Total Pageviews

Translate

Thursday 29 July 2010

Web Page No 858





Top Picture: A Player Please sign often seen on the pavement outside tobacconists back in the days when most of the population smoked. Very non pc now!








Bottom Picture: du Maurier the cigarette of the moment.












Time for a Fag.

I just got to thinking the other day about the reduction in number of smokers nationally (I myself have not smoked for over 35 years) and the loss in revenue that the tax and duty man must be feeling, I suppose we all now make up the shortfall some in some other way! But moving on from the subject of money there are now a whole range of products and services that we saw around as children that have now become rare or have almost completely disappeared.

To start with take a major manufacturing firm like Ronson who must have sold millions and millions of cigarette and table lighters in its time, their business must have fallen off almost completely. But think about it, it was not just the lighters that they produced but also lighter flints, replacement lighter wheels and wicks, not forgetting lighter fuel and later on lighter gas. (I bet you all remember your mother getting bicycle or other greasy marks off your clothes with one of thos plastic amber lighter fuel pods?) Ronson were not the only lighter producing company though, I seem to remember there was Colbi from France who also produced lighters as did the American company Zippo (Zippo lighters became a cult accessory at one time). An indication of the reduction in smoking is the fact that nowadays cars are no longer fitted with cigar or cigarette lighters but accessory power points for your satnav etc.

Starting with cigarettes especially the hand-rolling sort, how often do you see a Rizla cigarette-rolling machine with its boxes of filter tips around today. I know my grandmother, for a time in the late 1950’s, used to roll her own using one of these machines, I sometimes tried to do it for her but was useless. Hand rolling has not completely died out and Rizlas red and green papers can still be bought but how about the black liquorish ones, are they still about?

Other things that have long disappeared, or at least have gone into a deep retreat are leather and plastic tobacco pouches and wooden, china or Bakelite tobacco jars, wooden spills for the fire, pipe cleaners and pipe bowl reamers, metal cigarette cases and ivory cigarette holders, advertising book matches and fancy match box covers, tins of snuff and plain and fancy ashtrays. The last one must really have hit the retailer at the popular tourist resorts really hard, as taking granddad home an ashtray from your holiday was one of the accepted things.

Mouth hygiene must also have been hit. Can you still buy Eucryl Smokers Toothpaste and tooth brushes I wonder? The major suppliers of menthol must also have felt the pinch as no longer can cigarettes be described as being as ‘Cool as a Mountain Stream’. In some posh circles Cocktail Cigarettes were all the rage, these came in a flat box and were made in pretty pastel colours with gold filter tips, not exactly a box you could pass around the public bar of The George on a Friday night! Then there were those terrible things called herbal cigarettes; not being made of tobacco and so contained no nicotine it was claimed that you could smoke these without any fear of infection or disease. I must say that way back in the 1960’s I did actually buy a packet and try them, it was like smoking a bonfire, hot, dry and tasted terrible. BUT I understand that they are still on the market!!!

Naturally we are all too young to remember Cigarette Cards but I do remember collecting unusual match boxes (White Heather and Collis being just two) and I suppose the pipe manufactures must have had a big down turn in trade as well, which probably saved a good few mature Briar bushes!!

When we were kids smoking was the norm at home, at work, in the pub or in the cinema where up on the screen the glamorous Hollywood actress always posed with a cigarette in a holder and the smoke drifting languidly upwards.

Now today, as far as I can remember, I have only two friends that smoke, I do not even have an ashtray in the house and as I look around at the young people these days I am sure that there are more girls who smoke than men. Finally do you remember the old no smoking advert that used to say it must be ‘like kissing an ashtray’.


Keep in touch

Peter

DUSTYKEAT@aol.com
Pj.keat@ntlworld.co.uk

You Write:

Melv asks:

When we moved from Court Lane to Manor Court did the Headmasters secretary move with us or did she stay behind in Court Lane. I think the Secretary at Manor Court was Mrs Richardson but I am not sure, can anyone help?

News and Views:

Handwritten lyrics by John Lennon for the Beatles' "A Day In The Life" sold for $1.2 million at a New York City auction on June 18th. The winning bid was placed by phone and the buyer remained anonymous.

On this day 30th July 1960-1965.

On 30/07/1960 the number one single was Please Don't Tease - Cliff Richard & the Shadows and the number one album was Elvis Is Back - Elvis Presley. The top rated TV show was Rawhide (ITV) and the box office smash was Psycho. A pound of today's money was worth £13.68 and Burnley were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 30/07/1961 the number one single was Temptation - Everly Brothers and the number one album was Tottenham Hotspur. The top rated TV show was Harpers West One (ATV) and the box office smash was One Hundred and One Dalmations. A pound of today's money was worth £not very interesting and 13.25 were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.The big news story of the day was No Hiding Place (AR).

On 30/07/1962 the number one single was I Remember You - Frank Ifield and the number one album was Pot Luck - Elvis Presley. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was Lawrence of Arabia. A pound of today's money was worth £12.89 and Ipswich Town were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 30/07/1963 the number one single was Confessin' - Frank Ifield and the number one album was Please Please Me - The Beatles. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was The Great Escape. A pound of today's money was worth £12.64 and Everton were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 30/07/1964 the number one single was A Hard Day's Night - Beatles and the number one album was A Hard Day's Night - Beatles. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was Dr Strangelove. A pound of today's money was worth £12.24 and Liverpool were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 30/07/1965 the number one single was Mr Tambourine Man - Byrds and the number one album was The Sound of Music Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was The Sound of Music. A pound of today's money was worth £11.69 and Manchester United were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

Tuesday 20 July 2010

Web Page No 856

Top Picture: Frankie Lyman in his Hey Day





Bottom Picture: The Long Haired Lover from Liverpool, Jimmy Osmond





Child Stars
One who fell by the wayside and one who progressed



Frankie Lymon was born in New York on 30th September 1942 and died in the same city on 28th February 1968 at that time he had been married to Emira Eagle for only eight months.
He most noted for the song "Why Do Fools Fall in Love?" which he sang with a group of school friends in a group called the Coupe de Villes, later renamed the Teenagers. "Why Do Fools Fall in Love?," was released in 1955 and the following year he and the group appeared in films Rock, Rock, Rock and Mr. Rock and Roll, During late 1955 and early 1956 they toured Britain but after a musical disagreement Frankie Lymon left the group the following year. From then on he decended into the world of drugs and in 1961 entered a drug rehabilitation program. A reunion and reworking of their music was tried in 1965 but did not succeed.
Frankie Lymon's short life took him from modest beginnings, to international stardom at 13 then down a long descent into drug addiction and an early death. He was the first African American teen heartthrob and inspired a host of other young musicians, such as Michael Jackson. Frankie Lymon's career was born at the very beginning of the rock and roll era and the song with which he remains identified, "Why Do Fools Fall in Love?, is now considered a classic. "Why Do Fools Fall in Love?" was released in January of 1956 and shared the charts with Elvis Presley and Carl Perkins, it reached Number One on the R&B charts and Number Six on the pop charts and became a hit in England reaching Number One. Despite competition from cover versions by white singers, "Why Do Fools Fall in Love?" topped the charts for several weeks.
However he could not cope with his sudden fame and who spent the final years of his life battling drug addiction. He worked hard to resurrect his career and took drumming lessons. However, his attempts at a musical comeback were overshadowed by his abuse of drugs and in 1964, he was arrested on drug charges. In February 1968 he left for New York to make a publicity appearance. When his wife tried to contact him she was unsuccessful. On February 28th, he was found dead of a heroin overdose in his grandmother's Harlem apartment.
Following his death, a bitter court battle ensued to determine ownership rights to "Why Do Fools Fall in Love?" All of the Teenagers filed suit and two of the members, Herman Santiago and Jimmy Merchant, eventually won the case. At the same time, two women who claimed to have been married to Frankie Lymon battled his widow, Emira, for rights to his estate. The court determined that Emira was the sole heir to Lymon's fortune.
Despite Lymon's troubled life and tragic death, the popularity of "Why Do Fools Fall in Love?" has not diminished. It is considered a rock and roll standard and many artists, including Diana Ross, have recorded versions of the song. The song also appeared on the soundtrack of George Lucas's 1973 hit film American Graffiti. In 1998 his life became the subject of a movie, "Why Do Fools Fall in Love?," which showcased both his years of stardom and the miseries of his later life.

Jimmy Osmond is a multi-faceted entrepreneur, who has had success on and off stage. Through his vast experience and knowledge in the entertainment industry he has produced and promoted record breaking world-wide tours, ice shows, a variety of commercials and coordinated celebrity commercial endorsements. He is the youngest member of the famous Osmond family and received his first award at when only seven receiving a gold record for a song he recorded in Japanese, “My Little Darling.” The same year he was named Japan's “Male Vocalist of the Year.” As a solo artist he has six gold records, one platinum record, and two gold albums. In addition, Jimmy and his family have sold over 100 million records and share 51 gold and platinum recordings along with numerous other awards.
Before he was 15, Jimmy had developed and supervised most of the Osmonds' merchandising business and launched a successful advertising agency that handled production campaigns for corporations such as Yamaha and Coca-Cola. Also he starred in his first film, “The Great Brain” and went on to feature in two award winning episodes of “Fame”; plus also starring in his own show to sell-out crowds in Madison Square Garden.
In addition to live performances, Jimmy and his companies have produced over 1100 hours of programmes including films, TV movies, TV specials, music videos, commercials and industrial videos for major corporations. Jimmy served as the executive producer of the ABC television movie, “Inside The Osmonds” and as a consultant to Warner Brothers. He was also asked by the Chinese government to be the producer and consultant for live entertainment shows in China.
In 1992 he married Michelle Larson and they have four children. Soon after they were married, Jimmy moved his operations from Los Angeles, to Branson, Missouri and since then Jimmy’s production company, Osmond Family Theater Productions have been hugely successful. Jimmy was honored by the US Junior Chamber of Commerce as one of Ten Outstanding Young Americans in 1999. Other Outstanding Young Americans in the past include John F. Kennedy, Gerald Ford, Dan Quayle, Al Gore, Howard Hughes, Elvis Presley, and Christopher Reeve.
Throughout his time in the business, Jimmy has continued to tour with the family. In 2004 he made his solo debut in a musical performing in “Boogie Nights” for the summer season in the seaside resort of Blackpool. The show broke box office records and paved the way for Jimmy to take his “Jimmy Osmond’s American Jukebox Show” back to Blackpool the following year, brothers Jay and Wayne joined him in this variety show. Whilst in Britain he appeared in ‘I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here’, ‘Celebrity Family Fortunes’, ‘Everybody Dance Now’ and ‘Celebrity Come Dine With Me’. In December 2008, Jimmy made his debut in Pantomime as Buttons in ‘Cinderella’ and made his debut in the West End in “Grease” in January 2009.
He is also an accomplished artist and cartoonist, holds numerous board positions, and as a member of the National Board of Governors for the Children's Miracle Network, he has assisted in raising over 4 billion dollars to benefit Children's hospitals in the US. His passion for the work of this charitable foundation has resulted in him accepting a position on the UK Board and he is working with them to bring the same benefits to Children’s Hospitals in the UK.
This young entrepreneur has not rested on his laurels but has continued to live under the strict Mormon discipline guidelines of integrity, wholesome entertainment, and hard work. Whether it's family, business, or civic duties, Jimmy Osmond strives to be the best

Keep in touch

Peter

DUSTYKEAT@aol.com
Pj.keat@ntlworld.co.uk

You Write:

Roland Writes:- The New Inn was a great centre for the young element of Drayton. It was to the New Inn that one would go to hear about up-coming weekend parties and to meet new and old friends.


News and Views:


Roy Rogers horse fetches $266,500 Trigger, the stuffed horse belonging to actor and singer Roy Rogers, has fetched $266,500 (£174,000) at an auction. Christie's auction house, which ran the sale along with Western auctioneer High Noon Americana, said the collection of items related to Roy Rogers and his wife Dale Evan's roles on television and in the movies brought in $2.9 million. Trigger, the palomino horse which Roy Rogers had stuffed after it died in 1965, was bought by rural US cable television station RFD-TV for $266,500, while his saddle fetched $386,500 (£252,000) from a private buyer. Other top sellers included Roy Rogers' 1963 Pontiac Bonneville. The Roy Rogers and Dale Evans Museum, which was based in Branson, Missouri was closed in 2009. Roy Rogers died in 1998 at age 86 and Dale Evans in 2001. The more than 300 items included in the sale ran from Roy's sunglasses to a sterling silver belt buckle to a Roy Rogers director’s chair.


On this day 23rd July 1960-1965.

On 23/07/1960 the number one single was Good Timin' - Jimmy Jones and the number one album was South Pacific Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was Rawhide (ITV) and the box office smash was Psycho. A pound of today's money was worth £13.68 and Burnley were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.


On 23/07/1961 the number one single was Temptation - Everly Brothers and the number one album was South Pacific Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was No Hiding Place (AR) and the box office smash was One Hundred and One Dalmations. A pound of today's money was worth £13.25 and Tottenham Hotspur were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 23/07/1963 the number one single was Confessin' - Frank Ifield and the number one album was Please Please Me - The Beatles. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was The Great Escape. A pound of today's money was worth £12.64 and Everton were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 23/07/1964 the number one single was A Hard Day's Night - Beatles and the number one album was Rolling Stones - The Rolling Stones. The top rated TV show was Conservative Party Political Broadcast (all channels) and the box office smash was Dr Strangelove. A pound of today's money was worth £12.24 and Liverpool were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions. The big news story of the day was Postal strike ends.

On 23/07/1965 the number one single was Mr Tambourine Man - Byrds and the number one album was The Sound of Music Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was The Sound of Music. A pound of today's money was worth £11.69 and Manchester United were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions

Tuesday 13 July 2010

Web Page No 854







Two more pictures from the Barlow collection. These two show the demolition of Widley Street which was about 30 yards north of Havant Road opposite the Red Lion. The big house in the foreground, belonged to Coopers Scrapyard.


Kellys.


Not long ago I bought a 1964 copy of Kelly’s Street Directory for Portsmouth. Not only did it remind me of where people lived and who their neighbours were, it also gave me an insight, through the advertisements, as to the business community in the City. Names that I had long forgotten.

Here are a few:-

Some of the best known Estate Agents were Field & Palmer, Chartered Auctioneer and Estate agents of Hampshire Terrace, Bush & Tidy of Grove Road, Southsea, Hall Pain and Foster and Butler and Cooke had branches all over town as did Whitehead & Whitehead, Medlam had a branch in Drayton and Waterfield and Stanford a branch in North End.

Tony F Newell Builder and Decorator of 3 Drayton Lane, I knew his brother Brian, Tony’s sales slogan was ‘You name – we do it, a bit of an inflated claim I would have thought! There was also the Builders Guild where I believe a young Steve Long started work straight from school.

Cawte’s Express Valet Service had shops all around the area as did Brunswick Cleaners, Chapmans, the Royal Laundry and the Snowdrop Laundry and the Convent of the Cross also ran a laundry service.

Norah’s Dress Hire in Arundel Street was the place to hire that special outfit or dress suit, whilst
U-Need-Us with their slogan ‘Goods for Fun’ was still going in Arundel Street for those who were into practical jokes and fancy dress.

Handley’s on Handley’s Corner in Palmerston Road, Southsea was an institution as was Will Brown’s on the London Road in North End and Melanie’s.

If you wanted to move house you had the choice of Charles Ellis, Ashley’s (I knew Peter Ashley for several years), Curtiss & Son, Manchip or White & Co. and of course the internationall known movers, Pickfords.

Furniture was supplied by, among others, Whitmore Jones, Marriot’s, White & Co and Mendel’s as well as the Department stores and the Co-op (PIMCO) , where your mum got her Divi. Who can remember their mum’s Co-op number? I can, not that it does me any good today !

For those with a sweet tooth there was Maynards in Kingston Road and the Chocolate King in North End and Commercial Road and any number of bakers shops; Campions, Greens, the Co-op, Smith and Vosper and Wilkins to name but a few.

Coach outings were undertaken by White Heather, Dons or Byngs and you kept what little pocket money you had in the Portsmouth Trustees Saving Bank or the Post Office. Talking of money there were several banks in town which have now long gone; Martins, National Provincial and the Westminster all now absorbed into much bigger conglomerates.


Then there were one off industries such as the City of Portsmouth Workshops for the Disabled where they made wicker baskets; Ruston’s on the Havant Road in Drayton who were bed manufacturers; Lindsays for Surgical Appliances; Dunns of Commercial Road specialized in making men’s hats. The Hants, Wilts & Dorset Bottle Exchange and the Southsea Bottle Company made bottles and there was only one chimney sweep, Western Electric Sweep & Brush who actually used a vacuum to clean your chimney. There were fifteen Cinemas listed and two theatres (the Kings and the Twyford Theatre). Taubman & Sons were Tripe Dressers and Parsons Portmanteau and trunk makers whilst Underwood concentrated on the typewriter trade. There were 84 Schools and Colleges listed and one Secretarial College, Underwoods and just one dance and theatrical suppliers, the Stage Door in Marmion Road.

One world that none of us knew about was the world of the Private Enquiry Agents. There were actually three in the area Bray’s in Southsea, Holloways in London Road and Silvesters in North End, a dark world I knew nothing about!!!

To buy a new car was almost unknown to us but a quality second hand one could be obtained from Lennox Motors, Gordon Motors or Henley Motors. Actually in my case it was Righton & Bennetts at the end of the Eastern Road where I bought my first car, a blue Standard 10 9295 BP a cat that I kept for just over a year.

I wonder just how many of the above business are still trading and if so re they still trading under their own names.

Keep in touch

Peter

DUSTYKEAT@aol.com
Pj.keat@ntlworld.co.uk


You Write:


Bobby Rydell writes that he is just back from an incredible tour in Australia. What amazing fans there, amazing audiences and wonderful people, food and country



News and Views:


Monday (July 12) was declared "Pat Boone Day" by the state of California. Pat was presented with the proclamation at a showing of his film, "State Fair" at a Senior Citizens Center in Hollywood

On this day 16th July 1960-1965.


On 16/07/1960 the number one single was Good Timin' - Jimmy Jones and the number one album was South Pacific Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was Rawhide (ITV) and the box office smash was Psycho. A pound of today's money was worth £13.68 and Burnley were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 16/07/1961 the number one single was Runaway - Del Shannon and the number one album was South Pacific Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was Harpers West One (ATV) and the box office smash was One Hundred and One Dalmations. A pound of today's money was worth £13.25 and Tottenham Hotspur were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 16/07/1962 the number one single was I Can't Stop Loving You - Ray Charles and the number one album was West Side Story Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was Lawrence of Arabia. A pound of today's money was worth £12.89 and Ipswich Town were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 16/07/1963 the number one single was I Like It - Gerry & the Pacemakers and the number one album was Please Please Me - The Beatles. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was The Great Escape. A pound of today's money was worth £12.64 and Everton were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions. The big news story of the day was UK Ministry of Defence proposed

On 16/07/1964 the number one single was It's All Over Now - Rolling Stones and the number one album was Rolling Stones - The Rolling Stones. The top rated TV show was Labour Party Political Broadcast (all channels) and the box office smash was Dr Strangelove. A pound of today's money was worth £12.24 and Liverpool were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 16/07/1965 the number one single was Crying in the Chapel - Elvis Presley and the number one album was The Sound of Music Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was The Sound of Music. A pound of today's money was worth £11.69 and Manchester United were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions. The big news story of the day was Mont Blanc Tunnel officially opened.

Wednesday 7 July 2010

Web Page No 852






I have recently receive some great pictures of Cosham from Peter Barlow, they mainly cover demolition. Here are the first two. Goodbye to the East Cosham Tavern.



The Mouth Organ



One of the strange phenomemums of the 1950’s & 60’s was the popularity of the harmonica. Almost every cowboy in the 1950’s seemed to played one (it was easier to carry than a guitar), and here in England several exponents of the art came to the fore especially the Morton Fraser Harmonica Gang but none was as well known as the American who came to live in London, Larry Adler.
Lawrence ‘Larry’ Cecil Adler was born to a Jewish family in Baltimore USA on 14th February 1914. By the time he had started High School he had taught himself to play the harmonica (which he always preferred to call a mouth-organ) and he began playing professionally at the age of 14. In 1927, the harmonica was so popular an instrument that the local Baltimore paper sponsored a contest and Larry’s rendition of a Beethoven Minuet won him first prize. Spurred on by this and his success in performing a year later, he ran away from home to New York. After meeting and being referred by Rudy Vallee he got his first theatre work, and caught the attention of the orchestra leader who placed him in a vaudeville act as "a ragged urchin, playing for pennies". From there, he was hired by Florenz Ziegfield and then by Lew Leslie (again to appear as an urchin). He seemed to be saddled with the image of a waif and stray on stage but he finally managed to break the typecasting and appeared in a dinner jacket in the 1934 Paramount film Many Happy Returns. It was because of this performance that he was hired by British theatrical producer C.B Cochran to perform in a London revue. It was here in the UK and throughout the British Empire, that he found stardom where due to his influence, harmonica sales increased twenty-fold. (we all had one a children didn’t we?)
Larry Adler was one of the first harmonica players to perform major works written for the mouth organ, often being written expressly for him: he also performed transcriptions of pieces written for other instruments by some of the worlds best composers including Bach and Vivaldi.
During the 1940s, he and the American virtuoso dancer, Paul Draper got together and formed a very popular act, touring nationally and internationally. However Larry was forced to leave the United States by false accusations of communist sympathies during the McCarthy witch hunt era and these accusations made it impossible for him to find work in the US so he moved to the UK in 1949, and settled in London, where he remained for the remainder of his life. The accusations, although totally without foundation, led to a general sentiment of disregard towards him in the USA during the 1950s and early 1960s which took a long time to heal.
The 1953 film British comedy Genevieve (this is where most of us first heard his music) brought him an Oscar nomination for his work though his name was originally kept off the credits in the United States it was thought that his name would harm the popularity of the film.
Larry Adler continued to work regularly all through the 1950’s, 60’s and on into the 80’s In 1994 for his 80th birthday Larry Adler, produced an album of Gershwin music including his most enduring piece, Rhapsody in Blue. In fact Pam remembers her and I sitting in our front room at home listening to this when she and I were courting in 1966.
His last recording was a duet of Young at Heart with Cerys Matthews from the Welsh pop band Catatonia. They recorded a version of Tony Bennett's The Autumn Leaves together . She joked at the time that she preferred older men.
He died peacefully, he had been fighting cancer for some time, in hospital in London at the age of 87, on August 7, 2001. He was still keen to perform and had been discussing a forthcoming tour of China only three weeks before. He was an atheist and his body was cremated with no ceremony at the Golders Green Crematorium where his ashes remain.
He had four children, two grandchildren and two great grandchildren, one of whom was Peter Adler who fronted a band called The Action in Dublin, Ireland in the late 1960s.
At the beginning of this article I mention the Morton Fraser Harmonica Gang; this was an act that was very popular in the 1940’s and 50’s and was the starting ground for at least one performer. Dave King being one, he had had a variety of jobs before becoming a stooge and washboard player in Morton Fraser's Harmonica Gang from where he went on to develop his own act. I remember meeting him when the Showbiz Eleven played a Hospital team in a Charity match in the mid 1970’s and I and my staff had to prepare a buffet for the players.
PS: I never did get the hang of playing the harmonica!!!
Keep in touch

Peter

DUSTYKEAT@aol.com
Pj.keat@ntlworld.co.uk

You Write:

Griff Writes:-


Looking at Pete's photograph of a 1950's front room I can see 2 things missing from my lounge and that was the television and the phone. OK most people had a TV by 1960 but a phone? ... sheer luxury I reckon to have a phone.

Peter has put up the photo's of the Program of the "One Act Plays" which were held at Court Lane in 1958 and I think I am right in saying this was in our 1st year at Court Lane? Now I should know the answer to this really as I was actually in the play "Noah" and secondly I played the Elephant. Poor Anida had to play the Cow how she must long to forget this part.....lol

The wonderful Bill Greer was the after-school drama teacher in charge of production of School Plays at Court Lane and he sought to make Thespians of us all at some time or other and I had appeared in another previous production by Bill a few months earlier but I can't remember what the play was called now and no program to refer back to either. The School did have some very good "actors" amongst the senior pupils as I recall and one I can mention was Beverly Hatch who appeared in one or two stage productions at Court Lane.
This particular play "Noah" was put up before the judges at the Portsmouth Schools Drama competition in the following February where we performed it, I think, at Paulsgrove School but I believe we only came third in the competition.
I can only recall ever one drama type play at Manor Court and that was Gilbert & Sullivan's "Trial by Jury" with Alan Cox taking the lead as the judge and from what I remember he was so very good at playing that part especially as it was a singing part. I didn't take part in this production but I was helping out with the stage production team behind the scenes. I wonder if anyone has a program on that play at all?



News and Views:



CAN YOU HELP? BBC Bristol are working on the early stages of a new series titled 'Rewind: The 1960's'. Each programme will be looking at one of the key issues from the decade, everything from Liberalisation, Civil Rights, Modernity, Consumerism, Youth and Music, War etc. They are looking for really personal stories from everyday people who lived and loved (or hated!) the Sixties and want to hear from people on a number of topics. One of the stories that they are going to be looking at is 'Swinging London', for example Ally Pally, the music, the fashion, Carnaby St,... they want to know if London really was as 'swinging' as it was claimed to be and was it relevant to the rest of the country? They are also looking for people who went on package holidays in the 1960's. Was this the first time they had been abroad? What was it like? Do they have any film or photos from this holiday? If you can help or want to be part of this programme, please e-mail Claire Parry@bbc.co.uk



On this day 9th July 1960-1965.


On 09/07/1960 the number one single was Good Timin' - Jimmy Jones and the number one album was South Pacific Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was Rawhide (ITV) and the box office smash was Psycho. A pound of today's money was worth £13.68 and Burnley were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 09/07/1961 the number one single was Runaway - Del Shannon and the number one album was South Pacific Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was Labour Party Political Broadcast (all channels) and the box office smash was One Hundred and One Dalmations. A pound of today's money was worth £13.25 and Tottenham Hotspur were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 09/07/1962 the number one single was Come Outside - Mike Sarne with Wendy Richard and the number one album was West Side Story Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was Lawrence of Arabia. A pound of today's money was worth £12.89 and Ipswich Town were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 09/07/1963 the number one single was I Like It - Gerry & the Pacemakers and the number one album was Please Please Me - The Beatles. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was The Great Escape. A pound of today's money was worth £12.64 and Everton were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 09/07/1964 the number one single was House of the Rising Sun - Animals and the number one album was Rolling Stones - The Rolling Stones. The top rated TV show was Room at the Top (ITV) and the box office smash was Dr Strangelove. A pound of today's money was worth £12.24 and Liverpool were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 09/07/1965 the number one single was I'm Alive - Hollies and the number one album was The Sound of Music Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was The Sound of Music. A pound of today's money was worth £11.69 and Manchester United were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

Thursday 1 July 2010

WEB PAGE NO 850

<
A new friend joins us this week and we welcome Chris from Oxford.







FIRST PICTURE: King of the Wild Frontier, Davy Crockett




SECOND PICTURE: Anyone remember this magazine ‘Fabulous’ I am sure I don’t?






Fess Parker

After the death of Fess Parker, known to all us lads as Davy Crocket, in March Griff thought that I should take a look at his career might be interesting. The television series Davy Crockett was made by Disney and was first screened in 1954. Fess Parker got the part after Walt Disney had seen him earlier that year in the science fiction film Them!, in which he played a pilot who was sectioned after claiming that his aircraft had been attacked by giant flying ants. As Davy Crockett, the 6ft 6in tall Fess Parker was immediately idolised by young boys the world over, who ran around their gardens in fur hats made from old fur coats bought I the local Jumble Sale and carrying replicas of the Davy Crockett’s rifle, "Old Betsy".
Meanwhile, the title song – The Ballad of Davy Crockett – went to No 1 in the charts for Bill Hayes, and a version by Fess Parker himself reached No 5. In 1955 the three television episodes were blended into a film, Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier, and a second movie, Davy Crockett and the River Pirates, came out the following year. Here in Britain, the television episodes were screened by ITV.
Although Disney stuck to the historical facts by allowing Davy Crockett (in the third episode) to be killed at the battle of the Alamo (1836), such was the public outcry that the TV show was resurrected, with further Davy Crockett exploits, in 1955-56.

After this success, Fess Parker might well have sunk without trace, were it not for his portrayal in another television series – between 1964 and 1970 – of the other great folk hero of the American frontier, Daniel Boone. He then abandoned his acting career to go into the property business, and later became one of California's best-known wine makers.

He was born Fess Elisha Parker into a farming family on August 16 1924 at Fort Worth, Texas. (Davy Crockett had been born a day later, on August 17, in 1786). In the Second World War he served with the US Marines, then studied History at Texas University. His life nearly ended in 1946, when he was stabbed by a drunk driver after a traffic accident. After deciding on a future in acting, he took a drama course at the University of Southern California, and in 1952 made his debut on the big screen in Springfield Rifle, an American Civil War drama starring Gary Cooper.
Among his other films were The Kid From Left Field (1953); The Great Locomotive Chase (1956); Westward Ho, the Wagons! (1956); Old Yeller (1957); The Light in the Forest (1958); and Hell for Heroes (1962), with Steve McQueen and James Coburn.
In the late 1980s he established a 2,200-acre vineyard at Los Olivos, California, and went on to win many awards for his wine. Needless to say that at the vineyard's gift shop he sold Davy Crockett memorabilia. He was a close friend of Ronald and Nancy Reagan and in 1985 he was sent to Australia to represent the President at a ceremony. He was subsequently asked by the White House if he would like to serve as American ambassador in Canberra, but declined. He is survived by his wife, Marcella, whom he married in 1960, and by their son and daughter.



Take care

Yours

Peter

DUSTYKEAT@aol.com
Pj.keat@ntlworld.com

You Write:


Anida Writes :


Wow! Forgotten all about the play, yes I was the cow in Noah and I don't want any comments relating to my future behaviour!!! I had a rather unflattering brown fabric all in one body with a papier mache head and recall getting into a bit a flap when one of my horns broke.

Now if anyone has any photographs of 'Trial By Jury', that would be another theatrical triumph!!

Mary Writes:-


I remember the Ship in Cosham High Street at Christmas time. A huge Christmas tree was nearby and the Sally Army used to play carols. My father often parked the car outside the pub as it was handy for shopping. We would get some food in Gaimens as my mother had taught David Gaimen during the war. She always got a big welcome from him. We bought fruit and veg from a proper veg shop. We also grew veg in our garden, and so did our grandparents. We always had a box of veg every Saturday from Grandad, who was an amazing gardener. We kept chickens in Farlington, and there is nothing like collecting new laid eggs! Later when we moved to the Denmead/Hambledon area we kept chicken, ducks, pigs and even a goat and when I remember looking after these animals it’s with a great deal of happiness

News and Views:


Who remembers Don Partridge? He was the Bournemouth born one-man band busker who had a big hit with ‘Rosie’ in 1968. After a few years as a professional musician he decided that was not the life for him and went back to working on the streets. Recently a friend showed me a head and shoulders picture he had taken of Don whilst he was performing. In the conversation afterward Don told my friend that he did not mind his picture being taken but please don’t publish were he is now because working the way he does now, unknown, makes him happy these days.
On this day 2nd July 1960-1965

On 01/01/1965 the number one single was I Feel Fine - The Beatles and the number one album was Beatles For Sale - The Beatles. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was The Sound of Music. A pound of today's money was worth £11.69 and Manchester United were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 02/07/1961 the number one single was Runaway - Del Shannon and the number one album was South Pacific Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was Harpers West One (ATV) and the box office smash was One Hundred and One Dalmations. A pound of today's money was worth £13.25 and Tottenham Hotspur were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions. The big news story of the day was Author Ernest Hemingway commits suicide.

On 02/07/1962 the number one single was Come Outside - Mike Sarne with Wendy Richard and the number one album was West Side Story Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was Lawrence of Arabia. A pound of today's money was worth £12.89 and Ipswich Town were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 02/07/1963 the number one single was I Like It - Gerry & the Pacemakers and the number one album was Please Please Me - The Beatles. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was The Great Escape. A pound of today's money was worth £12.64 and Everton were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 02/07/1964 the number one single was It's Over - Roy Orbison and the number one album was Rolling Stones - The Rolling Stones. The top rated TV show was Club Night (BBC) and the box office smash was Dr Strangelove. A pound of today's money was worth £12.24 and Liverpool were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.The big news story of the day was President Johnson signs Civil Rights Act.

On 02/07/1965 the number one single was I'm Alive - Hollies and the number one album was The Sound of Music Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was The Sound of Music. A pound of today's money was worth £11.69 and Manchester United were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions