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Thursday 28 September 2017

Web Page  No 2410

28th September 2017

First Picture: Sylvia Peters in the early days




Second Picture: Mary Malcom
Third Picture: Robert Dougall
Fourth Picture: Sylvia Peters 50 years after the Coronation

Sylvia Peters
Sylvia Peters, was not the first woman to appear before the cameras on BBC television, but she was the first to achieve fame, if not quite celebrity status, in the early 1950s. One of three programme announcers at the time of the Queen’s coronation in June 1953 – the first major and prolonged outside broadcast the corporation had ever attempted – she was chosen to introduce the coverage and since up to half the adult population managed to get in front of a television set to watch the event, she found herself famous almost overnight. The other two main BBC presenters at the time were Mary Malcolm and Robert Dougall.
Hers was the first face viewers saw that morning, announcing what would be “a great and joyous day for us all”. She was dressed in a flowery evening gown and, sitting in front of a map showing the route of the coronation procession, it was her job to relate what would be happening. Beside her was a six-page memorandum outlining what she had to do if there was a technical fault or a break in transmission – which in the event fortunately did not happen. She was in a studio at Alexandra Palace and handed over to the main commentators, Richard Dimbleby at Westminster Abbey and others along the route, to report the scene.
Sixty years later she said that: “Part of the reason I was chosen was I had a very good memory. I was given the script the night before and had to learn it in time. I was also the same age as the Queen, which they liked.”
Afterward the broadcast she found herself being stopped in the street by members of the public and, even 40 years later, long after she had finished regular broadcasting, would still be recognised.
She was born Sylvia Petronzio, the daughter of Romelo Petronzio, who had a clock-making business in London, and his English wife, Ethel Edwards. From an early age her mother took her to ballet and acting lessons, and she appeared in revues, including one at the Coliseum marking VE Day at the end of the second world war.
In 1947, however, mother and daughter spotted an advertisement for announcers at the BBC, and using her anglicised surname of Peters– was persuaded to apply. “My mother forced me because she did not like me being on the stage,” she said years later.
The audition included a foreign language test, a pronunciation exam and screen tests, including a shot walking downstairs – peculiarly, since announcers were not expected to move as they broadcast. She got the job on £500 a year: “We were meant to be decorative, charming hostesses. They wanted us to look pretty and feminine.”
At that stage just half a million households had television sets, and coverage only reached as far as the Midlands. Breakdowns and losses of transmission were common and broadcasting was live. Female announcers wore patterned evening dresses – but not stripes or checks which made the picture strobe – shoulders were covered by shawls and cleavages disguised by plastic flowers. There was no autocue, rehearsals or editing. “We were on every night. There was no one else,” she said. “When I first went to the BBC, people did not admit they had a set. They would say, ‘the servants have one and I occasionally see it downstairs’.”
The coronation broadcast was seen live across France and Germany, with the film flown by jet to be shown in the US and Canada that evening. It made television respectable for the first time.
The following year, she branched out to become one of the first hosts of Come Dancing. She went on to record a training film in 1957 for the Queen, to prepare her for her first televised Christmas broadcast. The Queen took it to Balmoral for the summer to study by this time she was able to chose the autocue method which was new at the time.
In 1958 Sylvia Peters retired as an announcer, though she continued as an infrequent broadcaster for a further 30 years, introducing Ladies’ Day at Ascot, presenting the early ITV product placement show Jim’s Inn, appearing in occasional documentaries and being interviewed in 2013 about her role on Coronation Day. She opened a children’s clothing store in Wimbledon in 1963, and it was followed in 1977 by a shop for women’s fashion.
In 1950 she married Kenneth Milne-Buckley, her first studio manager at the BBC. He predeceased her and Sylvia Peters died on 26th July 2016 leaving her daughter, Carmella.

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Yours

Peter


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On this day 28th September 1960-1965
On 28/09/1960 the number one single was Apache - The Shadows and the number one album was Down Drury Lane to Memory Lane - A Hundred and One Strings. The top rated TV show was The Army Game (Granada) and the box office smash was Psycho. A pound of today's money was worth £13.68 and Tottenham Hotspur were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 28/09/1961 the number one single was Johnny Remember Me - John Leyton and the number one album was The Shadows - Shadows. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was One Hundred and One Dalmations. A pound of today's money was worth £13.25 and Ipswich Town were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 28/09/1962 the number one single was She's Not You - Elvis Presley and the number one album was Best of Ball Barber & Bilk. 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 Everton were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 28/09/1963 the number one single was She Loves 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 Liverpool were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 28/09/1964 the number one single was I'm Into Something Good - Herman's Hermits 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 Manchester United were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions. The big news story of the day was Harpo Marx dies.

On 28/09/1965 the number one single was Make It Easy On Yourself - Walker Brothers and the number one album was Help - 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 Liverpool were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions. The big news story of the day was Volcano erupts in Phillipines.



Thursday 21 September 2017


21st  September 2017

First Picture: A tiny Lighter flint

Second Picture: A selection of mourning bands


Third Picture: Telephone money box




Fourth Picture: Column gear change


I must be getting Old!!!!

The older I get the more I seem to remember the things that were in daily use but we  see no more, so here are a few.

My father filling his petrol Ronson Lighter with lighter fuel by pouring it from the can onto the cotton wool in the fuel chamber  and at times changing the flint and wick and cleaning the serrated wheel. Who has a petrol lighter these days?

Whilst talking about wicks one of the greasy, smelly and messy jobs which had to done in the house was the regular cleaning of the wick on our paraffin heaters in the bathroom and hallway. It always seemed that whoever was cleaning it always ended up with a black, sooty and greasy deposit all over their hands!  No central heating for us when I lived at home!  

Death was not something that many of us came across in our younger days but the way our parents dealt with death was completely different to the way our Grand Parents and elderly relatives dealt with the loss. For this older generation, there were many conventions to be observed. As soon as the person had died all the curtains in the front of the house were drawn and stayed that way until a week after the funeral. All pictures in the house that had a face on them were covered with a cloth as were any mirrors. From somewhere black armband were produced and were worn by both men and women for many weeks after the death. Men wore black ties for some time after the death. Ladies wore funeral jewellery made of jet and the gentlemen wore jet tie clips and cuff links. There was also funeral crockery mainly made by the Jackfield pottery. In many families, it was not the done thing for the ladies of the household did not attend the funeral and so mostly a funeral service and internment were male dominated. This was a hangover from the conduct of Queen Victoria, luckily things have changed over the last 116 years.

At infant school after lunch the pupils were told to put their arms on the desk and lay their heads on them and have a rest for twenty minutes. I doubt if that still happens.
So many other things have changed for example in some households the man handed over his unopened pay packet to his wife who then gave him back what amounted to his pocket money. Others allotted varying amounts went into tins or jars to cover the rent, bills for the utilities, insurance policies or to pay regular instalments on essential items, such as the gas or electric cooker or the telephone. Another receptacle was earmarked for storing the one-shilling pieces needed to feed the gas and electricity meters.
It was left to the housewife – mostly wholly dependent on her husband for money - to squirrel away what she could to cover such items she might want, such as make-up, a rare visit to the hairdresser or birthday and Christmas presents. Things in the 1950s were still male dominated. For a married woman who worked there was nothing more annoying, when faced with a form that required the answer to the question "occupation" to be instructed by the official to write "housewife". Worse still was being told that you needed your husband's permission, verified by his signature, to do certain things, such as enter into a hire purchase agreement. It was assumed that a female might default on payments unless she was backed by her husband.
How things have changed!!!!
Moving on, one of the biggest changes since we were kids can be seen in the motor vehicles. Here are just some. Cars of the late 1950’s had no heaters, no radios and only a basic system of windscreen wipers and almost every car came fitted with a running board on each side. Now who remembers a foot operated dipped headlight switch, swinging arm trafficators set into the door support and had to be hit when they did not swing out. How many new drivers today would even know how to drive a car with column gear change, and to know the joy of a through bench front seat!!!!
Ah well there went another look into the past.

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Yours

Peter


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On this day 21st September 1960-1965

On 21/09/1960 the number one single was Apache - The Shadows and the number one album was Down Drury Lane to Memory Lane - A Hundred and One Strings. The top rated TV show was No Hiding Place (AR) and the box office smash was Psycho. A pound of today's money was worth £13.68 and Tottenham Hotspur were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.
On 21/09/1961 the number one single was Reach for the Stars / Climb Ev'ry Mountain - Shirley Bassey and the number one album was Ipswich Town. The top rated TV show was "Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was One Hundred and One Dalmations. A pound of today's money was worth £Argentinian swims English Channel both ways non-stop and 13.25 were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions. The big news story of the day was Take Your Pick (AR)".

On 213/09/1962 the number one single was She's Not You - Elvis Presley and the number one album was Best of Ball Barber & Bilk. 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 Everton were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 21/09/1963 the number one single was She Loves 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 Liverpool were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 21/09/1964 the number one single was You Really Got Me - Kinks 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 Manchester United were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.


On 21/09/1965 the number one single was Make It Easy On Yourself - Walker Brothers and the number one album was Help - 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 Liverpool were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions










Wednesday 13 September 2017


14th September 2017

First Picture: Meat Safe
 Second Picture: Cheese Wedge

Third Picture: An Anderson Shelter great for storing fruit.



Fourth Picture: School coat racks.

Was it the Good Old Days?

Do you remember summers when we were children? Life was much simpler then and probably harder, but we were not aware. Tea came with little lumps of cream floating on the top as mother did not have a fridge and the milk was kept cool in a pitcher or bucket of cold water placed on the slate or concrete shelf of the Larder. Cooked meat was also kept on this shelf but locked away in a meat safe with fine mesh sides so that the blow flies and bluebottles could not get in and attack the meat. Cheese was also kept on this shelf under a large china cheese wedge which had probably been in the family for many generations.

As the summer drew to a close autumn and harvest time came around. We had a garden with lots of fruit trees, apples, pears, plums cherries, damsons, gooseberries and red and blackcurrants and also a row of hazel nut trees. None of these were planted by us they were all in the garden when we moved in. With all this fruit preservation was the order of the day. The apples and pears were picked, and carefully individually wrapped in newspaper and laid out along the purpose-built shelves that had been built in the old air raid shelter. The shelter was kept dark to preserve the fruit.

The plums, damsons and cherries were bottled in Kilner Jars and my mother would have jars and jars of preserved fruit hidden away in cupboards all over the house. During the summer months, my mother hoarded as much sugar as she could get ready for the jam making season; this is when all the old jam jars that we, as a family, had collected throughout the year and stored in cardboard boxes in the shed came out and were put to use. I remember a steamy kitchen with bubbling pans and my mother and grandmother busily cutting out greaseproof paper discs to lay on top of the newly made jam.

Best of all for us was that we were free to explore the hill and marshes. There were no mobile phones, you went out for the day and Mum trusted you, she could not ring every hour to see how you were.

Starting school was a bit traumatic and a bit of a shock but we soon got into the swing of things. Painting great works of art which mother would say were wonderful. Pretending to Sleep during the afternoon rest time with your head resting on your crossed arms Listening to the teacher reading a story. Learning to write the ABC . Opening up the desk where I kept my colouring pencils. 
We all had our own coat racks with our names on and
Mum Sewing in name tags on all your clothes.

Running our little shops, Playing with building bricks and learning to read the first books That was our early life. 

Of an evening Dad would come home from work and sit and relax whilst Mum would be occupied with mending, sewing and darning. I have recently come across the following:-

Advice from a Singer Sewing Machine Manual from 1949.  Firstly prepare yourself mentally for sewing. Think about what you are going to do. Never approach sewing with a sigh or lackadaisically. Good results are difficult when indifference dominates. Never try to sew with a sink full of dishes or beds unmade. When there are urgent,' housekeeping chores, do all these first so that your mind is free to enjoy your sewing. When you sew, make yourself as attractive as possible. Put on a clean dress. Keep a little bag of French chalk near your sewing machine to dust your fingers at intervals. Have your hair in order, powder and lipstick put on. If you are constantly fearful that a visitor might drop in or your husband will come home, and you will not look neatly put together, you will not enjoy your sewing.

Now ladies do you know where you have been going wrong all these years!



Yours

Peter


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On this day 14th September 1960-1965

On 14/09/1960 the number one single was Apache - The Shadows and the number one album was Down Drury Lane to Memory Lane - A Hundred and One Strings. The top rated TV show was No Hiding Place (AR) and the box office smash was Psycho. A pound of today's money was worth £13.68 and Tottenham Hotspur were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions. The big news story of the day was Parking tickets and traffic wardens introduced in London

On 14/09/1961 the number one single was Johnny Remember Me - John Leyton and the number one album was Ipswich Town. The top rated TV show was "Coronation Street (Granada) 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 Take Your Pick (AR)".

On 14/09/1962 the number one single was She's Not You - Elvis Presley 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 Everton were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 14/09/1963 the number one single was She Loves 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 Liverpool were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 14/09/1964 the number one single was You Really Got Me - Kinks 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 Manchester United were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 14/09/1965 the number one single was (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction - Rolling Stones and the number one album was Help - 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 Liverpool were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.




Wednesday 6 September 2017


9th September 2017


 First Picture: Do you remember milk bottles advertising Cornflakes?

 Second Picture: Bottled Fruit




Third Picture: Singer Sewing machine


Summers

Do you remember summers when we were children? Life was much simpler then and probably harder, but we were not aware of it. Tea came with little lumps of cream floating on the top as mother did not have a fridge and the milk was kept cool in a pitcher or bucket of cold water placed on the slate or concrete shelf of the Larder. Cooked meat was also kept on this shelf but locked away in a meat safe with fine mesh sides so that the blow flies and bluebottles could not get in and attack the meat. Cheese was also kept on this shelf under a large china cheese wedge which had probably been in the family for many generations.

As the summer drew to close autumn and harvest time came around. We had a garden with lots of fruit trees, apples, pears, plums cherries, damsons, gooseberries and red and blackcurrants and also a row of hazel nut trees. None of these were planted by us they were all in the garden when we moved in. With all this fruit preservation was the order of the day. The apples and pears were picked, individually wrapped in newspaper and laid out along the purpose-built shelves that had been built in the old air raid shelter. The door was kept closed as the fruit kept better in the dark.

The plums, damsons and cherries were bottled in Kilner Jars and my mother would have jars and jars of preserved fruit hidden away in cupboards all over the house. During the summer months, my mother hoarded as much sugar as she could get ready for the jam making season; this is when all the old jam jars that we, as a family, had collected throughout the year and stored in cardboard boxes in the shed; they now came out and were put to good use. I remember a steamy kitchen with bubbling pans and my mother and grandmother busily cutting out greaseproof paper discs to lay on top of the newly made jam.

Of an evening Mum would be occupied with mending, sewing and darning. I have recently come across the following which is really indicative of its time:-

Advice from a Singer Sewing Machine Manual from 1949.  Firstly prepare yourself mentally for sewing. Think about what you are going to do. Never approach sewing with a sigh or lackadaisically. Good results are difficult when indifference dominates. Never try to sew with a sink full of dishes or beds unmade. When there are urgent,' housekeeping chores, do all these first so that your mind is free to enjoy your sewing. When you sew, make yourself as attractive as possible. Put on a clean dress. Keep a little bag of French chalk near your sewing machine to dust your fingers at intervals. Have your hair in order, powder and lipstick put on. If you are constantly fearful that a visitor might drop in or your husband will come home, and you will not look neatly put together, you will not enjoy your sewing.
Now ladies do you know where you have been going wrong all these years!

Another natural resource that was stored by my godmother was rainwater. Her father was squire of a small village in Essex and the family, father and mother and the son and daughter, lived in the big house on a mound in the middle of the village. The whole family were country people and the daughter (Jessica), who was my god mother was the last of the family. The house had to be seen to be believed. It was large but only had electric light downstairs, candles and oil lamps upstairs and this is in the early 1960s. No mains drainage or gas and she cooked on a paraffin stove. But outside the back door was a rain butt and this was for the household washing water. Whenever we needed a wash a big dipper was lowered into this butt and the water placed into a special ‘washing’ kettle and heated up. She always maintained that the soft rainwater was good for the skin. In fact, she had marvellously soft skin until the day she died at 86 and she swore that tis was because of the rainwater. In 1962, she decided to move nearer us and bought a bungalow in Bedhampton but she insisted on bringing the water butt with her and I know my father had the job of connecting it up to the downpipe so she could have ‘washing water’.    

This was a period of invention and innovation and I am sure that you all could add to the stories above.


Keep in touch

Yours

Peter


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On this day 9th September 1960-1965

On 09/09/1960 the number one single was Apache - The Shadows 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 Tottenham Hotspur were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 09/09/1961 the number one single was Johnny Remember Me - John Leyton and the number one album was South Pacific Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was Sunday Night at the London Palladium (ATV) and the box office smash was One Hundred and One Dalmations. A pound of today's money was worth £13.25 and Ipswich Town were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions. The big news story of the day was Charles de Gaulle escapes assasination attempt

On 09/09/1962 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 Everton were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 09/09/1963 the number one single was Bad to Me - Billy J Kramer 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 Liverpool were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 09/09/1963 the number one single was Bad to Me - Billy J Kramer 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 Liverpool were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 09/09/1965 the number one single was (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction - Rolling Stones and the number one album was Help - 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 Liverpool were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.