EXTRAORDINARY HOUSE

NOTICE CONCERNING NAKED FLAMES DURING BLACK-OUT CONDITIONS

10 December 1942

TO MEMBERS AND STAFF

Members are again reminded that, during the hours of darkness, no illumination from within the House may be visible from outside the premises.

The House has already been reported on several occasions for infringements of the lighting restrictions.

Fines have been imposed.

The Secretary has now been informed that any further offence may result not merely in another fine, but in proceedings for which imprisonment may be ordered.

The Committee does not propose to discover whether this warning is intended seriously.

With immediate effect, the following are prohibited in every bar, dining room, drawing room, passage, stairway and other part of the House accessible to members:

• cocktails or measures of spirit served alight;
• the ignition of brandy, rum or any other spirit over, beneath or in the vicinity of a pudding;
• the preparation of any dish by flambéing at the table;
• candles, tapers, night-lights and other portable naked lights;
• fires in grates, hearths or fireplaces, including those described by members as ordinary indoor fires;
• and any entertainment, experiment, wager or demonstration involving the deliberate ignition of food or drink.

The prohibition applies irrespective of whether the flame is described as:

• traditional;
• culinary;
• Continental;
• medicinal;
• patriotic;
• necessary to morale;
• unlikely to last long;
• or part of the proper presentation of the dish.

The description of an infringement as “an unusually luminous pudding” will not be accepted as an excuse.

Under present rationing arrangements, it is more likely to occasion a separate enquiry into how the pudding came to be unusually luminous, what it contained and from whom the ingredients were obtained.

Members are particularly reminded that black-out curtains prevent light from escaping only while they remain closed, properly fitted and not themselves on fire.

No exterior door is to be opened while any naked flame is present in the entrance hall or adjoining rooms. Members wishing to summon a taxi must do so without candles, burning napkins, illuminated menus or assistance from the dessert trolley.

Staff have been instructed to extinguish any offending drink, dish, candle or fire immediately.

They are not required to obtain the permission of the member who ordered it, prepared it, paid for it or was intending to consume it.

Any member interfering with a member of staff carrying out this instruction will be reported to the Committee.

Any member attempting to relight an extinguished pudding will also be reported to the Committee.

The Committee recognises that certain members possess a longstanding inclination to set refreshments alight before consuming them.

The lighting restrictions do not make provision for this inclination.

Until further notice, food is to be eaten, spirits are to be drunk and the House is to remain unilluminated from the street.

BY ORDER OF THE COMMITTEE

The Secretary

The black-out is intended to conceal the House from the enemy. Members are requested not to reveal its position through the dessert.

ARCHIVIST’S NOTE

This reprint has been reconstructed to the best of our ability from the badly burned remains of the original notice. Where the surviving text was incomplete or illegible, wording has been restored from the available fragments and related House records. Minor differences from the original may therefore remain.

The fire responsible for these difficulties is the subject of a continuing enquiry.