The decision to drop the word "bloomer" from the name of the London Protection Society’s bread class at the Islington Exhibition is no doubt a good one. The loaf required is now to be described as "a crusty long loaf, baked on the oven bottom in steam". The competitor has now got the advantage of some clear-cut idea of the loaf that he is expected to send in. Apart from that, however, the name "bloomer" was vague, a little intriguing and probably a little unhappy. Among bakers who have an established trade in bloomer loaves, the name may stick, but from the point of view of the trade as a whole, it is as well that the name is to be dropped officially. Anyway, nobody seems very sure how the name came to be adopted in the first instance nor quite what it was meant to convey. Perhaps someone could suggest a better name for popular use!
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