Now that June has indeed passed, taking with it the rain and clouds, it’s time to look back at a few of the fascinating objects that have made their way into the Museum’s collection in the last month. With eight new objects in total, we have selected three to look at in a little more detail. All bring with them an interesting history and a fascinating insight into English rural and agricultural history. So let’s get started!

Drenching Spoon

How do you give medicine to a horse? Good question. It’s something farmers and vets have put a great deal of thought into over the years. In 1827 Charles Gibson proposed a solution – the drenching spoon. ‘Drenching’ allows medicine to be safely administered to a patient, while minimising the risk of the patient choking, or the solution being spit out. Originally designed for human patients, patents were later sold to other manufacturers who continued the spoon’s production for a variety of purposes, including veterinary and equine medicine. The spoon was rewarded by the Society of Arts in 1828.

The spoons’ use is described in this excerpt from the 1882 Penny Cylopaedia of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge

Originally made of silver, later examples made use of pewter, making the spoon cheaper for manufacturers to produce and for customers to purchase. Historically, drenching was achieved by using drenching horns, while later examples include drenching bottles and drenching syringes. Examples of each of these items can be found in the MERL’s collections.

Identity Disc and Ration Book

The MERL and our adjoining archives are fortunate enough to have an extensive and fascinating collection of items relating to World War Two, the home front, and evacuation. Objects, photographs, letters, and oral histories all allow us to paint a picture of the social impact of the war and the steps being taken closer to home to keep the population safe. These two objects are a great example of this.

‘All evacuees from Bristol, as far as I know, were required to wear identity discs like this one. The numbers refer to our health identity numbers. Presumably the discs would have been useful had we become lost or injured. All evacuees would have worn their identity discs on the day of evacuation. I don’t remember wearing them any one time – but perhaps we did during air raids.’

This identity disc is just one example of the steps being taken in Britain as part of the war effort to ensure the country’s children were evacuated safely from the cities.

Suttons & Sons Plaque

This particular object has us looking slightly further afield than the English countryside. This brass plaque was originally hung outside of the Calcutta offices of Suttons Seeds. Founded by John Sutton in 1806 under the name ‘House of Sutton’, the Reading-based company initially traded as corn merchants, before moving into the flower and vegetable seed trade in the 1830s. Sutton’s rapidly expanded and were soon trading with a global market.

The University of Reading holds the archives for Suttons Seeds Ltd., with records covering the period 1714-1956. This plaque is a fascinating example of the ways in which local industry rapidly expanded during the 19^th and 20^th centuries, reaching new global markets across the British Empire as new trade links were established.