1956: Harpic Rescues The Reception...

Picture the scene: it's 1956 and your darling daughter is about to be married. You, her loving mother, know all about pre-wedding nerves and how fraught the run-up to a wedding can be (the dreadful time Mrs Dale of Diary fame had when her daughter Gwen caught measles and couldn't marry Dick Mutty is still quite fresh in your mind), but all seems set fair.

And then your aforementioned daughter begins behaving strangely. Is she sickening for something? The girl starts insisting that she wants her wedding reception to be held at a hotel, not at your home. Is it just pre-wedding jitters? After all, your home is just as respectable as the groom-to-be's parents' abode. You feel quite hurt.

But then a quick word with your dear, dependable sister reveals all: darling daughter is ashamed of your... er... loo... er... sorry... I mean W.C.

You start sprinkling Harpic round the bowl nightly, and all is well. The reception is a great success.

Problem solved. A happy ending.

Harpic was invented by an Englishman - Harry Pickup of Scarborough - in the 1920s.