Unofficial Christ's Hospital Forum

Appreciation of:

Clean underwear and

Clean hair!

Cooking without being mocked, scolded, harassed or embarassed. Although, when assembling things ready to cook I still think "Order of Work". And I still long for that hot cupboard thing (lit with gas by tapers) in which bread rose beautifully.

A tendency to feel excited about what to choose in haberdashery departments.

Have suffered from anxiety, lack of self-esteem, panic and loneliness - CH stuff. But, as I've been discussing with the HOGOFs, I have weaned myself off the antidepressants recently!

A feeling of dread when facing Women across Desks - even when they've had something good to say, I've always had to stem a wave of terror.

An ability to spot the bully in the workplace quickly!

NEILL THE NOTORIOUS wrote:Kiff bowls were all white, with a blue rim and the CH crest on the side.

I would have loved to have one, but I have never seen them advertised, by the School, when the "New" crockery was introduced.

So "Kophos" does NOT mean "A drink of uncertain extraction" --- but "Something entirely different"

This seems slightly coy ----- are we to assume that the original translation still applies ???

Just plain white with no crest by the late 50's.

I suppose, by the late 50s -- JR -- Ch was unable (Unwilling) to have it's own distinctive tablewear ?

It would really cost a fortune nowadays, I wonder where the original was made ? any guesses ?

The Museum might turn over a plate, to find out .

In the late forties the occasional piece of CH blue-badge crockery would make its appearance but all replacements were white. I believe that during WW2 manufactore of all coloured cockery was stopped nationally so presumably CH gave up on its crested crockery when that came in, so all the blue-badge stuff would have been pre-war. I would imagine fairly massive annual orders would have kept the price down. But Oh! Father Christmas send me a blue-badge kiff bowl ..

postwarblue wrote:In the late forties the occasional piece of CH blue-badge crockery would make its appearance but all replacements were white. I believe that during WW2 manufactore of all coloured cockery was stopped nationally so presumably CH gave up on its crested crockery when that came in, so all the blue-badge stuff would have been pre-war. I would imagine fairly massive annual orders would have kept the price down. But Oh! Father Christmas send me a blue-badge kiff bowl ..

I have to say, I'd love one as well !!

My Grand-Children simply don't believe I used to drink 'tea' out of a large bowl.

On holiday in France about thirty years ago we were served cocoa at breakfast in bowls like kiff bowls. I do wonder if CH kiff bowls were some sort of dinosaur survival of what may have been a normal way to serve a drink centuries ago.

postwarblue wrote:On holiday in France about thirty years ago we were served cocoa at breakfast in bowls like kiff bowls. I do wonder if CH kiff bowls were some sort of dinosaur survival of what may have been a normal way to serve a drink centuries ago.

Very true.

When I was in France for a year in the distant past, if you went into a cafe for brekkie way out in the sticks and asked for cafe au lait, THAT would be served in a bowl, very similar but slightly smaller than a kiff bowl.

I recall that in about 1950-51 water was provided at lunchtime in newly-introduced clear "glasses" made of some new-fangled plastic. Unfortunately, these suffered from some form of spontaneous disintegration, whose only warning was an audible cracking sound followed immediately by a pile of fragments and a puzzled circle of boys wondering what the hell was going on. After the first few incidents - for which the nearest boys were blamed (of course) - they were quietly withdrawn.

We still don't know, who were the Potters ?
I believe the Museum MUST have retained some examples.
Would someone, please turn one over and read the inscription on the base.
(If no Kiff Bowls survive ---- try a plate !)

NEILL THE NOTORIOUS wrote:We still don't know, who were the Potters ?
I believe the Museum MUST have retained some examples.
Would someone, please turn one over and read the inscription on the base.
(If no Kiff Bowls survive ---- try a plate !)

W T C Copeland and Sons, Stoke on Trent,. Also Copeland and Garrett, presumably later. All adorned with a crown; I do not know what this signifies; a pottery expert may help.
My collection (about 6 pieces, Ward (9) 0 retrieved after a long attic search, without success, then found under my bed.
Also 2 small bowels, 4'' diameter, and 1 1/2'' high, very heavy, with 1/2'' thick china, one with no11 on base. Were these for salt?

unintentional duplication

china bowels?
The bind moggles.

There are of course kiff bowls in the Museum.... as well as one which I bought on eBay some years ago, and which seems to be a little large for a kiff bowl. Wonder what it was?

Both at Horsham and Hertford, until the early 1960's, we drank our tea out of these round bowls (held in a singular fashion). By the 60's most were plain white, but there were one or two which still retained the school crest in blue. These are the ones which are now sought after. As are the blue crested dinner plates, of which I donated two to the Museum at the beginning of this year. At some point in my school history, the crested porcelain was sold off and my mother bought two of the dinner plates. These were mounted in display frames and hung in our dining room at home for years, until I inherited them and then they hung here for another 15 years until I donated them to the Museum this January. In the interim, they spent six months in Hertford (two years ago), on display in the Hertford Museum which had a special display about CH Hertford.

W T C Copeland and Sons, Stoke on Trent,. Also Copeland and Garrett, presumably later. All adorned with a crown; I do not know what this signifies; a pottery expert may help.
My collection (about 6 pieces, Ward (9) 0 retrieved after a long attic search, without success, then found under my bed.
Also 2 small bowels, 4'' diameter, and 1 1/2'' high, very heavy, with 1/2'' thick china, one with no11 on base. Were these for salt?[/quote]

I have discovered more on a Google search. Copeland took over from Spode, and later changed the name back to Spode. They are still working in Stoke on Trent. If anyone is up that way, the company may have some of the original records and documents relating to CH.

kerrensimmonds wrote:china bowels?
The bind moggles.

Probably something to do with 'Delhi-Belly' and the 'Tunis Trots', Kerren.

Angela Woodford wrote:Appreciation of:

Clean underwear and

Clean hair!

Oh yes!...and the luxury of getting out of the bath and putting on CLEAN CLOTHES! I do appreciate that to this day! We only had 3 baths a week at Hertford didn't we? And everyone had set nights. Mine were Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Only a few inches of bath water was allowed if I remember rightly? Don't know if anyone ever checked this. In the bathroom it was 3 baths divided by curtains, and 4 washbasins.