Bag Balm

Bag Balm is a salve developed in 1899 to soothe irritation on cows' udders after milking. The product is officially only meant for animals and is inspected as such by the United States Food and Drug Administration, but it's also often used as a treatment for chapped and irritated skin on humans and can be found in places such as drugstores, ski resorts, online vendors, needlework stores, and of course farm and feed stores. Its uses are claimed to be many, for example: "squeaky bed springs, psoriasis, dry facial skin, cracked fingers, burns, zits, diaper rash, saddle sores, sunburn, pruned trees, rifles, shell casings, bedsores and radiation burns."

History

Bag Balm is made by Dairy Association Co. in Lyndonville, Vermont, and Rock Island, Quebec. The product is known for its characteristic 10-oz green square tins featuring a cow's head and red clovers on the lid. It has been in production since 1899. The formula was purchased by John L. Norris from a Wells River, Vermont druggist sometime before the turn of the century. Originally, it was used for only cows' udders, but farmers' wives noticed the softness of their husbands' hands, and started using the product themselves. Imitators include Udderly Smooth Udder Cream and Udder Balm. In a 1983 report, Charles Kuralt reported on CBS that "upward of 400,000 units were shipped annually"; more recent sales figures are not disclosed by the company.

Bag

A bag (also known regionally as a sack) is a common tool in the form of a non-rigid container. The use of bags predates recorded history, with the earliest bags being no more than lengths of animal skin, cotton, or woven plant fibers, folded up at the edges and secured in that shape with strings of the same material.

Despite their simplicity, bags have been fundamental for the development of human civilization, as they allow people to easily collect loose materials such as berries or food grains, and to transport more items than could readily be carried in the hands. The word probably has its origins in the Norse word baggi, from the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European bʰak, but is also comparable to the Welsh baich (load, bundle), and the Greek βάσταγμα (bástagma, load).

Cheap disposable paper bags and plastic shopping bags are very common in the retail trade as a convenience for shoppers, and are often supplied by the shop for free or for a small fee. Customers may also take their own shopping bags to some shops. Although paper had been used for purposes of wrapping and padding in ancient China since the 2nd century BC, the first use of paper bags (for preserving the flavor of tea) in China came during the later Tang Dynasty (618–907 AD).

Bagà

Bagà is a Spanish municipality located in the comarca of Berguedà, in Catalonia.

Traditionally, Bagà is considered the capital of Alt Berguedà, the mountainous northern half of the comarca.

Location

Bagà is located at the head of the valley of the Llobregat river, at the feet of the high mountains of the Cadí range. The town itself is at 785 metres above sea level.

Bagà is 20 kilometers to the north of Berga, and 7.5 kilometers to the south of the Túnel del Cadí, a tunnel which crosses the Cadí range, connecting with the region of la Cerdanya.

The municipality includes a small exclave to the west.

History

Bagà was founded in the 9th century A.D. when the region of Berguedà was repopulated by Wilfred the Hairy. The noble family of Pinós dominated most of Alt Berguedà throughout most of the Middle Ages and administered its domains from the town of Bagà, giving the town some importance.

The town was redesigned in the 13th century by Galceran IV de Pinós, and is a rare example of medieval city planning. The town grew rapidly and by the beginning of the 14th century a new neighbourhood had to be built outside of the town's walls to accommodate its growing population. Bagà was also granted a weekly market (which continues to this day) consolidating its role as a regional capital.

Bag (unit)

Bags have been used as standard measures for a variety of commodities which were actually supplied in bags or sacks. These include:

The Oxford English Dictionary has a definition of "bag" as "A measure of quantity for produce, varying according to the nature of the commodity" and has quotations illustrating its use for hops in 1679, almonds in 1728 (where it is defined by weight as "about 3 Hundred Weight" i.e. 336 pounds (152 kg) in Imperial units) and potatoes in 1845 (where it is a volume measure of "three bushels" - i.e. 24 imperial gallons (110 L)).