sweetdexter Posted February 11, 2005 Share Posted February 11, 2005 Along with 'Donkey Stone' & Black Lead' Does anyone remember 'The Blue Bag or 'Beckits Blue' What promted this line of thought was an ad on tv for ceiling paint . Goes on light blue dries white Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheffexpat Posted February 11, 2005 Share Posted February 11, 2005 There was another "famous " blue bag. You used to be able to only get one type of crisps---plain ! ...But... to make your life exciting , they used to put a little blue bag of salt in every packet---for those who were sophisticated enough to want salt of course. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mojoworking Posted February 12, 2005 Share Posted February 12, 2005 Originally posted by sweetdexter Along with 'Donkey Stone' & Black Lead' Does anyone remember 'The Blue Bag or 'Beckits Blue' What promted this line of thought was an ad on tv for ceiling paint . Goes on light blue dries white I don't remember what Blue Bag was supposed to be used for (something to do with washing clothes, perhaps?), but I do recall my mum rubbing it on wasp stings and the like to take away the pain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PopT Posted February 12, 2005 Share Posted February 12, 2005 My old Mum used to use Blue bags in the washing. They were made by a firm called Reckits. The substance was in a white cotton bag with a string attached, the wrapper was blue and white vertical stripes with the words Reckits Blue on it. They certainly made a difference to my Dad's sweat towels that he wore, working on the steel furnaces. He had to wear a fresh one everyday and they were as white as they could be. The Donkey stone was another item we had which was used to tart up the edges of the stone door steps and window sills after she had scrubbeded all the soot and grime off them. Mum used to get it off a Ragman in exchange for rags. He used to push a barrow which had iron wheels through the streets shouting, 'Donkey Stone for old rags, come and get uor Donkey Stone. I still have a block of it and a block of Carbolic Soap, don't ask me why? Happy Days Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeP Posted February 12, 2005 Share Posted February 12, 2005 I remember having numerous stings from nettles being dealt with by either Dock Leaves (when I was 'in the field') or the Blue Bag (when back home). I remember my aunt used to get regular visits on her street from the rag man. We kids were particular;y interested in the horse that pulled the cart, and a bucket was always on hand just in case some rose fertiliser was left behind! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest poppins Posted February 12, 2005 Share Posted February 12, 2005 We used the "Blue Bags" to take yellow out of white lace curtains, you can still but it in liqued form now, lots of people still use it, although washing dosent seem to yellow as much in front load washers, there the best but more expensive over here, all back in style. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deecee Posted February 12, 2005 Share Posted February 12, 2005 Originally posted by sweetdexter Along with 'Donkey Stone' & Black Lead' Does anyone remember 'The Blue Bag or 'Beckits Blue' What promted this line of thought was an ad on tv for ceiling paint . Goes on light blue dries white Hiya sweetdexter, I remember the "Donkey Stone" and the "Blue Bag" (sometimes known as " Dolly Bags "), I also remember" Robin Starch" used to make your shirt collars stiff and my wife used it on her "net" underskirts to make them stand out. Strangely enough PopT, I also have a block of carbolic soap saved from back then. deecee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hazel Posted February 12, 2005 Share Posted February 12, 2005 My dad worked in the steel works, he was a furnaceman and wore a sweat towel. which mom used to keep white with a bluebag He also rubbed soap on the insides of his socks as the floor of the works was very hot. he said it kept his feet healthy. Used to have long blocks of sunlight soap to which I used to cut up to mangable size with the shovel. Can anyone remember the white enamel jug, in which he put his mashing of tea, with a lid that was the cup and a metal handle over the top, to carry it. He took the tea and sugar in a screwed up piece of newspaper. They all used to have these, the sweat towel, flat cap and they swung their ? billycan. Hazel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweetdexter Posted February 12, 2005 Author Share Posted February 12, 2005 Mashing cans were what we called them. When I first started work in 54 .One of my jobs was to see to the mashing cans 3 times a day. I remember the tea and sugar in the newspaper,some used to put condensed milk in as well(what a mess). If one of the men forgot his mashing or they had ran out of tea ,I would be asked very quietly if I could 'bull' them a mashing. This entailed taking a bit from everyone elses mashing to make one for the person without. Once a week I would take all the cans (sometimes as many as 20) and give them a scouring in the sand pile. At the end of the week I would go around the guys for my 'nattie money'this would often surpass the allowance I was given out of my wages by my mother. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest poppins Posted February 12, 2005 Share Posted February 12, 2005 My mother use to dip her lace doilies in sugar water to starch them, suppose it's called simple syrup now, oh! just thinking of it now, what a mess ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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