Ronnie Corbett Beer Mat

Beer mats, kilderkins and Ronnie Corbett

Ronnie Corbett was one of those rare British institutions - like sugary tea, roast dinners, or the notion of fair play - that simply floated above criticism. Oh, there were missteps, the odd dud of a programme, but he was untouchable, a national treasure in the truest sense. Which is why, in the early 1970s, his face found itself immortalised on that most hallowed of cultural artefacts: the beer mat. A proper measure of a man’s worth if ever there was one.

This particular beer mat, available on Ebay here if that’s your type of thing, features a caricature of old Ronnie penning the question “What’s a kilderkin?” A fair enquiry, and one that, as it turns out, is thematically appropriate for a beer mat.

On the reverse of the beer mat is the revelation that you can discover what a kilderkin actually is by sidling up to the bar and enquiring about a free copy of The Doncella Book of Pubmanship - authored, of course, by none other than Ronnie Corbett.

Published in 1972, and stretching to a taut 80 pages, The Doncella Book of Pubmanship is something of an enigma. The internet, usually a know-it-all of epic proportions, offers little in the way of details. I suspect it was some sort of whimsical guide to the noble art of running a pub. I also believe it was never commercially available, and was simply a free promotional booklet to help British pubs shift a few more pints of mild.

So, there you have it. Another peculiar relic of British television history dredged up by the ever-reliable eBay. Let me know if you stumble across anything equally ephemeral - there’s something oddly reassuring about the curious detritus of our cultural past which refuses to end up as landfill.

Oh, and a kilderkin? That’s a cask. Holds 144 pints, in case you were wondering.

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