Decades before the scourge of “picky bits” (The hill I will die on: No self-respecting adult should use the term ‘picky bits’, 31 August), our family had “spreadables”. We were allowed as many slices of bread as we wanted, but there were rules. No sweet spreadables (honey, jam, marmalade) before we’d eaten at least one savoury (Heinz sandwich spread, Marmite, fish paste).
Judith Eagle
London
• Sheila Preston suggests aliens may have already visited Earth, but were too small for us to notice and came to a bad end (Letters, 23 August). She echoes Douglas Adams, who wrote about how a mighty alien battlefleet arrived on Earth but, owing to a major miscalculation of their size, was promptly swallowed by a small dog.
James Parry
London
