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The Dail y Sparkle The Reminiscence and Activities Newspaper

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TM

Wed 17th October 2012

ON THIS DAY

THE WAY WE WERE

On 17th October 1898, Thomas Edison, an American inventor, filed a patent for an ‘Optical Phonograph’. It was the world’s first ever movie camera, although that name came much later. Edison was the fourth most prolific inventor in history. He held over a thousand patents for numerous inventions including the light bulb, sound recording equipment and batteries.

Years ago, before I had children of my own there were no toys in the house. If we had visitors with small children, they seemed perfectly happy playing with all sorts of household items. Clothes pegs were good, and a wooden spoon to bang on a cake tin was popular. (Though maybe not with the parents).

Edison was regarded, rightly, as a genius, but he said “Genius is one per cent inspiration, ninety nine per cent perspiration”.

Best of all were those old wooden cotton reels, and a long shoe lace to thread them on. It was a snake, or a necklace or something to rattle. It took quite a lot of concentration for little ones to do it, but very satisfying.

DO YOU REMEMBER?

!I’ve

told you about various cars I have had – or wish I’d had –and I’ll probably keep on doing that. Today, though, I think it is only right to remember the exploits of probably the best British racing driver ever – Sir Stirling Moss - and the day he won the Italian Mille Miglia. The Mille Miglia (1,000 miles) was a race for sports cars over open roads round Italy. In 1955 Moss drove a Mercedes 300SLR. That was one heck of a car. With his navigator, Denis Jenkinson, he completed the course in a shade over 10 hours, nonstop. It was at an average speed of 97.96 miles per hour. What a man!

OVER TO YOU

Dear Mary and Jimmy Don’t you think children today are lucky to have such beautiful picture books? I suppose printing has got cheaper with the advance of new technology. There are no paper shortages like there were during the war. My great-niece brought her children to see me, and they both brought lovely books with them. The colours were bright and the pages were glossy. It made the familiar story of ‘Goldilocks and the Three Bears’ really come alive. I so enjoyed reading to them. Best wishes from Alicia

1. Keeps something dry in the kitchen.

2. Hard work in the summer. 3. Saves a long walk on the links 4. Tames wild hair 5. Helps to set the right note. 6. A useful piece of glass.

ANSWERS

I thought love was only true in fairy t---Meant for someone else but not for --. Love was out to get me That's the w-- it seemed. Disappointment haunted all my dr----. Then I saw her f---, now I'm a believer Not a trace of doubt in my m---. I'm in love, I'm a b-------! I couldn't leave h-- if I tried. I thought love was more or less a giving thing Seems the more I gave the less I got What's the use in tryin' All you get is pain When I needed sunshine I got rain

ANSWERS 2. me 4. dreams 6. mind 8. her

Put a name to these ‘thingummybobs’

I’M A BELIEVER

1. tales 3. way 5. face 7. believer

THINGUMMIES QUIZ

1. Tea caddy 3. Golf buggy 5. Tuning fork

2. Lawn mower 4. Hair pins 6. Paper weight

The Daily Sparkle Carer’s Notes

The Daily Sparkle • Carer’s Notes

17 - 23 Jan 2011

Wednesday'17th'October'2012 PAGE'1'•'ON'THIS'DAY'•'through'the'years'•'17'October'1898 Edison'patents'Optical'Phonograph Background: Thomas Edison was an amazingly clever inventor. He was particularly

interested in electrical gadgets. Many of the things we take for granted today - like electric light bulbs - came from Edison’s ideas. Questions: When was the first time you saw moving images? [Cinema? Home movies?] Have you ever used a cine camera? Do you know of anything else that Edison invented?

PAGE'1'•'THE'WAY'WE'WERE'•'from'Mary’s'point'of'view Cotton'reels Background: The old fashioned wooden cotton reels were much better for making things

than the modern plastic ones are. You could paint them and put nails into them to make doll’s house furniture and French Knitting. Questions: Did you or anyone in the family do much sewing? What did you do with the cotton reels? What was the best thing you made with cotton reels? Did you use other household items to make things? What were they? [Pipe cleaners, shoe boxes, lolly sticks etc] What did you make?

PAGE'2'•'DO'YOU'REMEMBER?'•'from'Jimmy’s'point'of'view' Sir'Stirling'Moss'and'the'1000'mile'race Background: Often called “the greatest driver never to win the World Championship”

Stirling Moss’ success in a variety of categories placed him among the world's elite. In the 1955 Mille Miglia he finished almost half an hour ahead of his teammate Fangio in second place. Questions: How do you think you would have felt driving for 10 hours at 100 miles per hour? Do you follow motor racing? What sports do you like? Do you remember Stirling Moss? Did you ever do any competitive motor driving?

PAGE'2'•'OVER'TO'YOU'•'Readers’'Letters' Picture'books Background: Digital printing has brought down the cost of picture books and hugely

improved the quality. With good quality paper, books can feel good and even smell good too. Questions: What sort of books did you have when you were a child? Where did you get them from? What were the pictures like? What sort of books did your children have? What kind of books did you like best as an adult? Did you read to your children or make up stories for them?

PAGE'3'•'QUIZ'•'Thingummies PAGE'3'•'SINGALONG'•'I’m'a'believer

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