Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Humanities/2015 August 14

= August 14 =

Ealing cake
What is Ealing cake? this was taken to the antarctic by Shackleton in 1907. I have asked the author of Shakletons whisky Neville Peat but he has not a clue.95.170.17.212 (talk) 15:23, 14 August 2015 (UTC)
 * It appears to be any cake produced in Ealing, West London. I can't find any independent, reliable source that mentions a connection between something called Ealing cake and Shackleton.   General Ization   Talk   15:51, 14 August 2015 (UTC)
 * This is the book mentioned by the OP (Shackleton's Whisky, Neville Peat, Random House, 2013), which has a facsimile of Shackleton's menu on page 148. However, I've not been able to find any other mention of what "Ealing cake" might be - perhaps a euphemism for a less festive foodstuff? Tevildo (talk) 20:39, 14 August 2015 (UTC)
 * I read through WikiP's article Nimrod Expedition and didn't find any mention of these cakes. OTOH this section Nimrod Expedition mentions the troubles that Shackleton encountered in raising funds for the expedition. Thus it is possible that some company who made these cakes either donated some money or their product in the hope that sales would increase by the cakes being associated with the journey. This is a complete WP:OR guess however and the answer may be something else entirely. MarnetteD&#124;Talk 22:44, 14 August 2015 (UTC)
 * I was thinking that it might be similar to Tottenham cake which is quite well documented, but Ealing cake seems to have vanished without a trace. Alansplodge (talk) 14:03, 15 August 2015 (UTC)
 * The full OED doesn't have an entry Ealing cake, though it does include Chelsea buns and Eccles cakes, for example, but not Alan's Tottenham cake, or, more surprisingly Dundee cake. I would guess Ealing cake would be some kind of rich fruit cake, as they last longer. (Or maybe it was more like Kendal Mint Cake.) AndrewWTaylor (talk) 19:11, 15 August 2015 (UTC)
 * You're probably right about the fruit cake; I don't think an iced sponge cake would travel too well. I can't imagine anybody eating Kendal Mint Cake as a dessert; for those who haven't had the pleasure, it's just a slab of hard sugar with a strong peppermint flavour. Alansplodge (talk) 21:59, 15 August 2015 (UTC)
 * As we haven't been a lot of help here, you might contact the Ealing Local History Centre at Ealing Central Library. There's a direct email address on the linked page. They will have access to local trade directories and local newspapers of that era; it's possible that there's a "local baker sends cake to Antarctic" story somewhere. Alansplodge (talk) 15:25, 16 August 2015 (UTC)

Where are the flags?
Hello Wikipedia. I am wondering if you have a complete list of all the flag icons, you know the little flags you use in lists and stuff? I was wondering if you had a page which had all the icons for countries/states/cities etc... Thanks!

Jovanteythomas (talk) 20:53, 14 August 2015 (UTC)


 * Have a look at Category:All country data templates which shows most of the flags used and the shortcut codes. MilborneOne (talk) 21:13, 14 August 2015 (UTC)