It was only ten or so years before I was born that my granny chucked her starter down the loo, and stopped preparing her own bread. She used to make bread on Sunday morning, and take the dough to the baker on her way to church. In church, the priest would invite everyone to pray the Lord for their daily bread (thus claiming spiritual ownership for the dough, which was baking at the oven). After mass, the kids would go and collect the bread, and then everyone would go home for lunch, carrying the bread on their head. It was common practice since the war; before then people would bake bread in their own bread oven at home.

It's a shame, because those starters have been with the families for generations, like some sort of bacterial pet. I hope I can keep my going, and pass it on to the little one when he's old enough to care.