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Wednesday 5 June 2013


Web Page 1154
9th June 2013

Top Picture: Gibbs Tooth Powder





Bottom Picture: Phillips Stick on Soles

What Happened to ……………..

Recently I had a day when I found myself saying ‘I wonder what happened to ……’ and a whole selection of things came to mind, so I thought I would share a few with you all.

Firstly, when we were kids if we went with our mothers to the chemist there were always those very large glass flasks with coloured liquid in them upon a shelf or in the window. What happened to them?

Then the containers that medicines and potions came in were different than the ones we get today. Medicines always came in thick glass bottles with standard measures moulded into the back and the bottles were always sealed with a cork and the chemist always asked us to bring the bottles back when we had finished with them and all the poison bottles were blue. What happened to them?

Pills were another standard prescription and whatever the pills were they would be supplied in round-waxed cardboard pill boxes and similar boxes would be used for special ointments with the directions for the dose on the lid. What happened to them?

On the shelves we would see bottles of tonics and patient medicines such as Dr. Collis Brownes Chloradine, Andrews Liver Salts and cans of a strange sticky mixture to make a poultice, the cure all for a myriad of ills. What happened to them?

Whilst in the chemist mother may well have bought some Gibbs Dentifrice tooth powder  in different coloured tins or father a strop for his cut throat razor. What happened to them?

The Chemist also sold all sorts of other home comforts, glass boat shaped feeding bottles for baby, rubber hot water bottles in red, blue and green along with a fancy cover for them to protect your feet. However these bottles were tame compared to the old cylinder stone very hot water bottles with the screw top that our grandparents swore by, they were lethal to the feet but again they were considered tame compared to the other cylindrical bottles made of metal, they would certainly burn your feet if they were put into the bed without a ‘cosy’. What happened to them?

But it was not only in the chemist shop that things have changed, what about in the Ironmongers. Back in the 1950’s a new product was on the market to help the new D-I-Yer, Rawlplastic (the forerunner of the fibre Rawlplugs and then the plastic ones). Rawlpastic came in an orange tin and from memory it was a powder laced with flakes of asbestos. The tin came with a round punch to make the required hole in the wall, the powder was wetted down and pushed into the hole and then the screw applied whilst still wet and when the mixture dried the screw was firmly fixed. Father could also buy stick on soles and heels for the families shoes and as every household had a shoe last ( I still have my fathers) home soling and heeling was common. The soles came in a paper bag with a round tin rasp with a turned up end to roughen up the leather and a tube of special shoe glue. These were the days when you had to walk to the nearest ironmonger to buy a gallon of paraffin which was pumped up by hand from a holding drum into a measuring jug and then into your special paraffin can. What happened to all these?

When we went to the dentist, (does anyone remember the school dentist Mr Butcher?) and we had to have a filling the dentist, in my case Mr Conroy) injected your gum with what he called Cocaine! What happened to that?

You could go on and on remembering things such as lemonade powder, buying a half of a pint of shrimps in the fishmongers, chewing gum cards, The Beezer comic and The Children’s Daily Mirror, Saturday Morning pictures, Caramac, Pink Witch Bicycles, home made go-carts and sledges, roller skates with steel wheels, catapults and spud guns. But I could go on and on so I will just say ‘what happened to all these?’ The answer is that we just grew up.


Stay in Touch

Peter


You Write:







 What I was doing in 1953 Coronation celebrations.

On June 2nd I watched the Coronation in our front room in Farlington with a lot of neighbours. I remember being told off for making a noise so I left room and went to play in the garden. (I did see the important bit)

What I do remember in detail was on June 15th Spithead review.



I was at that time at Prep School Boundary Oak we were bussed to Portsmouth Harbour to take a trip on the Gosport Ferry our school had hired for the day.
 We were given lunch in a box and we were told under pain of the cane not to move from our allocated seat. (I remember that we were very small and our feet did not reach the deck.)

There wear many hundred of ships but I never did find the one the Queen was on.

 My lunch consisted of a plain sandwich of bread and butter and a boiled egg. This egg was in its shell, which this 6 year old had to remove. On taking the last bit of shell off the egg it slid out of my hand rolled down my lap, down my legs and balanced between my feet.


 I looked at that egg and had to balance the consequence of dropping it and then retrieving it resulting in getting the cane or keep it balanced until an older boy could retrieve it.  I estimate I balanced that egg for two hours, I never took my eyes off it. I just looked down at my closed feet working out what I should do.

I never really had sight from that time on of the last major naval review this country would have, just this dam egg.



When it was time to get off the boat we were told to stand and at that point the egg rolled onto the deck and was lost in the trampling kids (some who had been sea sick)



I bet most of you remember the crowds, the cheering, the decorations all through Portsmouth and Southsea. You remember the parties the bonhomie the day off School.



But all I remember is that bloody egg.






News and Views:

Would you believe it Little Richard (the Revd. to give him his full title) has just turned 80!!!!!





On this day 9th June 1960-1965


On 09/06/1960 the number one single was Cathy's Clown - Everly Brothers and the number one album was South Pacific Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was Wagon Train (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 09/06/1961 the number one single was Surrender - Elvis Presley and the number one album was GI Blues - Elvis Presley. 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 09/06/1962 the number one single was Good Luck Charm - Elvis Presley and the number one album was Blue Hawaii - 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 09/06/1963 the number one single was From Me To You - The Beatles 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 09/06/1963 the number one single was From Me To You - The Beatles 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 09/06/1965 the number one single was Long Live Love - Sandie Shaw and the number one album was Bringing It All Back Home - Bob Dylan. 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.








   


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