The Tingle Factor Box

It's All Wonky - Old Bottle

Imagine, you are a glass maker, working on making bottles to use for salad oil. You have already blown the glass into the moulds, and they have come out beautifully. Now, you just need to assemble the pieces of the bottles so that they can be sold. It is nearing the end of the day and you have been working on putting the bottles together for some time, heating the glass and pressing the pieces together, over and over again. Then, as you put the last bottle together, you slip and the neck goes on crooked.

Thats Sweet - Bird Feeder

Imagine, you are living Britain in the 1890s. It is winter and very cold. There is a thick layer of snow on the ground and the trees are all bare. Worst of all, it seems that every day you see another bird which has succumbed to the cold and the lack of food. Well, at least you can do a little for the birds, putting out these dishes of food and several little dove cotes for them to rest inside. You just hope that it is enough!

So They Are Poisonous? Cough Medicines

Imagine, you are a child living in the early 1900s and you are sick. You have a terrible cough and a sore throat which feels like it's on fire. Mum has tried various things, like lemon juice on a sugar cube, but today she bought some lozengers for you to suck which promise to make your sore throat go away quickly. You aren't sure what some of the ingredients in them are (and think perhaps you don't want to know) but if they work, you will be happy!

That's Just Stupid - Smelling Salts

Imagine, you are a woman living in the 1800s. You have to wear a corset and sometimes it feels so tight that it seems like you can't breathe. These are the terrible times, times when the world becomes blurry and you feel like you are falling. Sometimes, if you are lucky, you can feel that an attack is coming on and quietly take a sniff from your bottle of salts, but occasionally, it is too late and someone else needs to administer them. How embarassing!

That's Just Gross - Potted Meat

Imagine, you are a housewife living in the late 1800s. Life can be difficult what with cooking, cleaning, mending and caring for your husband and children. You have so little time to yourself. Anything which can save a little time is welcome, and although your children were a little unsure about the premade potted meat you use for their lunches at first, they have grown to love it. Now that you no longer have to make it yourself it saves so much time!

How Cool! Stoneware Gingerbeer Bottle

Imagine, it is the late 1800s. It is a hot, Summer day in Australia. The temperature is over 35 degrees celcius and has been for days. Everyone is sweltering in the heat. Yet, today is a special day, Australia Day, and you are going on a picnic. Sometimes you wonder if Mum has lost it. A picnic, in this heat! One thing worth looking forward to is the gingerbeer Mum allowed your Dad to buy. It should be wonderful in this heat!

When I took this stoneware gingerbeer bottle to show the children, they were surprised by it. They had never seen a bottle which was not glass or plastic, and stoneware was both completely new and fascinating. They wondered about whether it made a difference to the flavour, kept the contents particularly cold, was more expensive to make and a multitude of other things. The thing which really interested them though was the idea of gingerbeer itself. Although gingerbeer is still readily available, many of the children had not tried it. It seems to have fallen from favour as a children's drink, along with rootbeer, sasparilla and portello. They were intrigued at the idea that it had been around for so long, and several decided that next time they bought a bottle of softdrink, they would be interested to try out this 'old fashioned tipple'.

Despite its name, gingerbeer as most of us know it today is not alcoholic. It is a tasty soft drink, often touted for its ability to settle upset stomachs. Yet this was not always the case, and indeed, if you set up a gingerbeer plant at home (Roy is hoping to have a go at this in the future, if he can persuade Grandma) the product you make will be slightly alcoholic. Gingerbeer was, exactly as its name implies, a type of beer, brewed similarly to traditional beer, but using very different ingredients. It began to appear in Britain in the mid 1700s and soon soldiers stationed overseas began to take this popular beverage, and the recipe, with them. In fact, by 1790 Gingerbeer was a popular beverage in America and Canada!

It seems likely that gingerbeer came to Australia not long after White Settlers arrived. In fact it seems that Australia was producing its own gingerbeer less than 50 years after European Settlement. Stoneware bottles were certainly being produced in Australia to hold gingerbeer by the 1820s. In fact, some of the earliest pieces of Australian pottery to still survive are gingerbeer bottles! Such gingerbeer bottles continued to be produced throughout the 1800s and into the 1900s, when the popularity of gingerbeer around the world was at its peak. In fact, the bottle I took to show the children was produced by Carter's, a company operating in the early 1900s who would perhaps not live up to todays health standards. To find out why, click here. Although Australia did produce its own gingerbeer, much gingerbeer continued to be imported from England. The reason why it could be exported was because of the bottles it was put in. If properly made, the stoneware bottles, which were corked and then wired to keep the cork in place, could maintain the quality of the drink even on a long sea journey. If you would like to learn more about the history of gingerbeer, click here.

That's Disgusting! School Milk Bottle

Imagine, it is the late 1950's and you are a school aged child. It is mid morning and you are just about to break for little lunch. You await the bell with dread - it will then be school milk time. It isn't that you don't like milk, you do, but it has to be kept cold. You can almost taste the stomach turning warm milk, slightly sour, lumpy and curdled at the top from being left out in the sun.You just hope that today you don't get one the maggies got to first!

Toothpaste is HOW old? Toothpaste Pot Lid

Imagine, it is the 19th century and you are from the middle classes. You sometimes think it could be nice to be a little poorer, then perhaps you wouldn't have to use toothpaste. It's not that you don't like your teeth to be clean, but your teeth aren't exactly in great condition. Indeed, nobody's really are and rubbing the powder which comes in that dreaded little ceramic pot into them is just plain painful! You have a new type which is supposed to numb the pain a bit, but you don't hold out too much hope.

Well, its some sort of jar - Ginger Jars

Imagine, it is the mid 1800's and you live in China. You've heard that there is a gold rush going on Australia and you've decided to try your luck. You're getting ready to leave China and collecting up things to bring with you. Your whole village is involved and they've sent people to the gold fields before. They've told you to take some items with you to trade, and amongst them is a ginger jar.

That Coke must have been even yummier! - Coca-Cola bottle

Imagine, it's the mid 1920's. It's a hot day in the middle of summer. You've been out in the sun all day, and you want a cold drink. You and your friends decide you want a soft drink, like Coca-Cola. Usually, you would head to the local soda shop, the pharmacy, but you decide you will try the bottles instead. After all, Coca-Cola has only been available in bottles in your area for a short time - it's still a bit of a novelty!