tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-178779736451277146.post2524069796322857046..comments2024-02-25T17:01:10.739+13:00Comments on World of the Written Word: BLUE MONDAYWorld of the Written Wordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10695926585496640941noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-178779736451277146.post-87923332938150869072009-11-16T12:59:26.295+13:002009-11-16T12:59:26.295+13:00Hi Dale -- good to hear from you. I think Banks m...Hi Dale -- good to hear from you. I think Banks meant "colours" when he wrote "colours," because he said it twice. He went on to relate an anecdote about what happened after they decided that "a fly trap was nesscessary [sic] to set within this to atract the vermin from eating the colours." The trap was a plate of "tarr and molasses" mixed together. It didn't work, but a Tahitian with a large sore on his backside used it as a poultice. I hope it did the trick!World of the Written Wordhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10695926585496640941noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-178779736451277146.post-45624238572397721012009-11-16T12:34:34.829+13:002009-11-16T12:34:34.829+13:00Urine was used in many early industrial processes,...Urine was used in many early industrial processes, especially round wool and leather, but I hadn't read about this one.<br />Other ingredients of watercolour paints might be gum arabic or gelatine, and wheat-based cornflour - that would smell like food, too.<br /><br />Was Banks just guilty of sloppy reporting when he said the artist's "colours" ? Or was there another hue the flies went for as well? Do we know what the carrying medium was for his pigment?Dalenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-178779736451277146.post-18310315259649334532009-11-16T10:45:04.487+13:002009-11-16T10:45:04.487+13:00They must have been jolly smelly themselves! (Or ...They must have been jolly smelly themselves! (Or smelly as well as jolly.) And did they have blue hands? Perhaps dyeing was a very recognisable profession, but how highly rated on the social scale? Pretty low, I imagine.World of the Written Wordhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10695926585496640941noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-178779736451277146.post-61222367879295240262009-11-16T10:24:31.077+13:002009-11-16T10:24:31.077+13:00Being drunk may have helped the dyers cope with th...Being drunk may have helped the dyers cope with the stench!<br /><br />Lovely glimpse of history.Vanda Symonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09956034768397598056noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-178779736451277146.post-11366377417612455462009-11-16T08:52:14.730+13:002009-11-16T08:52:14.730+13:00And the flies, Eric, the flies! Was it really the...And the flies, Eric, the flies! Was it really the blue pigment they were after, and were they getting an alcoholic fix? Seriously, like you, I wonder how they found out about it in the first place. Were dyers habitually drunk? Or did they find that the drunken ones turned out brighter cloth than the sober set? What fun! Thanks for your post.World of the Written Wordhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10695926585496640941noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-178779736451277146.post-69162093445712323042009-11-16T08:29:19.458+13:002009-11-16T08:29:19.458+13:00Now, that is a really neat piece of history. Inter...Now, that is a really neat piece of history. Interesting that people interpret blue monday as being a knock on mondays and having to go back to work, when it appears to have nothing to do with that. What I want to know is who is the first person to have discovered that by pissing on the leaves, leaving them to soak, then dunking cloth and hanging it to dry, you get a vibrant blue color! How do people come up with these things? I wonder is this tidbit of trivia sheds any light on why in America, and perhaps other places, they call the no-alcohol-on-sunday laws "blue laws?" Great stuff, Joan. Eric (Dolin).EJDhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12504454785141613890noreply@blogger.com