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Thursday 14 March 2024

Web Page 3109 9th March First Picture: Paul Jones
Second Picture; Manfred Mann
Third Picture: The Blues Band
Fourth Picture; Solent Road School
Paul Jones It was great to hear Jools Holland introduce Paul Jones as Paul from Portsmouth during his New Years Eve Hootenanny. We tend to forget that he is a local lad. As a child he lived in St Helens Road in Drayton and attended Solent Road school under his given name Paul Adrian Pond. I must have been in my second or third year at Solent Road when he was in the top year before moving on to the Portsmouth Grammar School. Paul was born on 24th February 1942. He first came to prominence as the original lead singer and harmonicist of Manfred Mann (1962–66) with whom he had several hit records including "Do Wah Diddy Diddy" and "Pretty Flamingo". After leaving the band, he established a solo career and in 1979, he formed The Blues Band, and toured with them until their breakup in 2022. He presented The Blues Show on BBC Radio 2 for thirty-two years, from 1986 to 2018, and continues to perform alongside former Manfred Mann bandmates in The Manfreds In 1967, Jones starred opposite model Jean Shrimpton in the 1967 film Privilege directed by Peter Watkins. He was cast as a pop singer and sang the songs "I've Been a Bad, Bad Boy" and "Free me. In January 1968, he was part of the "Big Show" package tour of Australia and New Zealand with The Who and Small Faces. #
In 1973 Jones guest appeared in ITC The Protectors, in an episode called "Goodbye George. In 1975 he guest-starred in an episode of The Sweeney ("Chalk and Cheese") as Tommy Garret, a boxer-turned-highwayman. In 1976 he performed the role of Juan Peron on the original concept album of Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical Evita alongside Julie Covington as Eva, Colm Wilkinson as Che and Barbara Dickson as the Mistress. In October 1977, he starred as Sir Francis Drake in the musical premiere of Drake's Dream featuring music and lyrics by Lynne and Richard Riley and book by Simon Brett. On 4th May 2009, he and his harmonica featured in a song during a concert by Joe Bonamassa at the Royal Albert Hall in London. In January 2018, it was announced that he would be replaced as presenter of BBC Radio 2's Blues Show by Cerys Matthews in mid-May. His last broadcast as presenter was on 23 April 2018. He was first married (1963–1976) to novelist and reviewer Sheila MacLeod. There were two sons from the marriage, Matthew and Jacob. He is now married to the former actress and latterly Christian speaker, Fiona Hendley-Jones. They met whilst both acting at the National Theatre. He converted to Christianity in the mid-1980s as a result of being invited by Cliff Richard to a Luis Palau evangelistic event. Griff Writes:- A couple of weeks ago Peter was talking about Ever Ready batteries and radios. In 1958 my Dad bought an Ever Ready "Sky Leader " portable transistor radio to go on holiday with to Cornwall for a family holiday and as was the tradition back then it was a holiday on a holiday grass field caravan site, none of your posh mobile (but static!) homes in those far off days. I remember this radio so well mainly due to the No.1 record being played back then and it was "Dream Lover" sung by Bobby Darin on the radio at least 3 times a day. I was word lyric perfect on this song before the end of the holiday and I still am. I kept this family radio up until about 7 years ago, still in very nice condition and fully working but I sold it on to a radio collector as it became part of my big clear out. The problem with all these early transistor radio's was the thumping great Ever Ready 9 volt battery it required to power it. Whenever I hear Dream Lover being played today it takes me right back to that August holiday at Carbis Bay, Cornwall and the hot 2 weeks we had there. Sadly no photo's exist of the holiday or I believe were taken at the time. Melvyn (Griff) Griffiths. PS. Sorry if you will all be singing "Dream Lover" in your head after reading this........lol Stay in touch Peter GSSeditor@gamil.com

Thursday 7 March 2024

Web Page 3107 2nd March First Picture: X shaped TV aerial
Second Picture; H shaped TV aerial
Third Picture: Indoor aerial
Fourth Picture; Terry Thomas
Television Aerials I do not know about you but we did not have television at home until 1954 which meant that we all had to go over the road to the Hill’s home to see the Coronation with their family. One Saturday a year or so later my father must have gone into the Radio Rentals shop in Cosham High Street to arrange to hire a TV set. He said that as television was still new so would not buy a set so decided to rent one. Needless to say we were all excited as the deliver date approached and eventually the new 17” Sobell set was delivered and was installed in a corner by the fireplace. The downside was that we were told that the aerial installers were so overworked that they would not get to us for about three weeks. So, there was the set sat in the corner but unusable. My father was trained as a radio engineer, in fact he did his apprenticeship in Martins electrical shop in Cosham High street just past the level crossing before moving on the His Masters Voice in Newbury and eventually taking a position in Portsmouth Dockyard . However, he had no experience of television but on hearing of the delay erecting the aerial he disappeared into the shed and came out with an old brass curtain rail with a length wire soldered to the end. He placed the curtain rail behind the TV set and fixed the wire into the aerial input socket with a spent match, and believe it or not he managed to get us a fuzzy ghostly picture. All this had to be dismantled a couple weeks later when the aerial erection team arrived to put up the St Andrews cross aerial on our chimney stack with the coaxial cable running down the roof and through a special drilled hole in the front room window frame into the living room. Ours was a large X shaped aerial but there were also those in the shape of an H. (Do you remember that the actor Terry Thomass sported a cigarette holder in the shape of a H shaped aerial enabling him to smoke four cigarettes at once). This situation stayed in place until my parents moved out of the house 20 years later. When Pam and I first moved to Gosport in the late 1960’s we suffered with an indoor aerial until one lunchtime whilst I was wandering through the undergrowth surrounding Knowle Hospital I found an outdoor aerial and yards of cable dumped in a thorn bush. I extracted the aerial and cable took it home and put it into a downstairs gutter sprout, took the cable through the house to the TV set and it worked perfectly and there it stayed until we went onto cable many years later. Stay in touch Peter gsseditor@gmail.com

Thursday 29 February 2024

Web Page 3105 23rd February 2024 First Picture: Ever Ready bell battery
Second Picture; Ever Ready Torch
Third Picture: Ever Ready Radio
Fourth Picture; Ever Ready cycle lamp and battery
Batteries When we were young there were only three companies that supplied us with batteries for torches etc so I thought I would look at the most popular. The British Ever Ready Electrical Company (BEREC) was a British firm formed in 1906 as the export branch of the American Eveready Battery Company. In 1914 it became independent of its American parent company and functioned independently. For decades the firm dominated the UK battery market and had several factories in the UK, the largest of which at Tanfield Lea, County Durham, in 1968. Other factories included Dawley, Four Ashes, Maldon, Newburn, London (Victoria Works, Forest Road and from 1936, the St Ann's Works in Harringay) and Park Lane, Wolverhampton. The company's research was centred upon the Central Laboratories in St. Ann's Road, Harringay. The company's head office was Ever Ready House in Whetstone, London. Overseas manufacturing sites included South Africa, Nigeria, Sri Lanka and Jamaica. The company was the subject of a hostile takeover by Hanson Trust in 1981. Upon acquiring the company the Hanson Trust closed factories, cut jobs and sold the German and Italian subsidiaries to Duracell. Shortly before this the British Ever Ready Electrical Company changed its name to Berec Group. From the 1950s the BEREC name was only used for exports of batteries and radio sets (as British Ever Ready Export Company). One of Hanson's first decisions was to revert from BEREC to Ever Ready as the UK brand. In 1992, the company was sold by Hanson Trust to Ralston Purina, owners of the American Eveready company, and is now a part of Energizer Holdings. The company closed its Tanfield Lea centre, it was last UK factory, this was in 1996. Production of some Ever Ready batteries (PP6, PP7 and PP9) continued in the UK until 1999 by Univercell Battery Company, near the old Dawley factory, using the original Ever Ready machinery. The company was also a producer of torches and bicycle lamps. They manufactured radios from 1934 up until 1964. With the 1922 founder of Lissen forming Vidor in 1934, Ever Ready took over Lissen completely. Many models of radio set were manufactured in both Lissen and Ever Ready versions until 1941, when the Blitz ended production. From 1942 until 1945 only one Ever Ready radio model was produced. In 1981 three "offshore" models were produced, one from Hong Kong and two from Malaysia. Tanfield Lea. wis a small village with a large factory, where batteries were made, the factory employed 1,500 people and produced more than 3 million batteries a day. Now it employs 200, makes half a million units a day, and is Ever Ready's last outpost. Stay in touch Peter gsseditor@gmailcom

Thursday 22 February 2024

Web Page 3103 16th February 2024 First Picture: Tin of Elastoplast
Second Picture; Tube of Salvon
Third Picture: Wrights Coal Tar Inhaler
Fourth Picture: Lucozade Advert
Medical Things When we were young and living at home Mum always kept a well-stocked medical box or tin for use when we injured ourselves. A box that contained all sorts of country remedies plus the usual proprietary medical products. As my mother was an ex assistant hospital matron (she had to leave nursing when she married as was the norm in those days) hers had plenty of professional and unusual medical items. But what did the normal box contain here are some items I remember. Surgical scissors and tweezers, little gold safety pins, Elastoplast dressings for the scratched and bruised knees plus the shiny waterproof version Sleek. For the more serious injury out would come the little brown glass bottle of iodine which we all knew meant a stinging sensation would follow when it was applied using a cotton wool ball and it would leave a yellow stain on the skin but mum thought it was important. When it came to minor injuries the medicants of choice were often a tube of Savlon or a tin of Germoline whilst Golden Eye Ointment and Optrex with its eye bath were the major treatment for anything optical. Olive oil for earache was common and Zambuck for pain relief and every first aid kit always contained a thermometer and a packet of cotton wool and lint. Mother always had a plentiful supply of bandages and dressings, slings, medical pads and eye patches. I assume many of them came from her nursing days. I particularly remember one very large sling with many types of bandages illustrated on it. There was also a medical book but it contained lots of words that I did not understand then and still do not so I left it alone. The one thing that I really do remember about being ill at home is that it was the only time I was allowed to have Lucozade, I loved it. Another thing that I remember is when my mother applied a bread poultice to some part of my body, I don’t remember where or what it was for but I know I did not like it. The poultice was normally applied to draw out any infection from an injury, but what infection I had or what the injury was I really do not remember. The other medicant that I remember is the Wright Coal Tar Inhaler which was set up in my bedroom at night when I had a cold. The other medicant at this time was the dreaded Vick Vapour Rub or Inhaler Aspirin, Andrews Liver Salts, Alka Selter and many small bottles with preparations mixed together by the local chemist, the word pharmacist was rarely used in those days. Jonathon writes:- Liquorice All sorts are my very very favourite sweets Its quite amazing how a packet ALWAYS accidentally falls into the trolley at our local supermarket usually in the queue aisle where it is narrow and I guess my trolley knocks them off the little display hooks. I prefer the South African Beacon sweets to the Basset ones in the UK. As we spend 6 months each year in Johannesburg I get lots of opportunity. My favourites are the mini sorts.....they last longer. The best of all are the ones covered in hundreds and thousands and the all liquorice cylindrical ones. Mary Writes:- Just love these Allsorts sweets but these days limit my sugar intake. In 1992 I went to Australia to visit my sister in law & family & was asked to bring some. She says that the ones in Australia aren`t the same. She was very pleased with them. My son has also taken some out to her. On visits to the UK we make sure that some are ready & waiting. Griff Writes:- Peter has just written an article on Bassett liquorice allsorts and Bertie Bassett, the figure made up of liquorice all-sorts which has to be one of the all time best advertising figures ever known. Here is my association with Bertie Basset and my story. I was an aircraft engineering technical officer back in the 1990's working for the MOD at RAF Boscombe Down at the Empire Test Pilots School where top RAF pilots were trained to be test pilots, a very coveted job and highly skilled pilot job in the RAF. My main aircraft responsibility was to look after all engineering aspects of a BAC 1-II with a small team of aircraft engineers. The BAC 1-11 was used mainly for training test pilots on how to recover from a stall and the flat spin that would follow but enough of that aircraft. I also had, as a sideline the responsibility of an aircraft known as a Beagle Bassett which was brought into service every year in the Summer to train mainly Indian pilots stall warning characteristics and stall recovery procedures for a twin engine aircraft The Bassett sweet company somehow got to know about this aircraft at Boscombe and a 12" exact copy figure of Bertie Basset was produced to fly with the aircraft and he was ceremonially positioned on a hook at the back bulkhead of the cockpit as the aircraft mascot. Needless to say the pilots loved this mascot and our very own "Bertie Basset" always flew with the aircraft. I left Boscombe Down in 1995 for pastures new, so, is Bertie Bassett still flying and smiling at the two front pilots?.........I would like to think so. Picture No.1 Boscombe Bertie Bassett.
Picture No.2 Boscombe BAC 1-11
Melvyn (Griff) Griffiths, Stay in touch Peter gsseditor@gmail.com

Wednesday 14 February 2024

Web Page 3101 9th February 2024 First Picture: Allsorts
Second Picture; Bertie Basset
Third Picture: The Bassett factory
Fourth Picture: Bertie and Betty Bassett wedding
Liquorice Allsorts As we all know Liquorice Allsorts are made up of assorted liquorice confectionery sold as a mixture. Made of liquorice, sugar, coconut, aniseed jelly, fruit flavourings, and gelatine, they were first produced in Sheffield, England, by Geo. Bassett & Co Ltd. Allsorts are produced by many companies around the world, but are most popular in Europe, especially Britain and the Netherlands, where they are called Engelse drop, meaning English liquorice. They are also common in Scandinavia, where they are called Engelsk konfekt or Lakridskonfekt, and in Finland, where they are called Englannin lakritsi. South African confectionery giant Beacon produces substantial quantities of the product, selling it locally and exporting it to Australia, Canada, and Portugal. In 1899, Charlie Thompson, a Bassett's sales representative, supposedly tripped over and dropped a tray of samples he was showing a client in Leicester, mixing up the various sweets. After he scrambled to re-arrange them, the client was intrigued by the new creation. Quickly the company began to mass-produce the allsorts and they became a successful product.] Bassett's have released two varieties of allsorts that do not feature any liquorice. Fruit Allsorts feature mixed-fruit flavoured sweets, while Dessert Allsorts have flavours such as apple tart and lemon cheesecake. Both retain the shapes and textures of the original sweet. Red allsorts, with fruit-flavoured liquorice, were briefly released in the late 1990s, discontinued and later reintroduced to the UK with flavours including Blueberry Cube, Strawberry Check, and a red liquorice "Betty Bassett". The original items mixed by Thompson were "chips, rocks, buttons, nuggets, plugs and twists". It is not clear which, if any, correspond to Bassett's traditional allsorts, though certainly newer items have been introduced, such as the Bertie. The Bassett's company mascot is Bertie Bassett, a figure made up of liquorice allsorts, which has become a part of British popular culture. The character's origins lie with advertising copywriter Frank Regan, who used the sweets and a number of pipe-cleaners to construct what was the original version of Bertie]/ One of the sweets in the modern day allsorts mix is a liquorice figure shaped like Bertie. The Doctor Who television serial episode The Happiness Patrol featured a villain called the Kandy Man, who was made from liquorice allsorts and was thought by some to resemble Bertie Bassett. Although an internal investigation concluded that the programme had not infringed on Bassett's trademark, the BBC promised Bassett's that the Kandy Man would not appear again. In the 2001 satirical comedy film Mike Bassett: England Manager, the figure of Bertie Bassett appears in a short scene on a newspaper with the headline "Bassett's Allsorts". As a publicity stunt, Bassett's staged a mock wedding between actors dressed as Bertie and Betty Bassett, another character composed of confectionery, at its Sheffield factory, in February 2009. Stay in touch Peter GSSeditor@gmail.com

Wednesday 7 February 2024

Web Page 3099 2nd February 2024 First Picture: Tessie O’Shea
Second Picture; With the Beatles
Third Picture: With Ken Dodd
Fourth Picture: Her 78rpm record
Two Ton Tessie O’Shea When we were growing up a fair amount of the variety on television involved quite a few of the old music hall stars. Tessie O’Shay was one of them. Tessie O'Shea was born at 61 Plantagenet Street in Riverside, Cardiff to newspaper wholesaler James Peter O'Shea, who had been a soldier and who was the son of Irish emigrants, and his wife Nellie Theresa Carr. She was brought up in the British music hall tradition and performed on stage as early as age six, billed as "The Wonder of Wales". When staying at Weston-super-Mare as a child, she got lost and was only discovered when her mother heard her singing the Ernie Mayne hit, "An N'Egg and some N'Ham and some N'Onion". By her teens she was known for her BBC Radio broadcasts and appeared on stages in Britain and South Africa. She frequently finished her act by singing and playing a banjolele in the style of George Formby. While appearing in Blackpool in the 1930s, she capitalised on her size by adopting "Two Ton Tessie from Tennessee" as her theme song. In the 1940s, she was a frequent headliner at the London Palladium, and established herself as a recording artist in the 1950s. In 1963, Noël Coward created the part of the fish and chips peddler "Ada Cockle" specifically for her in his Broadway musical, The Girl Who Came to Supper. Her performance of traditional Cockney tunes charmed the critics and helped win her a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical. In 1963, O'Shea was a guest on The Ed Sullivan Show. She was popular enough that she came back in 1964 and shared the billing with the Beatles. Their joint appearance drew what was then the largest audience in the history of American television, helping bring her to American audiences. She was a member of the repertory company on the short-lived CBS variety show The Entertainers (1964–65). In 1968, She was cast in the television movie The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, which earned her an Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Drama. In December 1970 and January 1971, she entertained American troops in Vietnam with versions of her musical act. On December 24, 1970 she performed for troops at Long Binh and took time afterwards to greet each soldier and wish them "Happy Christmas". She starred in a short-lived British sitcom As Good Cooks Go, which ran from 1969 to 1970. She appeared in films including London Town, The Blue Lamp, The Shiralee and Bedknobs and Broomsticks. She regularly appeared on BBC Television's long running variety show, The Good Old Days. She died of congestive heart failure at age 82, at her home in East Lake Weir, Marion County, Florida. Her life was celebrated in the BBC Two documentary Two Ton Tessie!, first broadcast in March 2011. She was aptly and affectionately dubbed "Two Ton Tessie" not only for her plentiful girth but for the tons of talent she possessed as one of the British Isle's most beloved, unabashed music hall entertainers. Give her an audience and bawdy Tessie O'Shea could have them on their feet in seconds flat.

Wednesday 31 January 2024

Web Page 3097 26th January 2024 First Picture: Old English Advert
Second Picture; Spangles selection
Third Picture: Spangles Lemonade
Fourth Picture: William Boyd Hopalong Cassidy
Spangles I had not noticed that Spangles had disappeared from our sweet shop shelves. Had you? Spangles were was a brand of boiled sweets manufactured by Mars Ltd from 1950 to the early 1980s. They were sold in a paper packet with individual sweets originally unwrapped but later cellophane wrapped. They were distinguished by their shape which was a rounded square with a circular depression on each face. When Spangles were introduced in 1950, sweets were still on ration, and the price of sweets had to be accompanied by points from one's ration book, but Spangles required only one point instead of the two required for other sweets and chocolate. This bonus, accompanied by effective marketing, made Spangles even more popular. American actor William Boyd was chosen to front the advertising campaign as the character he made famous in numerous cowboy films, Hopalong Cassidy, along with the slogan "Hoppy's favourite sweet" Another slogan was "The sweet way to go gay!" During the early 1970s Mars Ltd commissioned a redesign of the packaging using a ‘funky’ period and appropriate bespoke typeface. The new typeface and packaging designs were created by Neville Uden. Spangles were discontinued in 1984, and briefly reintroduced in 1995, including in Woolworths outlets in the UK, though only four varieties were available – tangerine, lime, blackcurrant and Old English. There are many nostalgic references to them from children who grew up with them. In 2008, Spangles topped a poll of discontinued brands which British consumers would most like to see revived. Today the Tunes brand is the only remaining relation of the Spangles brand, sharing the shape and wrapping of the original product. The regular Spangles packet (labelled simply "Spangles") contained a variety of translucent, fruit-flavoured sweets: strawberry, blackcurrant, orange, pineapple, lemon and lime, and cola. Originally the sweets were not individually wrapped, but later a waxed paper, and eventually a cellophane wrapper was used. The tube was striped, a bright orange-red colour alternating with silver. It bore the word "Spangles" in large letters. In the 1970s, a distinctive, seventies-style font was used. Over the production period many different, single flavour varieties were introduced including Acid Drop, Barley Sugar, Blackcurrant, Liquorice, Peppermint, Spearmint and Tangerine. A white mint Spangle, complete with hole, was produced as a competitor to the Polo mint. The Old English Spangles packet contained "traditional English" flavours. The standard line-up was liquorice (black), mint humbug (brown), pear drop (orange/red), aniseed (green) and treacle (opaque mustard yellow), but other flavours appeared from time to time. The sweets' individual wrappers were striped, distinguishing them from regular Spangles. The tube was black, white and purple, and designed for a more mature and sophisticated clientele than the regular variety. At one point a mystery flavour was released where the wrappers had question marks on them and you would be invited to guess the flavour. The flavour was eventually revealed as Fruit Cocktail. Spangles were mentioned in The Kinks' song "Art Lover", from their 1981 album, Give the People What They Want. In 1977, the British novelty pop band Lieutenant Pigeon released an instrumental single titled "Spangles". The Fall song "It's A Curse" on their album The Infotainment Scan, also includes a reference to Spangles. Stay in touch Peter GSSEditor@gmail.com

Wednesday 24 January 2024

Web Page 3095 19th January 2024 First Picture: William Tell
Second Picture; Gessler
Fourth Picture: With Crossbow
William Tell One of the most popular television series in our teenage years was The Adventures of William Tell which was a British made a swashbuckling adventure series, first broadcast on the ITV network in 1958, and produced by ITC Entertainment. In the United States, the episodes aired on the syndicated NTA Film Network in 1958–1959. William Tell is a folk hero of Switzerland, active in the early 14th century. He supposedly encouraged the population of the Old Swiss Confederacy to revolt against the regime of Albert I of Germany (reigned 1298–1308). Conrad Phillips played William Tell Jennifer Jayne played Hedda Tell (wife) Richard Rogers was Walter Tell (son) Willoughby Goddard player Landburgher Gessler Nigel Green was The Bear Jack Lambert the Judge Furst (Hedda's father) Peter Hammond played Hofmanstahl The series was produced by Ralph Smart, who wrote a number of stories for the series and also created and produced Danger Man. The show was made at the National Studios in Elstree. The outdoor scenes were filmed around the mountains and lakes of Snowdonia in Wales. The film base and make-up were at a small farm in Cwm-y-glo in Snowdonia. This is beside Llyn Padarn, a lake which can be seen in many shots (as can cars on the A4086 road on the opposite side of the lake!). The crew used to walk up the mountain from their base, as there was no vehicle access, and brought work for at least three yearly shoots to a tiny corner of North Wales before tourism took off. An accident early occurred to the star, Conrad Phillips, during filming in Snowdonia. He was asked to keep stepping back until he stepped off a 12-foot drop, injuring his knee – which eventually led to his retirement from acting. He had to wear support bandages during filming but sometimes forgot, causing him to struggle with some action scenes. Daily rushes were viewed at the only cinema in the area, at Llanberis, which was taken over from 8.00 until noon every morning. The film was taken to Soho in London for developing and the rushes returned to Llanberis by 8.30 next morning. Although all three series had location scenes, the third was more studio based and location scenes were mostly taken from unused and reused stock shots from the first and second series. A smaller crew went to Wales for this series and more money was saved by shooting without synchronised sound. In the days of enforced demarcation, this saved several technicians' wages. Though in some ways the same as The Adventures of Robin Hood, a brave bowman fighting against a tyrant, this was a harder show with crossbow bolts killing people and Tell fighting hand-to-hand, which often resulted in the death of the bad guy. Unlike the courtly Sheriff of Nottingham, Gessler was a pig of a man, unshaven, often eating or drinking without manners and throwing his metaphorical as well as literal weight around. Nevertheless, the interaction between the hero and the Sheriff and Land burger respectively, was a strong point in both series, bringing out the quality diction and crispness of both Alan Wheatley's and Willoughby Goddard's acting. The Adventures of William Tell series was repeated well into the 1960s. In June 2020 the series began a rerun on the British Talking Pictures TV channel. The series featured a long-remembered theme song, with music based on the William Tell Overture by Gioachino Rossini. For the show, the song lyrics were by Harold Purcell and were sung by David Whitfield. Stay in touch Peter gsseditor@gmail.com

Thursday 18 January 2024

Web Page 3093 12th January 2024 Cherry Blossom Shoe Polish First Picture: Cherry Blossom Advert
Second Picture; Shoe cleaner base
Third Picture: Shoe cleaner brushes
Fourth Picture: Kiwi Shoe Polish
When we were kids you could always guarantee on finding a tin of Cherry Blossom shoe polish along with brushes and polishing cloths in a box under the sink in the kitchen. But where did the actual shoe polish come from? Tired of having rub shoe polish off of their clothing in 1906 Dan and Charles Mason decide to create a polish that would last an entire day. They called the product Cherry Blossom Boot Polish and launched it across the UK! Backed by imaginative marketing, the brand quickly became a huge success. In 1911 the Exhibition Centre at the Crystal Palace was hired by the Cherry Blossom company for a day and the gates were thrown open to the general public. Free entry was provided for anybody who brought with them a lid from a Cherry Blossom tin! The event is a huge success and 200,000 visitors produce a mass of traffic unseen in London at this time. Come 1913 and due to Cherry Blossom’s success it was taken over by the Chiswick Polish Company, which was owned jointly by the Masons and Reckitt & Sons Ltd, and between 1916 and 1923 with workers’ welfare high on the agenda at Cherry Blossom, a staff magazine called “Forward” was launched, Shortly afterwards, the company introduced a 5-day working week in 1918 and a pension scheme in 1923 Business was improving and in 1924 the ‘fish plate’ metal opener was introduced and was the first of this type of opener to be introduced. In 1929 the company merges with the Nuggent Polish Company Limited creating a global brand and a year later the company made 50 semidetached houses available for their work force. In 1936 a young girl called Daisy Sander joined the company as a library assistant, she later became better known as the actress Dandy Nichols of ‘Till Death Us Do Part’ fame By the 1960s over 1,500 people were employed by the company. These people didn’t just make and fill polishes though – they also stamped and printed the tins, creating the brand’s iconic packaging. The company’s factories at the time manufactured everything needed on site, just like today! Stay in touch Peter gsseditor@gmail.com

Wednesday 10 January 2024

Web Page 3091 5th January 2024 Cars First Picture: Mendac Car Coat
Second Picture; My first Car a Standard 10
Third Picture: Driving Gloves
Fourth Picture: Tiger tail
Here is a page for the lads looking back at our cars of the 1960’s. At this time cars came with very few assessories and we had to buy the add ons ourselves. Very few cars came with built in radios and we had to rely on our portable transister radios with an ariel socket in the back if we wanted music in the car. To make the radio work properly we had to rely on either home fitted ariels fitted through the wings of the car or rely on an ariel that clipped onto the window of the car but this meant a wandering lead inside the car. One of the most popular assesories was the home fitted wing mirror I can remember fitting them myself, one of the major suppilers of wing mirrors was a firm called Wipac. Very few cars came with efficient heating systems or a windscreen demister although a small unit that could be attached to the screen using couple of rubber stickers. This unit was often wired directly into the car battery, not an ideal situation. As time went by the keen motorist could purchase a consul that could be fitted between the front seats and over the handbrake, these units provided an area for the motorist to store small items. There were also units that could be fitted to the car doors to provide storage for cassettes, however these had the big disadvantage of rattling away as the car moved or the door was closed. Another item that seems to have disappeared over the last few years is the undercar paraffin overnight heater. A unit that could be slipped under the engine during the winter months to try to keep the engine warm. Motor clothing was very different, most motorists carried travelling rugs and road atlas’s. My father always insisted on wearing a car coat which he always bought from a company called Mendac. The smart set at the time would never have thought of driving anywhere without wearing string backed driving gloves, I even had a pair at one time for a short time. This was the time when the car accessory shop came to the fore. Shops such as Halfords and Cosham Car Accessory’s were popular and most things for the home motor repairer could be bought there. I remember buying a engine decoking kit many years ago. I squirted the liquid into the spark plug ports and left, as instructed, them over night. The next morning the car was a job to start and it covered the back garden in noxious smoke but made very little difference to the performance of the engine. This was the season for novelties and many of us had comic stickers in their cars along with little triangular stickers stating that we had been to Bideford or Southend. However one of the cleverest advertising programmes came to us via Esso petrol and its put a tiger in your tank campaign. This became so popular that practically every other car that you saw around in the 1960’s had a synthetic tiger tail attached to its filler cap. Life has moved on since those days. Cars are more comfortable with all sorts of built in gadgets including mini tv cameras. At one time I did most of my own maintenance, as many of us did, but today I lift the bonnet of my car and are faced with a mass of engineering which I do not understand anymore. I fondly look back upon the days that with a little ingenuity we could keep ‘old bangers’ on the road for miles and miles. Stay in touch Peter gsseditor@gmail.com

Thursday 28 December 2023

Web Page 3089 29th December 2023 Have you noticed the we have just passed the half a million hits on the page Billy Smart First Picture: The Governor
Second Picture; The Smart family
Third Picture: The Circus in its heyday
Fourth Picture: Billy Smarts Circus poster
William 'Billy' Smart was one of twenty-three children born into a fairground family from London. Born in 1894, he worked with his family on the fairgrounds of London and the South East from an early age up until his marriage to Dolly in 1925, after which he branched out with his brothers to set up his own fair. By the 1930s he was an established member of the fairground community in the South East and London area and travelled with up to ten rides, with some of his rides featuring alongside Bertram Mills' Circus at Olympia in 1939. More success followed in the war years when he operated some of London's largest morale-boosting Holiday at Home Fairs, supplying entertainment to a war-weary public. Although always interested in horses, and interested in circuses for some time, it was not until 1946 that he came across Cody's Circus and bought the big top. By the time he opened his New World Circus in 1946 he was fifty-two years old, following P.T. Barnum's example in taking on a second career as a circus proprietor. Billy Smart's New World Circus made its debut at Southall Park, Middlesex, on 5 April 1946, for the first full season after the end of the war. The circus which he had purchased from Cody was run in conjunction with a travelling fun fair and at first he was seen as an interloper by other more established circus showmen. By 1952, the fun fair, which had been increasingly overshadowed by the circus, disappeared to leave room for a bona fide menagerie. Three years later, the two-poler tent was replaced by a giant 6,000 seat, four-pole round big top with a hippodrome track around the ring, and a vast entrance tent, thus enabling the staging of spectacular parades, which became a Billy Smart's Circus trademark. His greatest innovation was his relationship with the newly established television networks when he agreed for Billy Smart's Circus to be broadcast live by the BBC in 1947. Over the years, Billy Smart's Christmas Spectacular became a BBC holiday tradition, which ITV took over in 1979 and carried on until 1982. A large part of the success of the circus was the showmanship that Billy brought to the operation of the circus, the large family he could draw upon to run the shows and his ability as a showman to market and capture opportunities to advertise. Whilst other circus proprietors were threatened by the rise in popularity of television and shunned the cameras, Billy Smart embraced them. Smart's Circus grew to be one of the largest in the world, touring every part of the British Isles, and with permanent quarters and an associated zoo at Winkfield, Berkshire, not far from where Billy Smart began his fairground career. His success took the circus through twenty-six tenting tours, winter seasons, frequent TV appearances and the provision of animal acts to other circuses. He died in his caravan on 25 September 1966, shortly after conducting the Romford Boys' Band in front of his mammoth circus tent at Ipswich, which had been set up that morning for a two-week stand. With his large Stetson hat, inevitable cigar and unique flair for self-promotion and publicity, Billy Smart was a showman of the highest order. One of his greatest stunts was when he rode an elephant through the streets of Mayfair and parked it at a meter before inserting a shilling! Billy Smart was such a colourful character that on his death his lifelong friend Sir Billy Butlin described him as the greatest showman of our time and probably the last of the great showmen. I remember Billy Smart coming to the King George V he playing fields at Cosham. This was proceed by a mesmerising circus parade with the Governor sat on the back seat of his Rolls Royce in his Stetson hat and smoking a large cigar. Cosham Memories from Peter B:- My father owned the Chemist business in Cosham High Street. “BAKERS OF COSHAM” during the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s. In the 40’s and 50’s, we were a family of 5 living above the shop, which incidentally was originally Cosham Post Office. But there goes another story of the History of Cosham. Once a week, my mother, often with me, would go into Threadinghams to order our weeks groceries. Mr and Mrs Threadingham worked in the shop. They would weigh out things like sugar and flour etc; into cones that they made up from sugar paper. They had a huge bacon slicer which was worked with a big handle. Mr Threadingham would pack it all into one box and then deliver it to us. We got our meat from Pinks further up the street where I remember Miss Rickman sat in a kiosk to take the money after the butchers had prepared the meat. Our fish came from Mr Mays fish shop. We got our Green Groceries from Wilton’s where Mr and Mrs Wilton would serve us. Our bread was delivered twice a week from Campions up the High Street. Our Gold Top Channel Island milk was delivered every day from Gauntlets Dairy in Stakes Road, Waterlooville. We had a big long garden behind the shop and we kept 24 chickens. 12 Rhode Island Reds and 12 Black Leghorns. They were fed on a mixture of waste vegetables mixed with what was called balancer meal and a couple of handfuls of corn which we got from Curtis’s the corn and coal merchants next door to our shop. Once a week, I was sent down to the food office in the High Street to collect our ration of orange juice and cod liver oil. Twice a week I had to take the accumulator from our Wireless across the road to Seals to get it charged up. In my fathers chemist shop, there were no proprietary medicines. He had to make up all the prescriptions from the individual ingredients. He also had to count all the pills and tablets out from bulk bottles into small individual bottles. People often would not go to the doctor and they would rely on my father, John Barlow for his advice. Miss Bartlett was in charge of the Cosmetics side of the business. I hope you may find this interesting. I could go on and tell you a lot more about our life in Cosham High Street Stay in touch Peter gsseditor@gmail.com

Wednesday 20 December 2023

Web Page 3087 22nd December 2023 Happy Christmas to all of you First Picture: Harrods at Christmas
Second Picture; Selfridges window
Third Picture: 1950’s Christmas Book
Fourth Picture: Christmas at Home
Had this sent to me during the year:- How Christmas has changed since our childhood. I don’t ever recall making demands on my parents for particular presents under the tree, we were always grateful for what we received. The magic started on the late afternoon of Christmas Eve, we as a family, would take the bus to town where we would go to the Ships in Meadow Street and Deacons in Charlotte Street for our fruit and vegetables. We would buy our Christmas Tree in the market and then would go to the meat lorry for a piece of pork and a capon. The shopping was always left till late as the stalls had to clear their stock by the end of the day or throw it away, so you could buy a string of sprouts for next to nothing and they were literally the first BOGOF known, as a pound of carrots would turn into two or three, they would give you as much as you could carry and more. (this practice changed in later years when most of the stall holders owned shops in Portsmouth, so the left over produce was kept until they opened again. (refrigeration had been become common by then). We then struggled with all our bags and the tree back onto the bus to take us home. Try that today and you would be told to walk. The tree was set up and decorated during the evening and yes we had real candles on our tree, plastic decorations and real glass baubles, we also hung chocolates on the tree and put a fairy on the top, then off to bed before Santa came. On Christmas morning we would find a stocking, aka a pillow case, at the end of the bed filled with goodies. I wouldn’t be far wrong when I say it contained:- A magic drawing pad (when you scribbled lightly over the page a picture appeared) in later years this was exchanged for a colouring book and crayons or colouring pencils. A pretty picture tin of Bluebird toffees. A small stocking of fresh peanuts and raisins. A Clementine or Mandarin Orange. An annual (the first ones were always Rupert the Bear advancing to the Robin and the Swift, then on to Girl) There was usually some form of clothing such as a bobble hats and scarves, socks, gloves and if you were really lucky a cardigan or jumper. Usually, a Dinky toy or animals for the farmyard set. There would be a board game or a small pack of cards and a simple toy that would have cost only a penny or two. Of course Santas present was always left under the tree to be opened in front of all the family. And we were always very happy with our lot. Maureen Writes:- I had an envelope of things to give to you but left them in Cornwall but one thing I will share with you as it is the appropriate time of year. I have a booklet from Christmas 1958 with Lyons Christmas Fare. It opens out into an 8 page banner advertising goodies for Christmas as follows: Lyons Christmas Puddings 2lb in foil wrapper     6s 6d 1lb in foil wrapper     3s 6d 5lb 12oz rich fruit cake with almond paste and decorated 30s 0d 3lb 11oz rich fruit cake with almond paste and decorated 21s 0d 2lb 15oz rich fruit cake with almond paste and decorated 16s 6d Dundee Cakes 16s 6d     12s 6d      8s 6d Tin of petit fours       9s 0d per tin Chocolate Walnut layer cake   9s 6d On the other side of the banner are 8 Christmas Carols and 10 party games Have a wonderful Christmas and stay in touch Peter