“From Morris Garages?” you incredulously ask. You’d be right, actually.
You see, in 1929 the famed Morris Garages (better known as MG) opened a factory in Abington, Oxfordshire. For years, the factory used an ancient model, probably a 14/18 (a rebodied Morris Oxford) with “featherweight fabric” bodywork, as a runabout. They parked her outside the paint shop, earning the car a thick splattering of paint and a new name – “Owld Speckl’d Un’.” (An alternate story is that the paint shop gave it a special black-with-gold-specks paint job, earning the same name.)
In 1979, in celebration of 50 years of MG’s vibrant existence in Abington, Morland Brewery (originally established in 1711!) brewed a special beer they anglicized (in a fashion) into Old Speckled Hen. The beer took off, and Morland was soon absorbed into Greene King brewery in 2000, about the same time BMW unloaded the MG brand which was eventually sold to Nanjing and later SAIC, both Chinese companies. Now OSH is a global brand with growing sales, and MG lives a zombie afterlife as Rowe in China. Somehow, I doubt that Tsingtao is going to release “Old Speckled Rowe.”
Wikipedia, Old Speckled Hen (age protected, so Javelin girl might need to tweak her birthdate)
How Old Speckled Hen Got Its Spots … er, Rather, It's Nam
-
I'm not gonna lie, I once bought a six-pack just because of the MG connection. I also like beers from the UK, so double win, really.
-
Heh. When I first read the headline my brain immediately thought of "spotted dick."
Now I'm hungry and want a pint of bitter.-
Go with it.
-
-
When I think of beer and MG's, I think of seeing a friend of mine working on his MGBGT, tuning the Weber that he had installed, and swearing at the Mallory dual point distributor, while standing there with one of his PBR's in my mitt, trying not to laugh at him. It's really great entertainment, watching SOMEBODY ELSE bitch, cry, scream and swear at his shit while wrenching on it. Not so much fun when you personally are the whiner grovelling in the dirt underneath your personal curse, screaming epithets at something inanimate, like, say, a starter or fuel pump. Then, it's deadly serious.
-
[…] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Jeff Glucker, Hooniverse. Hooniverse said: From Hooniverse: How Old Speckled Hen Got Its Spots … er, Rather, It's Name http://bit.ly/b7X7xJ […]
-
Great. Now i can say thank you
-
That’s a coincidence, beer is the reason I’m can’t get insured to drive my MG anymore.
-
I love your website! did you create this yourself or did you outsource it? Im looking for a blog design thats similar so thats the only reason I’m asking. Either way keep up the nice work I was impressed with your content really..
-
I love your website! did you create this yourself or did you outsource it? Im looking for a blog design thats similar so thats the only reason I’m asking. Either way keep up the nice work I was impressed with your content really..
-
I love your website! did you create this yourself or did you outsource it? Im looking for a blog design thats similar so thats the only reason I’m asking. Either way keep up the nice work I was impressed with your content really..
-
I love your blog! did you create this yourself or did you outsource it? Im looking for a blog design thats similar so thats the only reason I’m asking. Either way keep up the nice work I was impressed with your content really..
-
That's a coincidence, beer is the reason I'm can't get insured to drive my MG anymore.
Leave a Reply