American Readers(and others too)

[Estelyn Telcontar]

Special praise goes to mark/Helen for her valiant attempts to keep her posts Tolkien-related!! Let her serve as a shining example to all who post here!

[Feanor of the Peredhil]

I always pictured cram as rice cakes.

Attend: hard (with a rather styrofoam-esque texture), dry, somewhat tasteless, lasts forever.

Picture, if you will, 13 dwarves and an unlucky hobbit living on naught but rice cakes.

Fea

[Elennar Starfire]

Except isn't cram supposed to be very filling? Because I could eat rice cakes all day and still be hungry (if I could stand the taste, that it).

[Celebuial]

I like rice cakes!!! Well Snack-a-Jacks at any rate.... I can't imagine Hobbits enjoying them though, although they could eat them allday without getting full. I s'pose that that would take the fun out of eating though...

I wonder if there is the same kind of divide between The Four Farthings with food? And what about words (just the other day I came across the word "coignes" and was assured that it referred to the British word "quoins"!)?

[Morai]

I like rice cakes!!! Well Snack-a-Jacks at any rate.... I can't imagine Hobbits enjoying them though, although they could eat them allday without getting full. I s'pose that that would take the fun out of eating though...

Quite the opposite of lembas eh? I think that if they ate rice cakes, it would most likely be with a mug of ale, because well...they drink it with just about everything.

[Morsul the Dark]

First off, let me acknowledge how dumb it is I remember this thread from 17years ago but struggle to remember my new coworkers’ names.

Now on to the point.

Handkerchiefs. Maybe it’s cultural but the only association I have with handkerchiefs is sort of low brow country folk. Bilbo having a handkerchiefs makes since because he’s so rural. Elrond having one is weird and when I read Bilbo borrowed Elrond’s handkerchief I laughed out loud for some reason. And I can’t quite articulate why. Im haven’t the darndest time seeing him wiping away sweat it just makes me chuckle. And blowing his nose? Out of the question Elves don’t get sick… and if they do don’t loan out the snot one to Bilbo…

[William Cloud Hicklin]

Up until quite recently, the Sixties (and among traditionalists the Eighties), no Englishmen who considered himself or aspired to be a gentleman would be without his handkerchief. This was separate from the one carefully folded in the jacket breast pocket, which was just for show;* the functional hanky was kept in another pocket out of sight, or tucked into the sleeve.

Paper tissues (i.e. Kleenex) simply didn't figure. One could say that the old guard were more environmentally friendly!
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*Unless handed to a lady who had spilled something on herself, usually with a restrainedly chivalrous flourish