Clancy Tucker's Blog: July 2019

1 August 2019 - MOVING PICTURES

MOVING PICTURES

G'day folks,

Brace yourself for some more of those pictures that move before your eyes.

Clancy's comment: As per normal, a cat steals the show.

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31 July 2019 - A COLLECTION OF RARE BLACK AND WHITE PHOTOGRAPHS

A COLLECTION OF RARE

BLACK AND WHITE PHOTOGRAPHS

G'day folks,

Here are some very old photographs from the past. Look closely. You might see someone you know.

Clancy's comment: That baby rack on the plane looks pretty cool.

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30 July 2019 - FAIRYTALE CASTLE GOING TO RUIN IN CROATIA

FAIRYTALE CASTLE

GOING TO RUIN IN CROATIA

G'day folks,

Here is another wonderful edifice that is going to rack and ruin. This Croatian fairytale castle is slowly falling apart thanks to years of neglect.

Sitting atop a tall hill in northern Croatia, Trakošćan Castle looks like a castle out of a fairytale, proudly peeking its spires out above the tree line, but on closer inspection the signs of neglect have started to mar the centuries-old fortification.

Originally built in the 13th century, the large manse was not the product of some lord’s need for a grand home but was instead created as a defensive fortification. Despite its martial background, its position on top of a verdant forest hill has given it a distinctly romantic appeal. Down the centuries the castle has been added to and rebuilt a number of times giving it a bit of a varied design sense, but losing none of its beauty. While the original owner of the castle is unknown, the estate was passed down among a series of Croatian nobles before finally being turned over to the Croatian government in the 1950s.

In 1953 Trakošćan Castle was opened to the public as a museum housing a number of historical displays about the area, the castle, and Croatian history in general. A man-made lake was also built at the foot of the hill making the view from the castle all the more spectacular.

In recent years the grounds have been neglected and signs of wear and age are beginning to appear. Despite this, if you have to choose just one to visit while you are visiting Croatia, you can’t beat Trakošćan Castle for sheer storybook looks.

Clancy's comment: What a shame. It looks extraordinary.

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29 July 2019 - TWININGS TEA SHOP IN LONDON

TWININGS TEA SHOP

IN LONDON

G'day folks,

Welcome to a 300-year-old tea shop that brought tea to the English people, not to mention the Queen herself.

You’ll have to excuse the exoticized Chinamen figures atop the Twinings tea shop doorway at 216 Strand. They’ve been sitting up there for about three centuries, in which time the cultural acceptability of such caricatures has lessened, and tea is more often associated with British gentry than with Chinese merchants.

As a young man Thomas Twining apprenticed under an East India Company merchant, importing goods from exotic locales, coffee and tea in particular. Twining’s mercantile career began in 1706 when he opened a small storefront on a busy London thoroughfare called the Strand. He called it Tom’s Coffee House, and it soon became a popular gathering spot for fashionable aristocrats.

Despite the fact that his shop was dedicated to coffee, Twining soon garnered a reputation for having some of the finest tea blends in London. Within a decade he ceased selling coffee entirely and almost exclusively sold dry packaged teas. This allowed women to partake in tea-drinking at home as well, as coffee houses were male-only establishments. Twining expanded his business, opening up more shops, and eventually growing it into the tea empire it is today.

Though we think of Britain’s relationship to tea being as old as the nation itself, the drink had only been introduced in the 1660s by a Portuguese queen. With the expansion of East Indian trade and merchants like Twining though, tea quickly became the national beverage.

Today Twinings is synonymous with the history of British tea. Over 300 years later, the original Twinings shop on the Strand is still in business. The Twinings logo, a simple, gold sign bearing the company name, has remained unchanged since 1787, making it the oldest corporate logo still in use. In 1837, Queen Victoria granted the company a royal warrant, a merit which has given Twinings the honor of providing tea to the royal family ever since.