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YESTERYEAR During second world war while the population had to use ration cards - did these also apply to the royal family and politicians like Winston Churchill? If so, how did Churchill get hold of his cigars and booze? (4 answers) I recently read (in Wordsworth's Prelude, Book 4) about the 'discharged soldier', who apparently - after fighting the French in the West Indies in 1796, where 40,000 British soldiers died of yellow fever - on coming home ill and penniless was ruthlessly discharged with his mates and left to his own devices. Was this common practice and when was this discontinued? (5 answers) My grandmother used to recite a rhyme whose origin and meaning has always puzzled me: "That bird must have grown When they built the tower of Babel, And was fed by Cain and Abel All the shots that were fired, On the field of Waterloo Could not penetrate nor dislocate, That elongated Armour plated Double breasted Iron chested Cock a doodle doo" Does it refer to Napoleon, given the reference to Waterloo, and who wrote it? My grandmother was born in 1877. (no answers) In the days before plumbing (and so toilets), when visiting an acquaintance, say for tea, what was the etiquette for having a pee? (4 answers) Maori warriors have a proud history in battle and a reputation for tenacity, but I wonder if any readers can confirm this legend? I recall being told the story that, during a particularly bitter battle, the guns of the Maoris' enemies fell silent. Puzzled, the Maoris shouted across no man's land to ask what the problem was. When dawn broke, the enemies discovered boxes of ammunition piled close to their trenches - the implication being that the Maoris didn't want the battle to end, as they were enjoying themselves! Can this be true? (2 answers) The swastika was a religious symbol thousands of years (and still is in several regions of Asia). It was a Nazi symbol only for the duration of Hitler's Third Reich, in total a very short time indeed. Should we all not consider rehabilitating it? Or should we surrender this ancient symbol to its brief period of evil contamination? (5 answers) Do modern-day Nazi sympathizers really believe the Holocaust didn't happen? Or is it just a smokescreen to try and convince people that the Nazis weren't as bad as they are painted? (4 answers) What is the origin of London's nickname "The Old Smoke"? (7 answers) What is it about the number 12? Why did 12 inches make one foot? Why do 12 of anything make a dozen? Why are there 12 western horoscope lunar months and 12 year cycles in chinese horoscopes (5 answers) I remember being told of an infamous Daily Mail front-page from the 1930s that said ‘Hurrah for Hitler’ does anyone recall this? And even better does anyone have a copy? And what were they ‘hurrah-ing’ him for? What year was this? (2 answers) On the cover of the Beatles Abbey Road album there's a white VW Beetle pictured on the left with a license plate of LMW 281F? Who owned this bug and what happened to it. Did it go the way of the Beatles or the Beetles? (4 answers) Why are there male genealogies in the bible if descent in Judaism is matrilineal? (one answer) When did the English give up using "thee" and "thy" and start using "you" and "your" only? In German we still have to ways to address people: the confidential or familiar "du" and the more formal "sie". Was "thee" more familiar or more formal than "you", and why was it abandoned? (8 answers) Recently, I was reading a copy of the GWR Holiday Haunts Guide for the 1915 season. In the section on Dorset it states; "no less than eight of the great captains who fought during the Great War – the six Hoods and Thomas Masterman Hardy amongst them – were Dorset born." Today we think of the Great War as the First World War, 1914-18, but here the GWR author, writing in 1915, is clearly referring to the Napoleonic Wars. Are there other instances of this and when did the "Great War" become the accepted term for the 1914-18 conflict? (3 answers) I own two pieces of music curiously names after medicines of the late 19th / early 20th century: The Zam-Buk March and the Bile Bean March. I was wondering if anyone knew why these pieces were written, and whether there were any more of their type produced? (6 answers) A recent conversation brought to mind a song which my mother used to sing called 'Pop Goes the Weasel'. Can anyone remember the full words and explain what they mean? I seem to remember a 'monkey on the table'? (6 answers) In 1277 a digger (fossator) employed at Flint Castle was paid 3d a day. This might be compared to an unskilled labourer paid £60 a day today. If the smallest coin in circulation in 1277 was a farthing, this would give the fossator a maximum of 12 coins to spend. This would be the rough equivalent of the labourer having £5 as the smallest denomination today. How did the fossator buy all the small day to day necessities, like ale, bread and cheese? (5 answers) In France in the 60s I recall that at mealtimes a "sachet Litinee" was added to our drinking water and this carbonated the water. This practice seems to have disappeared but what exactly was this 'powder' and what were the supposed benefits? Also was there ever an equivalent in the UK? (2 answers) Can anyone identify the sailor who appears on Players Navy Cut cigarette packets? (12 answers) Why can't you find Lime flavoured ice-cream anymore? As children growing up in Leighton Buzzard in the 1970s my Sister and I loved nothing more than going to the local Italian ice-cream vendor for a cone with some lime ice cream. Has Lime just fallen out of fashion as an ice-cream flavour? (11 answers)  |
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