Making Coal Fires In The 40S And 50S

[hellywelly4]

In the 40s and 50s my mother used to make coal fires every day, and made special things using newspaper which she folded in a certain way. I can't remember what she called them, the word 'skewers' come to mind, but I'm sure that's not correct.
Any ideas please?

[jackthehat]

Spills?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spill_vase

[Sqad]

I remember them well and i was taught to make them but....I didn't know that they had a name.

A skewer was something different, a cooking/kitchen sort of implement.

[Sqad]

How would one make a coal fire with a vase?.......or have i missed the point?

[tonyav]

I can remember them to just about, can't remember what they were called but I'm almost certain it wasn't skewers.

[hellywelly4]

It's not spills, they were long pieces of card that were in a container in the fireplace, and were used to light the fire, or even cigarettes from the flame in the fire.

[gness]

Hi, Helly....are those the folded and flattened strips you then folded over and over on themselves to make a long zig zag shape?....Kept the kids busy for hours......☺
No idea what we called them though...x

[Daffy6543]

Fire Bricks or briquettes.

[hellywelly4]

Where did you get vase from sqad?

[tonyav]

I remember spills being a piece of thin wood about 8'' long.

[Frank97]

Knots?
https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=paper+knots+for+fire&rls=com.microsoft:en-GB:IE-SearchBox&biw=1093&;bih=527&tbm=isch&tbo=u&;source=univ&sa=X&ei=st8yVK_1A8Htas2VgMgJ&ved=0CDYQsAQ#facrc=_&imgdii=_&;imgrc=KpYTwv8G0IAX0M%253A%3BmY-wTIACM0KbgM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.sandwichink.com%252Fwp-content%252Fuploads%252F2010%252F01%252FMaking-newspaper-knots-for-the-woodstove1.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.sandwichink.com%252Fwhat-knot-to-put-in-the-log-rack-of-our-new-woodstove%3B500%3B405

[hellywelly4]

No, not fire briquettes.

[Sqad]

Hellywell...the link provided by JTH 19.30

[hellywelly4]

Sorry squad.

[hellywelly4]

Sqad, sorry again!

[hellywelly4]

No it's not knots Frank

[jackthehat]

I mentioned spills and then included a link to a vase in which the spills were kept.........sorry if it was a bit too obscure for you to understand, sqad.

[seadogg]

Still make them to get the stove going. Take a large newspaper page or two tabloid size pages.Start at at corner and fold over till all paper used. This gives a long piece about 35 mm. wide. Bend in the middle and fold over the two strips to make a concertina and fold under the tail. 5 or 6 will get smokeless briquets going or logs.

easier and quicker than it sounds.

[seadogg]

briquettes.

[BlackadderV]

My mother called them spills; they were just bigger and thicker than the ones on the mantelpiece for lighting your ciggie. The procedure was, which my father did, rather than my mother, was to:
a) rake out yesterday's ashes and clean the fireplace
b) lay a profusion of newspaper spills
c) cover with a few chopped sticks ( or firelighters if you were posh)
d) strategically place a few pieces of coal on said heap
e) light the fire
f) if it wasn't drawing properly hold a 'bleezer' (usually a double sheet of broadsheet) to create an updraft so the fire would take hold. This was a tricky operation because if the bleezer caught fire it would shoot up the chimney as well.

[tonyav]

I think my mom just used to call it rolled up newspaper.