Morpeth Mayor's Punch

[Maggie/915]

Look what I have found in my old Mrs Beeton's

[paul mann]

That'd curl your hair wouldn't it?

[threegee]

Any sort of date or provenance on that entry? Could be the only copy in existence.

Anyway, this is likely what Morpethians are on at "Gathering" time:

The Morpeth Clock Tower has two little gadgies on the top but one of them, Clarence, can come down and walk around Morpeth.

His mate, Cuddy, stays on the tower.

http://www.morpethherald.co.uk/news/gadgy-explains-duties-at-town-s-famous-festival-1-5680108

[Maggie/915]

The Mrs Beeton's Cookery Book has no date on it.

I bought it at Louis Johnson's years ago, it says it is a new edition?

Judging by these ads I think it pre dates electric cookers, although the recipe may have been written later.

[Maggie/915]

These pictures are from the book and show electric items.

I wonder if anyone has ideas about the date.

[threegee]

The exact title on the cover? It doesn't seem to have been out of print since Victorian times, but you'd think they'd have dated your copy!

About 100 years old by the looks of the illustrations;1910 at a wild guess. A search on ebay.co.uk could locate your cover.

---

The "all electric kitchen". So fast, so clean, so cheap. By the end of the 20th Century they'll have worked out how to generate so much of it that we won't even need electricity meters.

http://www.britishpathe.com/video/the-atom-joins-the-grid

[Maggie/915]

More information threegee!

[threegee]

Gosh, so many editions of this thing, and a lot are undated. Here's a reference to your edition given as a wedding present in 1929... so 1920's not 1910's.

http://simplehomecra...-every-day.html

Amazing that she was only 28 when she died (6 February 1865)! The popular image of an elderly matron type doesn't quite hack it. And, all those endless royalties went to someone else!

Of course there's the "Hollywood Version":

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Masterpiece-Theatre-Secret-Life-Beeton/dp/B000PFUA7S

[Maggie/915]

Thanks threegee

[threegee]

Here's another sub-plot: Amazingly the printers of that volume are still in business http://www.butlertanneranddennis.com/heritage/

Although their potted history seems to have forgotten to mention the little local difficulty in 2008, when the business had to be rescued amid some very dodgy goings on: http://www.thisissomerset.co.uk/Butler-Tanner-bosses-banned-print-industry-440/story-18080607-detail/story.html#axzz2jih8vvrn

I fail to see why people need to read/write fiction, when fact generally takes you in so many unexpected directions.