Category: Food and Drink

Do you have space on your home bar next to your pineapple ice bucket and cocktail shaker for this Retro Drinks Dispenser?

By the power of gravity, the machine dispenses a shot through the nozzle at the push of a button. It holds 900ml of liquid and costs just £14.99.

It is available to buy from high street favourite Argos.

Retro sweets are not longer too difficult to get hold off, but Hope and Greenwood are in a class of their own. Describing themselves as “purveyors of splendid confectionery”, their two London shops are beautifully decorated to recreate the sweet shops of days gone by, but for shoppers elsewhere they also have an online shop.

They sell an impressive selection including jellies, chocolates, toffees sherbet and lollies. Sweets are available in bags or what they describe as “rations” which are traditional-looking jars. With Valentines Day on the horizon, they are offering themed gifts including Love Hearts, mallow hearts and for the more sophisticated tastes, Rose and Violet creams.

Their website is full of humour in its use old-fashioned language and vintage images (see the “Jolly Gifts section in particular) making it a joy to visit. So for online orders and details about the shops, visit Hope and Greenwood.

Did you know that there's an International Spy Museum? And did you know that this particular museum has an online shop? Well, indeed it does, offering a mix of modern-day spy kit and vintage goodies – the latter including this authentic KGB hip flask.

It's made of stainless steel and weighs eight ounces, with enough capacity for a slug or three of vodka on those cold nights. It also features the KGB emblem, with the words 'Honorable Worker of the KGB and USSR' (in Russian of course).

Flasks vary, so might not look exactly like the one in the picture, but all sell for the same price – $24 (around £16).

Find out more at the International Spy Museum website