100 years ago

A well-known physician had started a new “cure” in the treatment of nerve diseases.

It was simplicity itself. There were no drugs to take, and it did not even involve change of air. His prescription was contained in the introduction, “Keep the corners of your mouth turned up”. 

Apparently turning the corners of the mouth up was the antidote to turning the toes up. When one thought over the instruction for a moment it resolved itself into the advice, “Keep smiling,” for the effect of turning up the corners of the mouth – as could be confirmed by trying it in front of a mirror – was to produce a smile.

There was a certain amount of wisdom in the physician’s advice, for the person who kept smiling, would scarcely become a victim to that melancholia and morbidity of outlook which were typical of nervous illness.


50 years ago

About 100,000 women, wearing nearly £2 million worth of hats were on parade this week at Royal Ascot.

“A milliner's dream,” was the description by Mr HW Barrett (president of the Millinery Institute of Great Britain) of this top racing event.

You could pay what you liked for your Ascot hat. It could be over 30 guineas – or it could be under 30shillings. Some ingenious and bold fashion followers took a delight in buying an inexpensive hat off-the-peg, refurbishing it with a few pieces of tulle or ribbon and parading it confidently among the top of the tops.

Instead of a hat, perhaps you might choose a wig. Not one of the heavy, bushy-hat creations which appeared the previous autumn and sold in their thousands, again under the 30s mark, but a new, lightweight, multi-coloured “Phantom” wig weighing only 2 oz.


25 years ago

Did you remember when the slogan Go To Work On An Egg appeared on what seemed like every advertisement hoarding and in every newspaper and magazine?

Then, suddenly, the buzz word was cholesterol, and the poor old egg was held partly to blame for a too-rich diet which could lead to heart disease.

Now, it seemed, the wheel had turned full circle. Eggs were okay once more – at least, they were according to the British Egg Information Service, who told us that an egg a day was considered perfectly acceptable, even desirable, in dietary terms. We were beginning to feel distinctly queasy when even starting to read any sentence beginning with the words “scientific research shows us that...”

It seemed that what scientific research did best of all was keep contradicting itself in the matter of what was good for us. We were beginning to see the sense of that old saying, “a little of what you fancy...”