THE FLATLEY DRYER

[Moh]

....and the bird shaped whistles that were supposed to sound like a bird.

[Stanley]

I remember them Moh. I used to love the small ads in papers which had the weirdest offerings. There was all the ex-army stuff and essential items like the Seebackroscope and the Zonk brush head holder. Did you know that the proceeds from the sale of ex army stuff was ring-fenced by the Atlee government and resulted in a pot of money that is now the National Heritage Memorial Fund?

[Stanley]

Headquarter and General Supplies and Gamages. Their advertisements were a gold mine.....

[Stanley]

In the days before TV advertising many firms advertised on gable ends. This is the remains of such a sign on the gable end of 3 Church Street advertising Atkinson's, the gents outfitters. The purveyors of proprietary medicines did this frequently particularly on gable ends that could be seen from the railway line.
"Parkinson's Pink Pills for Pale and Poorly People!"

[EileenDavid]

There used to be an ad on Mumps Bridge Oldham that said The Home of the Tubular Bandage. Eileen

[Tripps]

I mentioned that very fact to the nurse who was fitting my elastic stockings after my recent surgery. She was fascinated. My son told me I was waffling for quite a time after the anaesthetic. I never noticed any change at all.

[Stanley]

David, I know what you mean....
My mother would never go a day without a Beecham's Pill. They were supposed to cure everything! I can still remember the little screw of paper they used to be sold in. Packaging was a lot more simple in those days! Remember the little blue screw of salt in Smith's crisps? Someone once told me that they were made by a firm in Nelson.

[EileenDavid]

I remember the salt in the crisp packets now most are ready salted. I also remember when crisps were just potato flavoured. Eileen

[Bodger]

Does anybody recall a crisp co. called Tattis , circa 1945 /50

[Tripps]

Just vaguely, so I looked it up and this is from Ancestry...

I still have a Tattis potato crisp packet which has been in my sewing box (and was previously in my mothers since I was a child) it had a set of buttons in it.
The bag reads on the front Potato Tattis Crisps 4d per packet Manufactured by Tattis Potato Crisps Ltd Aughton Ormskirk With Sifta salt
and on the back "Just say Tattis" Ingredients Potatoes and edible vegetable oil Minimum net weight 1 oz. I was going to throw it out yesterday but thought I'd look Tattis up first out of interest as it was a local firm. Glad I did and if you'd like it for a keepsake let me know and I'll send it to you.

[Stanley]

How quaint! Potato crisps that taste of potatoes.... I was once stranded with a load of Egyptian spuds at the Golden Wonder factory at Widnes(?) while we waited for a contractual dispute to be sorted out. We all ran out of money and the WVS brought us tea and buns while we could eat as many crisps as we liked from the end of the long frying pans. Until you got fed up with them, fresh cooked crisps straight from the pan are wonderful!

[EileenDavid]

My godfather who used to live next door to my parents used to make homemade crisps they were wonderful. Used to have them on a butty with tomatoes, and still love crisp butties today. If I have crisps very rarely (fat content) we have the salt and shake variety but I have them without the salt I like potato tasting crisps. Mam used to cook with limited amounts of salt and pepper but we never had either on the table at mealtimes so never aquired the taste for either. Eileen

[Moh]

I still make them occasionally, I got a wonderful potato peeler from Lakeland which cuts them lovely and thin.

[Stanley]

That'll be the mandolin will it Moh? I'm half tempted to spend some money!

[Tripps]

Don't hesitate - get a mandolin, but use the guard when you're near the end of the vegetable, it's very easy to slice your finger. Other recommended gadgets - a potato "ricer" which gives the best mash with no effort, but the metal ones are useless, get a plastic one - they are (strangely) stronger.

Staying on gadgets -I have finally been bullied into buying a Cookworks rice cooker, after a long campaign by one of my wife's carers who is Filipino. She has mocked my rice cooking technique for ages. I used to boil in lots of water then rinse it in cold water, then leave it to dry, and microwave when required - not approved of at all.

New method - put in two cups of rice, two cups of water - switch on . When done, in about 15 -20 minutes, it switches from 'cook' to 'keep warm' and that's it! Best rice I've ever had.
An old dog has learned a new trick.

[Bodger]

Tubiton
http://www.mediclick.co.uk/home/default.asp?pageid=147

[Bodger]

Tubiton
http://www.mediclick.co.uk/home/default.asp?pageid=147
http://www.google.ie/imgres?q=tubiton+b ... ,s:0,i:151

[Stanley]

I still use my mother's method. One measure of rice, one and a half of water. Bring to the boil and then switch the heat off and leave with the lid on for about ten minutes. If you got the water right, you have dry and perfectly cooked rice.
I used to have a plastic chipper for spuds about fifty years ago, it shows how efficient it was, it actually got used regularly, always a good sign!

[Stanley]

The Flatley drier was the 'modern' replacement for this, an old-fashioned clothes rack hung from the ceiling in the kitchen. I suppose most people would see it as untidy but I like my rack, to me it's useful, homely and reminds me of days gone by. It takes a machine load of washing and they always dry well with no effort or energy input. Also used in the old days for drying oat cakes.....

[EileenDavid]

Oh Stanley you made my day with the rack. We had a range in the lounge and the rack was over that, the range was also used for baking, heating etc. Why we had a kitchen I don't know. When mam decided to beautify the lounge (decorating) the rack was removed but took up its new residence over the bath as we had a downstairs bathroom then. The rack was a necessity in our household with 7 kids and 3 adults (grandma lived with us) When the house was renovated the rack was removed never to be seen again. Mam then got a Hi-dry which was placed on the landing at the top of the stairs near the bathroom which was now upstairs. Same principle as the flatley dryer it was a flat electric heater with a wooden concertina maiden on top and a muslin cover over it. Worked two fold as it also gave heat at the top of the stairs. I used to date an Italian and his home still had the rack in the back room but they didn't hang clothes on it but hung salami's and parma hams etc. Eileen

[Stanley]

Glad I brought that back Eileen. I've seen the racks used over the central island in a designer kitchen to hang pans and equipment from. I wouldn't be without mine, most efficient way I have ever found for drying clothes and it gets used year round. The only thing I hang outside is bedding or sofa covers, to give them a blow. My other favourite drying spot is over the bannister at the top of the stairs.
I live in my kitchen during the day, my favourite room, has everything I need in it. The front room and the stove is great in the evening for TV but I think I was born to live next to a cooker!

[Wendyf]

I love my drying rack...one of life's essentials, especially if you don't have a tumble dryer. I have one out in the barn as well for drying horse rugs. The second hand furniture shop in Colne often has the lovely original ornate ones in stock.

[chinatyke]

Most apartments in Southern China will have a drying rack on the balcony. This is ours, a modern day version of yours. The waste heat from the air con is also voided to the balcony and helps to dry the clothes. Although we are in the tropics it still gets cold in winter, the forecast is only 5C tonight and 9C tomorrow. We never get a frost where we are though.

[Moh]

That'll be the mandolin will it Moh? I'm half tempted to spend some money!

No not a mandolin Stanley - a £2,99p metal jobbie that peels the potatoes etc. without taking too much skin off. I have used plastic versions of it for years but this metal one is much better.

[Stanley]

Thanks for that Moh. I like China's equivalent of the clothes rack particularly the clothes pegs for the socks and smalls. Wendy, the great attraction of the clothes rack for me is that it doesn't eat energy and also raises the humidity when the air is dry.