Museum memory jogger

Not everything in museum displays is memorable for the right reasons. Take this view from Kelham Island Museum in Sheffield, representing a work bench from a cutlery factory. I'm sure the bits and pieces tell a fascinating story about South Yorkshire industry, but it was the Ostermilk tin that caught my eye.

*Ostermilk was a powdered milk baby food manufactured by Glaxo from 1924, becoming a market leader by the mid-1960s, and withdrawn from sale in 1985 following a salmonella scare. Ostermilk number 2 was a full-cream, follow-on formula introdcued in 1932. The powders were distributed in cylindrical tins with tight-fitting lids that, once empty, were used for all manner of purposes. In this case it kept the odds and ends from the workbench tidy.

But seeing this one took me straight back to a shelf in my mother's pantry and her cake icing paraphernalia!

*Hudson, Briony. When mother's milk is not enough. Pharmaceutical Journal (2011) Volume 287 pp 739-740.