Bodmin

 I wrote a brief history of the Cornish town of Bodmin 

Ivan the Terrible

 Ivan the Terrible was crowned Tsar on 16 January 1547. He was the first ruler of Russia to have the title of Tsar.

Hat Day

 15 January is National Hat Day  

Sun Tans

 For centuries it was fashionable for women to have pale skin. If you had a tan it meant you had to work outdoors. Having pale skin was a status symbol because it meant you could stay indoors. But from the 1920s tans became popular. A man named Eugene Schueller invented sunscreen in 1936.

The Upper Crust

 Today’s myth: in the Middle Ages and the 16th century in big houses they cut the top off loaves of bread because the bottom might be burned. The upper crust was given to the rich and the burned bottom was given to the servants. So we call the upper class the upper crust. It seems people did sometimes cut off the top of the loaf (it’s mentioned in a book published in the 15th century). 

But it’s most unlikely that is the origin of the phrase. There is no evidence that the upper class was ever called the upper crust at that time. The rich were first called the upper crust in the 19th century, long afterward. The phrase was probably just a joke, comparing them to the upper crust of a loaf. It probably has nothing to do with actual loaves. 🍞

Thoughts on Poverty

  In the 1980s an old man told me that he was born into a reasonably well-off family early in the 20th century. He said that until the radio was coming in about 1925 you didn't see 'the hard side of life'. There were no supermarkets just lots of small shops like grocers, bakers, butchers, etc. People tended to stay in their own area of the city. Middle-class people just didn't see the poverty and hardship that existed in some areas.

In 1923 a woman was murdered in Portsmouth. What shocked people was not just the murder but the terrible conditions she was living in. Most people in the city had no idea those slums existed.

Nottingham

 I wrote a history of the English city of Nottingham