Here are a few nuggets from the archive of Christ Church Magazines
(June 1930) Parish Library
A lending library of devotional and missionary literature is being started. The books will be kept in the North Porch of the Church, and a set of shelves have been given us for this purpose. Donations of books of a suitable character will be welcomed, but these should be up-to-date and in good condition. There will be no charge for borrowers, but all names should be entered in the book provided for this purpose.
(May 1930) Eggs
Egg collections for the North Staffordshire Royal Infirmary and Stafford Hospital at Christ Church and Meaford on Sunday April 27th, realised a record total. There were nearly 1000 from Meaford and over 600 from Christ Church. Well done Meaford!
(July 1030) Treats and Outings
The Sunday School Teachers’ Picnic-Supper on the Downs Banks on June 5th, was indeed a sumptuous affair, and we congratulate the “cooks” on their skill out in the open.
The two Sunday School treats passed off happily, old King Sol, as usual, favouring us with his presence on both occasions.
On Thursday June 12th, the “tinies” after having tea in the Parish Hall, spent a rollicking time in the Vicarage Field.
Two days later the bigger boys and girls, their teachers, the members of the Young Women’s Bible Class, and a goodly number of parents and friends went by train to Trentham, there to enjoy once again all the delights of the Gardens.
On Monday, June 16th, Mrs Allen and the members of her Mothers’ Meeting and other friends journeyed by road to Blackpool, and spent a long happy day by the sea.
Magazine Advertisement, 1930
The advert on the next page featured in the 1930 Christ Church magazines, advertising “Tremol”, a treatment for bad legs, sold by the National Infirmary for Bad Legs, Ward H.H., Great Clowes Street, Broughton, Manchester, also known as the National College of Health Limited.
A British Medical Association investigation in 1912 showed that it was a toxic combination of calcium chloride, ferric chloride, hydrochloric acid and rhubarb infusion.
The guarantee provided to buyers of the medicine superbly undertook to refund all money paid for Tremol treatment if it fails to cure after “a reasonable length of time”, while also stating in the conditions (very small print): “We must be the judges of what is a reasonable time. We give no warranties.”
“Your bad leg” sets out the supposedly scientific basis by which Tremol purifies the blood, and therefore cures all types of ulcer, varicose veins and eczema. And its brazen denunciation of quack treatments illustrates superbly how patent remedies throughout history have clung to the edges of respectability, knowing that confidence is at the heart of every con.
“What the proprietors of these so-called cures claim is an impossibility, and the assertions they make are untrue,” it reads. “But this is the treatment foisted on you by unscrupulous persons, and the worst of it is, if you willingly submit yourself to such arrant quackery you become so sceptical when a genuine and guaranteed cure is brought before you, like Tremol, and pains taken with your case, and a lasting cure offered to you that you can hardly believe it is possible, and you doubt that such a thing as a real cure can exist.”
