That’s another fine mess...
QUESTION Which film or TV show was the first to feature custard pie chucking?
PIE chucking was a feature of vaudeville shows so it’s no surprise it would turn up in early cinema. The earliest surviving film featuring the stunt was Mr Flip (1909) starring Ben Turpin.
Two earlier films probably featured the stunt but no longer exist. The 1903 short, Never Interfere In Family Troubles, depicts a brawl between family members after a husband arrives home late. The plot synopsis featured the direction: ‘The woman on the other side of the table gets up, picks us what apparently is a pie, and shoves it in the face of the man.’
The 1905 film Coal Strike featured a young boy entering the parlour and attempting to purloin a piece of pie: ‘The charwoman catches him by the scruff of the neck and rubs pie in his face.’ Ben Turpin, a precursor to Charlie Chaplin and Harold Lloyd, was a slapstick favourite for more than three decades.
He was famous as ‘the crosseyed’ comedian, a trick he’d learned from his vaudeville days when he was known as the Happy Hooligan.
When Mr Flip oversteps the mark with women, the clerk at a bakery smashes a pie into his face and pelts him with rolls. The film was a hit and did a great deal to popularise pie throwing.
Pie attacks got bigger and sillier, culminating with Laurel and Hardy’s 3,000-strong pie fight for their splatterfest The Battle Of The Century (1927).
Robert Taylor, Wolverhampton, W. Mids. THE 1927 Laurel and Hardy film, The Battle Of The Century, has achieved legendary status. Stan Laurel took the idea to producer Hal Roach ‘to do a pie fight to end all pie fights’. So an entire day’s output of 3,000 pies was purchased from the Los Angeles Pie company. Steve Lloyd, Camborne,
Cornwall.
QUESTION Did the myxoma virus exist naturally in rabbit populations before it was artificially introduced?
THE myxoma virus occurs naturally in South America and affects native rabbits of the Sylvilagus species, causing a mild localised fibroma, often at the base of the ear. However, in 1896 it was found to cause a severe and fatal illness in European rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) kept in a Montevideo laboratory.
The European rabbit was a significant pest to European and Australian farmers, and experiments took place to see if the virus, not naturally present in this species, could be used to control numbers. The first British experiments took place in 1936 on Skokholm Island but were unsuccessful as the rabbits there did not have the fleas necessary for the virus to spread.
Dr Armand Delille introduced two myxoma-infected rabbits into his walled estate in France in 1952 after obtaining the virus from a laboratory in Lausanne. The virus rapidly spread and killed wild and domestic rabbits alike. Between 90-98% of French wild rabbits and up to 70 million domestic rabbits died.
An infected rabbit brought from France was released in Kent in 1953. Over 99% of the 100 million British wild rabbits died.
Early introductions of myxoma virus in Australia in 1950 spread infection along the river systems, carried by mosquitoes, but Australian rabbits lacked the fleas for more widespread transmission. Importing rabbit fleas in 1968 increased the death rate from myxomatosis. Dr Lesley Hordon, author of The History Of The Domestic Rabbit. From Food And Fur To Friend, Leeds.
QUESTION What is the most unusual friendship from across the political divide?
FURTHER to the earlier answer, some years ago on a day trip to see Salisbury Cathedral, I spotted Tony Benn and he was kind enough to chat to us.
He was on his way to visit Sir Ted Heath, a friend who was unwell at the time. Mr Heath lived very close to the cathedral.
My memory of Tony Benn was of a charming man who had time for everyone. It did seem an unlikely friendship but they both obviously were able to see the man and not just the politician.
Jane Pullen, Kingston upon Thames, Surrey.
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