FIRST PICTURE: Alan Price in Concert at the Gosport Waterfront Festival August 2009.
SECOND PICTURE: an icon from the 1960’s the Isetta bubble car.
THIRD PICTURE: A legacy from before the war a Triumph Mayflower its angled ‘modern’ look was not manufactured until post war. It was well appointed with walnut fittings and was unusual but not popular and having only a side valve engine soon fell by the wayside when the overhead valve engines came into production.
ANY MORE FARES PLEASE.
As kids most of us had dressing up clothes and sets some home made and some bought from the shops which were usually kept in the toy box. The commercially bought sets came in various guises. To start with there was the Bus Conductors or Conductresses outfit with its cap and badge, a rack of tram like tickets and a ticket machine which punched the tickets with a satisfying ‘ting’ every time. Actually this was not all make believe I am old enough to remember the last trams in London and the conductor punching your ticket was actually something that I really did experience. Moving forward to childhood in North Portsmouth where the bus and trolley bus reigned supreme the one desire of every child was to be given the end of the ticket roll by the bus conductor. Do you remember these ends had a red line through them to alert the conductor that the roll was running out and it would be extreme good fortune if you happened to be on the bus when this happened and be offered the end of the roll to play with.
Then, of course, there was the Cowboy outfit, ten gallon hat, waistcoat with Sheriffs badge, chaps, belt holster and six gun ready to fire caps and, we hoped, ready scare all the neighbours. To compliment this some folks had Indian outfits with war bonnet, Indian dress and a tomahawk. However these outfits were never popular as the Indians never won.
Sometimes we would come across a girl in a cowgirl or Indian squaw outfit but that was rare, the more common outfit for a little girl was a Nurse. As far as I remember these outfits normally consisted of a white apron and little cap, both with a big red cross on them, a cape, a toy thermometer and stethoscope and little ruffs for the sleeves and to carry the instruments and bandages and slings a nurses bag. We always seemed to be satisfied with simple things which we could play make believe with when we were kids, no electronics for us! Although later on I did have a chemistry set.
Pirates were also popular and sets with eye patches, head scarf, cutlasses and pistols could always be bought in the local toy shop, along with little bags of golden doubloons and a stuffed parrot.
One of the most popular games was the Toy Post Office which came complete with writing paper envelopes, postage stamps of Toyland, postal orders and best of all a big rubber stamp and ink pad so that the owner could stamp everything in sight with an ‘official’ rubber stamp. Closely allied to the Post Office set was the Shop set. This normally came as a General Store (Arkwright had nothing on these sets)! It always fascinated me to see the miniature packets of products we all knew so well. Persil, Rinso, Brillo, Atora Suet, Bluebird Toffees, Sunlight Soap, Robinson’s Jam including a miniature Golly and oh! so many products from home. The set normally came with a cash register, some little paper bags and lots of other odds and ends that were found in the corner shop. I never did have a shop set but I do remember being bought a toy cash register at some point.
Looking back is fun but looking at what the modern child plays with would really have had us baffled as kids. My 5-year-old grandson knows his way round a computer and will very soon be putting Pam and I to shame. But it is great to see that still one of his favourite toys, the ones that come out again and again are the toy cars, so maybe not so much has changed.
Stay in touch and keep those memories coming.
DUSTYKEAT@aol.com
Pj.keat@ntlworld.com
THIRD PICTURE: ALAN PRICE PERFORMING AT THE GOSPORT WATERFRONT FESTIVAL A COUPLE OF WEEKS AGO.
YOU WRITE:
STEVE WRITES:
Why
do Tesco's make the sick walk all the way to the back of the store to get their prescriptions while healthy people can buy cigarettes at the front.
do people order double cheeseburgers,large fries, and a diet coke.
do banks leave both doors open and then chain the pens to the counters.
do we leave cars worth thousands of pounds in the driveway and put our useless junk in the garage.
do they have drive-up ATM machines with Braille lettering.
EVER WONDER ...
Why the sun lightens our hair, but darkens our skin ?
Why women can't put on mascara with their mouth closed?
Why don't you ever see the headline 'Psychic Wins Lottery'?
Why is 'abbreviated' such a long word?
Why is it that doctors call what they do 'practice'?
Why is lemon juice made with artificial flavor and dishwashing liquid made with real lemons?
Why is the man who invests all your money called a broker?
Why is the time of day with the slowest traffic called rush hour?
Why isn't there mouse-flavored cat food?
Why didn't Noah swat those two mosquitoes?
Why do they sterilize the needle for lethal injections?
Why don't sheep shrink when it rains?
If flying is so safe, why do they call the airport the terminal?
Why? Good question.
NEWS AND VIEWS:
The Who's Pete Townshend, mastermind behind "Tommy" and "Quadrophenia," has announced that he is writing a new musical-- to be premiered in 2011-- called "Floss." As a 19-year-old, with 'My Generation', I wrote the most explicitly ageist song in rock [singing 'Hope I die before I get old']. At 64, I now want to take on aging and mortality, using the powerfully angry context of rock'n'roll." The story centres on the marital difficulties of a middle-aged couple. "Floss," by the way, is the name of the wife. Some of the songs may see the light of day on a Who album in 2010.
ON THIS DAY 12TH SEPTEMBER 1960-1965
On 12/09/1960 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 MoT test introduced.
On 12/09/1961 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 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 12/09/1962 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 12/09/1964 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 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 Manchester United were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.
On 12/09/1963 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.The big news story of the day was 35 British tourists die in Pyrennees plane crash.
On 12/09/1965 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.
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