High on Childbirth

“Heroin. The sedative for coughs” Bayer advertisement from the late 1800s

 

When I was pregnant with my first child I spent a lot of time considering the pain I was about to experience during childbirth.  I was determined to have a plan - just like the childbirth books told me I must have.  I was quite sure that with determination I would need no more than a TENS machine and positive thinking. Ha. Totally didn't work.

During one visit to my Obstetrician I explained that I had this well thought out plan.  He looked at me, raised an eyebrow, and said you know the best possible treatment for pain in childbirth is a dose of Heroin.

Excuse me?

Oh yes, he continued, after it was made illegal to produce Heroin for medicinal purposes in Australia we stockpiled it [at this hospital] and only ran out in the late 1980s. 

Apparently doctors in Britain can still prescribe Heroin (as the drug Diamorphine) in cases of extreme pain – usually patients experiencing trauma, cancer ... or childbirth.

Heroin, along with other drugs now classed as illegal narcotics such as cocoa leaf and marijuana, were common ingredients in many medicines  and ‘tonics’ at the turn of the 20th century, even those targeted at babies and toddlers.

We are a drug-taking society – be it coffee, nicotine, alcohol, prescribed drugs, illicit drugs or chocolate.  The artificial stimulation of the senses occupies a part of many of our days. Now I’m not about to call for the legalisation of cocaine-based teething solutions for babies or heroin-based cough mixture but it did make me wonder what drugs we freely take today that in fifty years time will be deemed illegal or, at least, shocking?

Australian Icons: The Lamington, a controversial history

Lamington. Noun. A cake confection made by covering a cube of sponge cake in chocolate icing and desiccated coconut. [Apparently named after Lord Lamington, 1860-1940, Governor of Queensland, 1895-1901] Macquarie Dictionary, 4th Ed, 2005

When my daughter started a school project on Lamingtons as part of their discussion of Australian icons I had no idea of the controversy of which she was to become a part. History, we know, is written by the victors and it seems the lamington has a past clouded by hearsay and convenient recollection.

The Lamington regularly finds its way to lists of Australian icons alongside the Sydney Harbour Bridge, the Kangaroo, Vegemite and the meat pie. For much of the last 100 years it has been a popular addition to any “bring a plate” event, although in recent years it is more likely to be store bought than made at home.

Much of the Lamington’s iconic status probably derives from its suitability for our climate as sponge cake lasted much longer in the heat when it was iced in bite-sized squares and covered in coconut; and it also became a staple at fundraising events (known as Lamington Drives) where it could be made easily in large quantities.

The Lamington’s origins, however, are quite cloudy. The Lamington is not only claimed by Australians as a popular dish but also by New Zealanders (as the Lemmington, or Leamington) and by the Scots. It is most likely that the name derives from either Lord or Lady Lamington. Lord Lamington was the Governor of the State of Queensland from 1895-1901.

The most popular story is that a kitchen maid of Lord Lamington accidentally dropped some sponge cake into some chocolate icing and then rolled it in coconut to stop it from being too sticky to handle. However, some further research by Australian author Jackie French unearthed a story that it was invented in the early 1900s by a Queensland cooking teacher, Amy Shauer, and that they were named after the cooking school’s patron – Lady Lamington.

[the CWA Cookery Book and Household Hints, Perth WA 1936]

Recipe books written before 1910 describe the Lamington as a whole cake iced in chocolate and coconut rather. Bite-sized lamingtons didn’t appear in cookbooks until a few years later, giving more impetus to the Lady Lamington story over the Lord Lamington one.

Historians before our time were apt to attribute discoveries to the most senior person on an expedition or a local government official so perhaps the common attribution of the this iconic cake to Lord Lamington rather than Lady Lamington is just another example of this practise.

I think we will never know the true history of the lamington, although I’m quietly cheering for the Lady Lamington story. Perhaps you have a different lamington story? Or perhaps the Scots and New Zealanders out there would like to weigh in with a completely different history?