The Simple Things

Taking time to live well
  • Home
  • Subscribe
  • SHOP
  • Newsletter
  • About
  • Work with us
  • Home
  • Subscribe
  • SHOP
  • Newsletter
  • About
  • Work with us

Blog

Taking Time to Live Well

  • All
  • Chalkboard
  • Christmas
  • Competition
  • could do
  • Eating
  • Escape
  • Escaping
  • Fresh
  • Fun
  • gardening
  • Gathered
  • Gathering
  • Growing
  • Haikus
  • Interview
  • Living
  • Looking back
  • Magazine
  • magical creatures
  • Making
  • Miscellany
  • My Neighbourhood
  • Nature
  • Nest
  • Nesting
  • outing
  • playlist
  • Reader event
  • Reader offer
  • Shop
  • Sponsored post
  • Sunday Best
  • Think
  • Uncategorized
  • Wellbeing
  • Wisdom

Photography by Getty Images

History | Signature Hotel Dishes and Drinks

Iona Bower June 20, 2024

Famous for their striking architecture and sophisticated ambience, many hotels are also famed for the dishes and cocktails invented in their kitchens and at their bars.

Grand Hotels are known for their signature dishes and drinks. The Bloody Mary is said to have been invented by a St Regis bartender. And, in 1915 at Raffles, Singapore, Ngiam Tong Boon supposedly invented the Singapore Sling. Let’s meet a few more Grand Hotel inventions. 

Beef Carpaccio, invented at Harry’s Bar, Venice

Created for a Countess who had been advised by her doctor to avoid cooked meats, this raw beef dish was just the ticket. It was invented by the owner of Harry’s Bar, Guiseppe Cipriani, and named after the artist Vittore Carpaccio who had an exhibition in Venice at the time and was famed for using bright reds, the colour of Beef Carpaccio.

Chocolate Brownies, invented at the Palmer House Hilton, Chicago

In 1893 Bertha Palmer, the wife of the Palmer Hotel’s owner, asked the chef to create a pudding to go into the lunchboxes of female guests who would be going to the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. The hotel still bakes them to the original recipe, which includes walnuts and an apricot glaze. 

Peach Melba, The Savoy Hotel, London

When Australian Soprano singer, Nellie Melba, was in London performing in Lohengrin, a dinner was thrown for her at the Savoy by the Duke of Orleans. The Savoy’s head chef, August Escoffier served her fresh peaches and vanilla ice cream on top of an ice sculpture of a swan (a reference to the opera). Due to the swan, it was originally called Peche au Cygnet, but Escoffier later added raspberry puree when he took the idea to the Ritz, and called it Peach Melba. 

The Ritz Sidecar, The Ritz, Paris

Surely one of the world’s priciest cocktails (a mere snip at £1,500), this Parisian tipple is made with Cognac, Cointreau and lemon juice (though apparently The Hemingway Bar at The Ritz, where it was invented has secret ingredients that it does not divulge). We can only imagine at that price that the secret ingredient is gold bullion…

The Martini, The Knickerbocker Hotel, New York

Invented at the Knickerbocker, NYC, the first martini is said to have been mixed by a bartender by the name Martini di Arma di Taggia, for John D Rockefeller, who was strong, dry and smooth, just like a martini… It’s made with gin, Vermouth and orange and citrus bitters. 

If you’re feeling inspired to live more of the Grand Hotel lifestyle yourself, don’t miss out feature, ‘In Grand Style’ in our June issue, where you can learn all about the history of some rather posh hotels. 

Buy this month's The Simple Things - buy, download or subscribe

More tipples to try…

Featured
raspberrylavendercocktails.jpg
Jun 15, 2024
Tipple | Lavender & Raspberry Cocktails
Jun 15, 2024
Jun 15, 2024
Cocktail Gathering .jpg
Dec 16, 2023
Tipple | Pomander Cocktail
Dec 16, 2023
Dec 16, 2023
Strawberry Fizz.jpg
Jul 8, 2023
Tipple | Strawberry Fizz
Jul 8, 2023
Jul 8, 2023

More from our blog…

Featured
Water Boatman.jpg
May 24, 2025
Nature | Pond-Dipping for Grown-ups
May 24, 2025
May 24, 2025
RS2832_iStock-1278591330.jpg
May 23, 2025
Sponsored Post | Get your family active with Youth Sport Trust
May 23, 2025
May 23, 2025
Screenshot 2025-05-21 at 08.52.06.png
May 21, 2025
Playlist | Great Heights
May 21, 2025
May 21, 2025
In Fun Tags issue 144, tipple, cocktail, hotels, looking back
Comment

Image of George Blake: Alamy

Primer | Spy Gadgets

Iona Bower January 15, 2022

At the International Spy Museum in Washington DC, some of the world’s most intriguing and ingenious gadgets can be found. Here are just a few…

An unassuming lump of explosive coal was issued with its own dinky camouflage kit so that spies could colourmatch it to local coal.

America’s dog poo homing beacon directed planes to missile strikes in the 1970s. It doesn’t look very convincing, truth be told, but who’s going to be staring that intently at it, really?

The trees have ears! During the Cold War, a solar-powered tree stump listening device was placed near a Soviet airbase to eavesdrop for the CIA.

Pigeons are the world’s most decorated birds, and for good reason – 95% of wartime pigeons successfully completed their missions. Some even wore a tiny camera to spy on the enemy.

The KGB’s lipstick pistol could dispense the kiss of death in a flash. Not one to be fished out of a make-up bag by mistake on a bleary morning, though.

Closer to home, the Derwent Pencil Museum in Keswick has a rather nifty deception device of its own. In 1942, Charles Fraser-Smith – the man who inspired Ian Fleming’s character of Q – asked the Cumberland Pencil Factory to design a special hollowed-out pencil that could house a secret map, to be given to Lancaster Bomber pilots. A compass was hidden under the rubber, something we’d be bound to lose within about three minutes.

These gadgets were collated for our Looking Back feature on spies from our January issue. Read all about some of the world’s most famous spies (and their gadgets) from page 84.

More from our January issue…

Featured
Water Boatman.jpg
May 24, 2025
Nature | Pond-Dipping for Grown-ups
May 24, 2025
May 24, 2025
RS2832_iStock-1278591330.jpg
May 23, 2025
Sponsored Post | Get your family active with Youth Sport Trust
May 23, 2025
May 23, 2025
Screenshot 2025-05-21 at 08.52.06.png
May 21, 2025
Playlist | Great Heights
May 21, 2025
May 21, 2025

More looking back…

Featured
Carlton Hotel.jpg
Jun 20, 2024
History | Signature Hotel Dishes and Drinks
Jun 20, 2024
Jun 20, 2024
George Blake Alamy.jpg
Jan 15, 2022
Primer | Spy Gadgets
Jan 15, 2022
Jan 15, 2022
Walled garden Alamy.jpg
Apr 27, 2019
Why we love a secret garden
Apr 27, 2019
Apr 27, 2019
In Think Tags looking back, spies, history
Comment
Photography: Alamy

Photography: Alamy

Why we love a secret garden

Iona Bower April 27, 2019

Come through the gate with us into a wonderful, walled world


Wouldn’t we all love a walled garden? Who can honestly say they’ve not wandered through the pretty paths of a walled garden in a stately home, between manicured flower beds and pleached fruit trees and pretended just for a few seconds that they are lady of the manor, taking their crinoline out for an airing on a turn round the estate?

Something about their secluded nature makes them just a little bit magical. It’s little wonder many a novel and film features a walled garden, symbolic of the fertile ground hidden inside the walls of our mind, the wonder of a secret well kept, the idea that behind any ordinary brick wall one might find something fantastical…

One of our favourite fictional walled gardens would have to be in Frances Hodgson Burnett’s The Secret Garden. “It was the sweetest, most mysterious-looking place any one could imagine. The high walls which shut it in were covered with the leafless stems of climbing roses which were so thick that they were matted together.” But the sweetest thing about it for Mary Lennox is the chance to learn to tame the garden and to grow within its walls. The garden, abandoned for a decade, (note that orphan, Mary, unwanted and then left by her own parents, is also ten years old) is an allegory for Mary’s spiritual self. Inside the brick walls of abandoned garden are bulbs waiting to shoot and then bloom. And inside cold, self-centred Mary Lennox is all sorts of good just waiting to be nurtured into growth.

The Secret Garden is considered a classic British children’s book, but the interesting thing about it is that it was written neither as a book, nor for children. The story was first published, serialised, in an adult magazine. It wasn’t until 1911 that it was published in its entirety as a book, and then it was marketed to both adults and children simultaneously, in much the same way as the Harry Potter books or Philip Pullman’s Lyra trilogy were decades later.

In its time, The Secret Garden was a bit of a damp squib among Frances Hodgson Burnett’s far more successful novels, such as A Little Princess and Little Lord Fauntleroy. What probably saved it from obscurity was a sudden adult interest in the studying of children’s fiction at the time and that marketing of it as a book for adults.

It’s a strange thing that we adults, who hold all the cards really where children’s fiction is concerned, spotting authors, paying illustrators, devising budgets for the marketing of all these books, are so reticent to step forward and enjoy them. We feel, for some reason that we have to leave these books for children, wait to be invited into their secret garden. And every few decades, along comes a book that transcends the barriers between adult and children’s fiction, and the people in suits at the publishing houses feel they have to throw us a bone with an ‘adult version’ cover, or at least one we won’t be embarrassed to be seen reading on the bus. It’s a great shame, really.

We’d like to encourage you to pick up a book that’s ‘too young’ for you this month and read it proudly in public. Who knows? Behind that cover that says ‘not for you’ you might find a long-forgotten secret garden with all sorts of wonders just waiting for your imagination to carefully weed around them, tend to them and watch them grow.

Reading list

If you love a book about gardens, you might like to try (or re-read) one of these:

Tom’s Midnight Garden by Philippa Pearce, 1958

Tom is staying with his aunt and uncle in their flat while his brother recovers from measles. The flat has no garden and quarantined Tom has no playmates, until the clock strikes 13 and the Midnight Garden appears…

The Camomile Lawn, Mary Wesley, 1984

One that really is for the grown-ups. Wesley’s novel about youth, love and loss that begins in the summer before World War Two, has at its centre, the scented camomile lawn in Helena and Richard’s garden by the sea, which epitomises holidays, summer and carefree youth.

The Forgotten Garden, Kate Morton, 2008

An abandoned child, a secret garden, a mystery… If you enjoyed The Secret Garden you’re sure to enjoy this.


If you’d like to read about the history of walled gardens don’t miss Wonder Walls in our May issue, in shops now.


Get hold of your copy of this month's The Simple Things - buy, download or subscribe

More from our May issue…

Featured
Kite Getty.JPG
Feb 28, 2020
How to | make a kite
Feb 28, 2020
Feb 28, 2020
Back cover Mari Andrew.jpg
May 27, 2019
May: a final thought
May 27, 2019
May 27, 2019
Analogue Jonathan Cherry.jpg
May 11, 2019
Etymology: jukebox
May 11, 2019
May 11, 2019

More on children’s books that have inspired us…

Featured
Jessica Benhar-Little red riding hood-1200 dpi.jpg
Oct 21, 2023
Create | Fairytale Story Starters
Oct 21, 2023
Oct 21, 2023
RoaldDahl2.jpg
Sep 9, 2023
Life Advice | From Roald Dahl
Sep 9, 2023
Sep 9, 2023
Famous Five.jpg
Sep 24, 2022
Quiz | Which member of The Famous Five are you?
Sep 24, 2022
Sep 24, 2022
In Looking back Tags April, gardens, looking back, children's books, issue83
Comment
Photography courtesy of Jarrold

Photography courtesy of Jarrold

Are you being served?

Iona Bower January 8, 2019

Take a trip down memory lane, and into a shop doorway, with us

Oh we do love a Proper Department Store. They' come into their own in winter. First the excitement of the lights and the window dressings in Advent. Who remembers being taken ‘up town’ to see the lights in Selfridge’s or Harrods? And then the bustle of the January sales as every elbow in the vicinity is sharpened to a lethal point and spectacles cleaned in preparation for stalking the aisles like a ninja. (Albeit a ninja hoping for an electric cake mixer on special offer or a nice well-priced set of Egyptian cotton sheets).

With the arrival of the internet and many Black Fridays, a little of that magic has been lost. But we still love a day out in a department store. The thrill that you can find absolutely anything you want under one roof - as Harrods famously claimed - “from a pin to an elephant”. And posh, heavy doors, and dizzying escalators, and staff who treat you as though you’re in a five-star hotel. Oh and the cafes… they were an outing in themselves!

In our January issue, on sale now, we’ve done a retrospective in our Looking Back slot of the Golden Age of department stores. And we want to know all about yours. The big ones, yes (who can resist a poke round Liberty’s of course?) but also the smaller ones in provincial towns that would mean nothing to someone from another county but which, for anyone who grew up where you did, the name conjures all sorts of happy memories.

We’re big fans of Jarrold’s in Norwich, which is still doing a roaring trade to this day. And several The Simple Thigs staff members still feel a pang of sadness as they walk past Allder’s of Croydon, just round the corner from Simple Things Towers. Once a glorious store that several of us visited as children for sales days or to meet Father Christmas, it’s now closed down and houses a slightly bewildering collection of small discount outlets. But still, there’s a little thrill to be had just pushing open those heavy doors in a lunch hour…

Tell us all about your most loved department stores below…

Get hold of your copy of this month's The Simple Things - buy, download or subscribe


More from our January issue…

Featured
SIM79.CHALKBOARD_ST Back Jan19_01.JPG
Jan 29, 2019
January: a final thought
Jan 29, 2019
Jan 29, 2019
Up Helly Aa.jpg
Jan 28, 2019
How to: Party like a Viking
Jan 28, 2019
Jan 28, 2019
cabbage.jpg
Jan 26, 2019
Cabbage: a prince among brassica
Jan 26, 2019
Jan 26, 2019

More from our Looking Back pages…

Featured
Carlton Hotel.jpg
Jun 20, 2024
History | Signature Hotel Dishes and Drinks
Jun 20, 2024
Jun 20, 2024
George Blake Alamy.jpg
Jan 15, 2022
Primer | Spy Gadgets
Jan 15, 2022
Jan 15, 2022
Walled garden Alamy.jpg
Apr 27, 2019
Why we love a secret garden
Apr 27, 2019
Apr 27, 2019



In Looking back Tags issue 79, january, looking back, department stores
Comment
Photograph: Getty Images

Photograph: Getty Images

Halloween | Five great ghouls

Lottie Storey October 21, 2018

We love scary stories, especially in the chill nights of autumn. From Frankenstein to Freddy Krueger, monsters are enduringly fascinating. It seems we can’t get enough of scaring ourselves silly. Here are five great ghouls

DRACULA

The vampire as seductive killer has become one of horror’s (and, latterly, romance’s) staples. These days Dracula is often reduced to a campy stereotype, but bloodsucking parasites are constantly reinvented for their age – as in Justin Cronin’s saga The Passage, where virus- carrying vampires ravage a post- apocalyptic wasteland.

FRANKENSTEIN’S MONSTER

Another figure more often seen in pastiche, the monster is a tragic figure, man’s hubris made real and deadly. In an age when science is once again taking over what was once seen as ‘God’s work’ (with cloning, genetic modification, etc) it’s no surprise this idea sees multiple revivals on TV, film and stage.

FREDDY KRUEGER

Razor-clawed, pizza-faced Freddy has been sanitised into a clownish Halloween costume over the years (people often forget he started out as a child killer), but his unforgettable look, plus his ability to enter our very dreams and prey on our subconscious fears, make him one of cinema’s great monsters.

HANNIBAL LECTER

Most famously played by Anthony Hopkins, and recently reinvented by Mads Mikkelsen in the blood-soaked TV series Hannibal, this suave, cunning and ruthless cannibal set the template for the sophisticated serial killer, able to charm his victims – and captors – despite being guilty of the most horrible crimes.

THE ARMITAGES

Easygoing and friendly, the urbane, intellectual family in Get Out welcome their daughter’s black boyfriend into their home – but when their sinister reasons become apparent, the terror begins. They could be your neighbours, your friends, and you wouldn’t ever know...

  Buy ,  download  or  subscribe   See the sample of our latest issue  here   Buy a copy of our latest anthology:  A Year of Celebrations   Buy a copy of  Flourish 2 , our wellbeing bookazine  Listen to  our podcast  - Small Ways to Live Well

Get hold of your copy of this month's The Simple Things - buy, download or subscribe

View the sampler here.

 

More from the October issue:

Featured
back cover 76.png
Dec 21, 2020
It's better to light a candle than curse the darkness
Dec 21, 2020
Dec 21, 2020
SIM76.TODAY,TOMORROW,TOKEEP_Hazelnuts-Pesto-7353.jpg
May 9, 2020
Cook | hazelnut pesto and gnocchi with fennel
May 9, 2020
May 9, 2020
the simple things gift subscription.png
Oct 23, 2018
Christmas gift subscription offer
Oct 23, 2018

Christmas gift subscription offer from The Simple Things magazine. Treat friends and family to a gift subscription this Christmas and we'll do the wrapping and sending for you. Just £44 – saving 26%* on the usual cover price.

Oct 23, 2018

More Halloween:

Featured
Pumpkin Beer Keg Jonathan Cherry.jpg
Oct 31, 2023
Make | a pumpkin beer keg
Oct 31, 2023
Oct 31, 2023
Alamy_2CCAJN3Alamy horror.jpg
Oct 25, 2022
Fun | Gothic Book Title Generator
Oct 25, 2022
Oct 25, 2022
Pumpkin creme brulee.JPG
Oct 16, 2021
Recipe | Mini Pumpkin Creme Brulees
Oct 16, 2021
Oct 16, 2021
In Think Tags issue 76, october, halloween, horror, monsters, films, looking back
Comment
SIM72.LOOKINGBACK_1375468.png

250 years of the circus | Five famous clowns

Lottie Storey June 14, 2018

To mark 250 years of the circus, we wonder at its feats, honk its red nose and cheer at its colourful past - turn to page 90 of June's The Simple Things

Five of the most famous clowns

Joseph Grimaldi 1778–1837
Not strictly a circus clown (he performed mainly in panto), but deserving of a mention as he was the first to sport ‘whiteface’ and a red smile, and is known as ‘the father of modern clowning’.

Grock 1880–1959
A Swiss acrobat, Charles Wettach started as a clown in 1903. He left the circus to perform in music halls instead, subverting the form, as someone who ran away from the circus rather than to it.

Emmett Kelly 1898–1979
American, Kelly, clowned as ‘Weary Willie’, a character based on the ‘hobos’ of the depression era. His son, Emmett Kelly Junior later continued the act.

Charlie Cairoli 1910–1980
French clown of Italian descent, Charlie began clowning at the age of seven as ‘Carletto’ and later worked at Blackpool Tower’s circus for 40 years.

Lou Jacobs 1903–1992
The first ‘Auguste’ clown (the ‘red’ clown types with big shoes, lairy trousers and orange wigs), Lou Jacobs is credited with popularising the ‘clown car’ and also being the first to sport a red rubber ball as a nose.

 

  Buy ,  download  or  subscribe   See the sample of our latest issue  here   Buy a copy of our latest anthology:  A Year of Celebrations   Buy a copy of  Flourish 2 , our wellbeing bookazine  Listen to  our podcast  - Small Ways to Live Well

Get hold of your copy of this month's The Simple Things - buy, download or subscribe

View the sampler here

 

More from the June issue:

Featured
DSC_1557.png
Jun 26, 2018
Nest | Delphiniums
Jun 26, 2018
Jun 26, 2018
SIM72.STYLE_ulls271438_1.png
Jun 23, 2018
Simple style | Sandals
Jun 23, 2018
Jun 23, 2018
SIM72.HIDDENHUT_THH_Samphire_Frittata_Salad-1290-Edit-Edit.png
Jun 22, 2018
Recipe | Samphire frittata with warm lemony courgette salad
Jun 22, 2018
Jun 22, 2018

More nostalgia:

Featured
Carlton Hotel.jpg
Jun 20, 2024
History | Signature Hotel Dishes and Drinks
Jun 20, 2024
Jun 20, 2024
George Blake Alamy.jpg
Jan 15, 2022
Primer | Spy Gadgets
Jan 15, 2022
Jan 15, 2022
Walled garden Alamy.jpg
Apr 27, 2019
Why we love a secret garden
Apr 27, 2019
Apr 27, 2019
In Think Tags issue 72, june, looking back, clowns, circus
Comment
The Titanic in dry dock c 1911. From Ocean Liners at the V&A until 17 June (Getty Images)

The Titanic in dry dock c 1911. From Ocean Liners at the V&A until 17 June (Getty Images)

The Titanic | A liner to remember

Lottie Storey May 27, 2018

The sinking of the Titanic in 1912 is one of the world’s most famous tragedies, with the loss of around 1,500 lives. “As the first major international disaster in peacetime, it generated a huge interest,” says Eric Kentley, co-curator of ‘Titanic Stories’ at National Maritime Museum, Cornwall. “Not just in America, Britain and Ireland, but also in Scandinavia and the Baltic countries. No area seemed to be untouched.” But it continues to fascinate.

As Kentley points out, “Few people have heard about the Doña Paz or the Wilhelm Gustloff, which are far worse tragedies.” The reason, he thinks, is “partly because it is so rich in stories.” He explains: “In the two hours 40 minutes it took for the ship to sink, you can see every type of human behaviour – self-sacrifice, self-preservation, bravery, cowardice, duty, incompetence... It’s very easy to imagine ourselves on the deck of that ship and wonder how we would behave.”

Some positives did emerge from the disaster, however, such as a re-examination of safety measures at sea. And, for the QE2, a perhaps surprising surge in bookings following the release of the James Cameron film.

‘Ocean Liners: Speed and Style’, sponsored by Viking Cruises, is at the V&A until 17 June, and opens at the Dundee V&A on 15 September. ‘Titanic Stories' is at National Maritime Museum, Cornwall until 7 January 2019.

Turn to page 86 of May's The Simple Things for more on our look back at ocean liners.
 

  Buy ,  download  or  subscribe   See the sample of our latest issue  here   Buy a copy of our latest anthology:  A Year of Celebrations   Buy a copy of  Flourish 2 , our wellbeing bookazine  Listen to  our podcast  - Small Ways to Live Well

Get hold of your copy of this month's The Simple Things - buy, download or subscribe

View the sampler here.

 

More from the May issue:

Featured
Titanic in dry dock, c. 1911 © Getty Images.jpg
May 27, 2018
The Titanic | A liner to remember
May 27, 2018
May 27, 2018
SIM71.FORAGING_Elderflower Cleanser a1 .png
May 26, 2018
Elderflower toner
May 26, 2018
May 26, 2018
SIM71.OUTING_219A0080 (1).png
May 25, 2018
The bizarre art of vegetable carving
May 25, 2018
May 25, 2018

More looking back:

Featured
Carlton Hotel.jpg
Jun 20, 2024
History | Signature Hotel Dishes and Drinks
Jun 20, 2024
Jun 20, 2024
George Blake Alamy.jpg
Jan 15, 2022
Primer | Spy Gadgets
Jan 15, 2022
Jan 15, 2022
Walled garden Alamy.jpg
Apr 27, 2019
Why we love a secret garden
Apr 27, 2019
Apr 27, 2019
In Think Tags looking back, history, issue 71, may
Comment
Montage-1_for-website-slider-image_150dpi_updated.jpg

Processions | 100 years of votes for women

Lottie Storey May 10, 2018

On 10 June walk to mark 100 years of votes for women. With handmade banners and wearing the suffragette colours of green, white and violet, marchers will form a river of colour through London, Cardiff, Belfast and Edinburgh. Details at processions.co.uk

PROCESSIONS is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to take part in a mass participation artwork to celebrate one hundred years of votes for women. In 1918, the Representation of the People Act gave the first British women the right to vote and stand for public office. One hundred years on, we are inviting women* and girls across the UK to come and mark this historic moment as part of a living portrait of women in the 21st century.

On Sunday 10th of June, women and girls in Belfast, Cardiff, Edinburgh and London will walk together as part of this celebratory mass participation artwork. Wearing either green, white or violet, the colours of the suffrage movement, the PROCESSIONS will appear as a flowing river of colour through the city streets.

One hundred women artists are being commissioned to work with organisations and communities across the UK to create one hundred centenary banners for PROCESSIONS as part of an extensive public programme of creative workshops.

Sign up: processions.co.uk

DON'T MISS: Next month, we look at why women march, plus how to make your own banner or pennant. All in the June issue (on sale 30 May).

  Buy ,  download  or  subscribe   See the sample of our latest issue  here   Buy a copy of our latest anthology:  A Year of Celebrations   Buy a copy of  Flourish 2 , our wellbeing bookazine  Listen to  our podcast  - Small Ways to Live Well

Get hold of your copy of this month's The Simple Things - buy, download or subscribe

View the sampler here.

 

More from the May issue:

Featured
Titanic in dry dock, c. 1911 © Getty Images.jpg
May 27, 2018
The Titanic | A liner to remember
May 27, 2018
May 27, 2018
SIM71.FORAGING_Elderflower Cleanser a1 .png
May 26, 2018
Elderflower toner
May 26, 2018
May 26, 2018
SIM71.OUTING_219A0080 (1).png
May 25, 2018
The bizarre art of vegetable carving
May 25, 2018
May 25, 2018

More looking back:

Featured
Carlton Hotel.jpg
Jun 20, 2024
History | Signature Hotel Dishes and Drinks
Jun 20, 2024
Jun 20, 2024
George Blake Alamy.jpg
Jan 15, 2022
Primer | Spy Gadgets
Jan 15, 2022
Jan 15, 2022
Walled garden Alamy.jpg
Apr 27, 2019
Why we love a secret garden
Apr 27, 2019
Apr 27, 2019
In Think Tags issue 71, may, looking back, women
Comment
Image: Getty

Image: Getty

Looking back | Build your own Malory Towers

Lottie Storey September 13, 2017

The lacrosse and midnight feasts of boarding school novels are far removed from real life for most of us. So why does our love of such girlhood fiction endure?

On page 86 of September’s The Simple Things, we look at the school run of days gone by - from The Worst Witch to the Chalet School. 

Here, we outline how to build your own Malory Towers. Our fictitious boarding school primer sets out the jolly necessary ingredients

THE HEROINE

Must be flawed but only to a small extent. Will either start off hating the school (see the O’Sullivan Twins and Elizabeth, The Naughtiest Girl in the School) or will be desperate to please but have to work to overcome said character flaw (see Darrell and her oft-referenced hot temper).

THE VILLAIN

The most disliked girl in the school will usually have committed a crime so heinous as to scoff an entire box of chocs in bed or be secretly working class and ‘put on airs and graces’. See Pauline at St Clare’s who is ‘outed’ as working class when her mother visits and is mistaken for a school cook – the shame... Basically, being cowardly, nouveau riche or a little plump is equal to being Carlos the Jackal in boarding school land.

THE TOMBOY

Usually has short hair and is ‘as brown as an acorn’ (to make clear her love of the outdoors). May well have 16 older brothers.

THE GLAMOROUS AMERICAN

Will have a ‘drawl’ which grates on the other girls and probably aspirations of becoming
a Hollywood actress. Usually is also lazy and dislikes PE.

THE DOESN’T-GET-IT FRENCH PUPIL

Tends to be ‘dark’ to denote some sort of European exoticism. Will have a hilarious accent and mispronounce words to the delight of her peers who all have English
as a first language and consider themselves superior in this respect.

THE SOLID AND KIND HEADMISTRESS

Generally all headmistresses are solid and kind. Miss Grayling of Malory Towers, particularly so.

THE TWINS

Usually identical to ensure maximum confusion and top japes.

THE PRANKSTER

Probably has ‘sparkling eyes’ to show their good-humoured mischief and a tuck box full of fake dog poo, invisible string and itching powder.

THE GENIUS

Must be of an artistic bent, for example, skilled in music or painting. Being academic is merely expected.

  Buy ,  download  or  subscribe   See the sample of our latest issue  here   Buy a copy of our latest anthology:  A Year of Celebrations   Buy a copy of  Flourish 2 , our wellbeing bookazine  Listen to  our podcast  - Small Ways to Live Well

Get hold of your copy of this month's The Simple Things - buy, download or subscribe

View the sampler here.

 

More from the September issue:

Featured
Sep 25, 2017
Nest | String of hearts
Sep 25, 2017
Sep 25, 2017
coffee and walnut mini loaf cake recipe.png
Sep 23, 2017
Recipe | Coffee & walnut mini loaf cakes
Sep 23, 2017
Sep 23, 2017
SIM63.RUBBISHARTISTS_EL Ian Berry Studio  04.jpg
Sep 22, 2017
Creativity | Meet the makers using waste as a material for art
Sep 22, 2017
Sep 22, 2017

More Looking back posts:

Featured
Carlton Hotel.jpg
Jun 20, 2024
History | Signature Hotel Dishes and Drinks
Jun 20, 2024
Jun 20, 2024
George Blake Alamy.jpg
Jan 15, 2022
Primer | Spy Gadgets
Jan 15, 2022
Jan 15, 2022
Walled garden Alamy.jpg
Apr 27, 2019
Why we love a secret garden
Apr 27, 2019
Apr 27, 2019
In Think Tags issue 63, september, looking back, school, back to school, books
1 Comment

Looking back: Explore Britain on Film

Lottie Storey July 10, 2015

We love this new way to explore the rich history of the UK, without having to leave the comfort of your own home. Britain on Film is an amazing archive, recently launched by the British Film Institute, which puts thousands of films online for the first time, available to watch for free through the BFI player.

The footage, taken from around the UK – including news reels, documentaries, as well as family films – dates from the 1980s all the way back to the 1890s.

The films bring the stuff of history books alive, whether they show Queen Victoria’s funeral or life on the home front in the World Wars and reveal the changing (and, sometimes, incredibly unchanging) landscape of Britain, from cities to village greens, all searchable on an interactive map.

Some of the most fascinating footage shows some of the country’s rich regional traditions. There’s Lady Godiva in Coventry, Well Dressing in Buxton and Up Helly Aa in the Shetlands in 1927 just for starters (keep a lookout for the ‘sheep’ and ‘walruses’ in the last one).

And, as revealed by the footage of 1920s pet shows at London’s Alexandra Palace and Crystal Palace, we’ve never been able to resist a cute cat or dog.

And, with summer holidays on the horizon, you can see how generations before us flocked to the seaside, whether Eastbourne, Skegness, or Aberystwyth. The coast is also the setting for one of the earliest family films, which dates to 1903 and shows the children of the Passmore family happily playing on the beach – a complete contrast to the stiff family portraits we’re so used to seeing from the era.

Take a look at the BFI Facebook page where there will be a new film posted each day. And, while the project isn’t available outside of the UK, there are still plenty of films to be explored on the BFI’s YouTube channel.

 

 

 

In Think Tags looking back, film, nostalgia, britain, history
Comment

Looking back: Salt-Water Sandals

Lottie Storey July 3, 2015

Beloved by bloggers across the globe, Salt-Water Sandals are the classic American summer shoe taking social media by storm. 

But what's so special about these old style sandals? And why are they on our July Wishlist?

As well as being extraordinarily comfortable, they do what the name suggests - you can wear them in the sea, making them perfect for The Simple Things style summer adventures. And they come in a rainbow of shades for instant Instagram potential.

American cult classics since the 1940s, Salt-Water Sandals began as a way to cope with leather shortages in World War II, when Walter Hoy used scrap leather left over from making military boots to shoe his children. Word soon spread and fellow St. Louis families began to ask Walter to make sandals for their kids. 

A summer staple in America for 70 years now, a new generation has discovered Hoy shoes' classic designs for themselves and their children. Grown up fans of the durable, comfortable leather shoes with a fashion savvy attitude include Sienna Miller, Alexa Chung, Paloma Faith, Fearne Cotton and Maggie Gyllenhaal. Plus, a few of The Simple Things’ team! 

Have a look at the Instagram hashtag #sunsansaltwatersandals to see them in all their glory this summer.

In Think, Living Tags looking back, summer, issue 37, july, style
Comment
Images: Eric Shaw Yoga

Images: Eric Shaw Yoga

Looking back: Marilyn Monroe's yoga

David Parker January 7, 2015

The season of resolutions and good intentions is upon us. In January's issue of The Simple Things we take a look back at the crazy world of womanly workouts through the decades (turn to page 82), but we recently stumbled across these lovely snaps of Marilyn Monroe practising yoga in the 1940s. 

Photographed in some of the more advanced poses, Marilyn looks quite at home with her practice. Inspired by the arrival in Los Angeles of renowned yoga teacher, Indra Devi, Marilyn and many of her Hollywood co-stars took up yoga.

But it wasn't just yoga she practised. Other images of Marilyn Monroe lifting weights have also surfaced. Have a flick through our gallery for more.

marilyn3.jpg
marilyn2.jpg
marilyn1.jpg

Gallery images: Philippe Halsman/Magnum Photos
Words: Lottie Storey

The Simple Things January issue is out now - buy, download or subscribe your copy today.

 

In Think Tags exercise, looking back, marilyn monroe, yoga, new year's resolutions
1 Comment
tour-de-france.png

And they're off... Tour de France

lsykes July 7, 2014

With Le Tour making its Grand Depart for the 101st time over here in Yorkshire, The Simple Things looks at the biggest annual sporting event in the world - the Tour de France.

Unlike golf, rugby or rowing, where we may have no experience of actually doing it to appreciate just how damn hard it is, we've all pushed our personal pain barrier on two wheels. We know about straining up a steep hill and the joy of freewheeling down the other side. Magnify that effort, the distance, the time in the saddle and we begin to understand the superhuman feats performed by men so lithe they shiver the moment the sun goes in.

We all know about the drugs, the cheats, the problems. But the history of the Tour de France reveals touching, courageous stories of human endeavour. Turn to page 72 of July's The Simple Things for editor Lisa Sykes' look at tales of derring-do from the biggest annual sporting event in the world.

Inspired to get cycling? It's the perfect excuse to go shopping - have a look at our top cycling accessories, or read tips on buying a vintage bike from Mollie Makes.

And don't forget to enter our competition to win Dawes bicycles for you and your family!

Not got July’s The Simple Things yet? Buy or download your copy now.

 

In Escaping Tags bicycles, bikes, competition, looking back, tour de france
Comment
Featured
  Buy ,  download  or  subscribe   See the sample of our latest issue  here   Buy a copy of our latest anthology:  A Year of Celebrations   Buy a copy of  Flourish 2 , our wellbeing bookazine  Listen to  our podcast  - Small Ways to Live Well
Feb 27, 2025
Feb 27, 2025

Buy, download or subscribe

See the sample of our latest issue here

Buy a copy of our latest anthology: A Year of Celebrations

Buy a copy of Flourish 2, our wellbeing bookazine

Listen to our podcast - Small Ways to Live Well

Feb 27, 2025
Join our Newsletter
Name
Email *

We respect your privacy and won't share your data.

email marketing by activecampaign
facebook-unauth twitter pinterest spotify instagram
  • Subscriber Login
  • Stockists
  • Advertise
  • Contact

The Simple Things is published by Iceberg Press

The Simple Things

Taking time to live well

We celebrate slowing down, enjoying what you have, making the most of where you live, enjoying the company of of friends and family, and feeding them well. We like to grow some of our own vegetables, visit local markets, rummage for vintage finds, and decorate our home with the plunder. We love being outdoors and enjoy the satisfaction that comes with a job well done.

facebook-unauth twitter pinterest spotify instagram