New Year Quiz - Answers and Challenges

 I received a pleasing number of responses to my quiz, some complaining that it was ridiculously difficult, some that it was too easy, and some (correctly) identifying that the photo is misleading. On the other hand, the actual history involved is also very misleading, so I shall attempt to explain the background story, hopefully without causing unnecessary further irritation!

Straight away, let me announce that the city is Regensburg, which has been a major strategic river crossing on the mighty Danube since ancient times. Nowadays it is in Bavaria, though at various times in the past it was a free city. It has also been known as Ratisbon, which comes from an old Celtic name, Radasbona. The Romans built a major fort there in AD90, which they called CASTRA REGINA [fort on the (River) Regen].

My photo shows sections of several buildings, all with different dates and histories of rebuilding. This whole area is known locally as the Altes Rathaus, though which bit was the actual working administrative HQ of the city varied from time to time. In the picture, on the right, the pale-coloured buildings, including the foot of a tower, are the site of the very first Rathaus for the city, which was built in the mid-13th Century, close to the Roman fort and the commercial centre. The building on the left, which is a sort of mustard colour and was later known as the Reichssaal, was built as a posh new add-on to the Town Hall in the 1320s as a big assembly and function hall, appropriate to the dignity and aspirations of the thriving city.

The building in the angle of these two older buildings (with the ornate doorway) is called the Portalbau, added in 1408, and upgraded in the 1560s, to provide covered access between the two buildings. At this point, the story becomes easier to follow if I produce another picture, borrowed without permission from Google Maps.

Here you can see the Reichssaal, on the left, with its distinctive balcony looking onto Rathausplatz, and the original Rathaus location, along to the tower (which was rebuilt in the 1360s after a fire), with the Portalbau in between. 

During the 16th Century the Reichssaal became the preferred venue for the assemblies of the Holy Roman Empire, and from 1594 these Reichstag meetings only took place here. From 1663, the Perpetual Diet of the Holy Roman Empire was in permanent residence here, until Napoleon put a stop to the Empire.

To allow space for a functioning Town Hall for the city itself, the two wings of the Baroque town hall which you can see in the lower right corner of the Google aerial view were built in the 1660s and the 1720s. In this period, this was the Neues Rathaus, though in the 1930s a complete new administration centre for the city was built some distance from this site; this modern building, then, is truly the New Town Hall now. The Altes Rathaus now houses a fine museum and the main Tourist Information office for Regensburg.

 Apologies for the complicated story! In summary, the answers to the 3 questions in the quiz are:

(1) Regensburg

(2) The city built a new Town Hall next door to the old one because from 1663 to 1805 the Holy Roman Empire's Perpetual Diet was in constant session in the existing buildings!  

(3) My original photo shows several constructions, of different ages; they all form part of what is known as the Old Town Hall, though the location of the actual city management function changed from time to time under outside pressures!

For completeness, here is the modern Burgerbüro, some distance to the east:

My thanks to everyone who responded, in particular I received excellent answers from Jon Freitag, Dan Sarrazin, Martin S, nundanket, Cec Rhodes, Rittmeister Krefeld and Rigor Mort; after due deliberation, I decided that the best answer of all came from Count Goya - a splendid effort, with accurate historical information and humorous modern political analogies.

The noble Rittmeister also drew attention to the crossed-keys symbol, which appears in my photo at the top of this post, above both archways. Here's a close-up:

This symbol is a traditional Papal cipher, associated with St Peter and the Keys of Heaven (St Peter is the patron saint of Regensburg), and it has been in use as the arms of Regensburg since the 13th Century, so it is a useful clue. The slightly bad news is that it is also featured on the arms of well over 400 other towns and cities, including York, but no matter.

Interestingly, nobody who submitted an answer was interested in the prize, so the mugs will go to our village charity shop! I am alarmed to note that 4 of the entrants either have Covid or are recovering from a recent bout, which only increases my admiration. 

Thanks very much for your time and interest, everyone who read the blog post and/or took part!

Max Foy's Underwhelming New Year Quiz for 2024

 It's a while since I did a quiz post. This one, I confess, is primarily an attempt to unload some more clutter, but someone might fancy the prize, and the quiz might offer a little amusement, if only for me.

I bought these in 2019, and even publicised them here. I had great ideas that they would make a useful conversation piece for coffee and tea breaks when all my wargaming friends came to visit. Ah, well. What with pandemics and a few other set-backs, I believe that they may never have been used, and my current enthusiasm for clearing the decks and the cupboards resulted in my gimlet eye falling on them.

I don't know the maker; they are cute, but of moderate quality, and you will probably recognise that the subjects depicted are Napoleon and his staff at Eylau, Napoleon in Egypt, Napoleon's Old Guard Grenadiers and a Napoleonic infantry flag (complete with dodgy spelling). Just the thing in which to enjoy your battlefield tea, and they are especially useful for putting at the front of a suitable bookshelf, or you could even give them away in a daft quiz on Blogger. 

I offer the set of 4 as a single prize. To win them, all you have to do is study the photo below and provide answers to the questions. Accuracy is welcome, of course, though I am likely to offer more marks for humour and entertainment; the scoring system, as ever, will be shamelessly unfair.

Here we go - this is a photo taken in a European city, some years ago. It is not a published photo, so Google may not help very much. The scene shows tourists visiting one of this city's two town halls. Having two town halls is not uncommon, usually an old one and a better, newer (or less ruined) one, but the reason why this city needed two halls is unusual.

My questions are:

(1) Which is the city?

(2) Why did they build a second town hall?

(3) Which one is in the photo?

The country is German-speaking. Religion is relevant.

If you send a comment containing your answer then I shall keep it on file until the 13 January, when I'll pick a winner and publish the results. If you do not want the prize, and are entering merely for glory, please say so. I regret that sending this prize by international post seems a very bad idea, so it is possible that prize entries are for the UK only, though I would be interested in any ingenious ways to make the offer less restrictive.

If you would like some extra information, send it in a comment which does not contain any answers. It is very likely that I shall refuse the extra information - it depends what it is, and what mood I am in.

 All the best, if you have a go, and thanks very much for reading this nonsense anyway.

Hooptedoodle #424 - Yet Another Mystery Object

 Something I found when I was clearing my mother's house. I had no idea what it was, but it looked sort of interesting, so I hung on to it. I still have no idea what it is, so would welcome some suggestions.

The size is given by the librarian's glove (which is just present to stop the thing rolling about). It is obviously a glass measuring device of some sort - the narrowness of the internal tube suggests that the units may be smaller than millilitres, but it could be ml, I guess. There is a small glass funnel at the top, with a pouring lip, and the tip is tapered; looks to me as though it is intended to add small amounts of something to a mixture - that sort of thing. 

The scale is on one side only, as you see, and the device lives in a cardboard tube. The writing on the end label may be a shelf code or similar, but it looks like a price - 58 pence. If that is true, then:

(1) it was never very valuable

(2) it was purchased after decimalisation (1971)...

(3)  ...but soon enough after decimalisation for the UK still to be working in accurate conversions from Old Money.

There was no obvious context given by where it was stored - it wasn't in the bathroom cabinet, it was in a cupboard in the boxroom, with odd drawing tools and spare lightbulbs. As far as I know, my father wasn't into drugs or tricky medication, and he wasn't a chemist. He was a photographer, however (of a sort), and for some years he was an enthusiastic (though disastrous) amateur wine-maker (Sprout Port, anyone?). The clues run out at this point, though of course I'm happy to answer any questions you may have!

Hooptedoodle #416 - Another Mystery Object

 Not so exotic, in fact, but I'd never seen one before. It seems we have one in our house, though I didn't know. If you've seen these, you will know immediately what it is, otherwise you may be as puzzled as I was!

The item is made of leather, with a metal buckle - as you see, it is constructed like a belt or strap. The bulbous part is perforated on one side, and stuffed (I believe) with horsehair. This would be regarded as rather an old-fashioned item to have in the house, though I am told that they have been in some demand during the lockdown period.

Like to have a go? I'll keep unpublished any comments which include guesses or are otherwise spoilers - I'll publish and reveal what it is in a day or two. The coin in the last photo is a British 2p piece, for scale.

***** Late Edit *****

I'm very pleased with the responses - thank you all very much, so I've decided to add the dénouement a little earlier than planned.

Rob has got it - it's a Knitting Belt - as used by Shetland knitters (and others). You fasten it around your waist and, as Rob explains, one needle may be anchored by sticking it through one of the apertures, and I understand it is a major help if you are using 3 needles! Here is a lady using a knitting belt...

I'm pleased with all the suggestions, and will make sure we hang onto ours (which my wife bought at a craft fair in another century); it obviously has a great many other uses which will come in very handy.

It remains only for me to wish everyone a peaceful and relaxing Christmas. I'll see you on the other side!

*********************

Hooptedoodle #396b - Mystery Object Revealed

 My thanks to everyone who got in touch. I have to say that I was delighted with that little exercise - so much creativity - I am impressed, and greatly cheered up. Apart from a temporary problem I am having this morning, thinking about steamed cod-pieces and giant fat-balls, I was profoundly touched by the friendly, supportive spirit in which my possible foibles such as shrunken head collecting were glossed over - accepted on the nod - without any hint of disapproval. That is kind and diplomatic; if I had a heart, it would be warmed.

Many of the suggestions are more exciting than its true purpose, but I shall now reveal the correct answer...

As a couple of people suggested, it is a device to assist in cleaning a baseball-type cap. As far as I know, it can also cope with a baseball cap which is worn backwards, which is pretty good too - high marks for versatility.

The weird bit is that, as revealed in the photos, the device is intended to be used in the dish-washing machine. Yes - quite so.

My "lucky" walking hat has now been with me for 10 years - I have worn it in the Alps, on the Danube, along Hadrian's Wall, around the fortifications of Chester, Berwick, Carlisle, Denbigh, Salzburg, on my visit to the Eagles' Nest, in Vienna, at numerous recent wargames (to avoid the overhead lighting setting off my ocular migraine) and all sorts of other exciting activities. I reckon this cap has also accompanied me during a couple of hundred mowings of my lawns - we have been inseparable. I've lost it a few times along the way, and some of the occasions on which I found it again were unlikely - occasionally they might even have been far-fetched. Critics have queried why, since I bought it in Austria, it says "Austria" on it - in English. I have no answer to this - I assume it may be something to do with British and American tourists probably not being expected to know what Österreich means. Whatever, it is my friend. Like me, it got soaked through, walking the last few miles into Wallsend in the footsteps of Hadrian. It also walked across the great bridge at Regensburg when slightly too much beer had been taken. You get the idea.

Recently it has been quarantined - it has become, with use, smelly and unappetising, so a wash was prescribed. We obtained the gizmo under discussion, and yesterday I fired up the dishwasher, specially. Cool, quick wash cycle - no lemon in the cleaning capsule [discuss?].

Seems to have been successful - it's still drying, but looks (and smells) far better. Now I'll have to come up with some special trips on which to wear it again. Sounds good.

My friend De Vries suggested that the device might be a Scold's Bridle (also known by various other names) - a medieval, cage-like device which was fitted around the head of a gossip or similar, with a tongue clamp. Horrible thing - I saw a few once, in a museum in Rothenburg ob der Tauber. No it's not one of those.

***** Late Edit *****

As a bit of evidence, here's a shot of my cap on tour, at the big castle in Salzburg, when I was younger, and still allowed to go on foreign holidays.

*********************

Hooptedoodle #396a - Another Mystery Object...

 We have something of a tradition here at Chateau Foy of being very partial (I almost said "susceptible") to the occasional gizmo - an unlikely knick-knack which someone out there wishes to convince us all is the solution to some problem we never realised we had.

The Contesse Foy has recently obtained this. I had never even heard of such a thing before, but it comes with some positive reviews. So, as usual, I am left to wonder am I the only guy on the planet who has never come across one of these...?

Right, gentlemen - you may well have one, and use it daily, and you may be astounded that I am so ignorant as never to have seen one. So - I ask you, in a spirit of gentle quizzery, as a bit of innocent fun  - what do you think this is? 

 

I'll put up the answer in a day or so - please send in suggestions - the wackier the better. If you know what it is, that's fine too, though less interesting...

Oh - yes - it's made of flexible plastic - the glimpse of my hand in the upper photo gives an idea of scale, and the fact that I can lift it confirms that it is not heavy.

FoB Giveaway - The Denouement

Since interest in my offer of my copy of Piquet's Field of Battle (2nd Edition) was limited to start with, and has fizzled out a couple of days ago, I've decided to default on the stated Terms & Conditions, and close now.

This was pretty much what I had expected - Piquet devotees will mostly have invested in the 3rd Edition already, so the enquiries I received were from people who were interested to have a look and see what it's all about.

Apart from a couple of comments which come under the general heading of "banter", I received four serious requests. As always, I had asked for some far-fetched or otherwise entertaining reason why each applicant deserved to receive the giveaway, which, as always, no doubt delighted me more than the contributors. I have to say, everyone did themselves proud; specially mentioned is Neil, who eloquently expressed the hopes and trepidations which a possible acquaintance with Piquet generated; however, the winner is the famous Chris Grice, author, celebrity, eco-warrior and all-round good egg, who produced a detailed and impassioned explanation of how he is having his house altered to allow greater scope for domestic wargaming, which would be helped enormously by the arrival of some rules which lend themselves to solo gaming.

A postal package will be arranged forthwith, if not fifthwith - thanks to everyone who took part or thought about doing so.

A Quick Visit to the 21st Century, plus a [Qualified] Give-Away

I try to keep an eye on what the 3D-Printing world is up to. I'm already very interested in the scenery possibilities, but figures, at least in scales which are relevant to me, have tended to be a bit lumpen thus far.

I've actually ordered some Napoleonic sample figures from JJG Print 3D - I understand that they have made my figures already, and have posted them - I even have a tracking number, though I have no idea who is the courier, so tracking is difficult. The figures themselves are not expensive, though for a small order the postage is fairly eye-watering - the manufacturer is based in Walcourt, Belgium - close to Charleroi... ["...that man does war honour..."] - very businesslike and polite thus far.

They produce Napoleonics in 10mm, 15mm, 18mm, 22mm and 28mm. I've ordered some 22mm, since that seems the best guess, and since it might just be that 22mm is what the size of figures I collect is called nowadays . We'll see. The figures come without bases - the plates on the website look like computer renderings rather than photos. I am not building up wild hopes here, but it's sensible to have a look at the market every now and then.

The extent of the range is a bit unclear - they have Spanish and French figures illustrated, but there are painted examples which I couldn't find in the pose listing. The sculpture is a little quirky - the drums are about half-size in scale, and the French light infantry gaiters look a bit weird. Anyway, all very interesting.

Topic 2 - Giveaway

I'm trying to cut down the amount of my various collections - not least to make room for my siege scenery, which is beginning to take on a life of its own. One thing that I would be happy to give away is the Second Edition of Piquet's Field of Battle - I am offering the rule book, which has been read (though played very little) but is in pristine condition, plus two packs of the official custom cards, imported from the US at considerable expense. I am getting rid of this lot because I have now bought the 3rd Edition. The existence of a later edition will probably cut down on demand for the one I'm aiming to pass on, but it may as well go to a good home. The 2nd Edition was largely boosted (by its fans) as the best game of its type, so it can hardly have become crap just because there is now an update. If you are interested, send me a comment (which I shall not publish) explaining why you want it and deserve it - I'm looking for a wholehearted effort here, chaps - I seek entertainment, amusement. I am not interested in the fact that your cat has died etc, or you've finished your join-the-dots puzzle book. Some Terms & Conditions:

* I'll keep this open until the start of Saturday 28th November - I shall judge applications in my usual subjective and totally unreasonable manner

* The successful applicant can have the rules and cards free of charge, of course, but, if you are outside the UK, I will probably require you to pay the postage (at cost).

* I'll only accept entries from people who follow my blog regularly, including those who do so by email.

I really can't be bothered trying to sell this on eBay. If you have never tried FoB, or if you have a fancy for a look at a Piquet game, it's an excellent rule set, and worth a go. It's especially good for solo gaming, in case that is an extra attraction. If you like what you see, and are interested in the upgrade, you can now purchase the 3rd Edition from Lancashire Games in the UK. At the time I bought this 2nd Edition, it came from Piquet in the US, and it was an expensive exercise - the postage was astounding.

Them was the days.

Quiz: Places I Remember - THE ANSWERS

 

I decided it was rather boring to hang about too long to publish the answers, and there are no prizes anyway, so here goes! I received a refined trickle of entries - it did occur to me that people might be waiting until they went back to work on Monday, so they could take some more time to do the research...

[No, I'm joking]

I received a couple of entries from THE AMERICAS, which is a jolly fine effort, since I would have expected this stuff to be unknown in those parts. There were some very good entries generally - highly commended are Mr H Bell-End (?) and Mr D Suffolk, who both got 7 correct, but the best entry was received from Mr D Sarrazan, who scored 10. In fact, he reckons he scored 11, but we agree to disagree (it's my quiz anyway) - splendid achievement anyway.

In case you were waiting for the answers, here they are:

(1) The Square, Earl's Barton  - LES HIGGINS MINIATURES

(2) Station Street, Meltham - HINCHLIFFE MODELS

(3) "Rowsley" - MARCUS HINTON

(4) Ponteland - CHARLIE WESENCRAFT

(5) Northam Road, Southampton - MINIATURE FIGURINES

(6) 20 St Mary's Road, Doncaster - TERENCE WISE

(7) Lovel End, Windsor Forest - BRIGADIER PETER YOUNG

(8) 66 Long Meadow, Frimley - SPENCER-SMITH

(9) 69 Hill Lane - DONALD FEATHERSTONE

(10) 75 Ardingley Drive, Goring-by-Sea - WARGAMES RESEARCH GROUP

(11) "The Quantocks" - QUALITICAST

(12) 130 Wexford Avenue, Greatfield - BILL LAMMING

(13) Spade House, Sandgate - HG WELLS

 

Thanks very much to anyone who entered, or even just thought about it - much appreciated! HG Wells? - well, I didn't know the chap personally, of course, but the word is that the famous pictures of Little Wars being played on the floor were sketched in the attic of Spade House, so I feel that I almost knew him.

 

In passing, while I was reading about HG, someone asked a question on a forum, which was whether HG had actually built a Time Machine. There were a lot of very sarcastic answers, naturally, but one respondent said, "No-one will ever build a Time Machine - if it was ever going to happen, someone would already have travelled back in time with it and delivered it to us!"

 

So there you have it - one less thing to worry about...

 

Quiz: There Are Places I Remember...

Some have gone, and some remain.

I was sorting out some old notebooks and files of - well - tat, really, and I found some old addresses connected with my wargaming interests over the years. I thought that some of this stuff must be well-known (and I'm sure 10 minutes with Google could destroy the fun anyway), so I offer the following (random) list of addresses and part addresses, to see if anyone knows them, or can remember what/who they are/were.

Because this is entirely (unfairly) slanted towards the UK, and my own interests, figure scales and periods, I offer it simply as a fun quiz - no prizes offered. See how many you can identify. Send me a comment, and I won't publish it if it contains answers. Or you can email me at the address in my Blogger profile (I assume that still works).

Whatever, I'll publish the answers next week.

(1) The Square, Earl's Barton

 

(2) Station Street, Meltham

 

(3) "Rowsley"

 

(4) Ponteland

 

(5) Northam Road, Southampton

 

(6) 20 St Mary's Road, Doncaster

 

(7) Lovel End, Windsor Forest

 

(8) 66 Long Meadow, Frimley

 

(9) 69 Hill Lane

 

(10) 75 Ardingley Drive, Goring-by-Sea

 

(11) "The Quantocks"

 

(12) 130 Wexford Avenue, Greatfield

 

(13) Spade House, Sandgate

 

All these places had their moments...

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hooptedoodle #361 - Home Physics Puzzle

This comes from a discussion I had with a friend on email - there is no trick to this, it is simply a bit of school physics, but I was surprised how much discussion it gave rise to. I thought I'd trot it out here - have a think about this...

A man who is working from home sets up an experiment with his children one afternoon, as part of their home-schooling. They like that kind of thing, apparently.

They place a boat in their (very small) swimming pool. The man climbs in, and takes on board a number of very large stones borrowed from the garden. When the ripples have stopped, his kids mark (very accurately) the water level on the side of the pool (not on the boat, on the pool side).

Once they have done this, the man very carefully drops all the stones over the side into the water. Again, when the ripples stop, the kids mark the water level on the pool side. We may assume that there is no loss of water through splashes, overflow, drainage, leakage or evaporation during the experiment, and that the kids can mark the level with unlimited precision.

OK then - when he dumps the stones overboard, does the water level in the pool

(1) rise

(2) fall

(3) stay the same

No prizes, obviously, just a bit of (supposed) fun. I won't publish any comments for a day or two, so as not to spoil the puzzle for anyone who cares - this will also allow me a couple of days before I have to reveal that there were no responses at all.

Splash!

Something for Self-Isolated Souls Aged from 12 years old to 150...

...and for those who claim to be working from home, and are interested in daft puzzles.

This all stems from my setting out some miniature soldiers on the attic floor yesterday (a procedure I found strangely stressful), and from a subsequent comment by Aly M, who empathised with my discomfort.

The challenge is - estimate how much HG Wells spent on his collection of toy soldiers!

Braw lads

I'd welcome thoughts and guesses on this - in terms both of UK prices in his day, and the modern equivalent. Let's set this in 1911-13 - that's a period between the publication of Floor Games and Little Wars. If it helps, there were 12 pence to the shilling in those days, 20 shillings to the pound. If you wish, you may calculate how many weeks it would have taken a typical agricultural labourer to earn the price of a toy soldier. Whatever. You have the whole of the World Wide Web as your playroom.

It would be useful to have a feel for Wells' rules and how he played his games, how big the forces involved might be, how many periods he played (or was it all just one vaguely "recent modern" period for him?), the contemporary prices of Wm Britains hollowcast figures, whether Wells might get a fancy discount for bulk (the more fanciful the ideas the better, here), where he got those famous firing cannons, and how much they cost - anything and everything that might be (even remotely) relevant will be welcome. Estimate for breakage-replacement if you wish. This is not an attempt to produce a lifetime sum, it's simply about the armies he had around 1911-13, and how much he spent on them. I assume that he bought his soldiers off the shelf, ready painted. To be honest, I'm not even sure what kind of soldiers he fielded, or what the "sides" were - illustrations I've seen look a bit like the Trooping of the Colours - not many trenches or light troops in woods - a lot of formal dress. All very correct and proper. This also applies to the players, of course.

Classic attic-floor view - note that this is an artist's impression, or is it an enhanced photograph?

Ignore his collection of scenery, I think, although if you wish to have a guess at that then please carry on. You should also ignore the cost of refreshments for his guests, though it would be instructive to consider what would have been appropriate. It might even give me some guidelines for a variation of the guest menu at Chateau Foy, when things resume, after the Armistice.

My entry point for this is that it's not something I know much about, either about the workings of Wells' rules nor the lore of the 54mm hollowcast soldier. A friend of mine, when challenged recently on how much he spends each year on his wargaming, proved that it is less than his wife spends on visits to the hairdresser (take notes if you wish). I'd be interested to have an estimate for how much HG committed to his rather niche hobby activities.

I haven't started on any of this yet, other than thinking vaguely what might be involved, but I did a little Wiki reading on HG, and was surprised to learn that he was certainly a bit off the wall for his day; a Fabian, a pacifist and something of a socialist visionary, he also had a very complicated marital life (if you are into that sort of research) - he'd have been better off sticking with the little soldiers if you ask me...

Wells working in the garden - now this is scary - imagine the feverish head-count at the end, and checking the grass-box next time the lawn is mowed

All suggestions welcome - the wilder and more far-fetched the better. If I get no responses at all I will have proved something (about myself, probably), but I'm happy to keep this topic open if there's any interest. I am certainly not an expert, so I hope to learn a bit here!

Thinking of soldiers on the floor, I remember that once, as a lad in short pants, I accidentally kneeled on some troops during one of my periodic battles (which would have included Zulus, WW2 US Marines, Foreign Legionnaires, Arab tribesmen, all sorts). I broke two Britains kneeling Highlanders - red jackets, white tropical helmets. This must obviously have been a single incident among many similar, but, apart from the early OCD evidence that I had these two identical figures next to each other, behind a flat metal Johilco hedge section, I recall that I was fascinated (though disappointed, naturally) at the time that they broke identically - they both lost the same leg - exactly the same fracture. This may have been the moment in my childhood when I decided that I wanted to grow up to be a madman.

This may be the moment when it all started to slide. It's also possible that the indentation is still in my kneecap, in which case I could maybe cast some replicas.

I'll check it out.

If a tree is in a box and no-one sees it, is it really there?

Well I haven't had any activity on the give-away quiz for a few days now, so - since I am in for a busy weekend - I decided to close a day early. Thanks to everyone who sent an estimate of the original value of the trees in the boxes. One slight shock was how unfamiliar and illogical the old British currency seems now.

There are 107 individual fir trees in the boxes - you probably can't quite see all of them, but I was looking for an estimate. I know it is 107 because I had 85 good trees and recently I obtained an additional 22, and also I can confirm that the number of magnetic patches I attached to them is 107. And, of course, I counted them again, to check. That should about do it.

107 trees, at 6-to-a-box, is 17-and-five-sixths boxes, which, at 3/11d a box (that's three-shillings-and-elevenpence, or 47 old pence a box), works out at close to £3:9:10d - that's three-pounds-nine-shillings-and-tenpence - or £3.49236. I did not bother to work it out in contemporary Mars Bars, since no-one seemed interested.

Best cost estimate came from Ross Mac, who doesn't want the prize and is therefore a Category B entrant (glory only). Ross's estimate of £3:3:7d was based on 16 and a half packs - 99 trees. If he had done the cost calculation more accurately, I think he'd have got £3:4:8d, which would have been even closer, but no matter - well done, Ross, the glory is yours.

The nearest estimate from Category A was Mark Dudley's £3:2:8d, so he wins the Lachouque booque (or Lachook book if you prefer). Mark - if you send me a comment (which I shall not publish) giving your postal address I'll get your prize to you.

Goya observed that, around 1960, when these were bought, three-pounds-something would not be far away from the average weekly wage of a manual worker supporting a family. Discuss...

Thanks again, everyone - them sums are harder than I remembered, man.

Can't See the Trees for the Wood - plus a small giveaway...

Well, you were warned. I now have my Merit Fir Tree collection safely housed in two wooden boxes. Yes, the trees have magnetic sheet on the bases and, yes, the boxes are lined with steel paper [was that a snort I heard from the back?]. My trees can now be transported in complete safety to most places you can think of. The boxes, by the way, are "Memory Boxes" - it is a very popular activity (I am told) to stow away photos, cuddly toys and all sorts of memorabilia to be kept safe for your descendants, or, I suppose, for yourself many years from now. Even someone else's descendants would do at a pinch - you get the idea - you leave something personal and precious - all you have to do is remember where you left the box, and who it was for.

Excellent. More relevantly, there are some good deals around at the moment on wooden memory boxes - worth checking out for odd storage problems.

Anyway, miserable beggar that I am, all I'm potentially leaving for posterity is my collection of plastic trees - I hope they are appreciated. As mentioned before, these Merit plastic accessories for model railways were manufactured by J & L Randall in the 1960s, and it says on one of my original Merit boxes that they were 3/11d a set - that's three-shillings-and-eleven-old-pence, or £0.19583 for half-a-dozen trees. This was in the days when a Mars Bar was 6d (£0.025) - just to put everything on an understandable footing.

Oh yes - the small giveaway. I have a spare copy of Henri Lachouque's "Napoleon's War in Spain" - in decent nick. If you are an existing follower of my blog (which includes regular email correspondents), then all you have to do is estimate from my photo what is the approximate original value of the fir trees in the two boxes (in Pounds Sterling, not Mars Bars) at 3/11d for a set of six trees - there is unlikely to be a round number of sets, of course. The book is a big format hardback, so if you live outside the UK I should be very pleased if you could help out with the postage charges.

Send a comment (which I shall not publish) with your estimate, or email me at the address in my Blogger profile - I'll award the book to the sender of the best estimate, and I'll keep this open until midnight at the end of 24th June.

****** Late Edit ******

Some perfectly reasonable protests from non-UK readers, not to mention UK readers who were never exposed to the pre-decimal money...

Just to confirm, there were 12 pence in a shilling, 20 shillings in a pound (abbreviations for pounds, shillings and pence were £, s and d) - so 240 old pennies in a pound.

Also to confirm, the number of trees shown here is not necessarily an exact number of boxes - for the purposes of the puzzle, ignore the fact that the assembled trees are different sizes and assume that each tree is one-sixth of a box...

A thought occurs to me - if you bought these from the high street hobby shop in 1960-something, the lady behind the counter would be able to work out how much so many lots of 3/11d added up to, without a calculator and without a barcode-reading till which did the sums and the stock control for her. This lady did not have a degree in arithmetic or anything, she just worked in a shop, and didn't get paid very much. Nowadays such things would be incomprehensible - even with decimal currency, most of us (including myself) rely on the automation.

The other thing that occurs, of course, is that the very idea of a hobby shop in your high street is pretty wild nowadays. 

I bought my first pack of Merit fir trees from the Post Office in Rose Lane, Allerton, Liverpool, circa 1959. My neighbour (and school chum) Hutchie and I combined our model railways (3-rail Hornby Dublo) into one slightly larger railway, but we fell out after about 3 weeks. Through some mystery which has never been explained, I lost an LMS guard's van in the redistribution. On the other hand, Hutchie seems to have lost 2 packs of Merit trees and 2 of Merit stone walls. I believe I still have them.

Dog eat dog.

Max Foy's Mad April Prize Competition - Results!

Thank you very much for the excellent response to the photo competition – I got a total of 37 entries, which is (by far) the best ever.

The standard was really very good indeed – I am most impressed. Just about everyone placed the camera within a few kilometres of the actual spot. The most common causes of lost marks were (1) being a bit short on gratuitous artistic content, and (2) making no attempt at the question about dying at this location. The more accurate the identification of the actual place the better, obviously. Thanks again for all the effort that went into this.

The photograph was taken in Italy, near the top of the footpath from Sorrento up to Sant’Agata sui due Golfi – the bit of roadway in the foreground is part of the Via Talagnano, just below Sant’Agata itself. We are looking very slightly east of due north, over the town of Sorrento, straight across the Bay of Naples towards Vesuvius. The pale line below the volcano is the sprawl of the suburbs of Naples – Torre del Greco and Torre Annunziata – along to the left is Naples itself. Since you can just about see Naples from this point, it seems logical that it would be just about OK to die up here – see Naples and die – vedi Napoli e poi muori.

There were some interesting references to people dying during the Pompei disaster, to the local Sirens, and – especially – the ancient Greek necropolis on the hills near St Agata, which was subsequently buried under the convent of Il Deserto. However, I was simply looking for the Naples quote.

I offer my humble compliments to all who entered - it took a good while to sort out a finishing order. After much head scratching and chewing of my pencil I decided - and it wasn't easy! - that eight of the entries were sufficiently outstanding to form the final list of prize winners. I have email addresses for some of you anyway, but could the following fine fellows please send me a blog comment (if you didn’t already enter by email!) stating your current/preferred email address – I shan’t publish these, obviously, and will delete them after perusal – you may encrypt the address as you wish – assuming I can still work it out!

1^st – Chris Grice

2^nd – Michael Peterson

3^rd – Steve-the-Wargamer

4^th – nundanket

5^th – Steve Curry

6^th – Gary Amos

7^th – Wellington Man

8^th – Francisco Goya

I’ll contact each of you in turn, listing the prize lots which are still available and asking you to make a choice from what’s left. This may take a week or two, but that gives me a chance to get my collection of boxes and bubblewrap sorted out.

Thanks again – over to you.