We should really call this “New Contributor Week”!

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Earlier, I received “The Creation Of Sauce And Man” (posted in the gallery) from Russ C in St. Louis U.S.A. This is really well done, look how natural the bottle looks! It is like it has always been there! (Perhaps it was!)

Next, we have a whole gamut of HP Sauce photos taken by Renée M in Bermuda! These pictures are fantastic! Note the little details like the shades on the bottle! The beach ones are my favourite however, especially the one where the sand has remained totally undisturbed. It’s as though the bottle just landed from the sky with a contented sigh.

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Many thanks to Renée for these amazing pictures! One can almost smell the sea air, feel the warm sand, taste the sauce…

I also received some great feedback from Andy (UK) who recently travelled to Florida, U.S.A. Andy writes:

Just one thought, why is it that you cannot get HP Brown Sauce in the diners in the USA? Brainwashing people with the dreaded RED!!! It cost me 6 dollars for a bottle of HP Brown Sauce in Keywest. Now I take my own if I’m going away!!!

Andy, HP Sauce is not generally available in the U.S (as you’re now well aware). In fact you are lucky to have been able to purchase it there at all! Consider your $6.00 well spent (a bargain really)!

On that note, today’s lesson is!

“Always Carry Your HP Sauce!”

Source: Andy and Tony - flickr.
Last but not least, I’d like to thank Mandy and Nelson B for their recent gallery submissions! I don’t know where I’d be without your contributions! Keep it “saucy”!

Over the last 24 hours we experienced some network connectivity issues which unfortunately took www.brownsauce.org out of service. It seems some recent increase in traffic around our air conditioner (we had a new furnace put in) had a negative impact on the cable running underground and ultimately broke the connection. Go figure eh? This on one of the hottest days of the year as well. Who says it doesn’t get hot in Canada? It was 35C this past Sunday! (I digress)

Rest assured that even during this brief outage, we continued to enjoy HP Sauce in all its splendor - this time on some BBQ’d Bison T-bone steaks that we picked up at a local farmers market this past weekend. It was accompanied on the BBQ with some fresh carrots and new potatoes which were done in garlic olive oil. This was my first try at anything Bison, BBQ’d or otherwise and I must say that BBQ’d Bison T-bone was amazing!

In the mean time, I’ve received some outstanding picture submissions lately which I will publish shortly. Thank you all for your patience!

Oh, and I spotted this on youtube.

Marty Feldman sings the label of a bottle of HP Sauce, in this parody of a Charles Aznavour song.

This is one of the rare surviving segments from Marty Feldman’s TV series. Most of the tapes were wiped and re-used, because in those days, the blank videotapes were considered more valuable than the material recorded on them—a bloody stupid way of thinking, which has robbed the world of vitally important pieces of cultural heritage. - Larynxa

This version looks very very similar to one “La Sauce HP” doesn’t it? Oh, and while you’re there, be sure to listen to our Adham’s “Brown Sauce Obsessions” now won’t you? lol

What crosses your mind when one mentions a word like “Hoarding”? Would it be something like this?

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Now this would be my definition of hoarding! Yeesh, that is quite a mess isn’t it? Before anyone asks, it’s not a piccie I snapped of my own bedroom…no. Like a lot of things in life these days, I scrounged the pic off the net, or more precisely - from here.

Now why am I bringing up the topic of hoarding anyway? Well, I was doing some routine searching on eBay recently when I came across the following:

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The item is described as:

Here you have a “H.P SAUCE ” Hoarding. To three sides of the hoarding there are various shrubs of different colours, the Hoarding measures approx 2.5ins wide x 2.5ins high. This would make a grand addition to anyone’s layout. Thank-you for looking and happy e-baying.

I am genuinely puzzled by this one. I’ve seen a lot of strange HP pictures since starting up this site (just take a look at the HP Sauce gallery!), but this one really strikes me as bizarre. Firstly, lets us tackle the name, for I have never heard of the word “Hoarding” used in this manner.

dict.die.net’s definition of “Hoarding” is:

hoarding
n : large outdoor signboard [syn: billboard]
Source: Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Hoard
p. pr. & vb. n: To collect and lay up; to amass and deposit in secret; to store secretly, or for the sake of keeping and accumulating; as, to hoard grain.

Hoarding
1. (Arch.) A screen of boards inclosing a house and materials while builders are at work. [Eng.]

Posted on every dead wall and hoarding. –London Graphic.

2. A fence, barrier, or cover, inclosing, surrounding, or concealing something.

The whole arrangement was surrounded by a hoarding, the space within which was divided into compartments by sheets of tin. –Tyndall.

Source: Jargon File (4.3.1, 29 Jun 2001)

So there we have more of an official definition of a “Hoarding”. It doesn’t quite describe our picture though does it? I suppose the closest definition might be “The whole arrangement was surrounded by a hoarding”.

So, what is a HP Sauce Hoarding? There’s not a whole lot to go on from either the picture or the description. By all accounts it looks to be simply an old HP Sauce advert stuck into some foam along with some artificial sprigs thrown in for good measure. The first thing that comes to mind is, why? Why would anyone do that? The description states “This would make a grand addition to anyone’s layout.“. What kind of layout would that be? Would it be used as a place setting for formal dinner occasions? To put on ones tombstone perhaps?

I thought perhaps this was simply another British thing that may have got lost in translation, so I checked in with two British mates of mine and asked them both if they had heard of an alternative description for “Hoarding”. Unfortunately, neither of them had. Mind you, neither of them are what I’d call ’society’ types, and I could’ve outrightly guessed from the outset that this type of “Hoarding” probably doesn’t play much of a role in their daily routines! ;-). Where oh where is Mrs Bucket (pronounced ‘bouquet’) when you need her?? Surely she would have one or two of these always at the ready to display next to her Royal Doulton china (with hand painted periwinkles)!

Perhaps someone out there can explain what this is all about? An HP advert with sprigs stuck in foam, suitable for anyones layout! I doubt that even our Mandy could explain away this one, though she is certainly welcome to try!

The following probably will not come as much of a shock to those of us who have been following Heinz and HP Foods in the news as of late. Needless to say, it may very well be the time to really step up efforts in the boycott of Heinz and HP products!

After meeting with the Directors of the American based food giant Heinz, Birmingham council bosses report that Heinz has flatly rejected a detailed proposal to replace the famous HP Sauce factory at Aston Cross. The rejection came after Heinz revealed that the proposed figures were apparently not up to snuff with expectations.

The Transport & General Workers Union which has been fighting the closure of the HP Sauce factory is now taking the fight to Holland where shop stewards and plant officials will meet next week to persuade their Dutch colleagues to help block Heinz plans to make HP Sauce at that location.

“They will be calling on sister unions to abide by international workers’ conventions to hinder the switching of production between countries without agreement.

The decision to reject the proposal by Birmingham City Council is a huge blow to all who have backed the efforts to keep the Birmingham HP Sauce factory from closure.

Heinz director Nigel Dickie: “Despite all the considerable efforts of Birmingham City Council and Coun Ken Hardeman’s team, as well as MP Khalid Mahmood, there is really not enough to deliver much assistance that is going to change the proposals in terms of keeping Aston open.

There is another option which the council worked very hard on which is new build. We have had a chance to look into that in greater detail with the council. Clearly it doesn’t offer the kind of savings the current proposal of closure offers of £2.5 million a year.

Having been through the numbers that the council had on new build, ultimately it would require a £20 million investment from us after grant assistance and require 12-15 years break even time.”

Meanwhile, John Jordan – the acting T&G food industry secretary has stated that the union never did have faith that the move of the Aston factory to Holland would be either economic or efficient. The discussions with Dutch colleagues however would be “absolutely crucial, pivital� in keeping the Birmingham factory open.

“All the talks we have had with Heinz seem to suggest they are hell bent on a certain course of action, which is closure of Aston Cross.” – John Jordan

Source: Birmingham Mail