Silver foil

[James Wilkinson Sword]

Yes, that's what I normally hear in Scotland aswell.

[James Wilkinson Sword]

My god, you probably made enough to create a billionth of a plane.

[James Wilkinson Sword]

That's the chavvy version.

[James Wilkinson Sword]

So how come I've heard you shouldn't use aluminium pans when camping?

[James Wilkinson Sword]

Thankfully when I was at school (I'm 42) they hadn't invented health and softy yet. We had an art teacher who bashed you on the head with a metre stick if you didn't shut up. And another which pinned you against the wall if you talked back. The system failed though when one of the technical teachers was punched rather hard in the stomach by a large boy and collapsed to the floor. In chemistry my friend managed to cause a fume cupboard to explode while operating a Bunsen burner extremely close to a bottle of ethanol. The whole thing fell to pieces including the extractor fan.

[James Wilkinson Sword]

[Tony Cooper]

That really wasn't the point. People did this to contribute, in the only way available to them, to the "war effort". It made people feel they were doing their part.

It's like the little old lady who knitted socks for the soldiers "over there". Her sock output was minimal, but it gave her a feeling of contributing.

[Max Demian]

Where did you "hear" this? There was an idea that aluminium caused Alzheimer's, but that passed its "scare by" date before 1990 AFAIR.

[Max Demian]

Like people being "encouraged" to donate their iron railings. Apparently it wasn't any use for the war effort and all got thrown away. Unsightly sawn or burnt off railings were a common sight well into the sixties.

[Roger Hayter]

The oxide layer is so thin that it does not affect the shiny appearance.

[Max Demian]

I think they have to use the term "sterling silver" when talking about cutlery to make clear that it's (at least plated with) real silver rather than EPNS.

[Max Demian]

One year Blue Peter wanted all the kids to send in unwanted keys for scrap metal. The postage (which their parents would have paid) must have far exceeded the value of the scrap metal. And I expect the family found that a lot of locks couldn't be opened when the wrong keys were sent in.

[Max Demian]

Only since 1835:

[Tony Cooper]

That was done in the UK, and has been covered in this (alt.usage.english) newsgroup. String, flattened cans, and foil balls were saved and turned over for the "war effort" in the US, but I don't know if that was also done in the UK.

It is not my impression that the iron railings were voluntarily donated from what I've read in this group. Weren't they just taken?

[Mr Pounder Esquire]

Hucker/troll/unemployable/piss poor/can't get a woman/sociopath will argue about this. Then he will jack off in his cat pissed stained ,lonely, spunk stained single bed. Trust me.

[charles]

There are still a few around.

[Chris Hogg]

Sterling silver is 92.5% solid silver and is hallmarked. The term would never be used for plated silver, cutlery or otherwise. Plated silver, aka silver plate, only has a very thin layer of silver deposited on the surface of a base metal such as copper, brass or nickel silver (hence EPNS, electro plated nickel silver). Nickel silver contains no silver.

[James Wilkinson Sword]

I know this subject is difficult for someone like you who can't do basic maths, but there's no point making a contribution that's meaninglessly small. If a plane costs a million quid to make, and you collect 30p's worth of metal, you really haven't helped.

[James Wilkinson Sword]

Anyone with any sense would have sawn them up then buried them until the war was over.

[James Wilkinson Sword]

Sounds similar to

"Each pound raised for charity cost the NHS 13.75 Pounds in return. Parachuting for charity costs more money than it raises, carries a high risk of serious personal injury and places a significant burden on health resources."

Wanting to help a cause isn't enough, you need to do it properly or not at all.