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Tea Times is a co-production of Maryland Public Television and The Insider, a publication of the BBC Sales Company.
The Insider welcomes all correspondence, story ideas and requests for contributed articles. Send letters via e-mail to Editor N. Scott Jones at bbinsider@comcast.net or by snail mail to: The Insider, c/o Oliviu Savu, BBC Worldwide Americas, 747 3rd Avenue, New York, NY 10017-2803. All letters are assumed to be for publication unless marked otherwise. The Insider reserves the right to edit letters for reason of space or clarity. Let us know what you think!
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Editor's Note
We are in full-swing summer now! We hope everyone is enjoying all that it has to offer - great food on the grill, swimming, lazing under the stars, going barefoot in the grass, and all of the other things that you might enjoy which makes your summer memorable.
We are still working hard to bring you your Tea Times for your reading enjoyment. We've been asked to provide information about Thora Hird so this month we give you an article about her and her accomplishments. We hope you like perusing this piece as you sit back with a tall glass of tea.
We ran across an interesting article about July 4th that we've included. There are some fun facts to digest here!
Of course, the July Tea News Bits are included. From programming, to Heather, to English terms, to flowers and Led Zeppelin, to UFO's, we bring you the latest updates.
Does anyone ever get tired of reading about Patricia Routledge? We don't think so, so read further to hopefully learn something you didn't know before.
If you are having the family over for a cook out, might we suggest Chilled Vegetable Salad as a side dish? Our recipe this month is simple and would be an excellent accompaniment to any dish you prepare.
Have a happy and safe 4th of July!
The Tea Times Newsletter Staff
1
They Say It's Your Birthday!
Do you share a birthday with any of these people?
July 1, 1916
Olivia De Havilland – actress
July 10, 1834
James Whistler – painter, "Whistler's Mother"
July 13, 1940
Patrick Stewart – actor
July 21, 1948
Cat Stevens – singer, songwriter
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Thora Hird
Destined to Become an Actress
Thora Hird was destined to become an actress. Her parents, James and Mary Hird, had met whilst touring together in the same theatrical company and eight weeks after she was born, on 28th May 1911, Thora made her stage debut (in her mothers arms) at the Royalty Theatre in Morecambe, where James was the manager.
As a child there was no escaping the theatre for the young Thora or her elder siblings, Neville and Olga. She would literally go to bed with the smell of greasepaint in her nostrils as her bedroom floor hung over the wall at the back of the stage. By the age of two Thora was already taking on theatrical roles and as soon as she was old enough she was able to give up her full time job at the local Co-op, and join a repertory company.
In 1933 Thora accompanied her father to opening night at Morecambe's newly refurbished Winter Gardens Theatre. As she sat and watched the show her attention was drawn to the orchestra's young drummer, James Scott. For the next three years James and Thora became virtually inseparable and after a long courtship they married and settled into a house at Prompt Corner, Morecambe. Two years later they had a daughter whom they christened Janette.
Thora continued her work in Rep and over a period of ten years had appeared in over 500 plays. She reckoned that she'd played a maid so often that she could bring on a tray in 50 different ways. Then one night, around 1940 or 1941 as she was preparing to take to the stage at the Royalty Theatre in As You Are, rumours began to circulate that George Formby was in the audience. Formby, who was a major star at the time, was indeed sitting in the stalls and after the show he approached the theatre manager and asked to be introduced to the actress who played Emma Pearson. Thora, in heavy make-up for the part of the sixty-year old woman, was hurriedly found backstage.
"I had no time to get all the make-up off before he turned up" she later recalled, "...so there I was with my paste nose all wonky, looking like I'd been in a fight." Formby obviously didn't find Thora's appearance too off-putting because he informed her that he was considering making a film version of As You Are and wanted the thirty-year old actress to go to Ealing Studios and test for the part.
Borrowing some smart clothes from her aunt, Thora set off for London and duly arrived at Ealing Studios. From the moment she arrived things began to go awry. "The moment I arrived at the studio gates, the air-raid sirens went off. Everyone started running so I followed them. I ended up in a bomb shelter next to a woman who was shelling peas for the restaurant."
When the all-clear signal was finally given Thora was directed to the make-up department and the audition was able to get underway. Thora tested for the part of Lydia, the daughter-in-law of the character she played on stage. A young actor by the name of Bill Fraser stood in for George Formby. His line was: "Where will you go, Lydia?" To which Lydia/Thora would reply: "I shall go to London."
The camera rolled and Thora said her line then exited. The director called her back and asked her to do it again. Once more Bill Fraser asked the question and once more Thora answered. Again the director asked for another take. So, again the two actors went through the very short piece, and again, at the end of it the director asked them to redo it. This went on ten times. By then Thora was beginning to lose her cool. So, when the director called for an eleventh take and Bill Fraser posed the question, "Where will you go, Lydia?" Thora replied, "I shall go to London and bugger you because I really don't think I'm very good at this and if I haven't got it right by now, I never will!"
The audition was bought to an end and the players were dismissed but asked to reassemble the following morning in the 'Rushes Theatre'. Thora took her seat and hoped that her outburst the previous day would be overlooked, but she was to have no such luck. The shots were all shown in sequence right up to and including take number eleven. "The room was full of people." Thora remembered. "When we got to my outburst, there was quite a bit of laughing, though I was speechless." When the lights came on Thora was asked to report to Michael and Shandos Balcon - the studio heads.
"I felt like a schoolchild being sent to the headmasters office." She said. But to her relief and surprise, the Balcon's couldn't have been nicer. "They told me I hadn't got the part of George Formby's mother because I was too young, even with make-up." Instead, the Balcon's offered Thora a seven-year contract with Ealing Studios at ten pounds a day whilst filming and ten pounds a week when not.
In 1941 Thora Hird made her big screen debut in the Will Hay film The Black Sheep of Whitehall. She was only needed for two days filming and only appeared for three minutes at the beginning of the film. She played secretary to Hay, who in the film is an incompetent teacher who is mistaken for an economics expert and then kidnapped by wartime spies. It was the beginning of a long and illustrious career for an actress that would eventually become known as one of the nation's favourite and most dearly loved performers.
Although there was a war on, the film industry continued to roll out regular cinema releases. This was seen as vitally important in boosting the nation's morale at a time of such adversity. As well as comedies to keep the country chuckling there was a number of propaganda films made, normally shown prior to the main feature. Thora's next movie, The Next of Kin, was such a film. However, it was so successful that it received a commercial release in its own right, her next film, Went the Day Well? made in 1942, followed the same route.
The plot centered round a group of villagers who try to resist an invasion by German paratroopers. Thora plays a plucky switchboard operator who raises the alarm and helps the locals to defend their town and fight off the invaders. It also gave Thora the chance to carry on something of a family tradition by introducing her own daughter into the world of showbiz. The mid forties brought a number of small character roles in movies and towards the end of the war Thora made her West End stage debut at the Vaudeville Theatre starring alongside Fay Compton and Frederick Leicester in No Medals. Thora played a cockney charlady.
 Scottie, Thora and Janette in 1983.
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The show ran for two years but Thora remembered it as being a difficult time: "Scottie was away in the Air Force and our daughter Janette, who was only four, had been evacuated to Lancashire. I don't like my own company really, so things were a bit lonely." It was during this time that Thora also got her first London critique. "I was leaving the theatre and there was a rather large dog standing by the billboard outside, appearing to read the cast list. It lifted its leg and peed all over my name. My first West End play. What a review!"
The show was popular enough to be turned into a movie in 1948 starring Thora and Cecil Parker, although it was renamed The Weaker Sex. By the late forties, with the war over and the family reunited Thora and Scottie decided it was time to sell their Morecambe home and move to London. It proved a wise move because Thora's contract was about to expire with Ealing Studios and, being in great demand, she was immediately snapped up by J. Arthur Rank.
Thora continued to appear in a number of supporting roles throughout the 1950s and also co-starred with some of the best of British talent including Norman Wisdom, Arthur Askew, Frankie Howard and Ian Carmichael. In 1955 Thora returned to Rep to appear in her friend Walter Greenwood's play Saturday Night At The Crown. Also in 1955 Val Guest cast her in the Hammer produced science fiction movie The Quatermass Xperiment, but it was really comedy where Thora excelled and in 1956 she appeared in Sailor Beware alongside Peggy Mount. For Mount it was the role that defined her battle-axe image, for Thora it was a role that alerted the interest of a new medium: television.
Thora had been cast earlier that year by television producer Ronnie Taylor in an episode of Home James, which was a starring vehicle for popular northern comedian Jimmy James. Later in the year she starred in The Jimmy Wheeler Show. The following year she got the chance to appear alongside her own daughter in the BBC produced play The Queen Came By. Thora had previously played the role of Emmie Slee, a worker in a draper's shop in the year of Queen Victoria's golden jubilee, 1887.
"I first played the part at the Embassy, Swiss Cottage and then the Duke of York's in the West End." Said Thora. Janette came to see her mother perform but was too young to appreciate it. Some years later Thora was invited to recreate the role for TV. The drama was well received but the BBC did not tape the show, which went out live. Two years later Thora was asked to play the part again and by this time her daughter was a big star and the BBC had to get permission from Associated British, to whom she was under contract, for her to appear. "It was the only time Jan and I appeared in a play together and it was probably the happiest and proudest production I've ever been in because of that."
The 1960s started off well for Thora with a substantial role as an ambitious and unpleasant mother to Shirley Ann Field in an Oscar nominated film production of John Osbourne's The Entertainer, which also starred Laurence Olivier and Alan Bates. In 1962 she followed this with the Keith Waterhouse and Willis Hall melodrama A Kind of Loving. At the same time she was planning a summer season at Blackpool in a comedy called The Best Laid Schemes. Her co-star was Freddie Frinton.
"We hit it off straight away" she said of Frinton. "And after a successful season up north we took the show to Torquay where the writers Ronald Chesney and Ronald Wolfe came to see it." The two Ronald's were suitably impressed by the on-stage chemistry between Thora and Freddie and, with one television sitcom success already to their credit (The Rag Trade), the writers decided to create a new sitcom around the co-stars. However, the BBC was not keen on featuring Thora Hird in a leading role. It was Billy Cotton who came to the rescue.
"He was working his way up the executive ladder," Ronald Wolfe recalled, "and had the authority to commission a pilot." However, if the writers and actors thought that they'd get a chance to perform in a nice cozy studio at Television Centre, they were most definitely wrong. Wolfe remembered that they were given a disused cinema in Birmingham that had been turned into a makeshift studio. "The atmosphere was tacky and the equipment was faulty." Even the technical staff were distinctly lacking in experience. The camera crew was more used to working on Gardening Club.
The pilot, named The Bed, was shot during the daytime whilst Thora and Freddie continued to appear in their evening pantomime performances. Freddie Frinton was apparently so tired that Thora often had to nudge him firmly in the ribs to ensure that he stayed awake. The Bed featured Fred as a plumber who, for their twenty-fifth anniversary, had promised his wife, Thora, a new bed. The first night after the bed had been delivered the couple had a row and Fred was forced to sleep on the old bed in the spare room.
Because Fred has taken most of the blankets with him Thora is forced to look for more covers to keep herself warm. In the course of opening cupboards and drawers she stumbles upon a love letter to her, written by Fred. After reading it she tiptoes into the spare room and snuggles up to her husband in the old bed. Although not a particularly complex plot the pilot proved to be a big hit with the TV audience. The BBC quickly commissioned a full series, which was renamed Meet The Wife and ended up running for 40 episodes until 1966.
After Meet The Wife, Thora was offered a part in a serious drama which she turned down. The part was that of a nurse in a BBC TV production Play Of The Month, Romeo and Juliet. Not wanting to take no for an answer producer Cedric Messina and director Alan Cooke persisted until Thora agreed to do it. It proved to be a great success.
Then in 1967 she was offered another straight role, only this time in a long running series. Alan Plater had been asked specifically to write a drama series for Thora Hird. Although unsure at first because Thora had just finished Meet The Wife and was, in Plater's opinion, a comedy actress, he suggested a story about a gritty northern town. At that time the Labour Party had a very tough and outspoken woman MP in their government called Barbara Castle and she was to be the model for the character. In fact Plater even went as far as suggesting that his character be a member of the same political party. But the BBC were worried about political bias and suggested that Plater's character, Sarah Danby, be an Independent candidate.
"In dramatic terms I made an interesting discovery." Said Plater. "As an Independent, Sarah could believe anything she wanted to believe." Thora also discovered that the public would readily accept her in a dramatic role. "The only problem I had with The First Lady was that some viewers really thought that I was a councillor and started writing to me to help sort out some of their local problems." She said. Ultimately the series ran for 2 years winning much critical acclaim on the way. Unfortunately most of the shows were wiped from the archives many years ago.
Thora followed this success with another popular comedy series called Ours Is A Nice House. Broadcast in 1969 Thora played a sharp-tongued boarding house owner who had been recently widowed. In real life she had recently lost her ex-screen husband because Freddie Frinton had passed away the year before.
As Thora entered her sixties she seemed to be busier and more in demand than ever before. In 1972 she traveled to Australia to star at the Perth Festival and then returned home and to the theatre. In 1976 she published the first part of her biography, Scene and Hird. In 1977 Thora returned briefly to TV comedy with a Wolfe and Chesney one-off called The Boys and Mrs B. But it was another two years before Thora returned to comedy on a regular basis with In Loving Memory itself based on a 1969 pilot that she had not appeared in.
Thora was cast as Ivy Unsworth (a part played by Marjorie Rhodes in the pilot), a widower who acquires her husband's business, which is, of all things, a funeral parlour. Apparently the series creator, Dick Sharples, got the idea after overhearing a pub conversation between a group of undertakers about a hearse that had hit a pothole and shed its coffin into the street. Ivy, aided and abetted by her gormless nephew, Billy (Christopher Beeny), suffers similar mishaps in the 1930s Lancashire mill town of Oldshaw. A gentle comedy, In Loving Memory proved to be another hit for Thora and ran for five series until 1986.
By that time Thora had become synonymous with religious programming, having started a seventeen-year association with the BBC's Praise Be! in 1977. As a woman of deep spiritual conviction she was the ideal choice to host the Sunday 'God slot', a mixture of prayer and hymns, and the series regularly attracted a viewing audience of 5 million. Continuing the religious theme Dick Sharples wrote another sitcom for Thora called Hallelujah! In which she played a no-nonsense Salvation Army captain.
The two series of Hallelujah! ran between 1983 and 1984 during the run of In Loving Memory, and when the latter came to an end Thora was immediately approached by the producer of Last Of The Summer Wine to appear in a feature-length Christmas special. The episode was intended to introduce a new character, Seymour Utherwaite, played by Michael Aldridge, to fill the gap left by the departing Foggy (Brian Wilde). Thora was asked to play Seymour's sister, Edie Pegden in an episode broadcast New Years Day, 1986. It attracted a staggering 18 million viewers and Edie Pegden became a regular character.
The following year Thora was given another chance to prove herself as a talented straight actress when she starred in A Cream Cracker Under The Settee, one of Alan Bennett's celebrated Talking Heads monologues. Thora gave a stunning solo performance as a pensioner who spots the eponymous item when she suffers a fall and deservedly won a BAFTA (British Academy Award) for Best Actress.
In 1992 ill health forced Thora into having a heart bypass operation and then in 1994 her beloved Scottie died. They had been married for 59 years. She threw herself into a most grueling schedule of work, TV appearances and writing. In 1993 she became Dame Thora Hird, adding to the OBE she had been awarded in 1983. The following year Thora received further recognition from BAFTA with a Lifetime Achievement Award. In 1998 she recorded another Alan Bennett monologue, Waiting For The Telegram, about a pensioner awaiting her 100th birthday message from the Queen whilst recalling a telegram of a more tragic nature that she received during World War 1. Another BAFTA followed.
In 1998, Alan J. Bell, who as director of Last Of The Summer Wine had secured Thora's services, approached her with a tear-jerking tale about Annie Longden, an aged mother suffering a series of strokes and her helpless yet caring and patient son, played by Pete Postlethwaite, in the moving drama Lost For Words. The role led to Thora's third Best Actress Award, the first woman of the new millennium to win, and at the grand old age of eighty-nine.
In a career that spanned 80 years Dame Thora Hird appeared in countless stage productions, more than 100 films, some of television's best-known comedies, and prestigious award winning dramas. Even into her nineties, crippled with arthritis and wheelchair bound, she continued to work daily. After she passed away on March 15th 2003 aged 91, her agent of some forty years, Felix De Wolfe, contributed to her obituary in The Stage newspaper: "Her death leaves a void in the entertainment industry, one that will never be filled. It has been both a privilege and a unique opportunity to share and enjoy her life."
Reference Sources:
Our Thora by Morris Bright
Radio Times Guide to TV Comedy by Mark Lewisohn
The Penguin TV Companion by Jeff Evans
The Stage, March 20th 2003
Biography: Laurence Marcus. October 28th 2003 www.televisionheaven.co.uk
3
Tea News Bits
July Programming
There is good news! The Brit Coms on both weekdays and weekends will be on the entire month of July.
Please join us on Friday, July 4 at 8:00 p.m. for A Capitol Fourth: America's Independence Day Celebration, live from the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC. The star-spangled party will feature unrivaled musical performances from some of the country's best known and award-winning artists, as well as the most spectacular fireworks display anywhere in the nation. Grammy winners Huey Lewis and the News, "American Idol" winner Taylor Hicks, rock 'n' roll legend Jerry Lee Lewis, Broadway star Brian Stokes Mitchell, classical superstar Hayley Westenra and soprano Harolyn Blackwell will perform a selection of patriotic and celebratory music with the National Symphony Orchestra under the direction of top pops conductor Erich Kunzel.
Capping off the show will be a rousing rendition of Tchaikovsky's "1812 Overture" - an audience favorite and now A Capitol Fourth tradition - featuring the U.S. Army Herald Trumpets and complete with live cannon fire provided by the United States Army Presidential Salute Battery.
The Choral Arts Society of Washington, under the direction of Norman Scribner, returns to the show. The Joint Armed Forces Color Guard of the Military District of Washington will also be featured.
The Sherlock Holmes series begins on Sunday, July 6 at 8:00 and a different episode begins on Monday, July 7 at 9:00 pm. Be sure to tune in each Sunday and Monday so you don't miss any of these programs!
What does that mean?
Millie M. wrote asking what "gormless" means. Gormless is a British term for being "thick-headed." If someone is called gormless, it's not a compliment!
Jim A. wrote asking what a "sarnie" is. Sarnie is a term for a sandwich of any kind.
Beverly P. wanted to know what a "right pillick" is. This is a derogatory term that means idiot.
We received a question from Jenny P. about what a "barnpot" is. This one really has us stumped. Jenny says Onslow says this in reference to his father-in-law. If you know what this means, will you let us know?
Drop us a line at tealady@mpt.org if you have a term you would like explained and we'll try to list several every month to try to clear up the confusion!
Heather attends tea at Gadsby's Tavern with Martha Washington
Heather attended a tea party hosted by Martha Washington at Gadsby's Tavern Museum in Alexandria, Virginia. The First Lady treated her young teagoers to a special blend of tea, assorted sweets, and a lesson in 18th century tea customs, as well as clothing and dance from the colonial period.
If you are interested in finding out more about the museum, go to www.gadsbytavern.org.
Led Zep helps flowers bloom for Chelsea show
A garden designer from Virginia Water has harnessed the power of Led Zeppelin in a bid to win at the Chelsea Flower Show. Mark Gregory, 48, said playing the music to his plants gave them a boost ahead of the show.
"Our plants are doing really well - Led Zeppelin is definitely helping out," he said. "It is possible the vibrations made them feel better. They turned out fantastic. It was like having my own little rock concert - the acoustics in a greenhouse are quite good."
Mr. Gregory has designed a series of "living walls" for the show which runs from tomorrow until Saturday. It is the 20th consecutive year he has competed, but the music will be turned off once the competition begins.
www.thisislocallondon.co.uk
WALTHAM FOREST: Secret files reveal PC 'saw' alien craft
Waltham Forest has been regarded as a magnet for UFOs and alien abductions for many years. But now the release of secret reports by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has revealed a case which has never been publicised before.
A startled policeman saw an object with six to 12 large white orbs and red and green lights on either side as he was driving through Epping Forest in October 1984. It made no sound and was moving very slowly towards Chingford, he said.
The officer, who had served for 20 years, was so shocked that he got out of his car to have a closer look before passing on the report to the RAF, which in turn contacted the MoD.
The RAF was skeptical of the claims, saying that because there was a strong wind from the west that day, it looked like it was an aircraft approaching Heathrow.
Many hundreds of similar accounts were made public for the first time when they were released by the National Archives this week.
UFO specialist Roy Lake said: "The MoD should have released the files a lot earlier. I have seen strange lights flying over Pole Hill in Chingford several times."
There have been many sightings of UFOs throughout Waltham Forest over the years. In 1993 a huge disc-shaped object was seen hovering above an infant school in Leyton. A woman who saw it said it was white and looked as if it was hot metal, and wobbling like liquid metal.
Cigar-shaped objects, some allegedly emitting bright flashing lights, were reported several times in 1997 over Walthamstow High Street and nearby Blackhorse Road. In 1998, a boomerang-shaped object was seen in the skies above Walthamstow. The observer told website ufoinfo.com the object was glowing orange and was so high in the sky it could only be seen by binoculars. It was stationary for a while before speeding off at great speed.
That same year Walthamstow resident Tony Colbourne set up the Essex and London UFO Network. He reported that on October 11 he saw a golden orb traveling north-easterly, and a few minutes later two white orbs moving north. The next night, he spotted the golden orb again and another white orb, which he claimed expanded before imploding.
In March 1998, Priory Court resident Dean Holt reported seeing two white light-emitting rays across the Walthamstow skyline. And in 2004, a PR firm called The Fish Can Sing rated Walthamstow as fifth in a list of 40 towns nationwide considered hot spots for alien abductions.
www.thisislocallondon.co.uk
4
Some fun facts about July 4th
Stretching the connection, maybe, but we did declare independence from England!
4th of July by the Numbers
On this day in 1776, the Declaration of Independence was approved by the Continental Congress, starting the 13 colonies on the road to freedom as a sovereign nation. As always, this most American of holidays will be marked by parades, fireworks and backyard barbecues across the country.
Patriotic Places
30: Number of places nationwide with "liberty" in their name. The most populous one is Liberty, Missouri (26,232). Iowa has more of these places than any other state: four (Libertyville, New Liberty, North Liberty and West Liberty).
- Eleven places have "independence" in their name. The most populous of these is Independence, Missouri, with 113,288 residents.
- Five places adopted the name "freedom." Freedom, California, with 6,000 residents, has the largest population among these.
- There is one place named "patriot" - Patriot, Indiana, with a population of 202.
- And what could be more fitting than spending the day in a place called "America"? There are five such places in the country, with the most populous being American Fork, Utah, with 21,941 residents.
http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/BasicFactsServlet
The Fourth of July Barbecue Cookout
As with many holidays, the 4th of July celebration includes food, drink and the realization of how fortunate we are as a nation.
More than 66 million: Number of Americans who said they have taken part in a barbecue during the previous year. It's probably safe to assume a large number of these events took place on the Fourth.
http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/ www/2003/cb03-32.html
Although we do not have a fixed menu for the celebration of the Fourth, you can almost count on traditional favorites such as hamburgers and hot dogs, chicken, ribs, garden salads, potato salad, chips and watermelon. Following is a summary of where these foods come from:
- There's a 1-in-6 chance the beef on your backyard grill came from Texas. The Lone Star State was the leader in the production of cattle and calves, accounting for 7.2 billion pounds of the nation's total production of 42.2 billion pounds last year.
- There's a 1-in-4 chance your hot dogs and ribs originated in Iowa. The Hawkeye State had a total inventory of 14.9 million hogs and pigs as of March 1, 2003 - about one-fourth of the nation's total.
- The chicken on your barbecue grill probably came from one of the top broiler-producing states: Georgia, Arkansas, Alabama, North Carolina and Mississippi. The value of production in each of these states exceeded $1 billion in 2002. These states combined for well over half of the nation's broiler production.
- The lettuce in your salad or on your hamburger probably was grown in California, which accounted for nearly three-quarters of lettuce production in 2002.
- The fresh tomatoes in your salad most likely came from Florida or California, which, combined, produced more than two-thirds of U.S. tomatoes in 2002. The ketchup on your hamburger or hot dog probably came from California, which accounted for 95 percent of processed tomato production last year.
- There's a 1-in-3 chance the beans in your side dish of baked beans or pork and beans came from North Dakota, which produced more than one-third of the dry, edible beans in 2002.
- As to potato salad or potato chips or fries, Idaho and Washington produced about one-half of the nation's spuds in 2002.
- For dessert, six states - California, Florida, Texas, Georgia, Arizona and Indiana - combined to produce about 80 percent of watermelons last year.
http://www.nass.usda.gov/index.asp
Fourth of July Fireworks
$128.8 million: The value of fireworks imported from China, representing the bulk of all U.S. fireworks imports ($135.6 million) in 2002. U.S. exports of fireworks, by comparison, amounted to $13.5 million, with Germany purchasing more than any other single country ($5.0 million).
http://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/www/
Imports of U.S. Flags
$7.9 million: The dollar value of U.S. imports of American flags in 2002; more than half of this amount ($5.2 million) was for U.S. flags made in China. This was down from the 2001 dollar value of U.S. flag imports ($51.7 million), but still considerably higher than the total for 2000 ($747,800). That was the last full year prior to Sept. 11.
http://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/www/
$646,452: Dollar value of exports of U.S. flags in 2002. Japan was the leading customer, purchasing $86,189 worth.
http://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/www/
125,000: Number of U.S. flags flown over the U.S. Capitol last year at the request of House and Senate members. On July 4 alone, 1,200 were flown at our nation's capitol.
From the U.S. Capitol Flag Room.
$272 million: Annual dollar value of shipments of fabricated flags, banners and similar emblems by the nation's manufacturers, according to the latest economic census (1997) for which there is published data.
http://www.census.gov/prod/ec97/97m3149e.pdf
Coming to America
32.5 million: The number of foreign-born residents in the United States in 2002; they accounted for 11.5 percent of the nation's total population.
http://www.census.gov/ Press-Release/www/2003/cb03-42.html
More than 1-in-3 foreign-born residents were naturalized U.S. citizens.
http://www.census.gov/ Press-Release/www/2003/cb03-42.html
Six states had estimated foreign-born populations of 1 million or more: California, (8.8 million), New York (3.6 million), Florida (2.8 million), Texas (2.4 million), New Jersey (1.2 million) and Illinois (1.2 million).
http://www.census.gov/ Press-Release/www/2002/cb02-18.html
Among the foreign-born population, 52 percent were born in Latin America, 26 percent in Asia, 14 percent in Europe and the remaining 8 percent in other regions of the world, such as Africa and Oceania.
http://www.census.gov/ Press-release/www/2003/cb03-42.html
State Park Lakes & Beaches
66 million: Number of visits in a recent year to our national parks - a particularly scenic locale for a July 4th picnic. There were 766 million visits in a recent year to another popular picnic venue - state parks or recreation areas. Those in California (80 million), Ohio (59 million), New York (56 million), Washington (48 million) and Illinois (44 million) recorded the highest number of visits.
http://www.census.gov/ Press-Release/www/2003/cb03-32.html
You may or may not be able to picnic there, but a visit to a national historical site is a particularly fitting way to celebrate our nation's heritage. In a recent year, about 72 million people flocked to national historical sites and 24 million to national monuments.
http://www.census.gov/ Press-Release/www/2003/cb03-32.html
The British are Coming!
"The British are coming! The British are coming!" These days, this cry applies to tourists rather than "redcoats." Nearly 5 million tourists from the United Kingdom visited the United States in a recent year, more than from any other country except Japan.
http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2003/cb03-32.html
$74 billion: Dollar volume of trade last year between the United States and the United Kingdom, making the U.K., our adversary in 1776, our sixth-leading trading partner today.
http://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/www/
www.chiff.com
5
Patricia Routledge: From Stage to Pretension to Sleuth
Katherine Patricia Routledge CBE (born 17 February 1929) is a Tony Award-winning English actress who is best known to television audiences for her role of Hyacinth Bucket in the television comedy series Keeping Up Appearances. Prior to Keeping Up Appearances, Routledge had a prolific career in theatre, particularly in musical theatre in the UK and the US during the 1960s and 1970s. The honor of the OBE was bestowed upon her in 1993, and in 2004, Routledge was promoted to CBE.
Routledge was born in Birkenhead, Merseyside in 1929. She was educated at Birkenhead High School, an independent girls' school, and the University of Liverpool. She trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School and launched her acting career at the Liverpool Playhouse.
Routledge has appeared in many stage productions, including West End productions of Little Mary Sunshine, Cowardly Custard, Noises Off, The Importance of Being Earnest, and The Solid Gold Cadillac, as well as a number of less successful vehicles. In 1980, she played Ruth in the Joseph Papp production of The Pirates of Penzance at the Delacorte Theatre in New York City's Central Park, one of the series of Shakespeare in the Park summer events. The show was a hit and transferred to Broadway, opening on January 8, 1981, but Estelle Parsons replaced Routledge there. In recent years, Routledge played the role of Aunt Nettie to great acclaim in the 1993 production of Carousel; more recently, in a 2006 production of The Best of Friends (based on a book by Hugh Whitemore) at the Hampstead Theatre, Routledge portrayed Dame Laurentia McLachlan, OSB. The play focused on her friendships with Sir Sydney Cockerell and George Bernard Shaw.
She made her Broadway debut in 1968 in the musical Darling of the Day, for which she won a Tony Award as Best Actress in a Musical, sharing the honor with Leslie Uggams of Hallelujah, Baby! which she received from Groucho Marx. In the New York Times, Walter Kerr wrote that Routledge gave "the most spectacular, most scrumptious, most embraceable musical comedy debut since Beatrice Lillie and Gertrude Lawrence came to this country." He added, "I understand there are some insane people going around this town saying that they didn't care all that much for Darling of the Day. I'd stay away from them if I were you. I warn you: if you don't catch her act now, you'll someday want to kill yourself."
Following Darling of the Day, Routledge had roles in several more unsuccessful Broadway productions, including a musical called Love Match, in which she played Queen Victoria; the legendary 1976 Leonard Bernstein flop, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, in which she portrayed every First Lady from Abigail Adams to Eleanor Roosevelt; and a 1981 musical called Say Hello to Harvey, based on the Mary Coyle Chase play Harvey, which closed in Toronto before reaching New York. Perhaps because of this ill-starred career, she did not follow the 1993 West End production of Carousel when it traveled to Broadway in 1994.
Routledge's screen credits include To Sir, with Love and Don't Raise the Bridge, Lower the River. Her early television appearances, including roles in Coronation Street and several BBC drama serials, brought her little notice until the 1980s, when she appeared in both Victoria Wood's comedy series and Alan Bennett's Talking Heads series of short plays. She also appeared in the "Seance in a Wet Rag and Bone Yard" episode of Steptoe and Son in 1974.
In 1990, Routledge landed the high-profile role in the comedy series Keeping Up Appearances, in which she starred as Hyacinth Bucket, a one-time working-class woman with social pretensions (insisting her surname be pronounced "bouquet") and visions of grandeur (her often-mentioned but never-seen "candlelight suppers" apparently were legendary only in her own mind).
In 1996, she accepted the lead in another long-running series, the mystery drama Hetty Wainthropp Investigates, which co-starred rising star Dominic Monaghan as her assistant. She has also played several real-life characters on television, including Barbara Pym and Hildegard of Bingen.
In 2001, Routledge starred in Anybody's Nightmare, a fact-based television drama in which she played a piano teacher who served four years in prison for murdering her elderly aunt but was acquitted following a retrial.
Her radio credits include the BBC dramatization of Carole Hayman's Ladies of Letters, in which she and Prunella Scales play elderly women who exchange humorous correspondence over the course of several years.
The Insider, by Michelle Street, May 2007
6
Becoming Jane Austen
The True Love Story That Inspired
the Classic Novels
by John Spence
Part of a continuing series.
The Deane family increased rapidly. The Austens' first child, a son, was born within a year of their marriage, and two more sons were born in the following two years. In January 1768 George's stepmother died and he at last came into his inheritance of about £1,000 ($1,953.51) from his father. By midsummer Steventon parsonage had been repaired and refurbished, and the family moved to the house that was to be their home until George Austen's retirement more than thirty years later. Cassandra's mother died only a few months after the move to Steventon, and before the end of the year her sister Jane married Edward Cooper, a rich clergyman whose family had lived near Harpsden and had been lifelong friends of the Leighs.
Jane Austen
|
With Mrs. Leigh's death, Cassandra came into her inheritance and purchased £3,350 ($6,544.27) in South Sea Securities. The investment yielded a supplement to the family income. The only further increase they could now look forward to was George's becoming rector of Deane, the living his uncle Francis had bought for him at about the time of his marriage. Deane didn't fall vacant until 1773, but the Austens managed to keep afloat, living a quiet, frugal but busy country life. If they were inordinately worried about their three sons' futures, they gave not sign of it other than prudently choosing a rich godfather for each child.
Susannah Walter, the wife of George's half-brother, William Walter, visited Steventon in the early summer of 1770 with her nine-year-old daughter Philadelphia, named for her aunt Hancock. For a few months following her return to Kent, Susannah corresponded with the Austens and kept her letters, which give us our only real glimpse of George and Cassandra in the early years of their marriage.
7
Tea Advisor
Aspects of Tea Production
A more pleasant feature of the China tea trade was the "Clipper Race." The most highly prized teas from China were those plucked first, at the beginning of the season, in the spring. Teas were believed to deteriorate with age. They certainly do if they are exposed to damp, but if properly packed in sealed containers they keep well. Nevertheless, a mystique built up around drinking recently plucked teas, especially the "first flush" teas. It was rather similar to the present race in Britain to drink the first of the new Beaujolais.
The East Inda Company had used immensely strong, dumpy, heavy vessels, described as being like a cross between a medieval castle and a warehouse. Typically, these "East Indiamen" would leave Britain in January, sail round the Cape of Good Hope, and then pick up the south-west monsoon to arrive off China in September. The entire tea harvest for that year would have been plucked by then and, with luck, it could be loaded for departure in December. Often, the ships took a roundabout route on the way back, for everything depended on the wind. They would first go east from China, between Formosa (Taiwan) and the Philippines, then south to New Guinea, before turning west. If they picked up good winds, they might be back by September. More likely it would be December or later, fully two years after they had first left Britain. Delays in China might make it necessary to spend almost a year in China waiting for the north-east monsoon, extending the round trip to nearer three years.
The East India Company disposed of many of its ships in 1814, when it lost its monopoly of the trade to India. It had continued to trade with China, but when in 1834 it lost that monopoly too, it disposed of its last ship. Many were brought by their captains or by Indian merchants, who had often been operating the ships under license from the Company, and the ships continued to sail to China.
Tea | By Roy Moxham
8
Mystery of the Month
What Is Your Guess?
Case One
A man walks into a home with a snake and goes to the bathroom. The owner frets and hovers while the man wrestles with the snake behind closed doors. The man exits the house a half hour later fatigued and sweaty, but victorious. The owner breathes a sigh of relief and gives the man a large sum of money for his efforts.
The Mystery
Who is the man and what has he done?
-
Clues
- The man works hard for a living.
- The man sometimes discovers small valuable goods while he works.
- The man helps clear things up for people.
- The man uses the snake as a tool.
- The man likes a good pipe, but he doesn't smoke.
Case Two
Deep in the woods, a portly and unassuming fellow ambles along humming to himself. He finds a large hole in the ground, which he figures must house some animal, maybe a rabbit. He squirms into the hole, but on the way back out manages to get quite stuck because of his formidable girth. Finally, a little boy comes along and rescues him by pulling him out.
The Mystery
Who is this individual and where does he live?
-
Clues
- He's from Great Britain.
- When he wears clothes at all, he usually just sports a t-shirt.
- He feels most at home in the woods.
- His favorite food is honey.
- A diminutive pig is his best friend.
Be sure to check the August 2008 edition of the Tea Times for the answers
Answers to June Mysteries:
Case One: Stevie is a snowman and he melted.
Case Two: Bill is a $1 bill of U.S. currency and he is in a cash register.
9
England's Calendar of Events | July
Yeovilton International Air Day
July 5, 2008
RNAS Yeovilton, Ilchester, England
RNAS Yeovilton plays host to the Yeovilton International Air Day, offering an extensive flying display as well as a more earthbound exhibition of military and civilian aircraft, historic and modern.
Ground-based entertainment includes sideshows, trade stands, a funfair, service demonstrations, vintage vehicles and refreshments. If you're feeling really keen, you can even take a pleasure flight.
This year the event's theme is "Maritime Air". An extensive flying and static display is planned, with military and civilian aircraft from around the world.
www.whatsonwhen.com
Wakestock
July 4-6, 2008
Abersoch, Wales
Wakestock is Europe's largest wakeboarding music festival, held at Abersoch, Cardigan Bay in North Wales. More than 35 acts over the weekend attract up to 20,000 people.
The festival site is at Penrhos, with the wakeboarding taking place at Abersoch Beach and Pwllheli Marina. The event attracts the world's best wakeboarders and they are encouraged to go for it in style, competing in a number of events including the Wakestock Pro and Big Air Classic.
Highlights of the musical line-up over the weekend include Mark Ronson, Groove Armada, The Streets, Duffy, Calvin Harris, Happy Mondays, The Futureheads, Young Knives, Lightspeed Champion and Mystery Jets.
There is a campsite next to the festival site, and shuttle buses running in-between the site, the beach and the marina.
www.whatsonwhen.com
Great Yorkshire Show
July 8-10, 2008
Great Yorkshire Showground, Harrogate, England
The Great Yorkshire Show is a countryside showcase held at Harrogate's Great Yorkshire Showground, celebrating its 150th anniversary in 2008. The Main Ring is the focal point of the event, with a packed programme of show jumping, pole climbing, marching bands and cattle parades.
In other parts of the showground there are animals from exotic poultry to shire horses, plus sheep shearing, fly fishing, the Great Yorkshire Cheese & Dairy Show, a fashion show, country pursuits and much more.
www.whatsonwhen.com
10
Chilled Vegetable Salad
Are you looking for something different for a side dish to go with your July 4th barbecue? We think you might find this to be the perfect answer!
Ingredients
- 1 cup sugar
- ¾ cup cider vinegar
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 1 medium-size green bell pepper, chopped
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 3 celery ribs, sliced
- 1 (7-ounce) jar diced pimiento, undrained
- 1 (15 ¼-ounce) can small sweet green peas, drained
- 1 (14 ½-ounce) can French-cut green beans, drained
- 1 (11-ounce) can white shoepeg corn, drained
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
Preparation
- Bring first 3 ingredients to a boil in small saucepan over medium heat; cook, stirring often, 5 minutes or until sugar dissolves. Remove dressing from heat, and cool 30 minutes.
- Stir together chopped bell pepper and next 8 ingredients in a large bowl; gently stir in dressing. Cover and chill salad for 8 hours. Serve with a slotted spoon.
- NOTE: Salad may be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for several days.
Yield
8 cups
Sidney Ann Allen, Shreveport, Louisiana
Southern Living, NOVEMBER 2000
11
Afternoon Teaisms
Rhymes and Wits
A perfect summer day is when the sun is shining, the breeze is blowing, the birds are singing, and the lawn mower is broken.
James Dent, humorist, Real Simple, June 2008
CELEBRATE THE FREEDOM
Celebrate the freedom
of the US of A
Put out its colors
In a proud way
We're so fortunate
to live in this place
So serve it right
and not just today
This is America
the US of A
Celebrate with pride
on it's birthday
HAPPY 4th OF JULY!!!
2005 Mary Carpio | www.funmunch.com