Diary 1935

· culture ·

I finally cleared the final boxes left by my parents yesterday, and came across a tiny leather-bound diary from 1935, probably owned by my grandmother. It's a mine of interesting information. For example, in 1935 a dog licence (anyone remember those?) would have cost you 7s. 6d. (dogs under 6 months of age exempt). In case you're ever in need of Apothecaries Measures converted to metric, 1 Fluid Scruple is 1,184 ml, and 1 Fluid Drachm is 3,552 ml.

There's a helpful page of 'Hints for Health and Comfort':

Blowing the Nose. -- The most effectual way for a person the clear the nasal passages is to use a long strong blow and not a short sharp one.

Flies and Midges. -- Annoyance from these pests can be avoided by anointing the exposed parts of the body with a mixture made of one part cedar oil and eight parts almond ail. This remedy contains no disagreeable or obtrusive scent.

The best thing, however, is the short aphorism printed at the bottom each weekly page. For example, the motto for the week ending 30th March is, "A lie is too big a price to pay for anything." I think I'm going to insert these every week into my Twitter timeline for a bit of fun.