Thursday, December 1, 2005

100 years ago

The one medicine that in every grade of society was valued above all others was Dr Williams' Pink Pills for Pale People. They were claimed to cure rich and poor of all ailments that arose from weak or vitiated blood, such as anaemia, skin disorders, indigestion, and general weakness. Diseases that resulted from impoverished blood robbed life of its pleasures for the rich, and made existence doubly hard for the poor. Dr Williams' Pink Pills would give new blood with every dose, toning the nerves, imparting strength, appetite, a healthy colour and a good digestion. For the workers and the wealthy Dr Williams' Pink Pills were invaluable, for they had cured in thousands of cases eczema, consumption, bile, and the ills that afflicted the weaker sex. Sold by all dealers at 2s 9d one box, or 13s 9d for six.

50 years ago

Nobody's Gossip reported on a York man who felt that 7lbs of tripe was an ideal evening meal. When his friends disputed his ability to eat this quantity a bet was made. Seven pounds of tripe in an evening, with a prize of one pint of beer if he succeeded. Unfortunately, the young man lost his bet, explaining that the tripe didn't arrive until 8 o'clock, and that didn't give him time to eat it all. But he did get through 5lb of it. Sadly the tripe eater could not be persuaded to divulge his name, even with an offer of another 5lbs of his favourite dish, but if you popped into the Blue Bell in Fossgate one evening and saw a young man, faced by a huge plate full of tripe, well, you'd have come across York's 1955 Tripe Champion.

25 years ago

The kind of open-plan design most commonly found in new primary schools was the one teachers disliked the most. That was the damning conclusion of a four-year research study by the Schools Council just published. It said that teachers found open-plan schools noisy and tiring to work in, children spent up to a fifth of their school time moving from one area to another and timid pupils were at a particular disadvantage. About 10 per cent of all primary schools were open plan. Few conventional primary schools had been built in the previous 10 years. But the research team, led by Professor Neville Bennett, of Lancaster University, said that though open-plan schools were originally designed to bring buildings into line with modern teaching methods, they had continued to be built because they were cheaper than building schools with conventional, separated classrooms. Many open-plan schools placed a strain on teachers and some staff were clearly not suited to working in such an environment.

Updated: 08:43 Thursday, December 01, 2005