Society

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A random sample from the British periodicals

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Family soap

Isle of Wight Julian Pears: After the sale of Pears soap to Unilever, my father, Robert Pears, remained on for some years as sales director. As a child, I was taken to the factory and smelt the perfume being prepared in boiling vats. I recall finding it unpleasantly overpowering. The principal ingredient was the attar of roses. I was told that only two people ever held a copy of the recipe: the chairman of the company and the pharmacist. The recipe became the property of Unilever, which presumably still has it somewhere. Whether or not it would ever be restored is another matter.

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The Daily Telegraph

Matches with bite

Norwich David Hughes: There is nothing new in the hypothesis that there is a correlation bet­ween dental hygiene and sporting excellence. In his book The Bodyline Controversy (1985), Laurence Le Quesne refers to the performance of the great England fast bowler Harold Larwood in the 1932-33 ‘bodyline’ series. According to Le Quesne, when Larwood was asked to explain why in that series he had bowled faster than ever before, Larwood said that he thought it might be because “of some work he had lately done on his teeth”.

The Times

Sealed & delivered

Lincolnshire Keith Edwards: During my postal round last month, I delivered a packet sent from India. I was amazed to see it had been secured with sealing wax in half-a-dozen places, with no stick-backed plastic in sight. All the seals had survived the 4,500-mile journey.

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The Daily Telegraph

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