The crowds in the big towns, with their mild knobby faces, their bad teeth and gentle manners, are different from a European crowd.
[snip]
Nevertheless, nothing is causeless, and even the fact that Englishmen have bad teeth can tell something about the realities of English life.
Living in England in the 1960's there were still many fascinating instances of teeth absent, teeth oddly positioned, teeth disturbingly colored, to fascinate a young child. Coincidentally, I found myself having to explain the orthodontic history of England just the other day. I was working with a group of inner-city Boy Scouts. We have been exploring all sorts of forms of stories: jokes, riddles, poems, nonsense verse, sketches, stories, etc. I had brought along a collection of Spike Milligan's poems, Silly Verse for Kids. I had read a couple of poems which were well received. As often happens, each of the boys then wanted a chance to read from the collection so I handed it around, each picking randomly a poem to read. One of them picked the poem, Teeth.
Teeth
by Spike Milligan
English Teeth, English Teeth!
Shining in the sun
A part of British heritage
Aye, each and every one.
English Teeth, Happy Teeth!
Always having fun
Clamping down on bits of fish
And suasages half done.
English Teeth! HEROES' Teeth!
Hear them click! and clack!
Let's sing a song of praise to them -
Three Cheers for the Brown Grey and Black.
Gathered around were some of the poorest children in America but each with a fine mouth of straight, beautiful ivories. My explanation of the dental condition of England sixty years ago when it was at the height of its world dominance elicited blank stares of incomprehension. And they were right. It is almost as incomprensible for things to have changed so much in sixty years as it is to have encountered two instances in a couple of days of English writers incidentally commenting on the condition of English Teeth! HEROES' Teeth!
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