cup of liquid from cook- ed apricots and 1 cup crushed pineapple. Boil together 1 cup sugar, PA cups water and three 4 -inch sticks cinnamon, for s 5 minutes; remove from heat; .re- move cinnamon sticks and stir in apricot mixture. Pour into refrigerator tray; place in freez- ing compartment set at coldest point. Freeze until firm (stir several times during freezing). When firm, 'reset temperature control to normal. Beauty Secrets Of Deborah Kerr It is often a problem finding a diet that will keep you slim and, at the same time, healthy and energetic, When I'm working -On a pic- ture I have to get up at five and be at the studio anywhere from 6 to 73:0 a.m., depending on the amount of make-up, hairstyling and wardrobe I need. I had no sooner finished my role in "Separate Tables" than I had to leave for Europe to make "The Journey" with Yul Brynner. This, is all very excit- ing, of course, but it is also hard ' work, and it is taxing on one's nerves, emotions and vitality. Above all, a star needs physical health. I have to watch my weight so that I remain the same every day. Losing weight when I'm in the middle ' of playing a role would be .just as disastrous as putting it on. This is the diet my doctor pre- scribes for me: Breakfast: orange juice, an egg, one slice of toast; tea or coffee. Lunch: steak, or ground meat, with a small salad, Evening meal: meat or fish. with either two tables or one vegetable and a green salad. No potatoes or sauces, For dessert, I have fruit or jelly, but no pie, cake or cream. To keep up my vitality I drink. coffee with sugar between meals and put extra salt on my meat and vegetables. • This' same diet, minus the sugar and salt IS weight re- ducing, But my aim is to keep my weight the same. ISSUE 24 1958 Who Won The Battle Of Britain? Invasion came cldse to Britain in the summer of 1940 but Hit- ler, marshaling' strength to over. whelm the island, never made the big move. Why? London newspapers have recently . been fixing some heated answers at that question — most aimed spe- cifically at, a new. British hook titled "The Silent Victory." .In these pages Duncan Grin- rtell-Milne, a 6.l -year-old writer and businessman, states flatly that the Royal -Navy was chiefly responsible for "frustrating Hit- ler's plan. Obviously, this thesis runs exactly counter to the more usual view—by now almost a legend in Britain—that the Bat- tle Of at-tle'Of Britain was won anti hence the invasion was canceled, when the heroic "few" of the RAF's hard-pressed fighter squadrons refused 10 concede to Hitler that one important element: Com- mand of the air. The fact that Sir Winston Churchill himself has given official and, oratorical finality to the RAF claim bothers Grinnell - Milne not a w.hit. Churchill, he says, "is not sup- ported by naval evidence, either British or German," some of his arguments are "entirely inappli- cable," others "Churchill him- self has already contradicted." What gives Grinnell-Milne's argument not only, fascination but weight is his thorough re- search and documentation point- ing toward Hitler's neglect of the naval arm. Germany, he maintains, was supreme on land, strong in the air, but disastrous, ly weak at sea, Furthermore, he contends, despite Reichsmarshal Hermann Goring's boast to the contrary, strong; German air - ,power would never have been able to compensate for the lack of German seepower, particu- larly when it came to protecting the hundreds of Wehrmacht- filled invasion barges wallowing across the Channel. "There can be no question,".be says, "that had Sea Lion (Nazi code name for the German inva- sion) sailed, it would have been reported and attacked either at the moment of departure or on passage, or else fatally mauled upon the beaches and during the despatch of reinforcements. Nothing then available to the Germans on land, upon or under the sea or in the air could have prevented the irruption into the crossing area of the Channel of hundreds of armed vessels, of in all some 60 destroyers and of - at least eight cruisers backed on either flank by heavy ships." .. Reactions in the daily press to Grinnell-Milne's salty claim have ranged wide. A harmonious• mid_ dle ground was located by The Daily Mail which editorialized that the RAF won the victory while "both services fought with such. Are and elan because they shared the unbreakable spirit of a people who refused (to sur- render)." Perhaps the most reasonable military rebuttal to the book came from The Sunday Times, "which powerfully, if not con- vincingly, restated the case "for the RAF "Grinnell -Milne is right when he says that naval weakness made invasion diffi- cult for the Germans. It forced them to modify their plans. It might have made a landing dis- astrous anyway, though that was a question not put to the test. The fact remains that (the Germans) were prepared, no matter with what reluctance on Admiral.Raeder's part, tO make the attempt if they gained the stipulated air superiority. Thanks to Fighter Command they did not gain it. Historians are surely right when they give credit to those who won the battle rather thanto those who might have Won it." HEARTFELT The small daughter of the house, by way of punishment for a minor offence, was made to eat her dinner alone' at a small table in the corner of the dining -room. The rest of the family paid her no attention until they heard her delivering grace over her owr meal with these words: "1 than1 thee, Lord, for preparing a table. for me in the presence of mine enemies," SNOOPER DRONE — This new oil -weather surveillance drone is designed to match the mo- bility and effectiveness of the U.S, Army's modern weapons. Under development in. Downey, fHe SD -2 will be launched like a rocket, needing no airfield. It is scheduled for -de- livery in July,