Hacked Off?

A post by fellow bloggers over at the curious eye reminded me that I have in my possession this remarkable tin which once contained Hack's cough sweets. When I glance at it I never fail to be amazed by it. Whoever thought it would be a great idea to depict an old bloke coughing up gawd knows what into a hanky? ... and the name - might as well call it phlegm's - whoever it was -you're fired!
Still, I must like it or I wouldn't have been carrying it around with me all these years.

Nice Type

Here are a few more matchbox labels from eastern Europe.These always make me want to rush out and do some screen printing! I seem to be having trouble with focusing on things for longer than about 5 seconds though at the moment. I keep having more and more ideas and as a result I'm probably spreading myself a bit too thinly. And with the Christmas headless chicken factor thrown in its all getting a bit frenzied. When I look at some people's blogs they seem mega-organised and focused. However, out of the chaos things will emerge. (I hope).

Trevarno Vintage Soap Collection

Are you a soap fan? If so maybe you should visit the soap museum at Trevarno near Helston in Cornwall. However, I don't mean Corrie or Eastenders, rather the stuff you wash with. - Its quite small (not much bigger than a garage in fact) but has a good array of vintage packaging and other soap related items.



Some of my favorites are the soaps in the shapes of animals, T.V. and cartoon characters. Who can resist Pobble with the big toes, even though he looks like he is straining to deposit something rather unsavory on his box.

Beware the red -eyed poodle!

A doll a having a bath.


I can only assume that these are some kind of sock and shirt shaping devices.



Trevarno is a good place to visit even if you're not so keen on soap. Actually, the soap museum is really a kind of side-line thing. The Trevarno estate mainly consists of the gardens with peacocks and good children's play area. Its one of the lesser known Cornish gardens so usually relatively tranquil except when there's a special event on.