‘I must walk my chalks’

“I must walk my chalks”

Fun 3 (3 May 1873): 188

Courtesy of the Suzy Covey Comic Book Collection in the George A. Smathers Libraries, University of Florida.

From “Unintentional Jokes”:
(Milkman (after a long gossip with Mary Ann): — “Well, Mary, Good-bye; I must walk my chalks.

This cartoon refers to a major public health problem in Victorian England — the contamination and adulteration of foods with dangerous additives — in this case the addition of chalk to watered-down milk to make it look richer and more wholesome.

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  • The adulteration & contamination of food (sitemap)
  • Punch on the dangerous contamination of foodstuffs

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