Whitbread Trophy Bitter

I bought these beer mats/postcards many years ago, from a flea market,whilst on holiday in Austria.
I bought them because they only cost the equivalent of a few pence and also because I was amazed to see they were English.
On the back they are printed as normal postcards and carry the slogan "Whitbread Trophy Bitter big enough to satisfy your beer buds". I know nothing about the history of them but I presume they came out around the time that Whitbread Trophy was launched onto the market.
I find them appealing because they remind me of spending time at Skegness in my youth. In those days there would be racks and racks of what were referred to as 'saucy' seaside postcards. They were all very funny and the cartoon characters were always very artistically drawn. They would be at the entrance to every bazaar mingling with the rock, buckets and spades, beach balls etc.
It was in 1894 that the Post Office gave permission for British publishers to manufacture and distribute picture postcards that could be sent through the post. But it was not until the early 1930's that the cartoon style saucy postcards became popular. At their peak sales of these postcards reached an incredible 16 million a year. Virtually everyone who went on holiday to the seaside sent the cards home to family and friends. The most renowned publisher's were a company called Bamforth & Co and leading cartoonist's included Tom Browne, John Hassall, Bruce Bairnsfather and Alfred Lees.
Back in those days of sexual repression saucy postcards were enjoyed by many, whilst others were disgusted and offended by them. Part of their appeal was the bright vibrant colours they were produced in.
The new Conservative government of the early 1950's decided the postcards were not good for our morals. Almost all seasides appointed a Watch Committee who had the powers to censor postcards they deemed unsuitable. We hear a lot today about the 'nanny state' but in fact it has been with us for over 50 years at least, and I suspect a lot longer than that.
In the early 1950's police raids were carried out and some publishers and artists were arrested. One publisher Donald McGill was brought before Lincoln court in July 1954 and charged with offences under the 1857 Obscene Publications Act. He was fined £50 and ordered to pay £25 costs.
The Watch Committees were abandoned by the end of the 1950's. The more liberal 1960's saw the return of the saucy postcard but in much lesser numbers and somewhat poorer quality. Perhaps they belonged to a past era and are not suited to the modern day sense of humour. However, in their time they brought great pleasure to millions of people. I personally, miss them!

Click on the image to see them in more detail.

Jack Frost Visits Blankney

Entrance to Blankney Park

(Click on image for larger view)

Kevin Keegan - Not The Driving Force He Once Was

I have always been a great fan of footballer Kevin Keegan, both as a player and a manager. I was disappointed therefore to read that he had been banned from driving for six months. His latest misjudgement was driving at 36mph in a 30mph zone. However, I was just as disappointed to read, whilst he accepted the suspension imposed by Carlisle Magistrates, he may put forward 'special circumstances' in the hope that he would then be able to carry on driving. If this was allowed to happen I think it would be quite wrong. Having been an England player and manager Keegan is a high profile personality and if that means he is afforded special treatment that would not be afforded to lesser known drivers it would also be a grave injustice. Whilst the latest offence may seem quite minor, the fact remains that Keegan had built up the legal maximum of 12 points on his licence. This indicates that following previous offences he was not prepared to learn his lesson and continued to flaunt the law. There cannot be one law for celebrities, who can afford to pay top lawyers to get them off charges on a small technicality, whilst ordinary motorists are having to accept a ban. The six month ban imposed on Keegan will make little difference to him, he can afford to pay someone to drive him around. A six month ban to an ordinary working man may well lead to him losing his job and with it his livelihood. His plea for the latest speeding offence was that he had come out of a stressful meeting and that his head was in turmoil. Ask any ordinary worker and they will tell you there are many days when they drive home from work in exactly the same state.

Why Do It?

Question: If you had a market stall selling apples, would you be urging your customers to eat less apples? Probably not. It puzzles me therefore why John Schnatter, founder of Papa John's Pizza would advise people to eat less pizza. In a BBC Radio 4 interview Mr Schnatter made the following comment "Pizzas are healthy for you if you don't eat too much of it. You can't eat five or six slices. But if you eat one or two slices it's very nutritious. A slice or two is good for you". His remarks may be very commendable but hardly beneficial to his business. Mr Schnatter had been asked by presenter, Adam Shaw, whether he was concerned about the government's anti-obesity campaign impacting on sales. Apparently he does not need the government's campaign to impact on sales, he seems perfectly capable of doing that himself. The remark has been compared to those made by Gerald Ratner, former chief executive of British jewellery company Ratners when he publicly disparaged his own merchandise. Responding to the question of how his company was weathering the current economic climate Mr Schnatter pointed to the fact that they had enjoyed a record sales increase of 13% in January, and a 60% increase in sales this week alone. Papa John's (what a great name) have 118 takeaways in the UK and a further 2,500 outlets in the United States. The smallest pizza costs £6.99 (six slices), the medium £8.99 (eight slices) and the large £9.99 (ten slices). Papa John's was founded in 1985.

Brainteaser - Friday's Answer

In yesterday's brainteaser I asked you to find 10 categories all starting with the letter 'D'. Did you get all 10 answers? If you did please e-mail me garlant@btinternet.com and tell me what the vegetable was. I have never been able to come up with a vegetable beginning with D.