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Tuesday 31 January 2006

What, if anything, is Instant Postum? Tuesday's food quotation

You are a damned idle dog, why don't you send me the Latin tag on the Sparrow memorial that I want for my very good story? I tell you, you will regret it if you trifle with me. I have put you into it, a very agreeable character so far, reading the Decline and Fall and eating white currants. But it is well within my means to make you read the Encyclopaedia Britannica and drink Instant Postum.

1926 Sylvia Townsend Warner, Letter to David Garnett, 1 December [ Sylvia and David: the Townsend Warner / Garnett letters (Sinclair-Stevenson, 1994) p. 31]. Note: The story, entitled 'The maze', was actually published in The Salutation in 1932. Mr Slumber remains aloof from the villagers, reading Herodotus and eating whitecurrants.

The question posed above has been miraculously answered by 'Stargzer', a regular contributor to the Alphadictionary forum:

It's a coffee substitute created by C. W. Post (of Post Cereals) in 1895. My uncle used to drink it when I was a kid. I had it once or twice, but don't remember much. I think it was vaguely coffee-flavored. As for me, I bought a used espresso maker for US$5.00 which I keep at work. A 12-ounce espresso can keep me going for the day.

Contributed by Anne Flavell. Posted at 10:27
Edited on: Sunday 05 February 2006 11:10
Categories: IFAQs, Quotations, Words