Are Old Wives’ Tales relevant in the modern world?

Exactly diesel thats why I am against GMO and “food ” which is more chemical than nourishment. Forget all the scientific talk just get down to basics or “brass tacks ” as they say up north . How did we develop our immune syndrome of our white cells attacking viruses ,germs etc . 10,000 .s of years of eating something dying from it or being very ill passing that onto our children who over 1000.s of years had their DNA modified to cope with food that made previous generations very ill . How do scientists expect the human race to ingest chemicals that have only been out for a VERY short time in relation to human evolution and not have long term side -effects . ?? any answers ?

DT – I doubt that some of the traditional ways of preserving food would be allowed if they were introduced today. Carcinogenic nitrosamines are produced in meat treated with nitrites, particularly when cooked. I learned about this when I was a student in the early 70s. Traditionally smoked food will contain a cocktail of carcinogens.

As the authors of the study on emulsifiers say, more research is needed, but it seems likely that their use in food products might have to be restricted in future.

It might be easier to deal with problems with newer food ingredients than those caused by traditional foods and processing. 🙁

I’m not sure if I can remember what bacon tastes like.

I would have thought smoking food like meat or fish as a way of preservation would go back thousands of years.

And bacon tastes wonderful !!! 🙂

That’s my point, Alfa. I think we need to periodically review the safety of all food, irrespective of whether it is the latest processed concoction or something that has been around for years. A lot of modern ‘smoked’ food just flavoured. It might not be authentic but could be safer.

Thanks for another fascinating collection of household remedies Alfa. The time people must have had to do these jobs, but it was a matter of necessity when incomes were low and many goods were unavailable during wartime rationing. Children grew bigger and their clothes had to be made bigger to fit them. Clothes were always bought over-sized in the first place, of course, and were ultimately passed down and around to other children who could fit them; nowadays we buy new clothes to fit the children.

John, did things change much in your 1954 Almanac?

I seem to remember my grandmother had a metal clothes line. Would it have been thin wire thread twisted into a sort of thick metal rope?

Well, it is a snapshot of a certain time with pictures of what today’s interior designers gush over as ‘mid-century modern’ furniture. Apart from that, and a bit more cloth in the clothing, I don’t think things had advanced much since the Second World War and rationing. The country was still reeling from the after-effects of the War. The Almanac gave a lot of space to horoscopes and forecasts.There are picture features on fifty years of flight, family knitting, and what we now call ‘up-cycling’ of hand-me-down furniture and household goods. Being a ‘News of the World’ production it was firmly rooted in the day-to-day concerns of conventional and ordinary families. There are forward-looking articles on frozen food, 3-D cinema, holiday camps and inter-planetary flight. There is also a lot of information on football and horse racing.

Some things don’t change: An article on Bank Charges starts Few of the 11 million people in Britain who run bank accounts have much idea how their bank charges are calculated. ” Later it says The legal right of banks to deduct charges without consultation is something which has been questioned many times. The custom is so long-standing that it has become established usage. The opinion has been expressed that provided the amounts are reasonable they are even enforceable at law.

Some of the advertisements are more fascinating than the text. I had forgotten what a big business the rupture truss supply trade was, for 30/- [£1.50] you could have a smart leatherette fireside or television pouffe to squat on, and you could earn money growing mushrooms yielding 5/- to 10/- per pound.

From memory everyone had metal clothes line posts in their yards or back gardens, and in the drying grounds of blocks of flats. The lines were usually rope I think and had to be taken in after the washing was dry so they didn’t shrink or get dirty in the rain [which was full of soot in those days].

I should have added that clothes lines suffered a gradual demise, first because people’s washing hanging in communal drying areas was being interfered with or removed, then as launderettes arrived in most shopping parades traditional laundries [and their bag-wash services] closed, next the twin-tub machine with its very high-speed spin dryer delivered ironing-ready laundry, and finally the modern, reliable, economical and perfectly-performing tumble dryer became the nation’s favourite and sales of clothes pegs plummeted.