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Gumdrop (fictional Car)
The ''Gumdrop'' stories are a series of 37 children's books written and illustrated by Val Biro. They concern a 1926 Austin 12 hp four cylinder (Austin Clifton twelve four) called "Gumdrop", who gets involved in various adventures. The car is real and was in the author's possession, but the stories are fictional. The first book was ''The Adventures of a Vintage Car'' (1966) and the last was ''Gumdrop's School Adventure'' (2001). His adventures have included such tales as an encounter with the Loch Ness Monster where Gumdrop and his owner helped to protect the monster being exploited for publicity, a meeting with Father Christmas where Gumdrop helped him deliver presents, and helping an elephant escape an abusive zookeeper and deliver him to a safari park which they soon help to rescue from being destroyed by bulldozers. Given Gumdrop's age, various stories feature a sub-plot of his owners needing to find replacement parts for him as certain components become worn out over time, ra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gumdrop July 2008
Gumdrops are a type of gummy candy. They are brightly colored pectin-based pieces, shaped like a narrow dome (sometimes with a flattened top), often coated in granulated sugar and having fruit and spice flavors; the latter are also known as spice drops. History Gumdrops first appeared in the 19th century United States, purportedly as early as 1801, although at that time they likely referred to small, hard sweets also derived from fruit gelatin. The name "gumdrop" is not found in print until 1859, appearing in an advertisement published by the Decatur, IL ''Illinois State Chronicle'' for a candy shop owned by a George Julier. By that time, a gelatin-based, rubbery candy akin to modern gummies went by the ''gumdrop'' name, but also a pastier candy with a potato starch base. One of the oldest types of gumdrops still produced are "spice" gumdrops, using traditional spices including clove, anise, allspice, spearmint, cinnamon, and wintergreen for flavoring. Usage Gumdrops, spi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Val Biro's Gumdrop At Petworth House
Val may refer to: Val-a Film * ''Val'' (film), an American documentary about Val Kilmer, directed by Leo Scott and Ting Poo Military equipment * Aichi D3A, a Japanese World War II dive bomber codenamed "Val" by the Allies * AS Val, a Soviet assault rifle Music *''Val'', album by Val Doonican *VAL (band), Belarusian pop duo People * Val (given name), a unisex given name * Rafael Merry del Val (1865–1930), Spanish Catholic cardinal * Val (sculptor) (1967–2016), French sculptor * Val (footballer, born 1983), Lucivaldo Lázaro de Abreu, Brazilian football midfielder * Val (footballer, born 1997), Valdemir de Oliveira Soares, Brazilian football defensive midfielder Places * Val (Rychnov nad Kněžnou District), a village and municipality in the Czech Republic * Val (Tábor District), a village and municipality in the Czech Republic * Vál, a village in Hungary * Val, Iran, a village in Kurdistan Province, Iran * Val, Italy, a ''frazione'' in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Ven ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Val Biro
Balint Stephen Biro (Budapest, October 6, 1921 – July 4, 2014) was a children's author, artist and illustrator. He received his education in Budapest and London. His studio was located in Amersham in Buckinghamshire. Writing From an interview in the early 1970s: "My writing is mainly concerned with my vintage car "Gumdrop." It was four years ago that my publishers suggested that it was about time that I wrote a book for children and not merely illustrate one; and I decided on Gumdrop as the main character. "I write so as to give my alter-ego a good chance for drawing pictures, though I find that the story I invent tends to run away with itself, leaving me, the illustrator, behind! Each story tends to be based on personal experience and, equally, each tends to grow out of that into the imagination. Each book seems to take a few months to gestate, and then I write it in one long day (or night)." Illustration In the 1950s and 1960s Biro illustrated many book covers for famou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Austin 12 Hp
The Austin Twelve is a motor car introduced by Austin in 1921. It was the second of Herbert Austin's post World War I models and was in many ways a scaled-down version of his Austin Twenty, introduced in 1919. The slower than expected sales of the Twenty brought about this divergence from his intended one-model policy. The Twelve was announced at the beginning of November 1921 after Austin's company had been in receivership for six months. The number twelve refers to its fiscal horse power (12.8) rather than its brake horsepower (bhp) which was 20 and later 27. The long-stroke engines encouraged by the tax regime, 72 x 102 later 72 x 114.5, had much greater low-speed torque than the bhp rating suggests. Overview Initially available as a tourer, by 1922 three body styles were offered: the four-seat tourer, the two/four-seater (both at 550 GBP) and the coupé at 675 GBP. The car enjoyed success throughout the vintage era with annual sales peaking at 14,000 in 1927. While th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Guardian Media Group, owned by the Scott Trust. The trust was created in 1936 to "secure the financial and editorial independence of ''The Guardian'' in perpetuity and to safeguard the journalistic freedom and liberal values of ''The Guardian'' free from commercial or political interference". The trust was converted into a limited company in 2008, with a constitution written so as to maintain for ''The Guardian'' the same protections as were built into the structure of the Scott Trust by its creators. Profits are reinvested in journalism rather than distributed to owners or shareholders. It is considered a newspaper of record in the UK. The editor-in-chief Katharine Viner succeeded Alan Rusbridger in 2015. Since 2018, the paper's main news ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Loch Ness Monster
The Loch Ness Monster ( gd, Uilebheist Loch Nis), affectionately known as Nessie, is a creature in Scottish folklore that is said to inhabit Loch Ness in the Scottish Highlands. It is often described as large, long-necked, and with one or more humps protruding from the water. Popular interest and belief in the creature has varied since it was brought to worldwide attention in 1933. Evidence of its existence is anecdotal, with a number of disputed photographs and sonar readings. The scientific community explains alleged sightings of the Loch Ness Monster as hoaxes, wishful thinking, and the misidentification of mundane objects. The pseudoscience and subculture of cryptozoology has placed particular emphasis on the creature. Origin of the name In August 1933, the ''Courier'' published the account of George Spicer's alleged sighting. Public interest skyrocketed, with countless letters being sent in detailing different sightingsR. Binns ''The Loch Ness Mystery Solved'' pp 1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Father Christmas
Father Christmas is the traditional English name for the personification of Christmas. Although now known as a Christmas gift-bringer, and typically considered to be synonymous with Santa Claus, he was originally part of a much older and unrelated English folklore, English folkloric tradition. The recognisably modern figure of the English Father Christmas developed in the late Victorian era, Victorian period, but Christmas had been personified for centuries before then. English personifications of Christmas were first recorded in the 15th century, with Father Christmas himself first appearing in the mid 17th century in the aftermath of the English Civil War. The Puritans, Puritan-controlled English government had legislated to abolish Christmas, considering it papist, and had outlawed its traditional customs. Cavalier, Royalist political pamphleteers, linking the old traditions with their cause, adopted Old Father Christmas as the symbol of 'the good old days' of feasting and g ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Asian Elephant
The Asian elephant (''Elephas maximus''), also known as the Asiatic elephant, is the only living species of the genus ''Elephas'' and is distributed throughout the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, from India in the west, Nepal in the north, Sumatra in the south, and to Borneo in the east. Three subspecies are recognised—'' E. m. maximus'' from Sri Lanka, ''E. m. indicus'' from mainland Asia and '' E. m. sumatranus'' from the island of Sumatra. Formerly, there was also the Syrian elephant or Western Asiatic elephant (''Elephas maximus asurus'') which was the westernmost population of the Asian elephant (''Elephas maximus''). This subspecies became extinct in ancient times. Skeletal remains of ''E. m. asurus'' have been recorded from the Middle East: Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey from periods dating between at least 1800 BC and likely 700 BC. It is one of only three living species of elephants or elephantids anywhere in the world, the others being the African bus ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zookeeper
A zookeeper, sometimes referred as animal keeper, is a person who manages zoo animals that are kept in captivity for conservation or to be displayed to the public.Hurwitz, Jane. Choosing a Career in Animal Care (World of Work). New York: Rosen Group, 2001. They are usually responsible for the feeding and daily care of the animals. As part of their routine, the zookeepers may clean the exhibits and report health problems. They may also be involved in scientific research or public education, such as conducting tours and answering questions. Background Animal collections requiring wild animal care takers or zookeepers have existed since about 3,000 B.C.Kisling, Vernon N. JrHistory of the Zoo Keeper Profession. Early civilizations in Mesopotamia (present day Iraq), Egypt, China and Pakistan / Northwest India allowed rulers and the wealthy class citizens to keep collections of wild animals. These civilizations had individuals who caught and cared for wild animals such as fish and bir ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Safari Park
A safari park, sometimes known as a wildlife park, is a zoo-like commercial drive-in tourist attraction where visitors can drive their own vehicles or ride in vehicles provided by the facility to observe freely roaming animals. A safari park is larger than a zoo and smaller than a game reserve. For example, African Lion Safari in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada is . For comparison, Lake Nakuru in the Great Rift Valley, Kenya, is , and a typical large game reserve is Tsavo East, also in Kenya, which encompasses . Many parks have conservation programmes with endangered animals like: elephants, rhinocerotes, giraffes, lions, tigers, cheetahs and wild dogs. General overview of a safari park The main attractions are frequently large animals from Africa which people can see in wildlife reserves such as: giraffes, lions (including white lions), black and white rhinoceroses, African bush elephants, hippopotamuses, zebras, ostriches, lesser and greater flamingos, ground hornbills, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bulldozers
A bulldozer or dozer (also called a crawler) is a large, motorized machine equipped with a metal #Blade, blade to the front for pushing material: soil, sand, snow, rubble, or rock during construction work. It travels most commonly on continuous tracks, though specialized models riding on large Heavy equipment#Traction: Off-the-road tires and tracks, off-road tires are also produced. Its most popular accessory is a #Ripper, ripper, a large hook-like device mounted singly or in multiples in the rear to loosen dense materials. Bulldozers are used heavily in large and small scale construction, road building, minings and quarrying, on farms, in heavy industry factories, and in military applications in both peace and wartime. The word "bulldozer" refers only to a motorized unit fitted with a blade designed for pushing. The word is sometimes used inaccurately for other heavy equipment such as a Loader (equipment), front-end loader designed for carrying rather than pushing material. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nigel Planer
Nigel George Planer (born 22 February 1953) is a British actor, comedian, musician, novelist and playwright. He played Neil in the BBC comedy '' The Young Ones'' and Ralph Filthy in ''Filthy Rich & Catflap''. He has appeared in many West End musicals, including original casts of ''Evita'', ''Chicago'', ''We Will Rock You'', ''Wicked'', and ''Charlie and the Chocolate Factory''. He has also appeared in ''Hairspray''. He won a BRIT award in 1984 and has been nominated for Olivier, TMA, WhatsOnStage and BAFTA awards. Early life Planer's father's Hungarian-Romanian family left Nazi Germany in 1933 and settled in Mortlake, London. He established a medical equipment company, which pioneered technology in controlled-rate freezers, IVF and stem cells. Nigel, who has two brothers, was born in Westminster, London. He attended King's House School in Richmond and Westminster School in central London, where he wrote a satirical play about the school with fellow pupil Stephen Poliakoff. Hav ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
