Читать книгу Christmas Dodos: Festive Things on the Verge of Extinction - Steve Stack - Страница 11

Ah, that fine festive tradition of chipping your tooth on a thruppenny bit when tucking in to your Christmas pudding. This is now sadly on the wane, not least because there is no such thing as a thruppenny bit* any more.

It is seen as good luck to find the coin, although quite how it can be considered lucky to chomp down on a thick piece of metal, let alone at the risk of swallowing it, I have never understood.

The denomination of the coin has changed as the decades have rolled by, as well as being dependent on the affluence of the pudding maker, but it was usually of a relatively low value. Many families still follow the tradition – I suspect a pound coin is the new choking hazard of choice – but it is nowhere near as common as it once was, with the humble Christmas pud being under threat from Viennettas, Gu Chocolate Soufflés and puddings into which Heston Blumethal has stuffed a whole orange and some Space Dust, or something like that.

Suggested by Vanessa Gebbie

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* For those of a younger persuasion who have lived their entire lives in the decimal age, a thruppenny bit was the more common name for a 3p piece. Yes, we had a coin worth three pence in the olden days, just as we had coins worth six pence, half a pence and even a quarter of a penny. I talk about these, and other lost coinage, in 21st Century Dodos.