THE PEACE SYMBOL TURNS 50

It’s become instantly recognisable almost anywhere on the globe as a sign of peace. And while there have been many claims about its origins, the most commonly accepted version is that it was created 50 years ago this year as the logo for the Direct Action Committee Against Nuclear War (which later became part of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament).

     The story goes that it was designed by British professional designer and artist Gerald Holtom - a conscientious objector during World War II - and first appeared in public over the 1958 Easter weekend in a 52 mile anti-nuclear march from London’s Trafalgar Square to Aldermaston, where Britain's nuclear weapons are manufactured.

      DAVID ADAMS takes a look at the beginnings of a controversial symbol... | more...|

THE FAMOUS BRICK CELEBRATES 50 YEARS

It was 50 years ago last January that the humble Lego brick made its first appearance on the world stage.    

     Lego’s history goes back as far as 1932 when Dane Ole Kirk Christiansen founded a small wooden toy factory in Billund, drawing the company’s name from a fusion of the Danish words leg and godt (meaning “play well”).

     But it wasn’t until 1958 that the brick had emerged in the plastic form as we know it today and 1.58pm on 28th January of that year when the then Lego chief, Gotfred Kirk Christiansen filed a patent for the toy.

      DAVID ADAMS joins in the celebration as Lego blows out the birthday candles... | more...|

THIRSTY GATORS LED TO A SPORTS DRINK REVOLUTION

Had it not been for a team of physicians at the University of Florida, the name of the university’s football team - the Gators - would probably mean nothing to you or I. Thanks to their work in creating one of the world’s most famous sports drinks, however, the team’s name has been immortalised in the drink we now know as Gatorade.

     According to an article on the University of Florida's website, the drink’s origins go back to 1965 when an assistant coach - named as Dwayne Douglas - at the University of Florida asked university kidney disease specialist, Dr Robert Cade, why so many of his team’s players were being affected by heat and heat-related incidents.

      DAVID ADAMS looks at the origins of a sports drink revolution... | more...|

HOW A STICKY START LED TO HAPPY LITTLE VEGEMITES

Vegemite. It’s an Australian icon and an essential part of diets across the country - used in stews and casseroles, in soups and gravies, in sandwiches with cheese or just by itself on toast. But who first came up with the idea of making this black, sticky spread?

    According to Kraft - the manufacturer of Vegemite, the spread was first invented in 1922. That was the year the Fred Walker Company (which became the Kraft Walker Company in 1926 and finally dropped the Walker in 1950), hired a young chemist by the name of Dr Cyril P Callister to develop a spread from leftover brewer’s yeast, a rich source of vitamin B used in beer production.

     He came up with vegemite - which was initially sold in a two ounce or 57 gram jar with the label “pure vegetable extract” (later changed to “concentrated yeast extract”.) The company boss, Fred Walker, then held a national competition to find a name for the new product with a prize pool of 50 pounds. According to Kraft, the winner’s name has since been ‘lost to history’ but it is known that it was Walker’s daughter who drew out the winning entry.

      DAVID ADAMS takes a look at where it all began for Aussie icon, Vegemite... | more...|

A FASHION STATEMENT, TO A TEE

The T-shirt is these days a ubiquitous piece of clothing, spanning gender, national, and cultural boundaries across the globe. But up until 100 years ago, the T-shirt as we know it didn’t exist.

      The origins of the T-shirt (aka tee shirt) are somewhat obscured in the mists of history but it’s believed that the modern T-shirt (the T refers to the shape) was created around 1913 - the start of World War I - as a light undershirt worn by US sailors (there are, however, alternative stories such as the tale that the T-shirt shape was born when, inspecting hairy armed sailors wearing sleeveless undergarments, Queen Victoria demanded sleeves to be sewn onto their shirts).

     Emerging as a fashion item in the Fifties - thanks to being worn by the likes of “Rebel without a Cause” James Dean - and, in doing so, making the transition from underwear to outerwear, the T-shirt hasn’t looked back since.

      DAVID ADAMS explores how the T-shirt came to be... | more...|

HOPSCOTCH - FROM ROMAN TRAINING COURSE TO CHILD'S PLAY

Hopscotch is a childrens' game based on people hopping and jumping their way through a “court” which consists of lines drawn or scratched on the ground, often with chalk and often in a pattern of adjoining squares (although the pattern can vary widely).

      Participants throw a stone or marker of some sort onto the court's first square and then hop their way through it without touching lines and avoiding the marker square. They then must travel in reverse, stopping to pick up the stone before finishing.

      The marker is then thrown onto the next square and the person continues. Losing their balance, stepping on a line or completing the sequence out of order forfeits the turn.

      DAVID ADAMS relives a childhood pleasure... | more...|

A CONTROVERSIAL START FOR THE ICE CREAM SUNDAE

Ahhh! The ice cream sundae. Scoops of ice cream topped with thick oozing syrup, a sprinkling of nuts, whipped cream and a cherry.

      While it remains a popular dessert in many countries - particularly the US where it was believed to have originated - the origins of the ice cream sundae remained clouded by controversy.

      The name is believed to relate to the day on which it was sold. Towns in the US in the mid to late 1800s had introduced so called “blue laws” which prohibited certain items, such as soda water, being sold on Sunday to uphold moral standards. To get around the ban, soda fountain owners apparently starting making ice cream sodas without the soda and thus the "Ice Cream Sunday" - later known as the ice cream sundae - was born.

     In the first of a new column looking at the origins of words we use in our everyday lives, DAVID ADAMS looks back to a time before ice cream sundaes... | more...|