The Age is Melbourne's resident broadsheet newspaper, published since 1854. A day or two back I came across this tea towel which had been produced to celebrate their 150th anniversary in 2004, featuring, I would assume, many of the ads which have graced their pages over that time.

A make-ahead, no fuss buffet brunch, just what I always wanted! Potatoes 4 pence per pound, bargain! "Teach her to cook" so that you can "Invite friends over for an elegant, leisurely lunch" (as illustrated at the bottom left) at which, no doubt, "Hostesses are prouder of their dishes". Excellent, let me just find a payphone so that I can get the operator to connect me to Don Draper!

Ah, Snap, Crackle and Pop from Rice Bubbles. I wonder when those guys are going to get a real job and change out of their pyjamas.

"Entoleted for purity and malto-calcium enriched"! I dunno what it means but it sounds sciencey so it must be good! (The Entoleter company produces a centrifugal system which has been in use in mills for 60 years. Flour and other grains are run through it and the forces involved destroy eggs, larvae and other infestations in the flour. As with "bowser" which was once proprietary to Shell, the name has become a generic term for the process. Bet you didn't know that before!)

Canada takes Australian butter! And ideally, for a few weeks, me.

"When the afternoon seems endless, take time off for tea"! Good advice, though on some afternoons that would see me floating in the stuff.

Now if you'll excuse me I must be off to sample a cracking good crop which has had a smooth clean taste famous for 200 years, and fraternise with Clever Mary who is, as we know, the "enemy of grease".

Although I dropped a sepia adjustment layer into the image I grant you that the stove doesn't look that old, and it isn't... but I assure you that it's pretty basic, and nothing for a cook to be proud of.

I've gone a bit taller than usual for this one (1000 pixels at original size) which means some scrolling may be needed if you wish to wander down memory lane. Unless of course you have a honkin' great monitor like me, and add-ons that don't feel that they're entitled to take up another couple of dozen pixels of your screen real estate for a two icon toolbar. (Hi Norton!)