WEB PAGE NO 782

FIRST PICTURE: MR KEN WELLS WAS THE METAL WORK TEACHER AT MANOR COURT. KEN PASSED AWAY ABOUT 18 MONTHS AGO.


SECOND PICTURE: SOMETHING FROM THE PAST A SCAMMELL MECHANICAL HORSE USED BY THE BRITISH ROAD SERVICES DIVISION OF BRITISH RAILWAYS. THESE WERE OFTEN SEEN DELIVERING AROUND THE TOWN IN THE 1960’S. THIS PICTURE WAS TAKEN AT A RALLY AT GOODWOOD RACE TRACK IN MAY!


THOSE NOT SO SMALL SHOPS.

Shopping when we were kids were as a very different experience than it is today. I know in pat mailings I have dealt with the corner shop and local deliveries (way before Tesco’s You Shop We Drop, it’s funny how things come round again!) and before the giant supermarkets of today. I know that the first supermarket in the country was a Coop store in Southsea but at that time it was the small chains of shops that held sway in the High Street.

The Home and Colonial Store, or to give it its full name The Home and Colonial Tea Store was one of the leaders in this field. These stores were distinguished by having the name displayed in gold on ceramic tiles inside their shop windows and the fact that all their counter assistants wore long white aprons. The Home and Colonial, as far as I know never progressed into supermarkets not like their rivals The International Stores, again the complete title was The International Tea Stores. This was originally a Cambridge company which was set up to do exactly what its name suggested, dealing with groceries, mainly tea, from all over the world. Over the years it grew and had stores all over the country. The International Stores Group was taken over by British American Tabacco (BAT) in 1972, later the Dee Corporation took control and changed the shop names to Gateway and now Somerfield. Other companies in the International Stores Group were, Payantake, Priceright and Ridgways Tea.

Moving on I remember the David Greig store that was at the top of Cosham High Street just up from Ye Olde Sweet Shoppe on the corner of Spur Road. My mother was a devotee of this shop and every Saturday morning we had to get the bus to Cosham to do the weekends shopping in David Greigs. David Greig was the supermarket chain of the Greig family. With its grocery stores across Britain it was at one time a rival to the ever growing Sainsburys. There was actually personal rivalry between the two families dating back many years. The first store was opened in in 1888 and by the 1960s there were more than 160 stores across the country but the company collapsed after the payment of crippling death duties when several of the men in the family died in quick succession.

Another of the popular stores at the time was Macfisheries I really do not know a vast amount about this company so al I can do is direct you to its fascinating web site which can be found at http://www.macfisheries.co.uk/index.htm

One non-food store which had its home in Portsmouth was Timothy White’s, later Timothy White & Taylor Ltd. It was taken over by Boots in 1968, who briefly retained the brand for a chain of kitchenware shops. The dominance of the chains in the market was so high that saying "I'm just going to Boots" or "I'm just going to Timothy White's" as a line in a novel or play would be immediately understood that someone was going to the chemist's and with no further explanation being necessary. It is amazing how far the influence of Timothy White’s streched as there were references to it in episodes of "Dads Army" and in “Monty Python's Flying Circus” one of the characters refers to"Timothy White's suncream". The store I remember was again in Cosham High Street on the corner of Albert Road, opposite Weston Harts electrical and record shop but that is another story.

Pinks is the store I really remember and the shop which I knew best was the one on the south side of the Havant Road in Drayton. This was a real old fashioned place, the sort of place where there was a seat for the ladies by the counter, the cheese was cut from a block with a cheese wire, bacon was still sliced on the hand driven Berkel slicer, butter was cut from a block with special butter pats and sugar came loose and was weighed loose into blue paper cones. Ahhhhhhhhhh those were the days.

What other stores have disappeared from Cosham High Street over the past few years? Weston Harts as I have already mentioned, Ditman and Malpas the Corn and Seed Factors who had a large outlet on the western side of the High Street almost opposte Weston Harts. Mendalls the furniture store near the crossing gates and is Whitmore Jones still there?

In town many old names have gone Rumblelows, Seals, Picket and Purser, Saqusi & Laurence, LDB, the Shirt King and the Chocolate King and many many more.

Mens outfitters also seem to be in short supply today as well. What happened to Weaver to Wearer, Dunn & Co, Hepworths or John Colloier John Collier the window to watch? And girls serving in Burtons that was unheard of. I really must be getting old!



Take Care

Peter

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

YOU WRITE:

Geraldine sent me this warning:-
Just last weekend on Friday night we parked in a public
car park. As we drove away I noticed a sticker on the
rear window of the car. When I took it off after I got home, it was a receipt for petrol. Luckily my friend told me not to stop as it could be someone waiting for me to get out of the car.Then we received this email yesterday.

WARNING FROM POLICE

THIS APPLIES TO BOTH WOMEN AND MEN

BEWARE OF PAPER ON THE BACK WINDOW OF YOUR VEHICLE-- NEW WAY TO DO CARJACKINGS (NOT A JOKE)'

Heads up everyone! Please, keep this circulating.. You walk across the car park, unlock your car and get inside You start the engine put it into Reverse. . When you look into the rearview mirror to back out of your
space, you notice a piece of paper stuck to the middle
of the rear window. So, you stop and jump out of your car to remove that paper (or whatever it is) that is obstructing your view.
When you reach the back of your car, that is when the carjackers appear out of nowhere, jump into your car and take off. They practically run you over as they speed off in your car.

And guess what, ladies? I bet your purse is still in the car.
So now the carjacker has your car, your home address, your
money, and your keys. Your home and your whole identity are
now compromised!


BEWARE OF THIS NEW SCHEME THAT IS NOW BEING USED.

If you see a piece of paper stuck to your back window, lock your doors and just drive away.
Remove the paper later. And be thankful that you
read this e-mail. I hope you will forward this to friends and family, especially to women. A purse contains all kinds of personal information and identification documents, and you certainly do NOT want this to fall into the wrong hands.

Please tell all your friends


NEWS AND VIEWS:
Sad to say that one of our school contemporaries died last week Linda Mack passed away after a long struggle against illness. We send our sympathy to her sister Sandra and all the family.
Al Martino, the Italian crooner who charted 37 times died on October 13th in his Pennsylvania home at the age of 82. Born Alfred Cini in south Philadelphia in 1927, He worked as a bricklayer before joining the Marines (where he was wounded in the invasion of Iwo Jima), all the while hoping to be a singer like his friend Mario Lanza. Upon his return he adopted his grandfather's surname and began work in New York nightclubs, eventually winning a recording contract with Capitol Records in 1952. His first single, "Here In My Heart" topped the charts that year and was followed by "Take My Heart". Unfortunately, this drew the attention of organized crime figures, who bought out his management contract. He fled to England and had no American chart records for the next seven years, until a friend was able to work out his safe return in 1958. Over the next twenty years, he had six top 20 hits. He possibly is best remembered for the role of Johnny Fontane in "The Godfather" trilogy of movies, which many say was based on Frank Sinatra, a claim Al always denied.

ON THIS DAY 1ST NOVEMBER 1960-1965

On 01/11/1960 the number one single was Only the Lonely - Roy Orbison and the number one album was South Pacific Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was Bootsie & Snudge (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 01/11/1961 the number one single was Walkin' Back to Happiness - Helen Shapiro 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 01/11/1962 the number one single was Telstar - The Tornadoes and the number one album was Out of the Shadows - Shadows. The top rated TV show was The Royal Variety Performance (BBC) 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 01/11/1963 the number one single was You'll Never Walk Alone - 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 Liverpool were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

The big On 01/11/1964 the number one single was (There's) Always Something There to Remind Me - Sandy Shaw 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 01/11/1965 the number one single was Tears - Ken Dodd 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 Liverpool were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.The big news story of the day was 7 die in UK hurricane-force winds.

Web Page 780

FIRST PICTURE: SGT ERNIE BILKO




SECOND PICTURE: THE LONG FORGOTTEN MINIATURE TRAIN AT HILSEA.













BILKO OR THE PHIL SILVERS SHOW ‘YOU’LL NEVER GET RICH’.

The Phil Silvers Show (originally entitled You'll Never Get Rich) was one of the most popular American comedy television series which ran from 1955 to 1959 for a total of 143 episodes (including a 1959 special).The series starred Phil Silvers as Master Sergeant Ernest G. Bilko of the United States Army. The series was created and written by Nat Hiken and won three consecutive Emmy Awards for Best Comedy Series. The show is sometimes titled Sergeant Bilko or simply Bilko in reruns. The show's success transformed Phil Silvers from a jobbing comedian into a major star.

By 1955, most American television had moved to Los Angeles, but Nat Hiken insisted on filming the series in New York City. Early episodes were filmed at Dumont's television centre in New York (with later episodes shot at the CBS Studios in the Chelsea, Manhattan. Most of the series was made to simulate a live performance. The actors memorized their lines, as in a play, and performed the scenes in sequence before a studio audience. Thus, there are occasional awkward pauses. This method of filming changed when Mike Todd made a guest appearance and refused to memorize the script. He insisted on the episode being filmed like a Hollywood movie, one scene at a time, and out of sequence. It was found that Todd's way was faster, cheaper, and was less demanding for the actors, so the series changed production methods. The finished films were screened for a live audience, whose response was recorded and added to the soundtracks.

Bilko's right-hand men were Cpl. Rocco Barbella and Cpl. Steve Henshaw. The large supporting cast included Private Sam Fender, the slovenly Private Duane Doberman and Private Dino Paparelli. Some episodes gave Bilko a romantic interest (with Sgt. Joan Hogan). Paul Ford (Col. Hall) was notorious for forgetting his lines and when he would get a blank expression on his face, the cast knew that they had to do something. They would then say something to the effect of "Oh you remember Colonel, the top brass is coming." At that point, Ford would pick up where he left off and the audience would respond by laughing.

The series was originally set in Fort Baxter, a sleepy U.S. Army base in the fictional town of Roseville, Kansas. Master Sergeant Ernest G. Bilko trying to wheedle money through various get-rich-quick scams usually behind the back of Col. Hall with his soldiers regularly helping him. Through it all, the platoon was fiercely loyal to Bilko and would depend on him to get them out of any military misfortune.

The show's setting changed with the fourth season, when the men of Fort Baxter were reassigned to Camp Fremont in California. This mass transfer was explained as being the inadvertent result of a Bilko con gone wrong. In reality, creator Hiken had left and it was an excuse to move the production to California and fill the episodes with guest appearances from nearby Hollywood.


In the series finale, Bilko discovers a cook who is the exact double of Colonel Hall. Bilko hires him to impersonate the colonel, so he can cheat the other officers in a bogus charity effort. The real Colonel Hall learns of the scam, and Bilko, Henshaw, and Barbella end up being locked in the guardhouse. As Colonel Hall looks at his prisoners on a closed-circuit TV he says "It's a wonderful show, and as long as I'm the sponsor, it will never be cancelled." The camera cuts to Bilko finally behind bars who waves to the camera and says, "Th-th-that's all, folks!" So ended the series.


Phil Silvers was born Philip Silversmith in Brooklyn the youngest of eight children in a Russian Jewish family. His father was one of the workers on the early New York skyscrapers. He started entertaining at age 11, when he would sing in theatres when the projector broke down. Two years later, he left school to sing professionally, before appearing in vaudeville as a stooge. He worked in short films for the Vitaphone studio and on Broadway. He made his major film debut in ‘Hit Parade of 1941’. Over the next two decades, he appeared in films for MGM, Columbia, and 20th Century Fox, in such films as ‘Lady Be Good’, ‘Coney Island’, ‘Cover Girl’, and ‘Summer Stock’.

A little known fact is that Phil Silvers wrote the lyrics for Frank Sinatra's "Nancy (With the Laughing Face)". Although he was not a songwriter, he wrote the lyrics on a whim while visiting Sinatra's home with composer Jimmy Van Heusen and meeting Sinatrs’s daughter.

He became a household name in 1955 when he starred as Sergeant Ernest G. Bilko in The Phil Silvers Show. Throughout the 1960s he appeared in films such as ‘It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World’ and ‘40 Pounds of Trouble’. He was featured in Marilyn Monroe's last film, the unfinished ‘Something's Got to Give’. In 1967 he starred in ‘Carry On, Follow That Camel’. He also appeared as a guest on The Beverly Hillbillies, The Carol Burnett Show, Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, and The Dean Martin Show.

In 1972, he suffered a stroke from which he never fully recovered. Despite his poor health, he continued working into the early 1980s including an appearance on Happy Days as the father of "Jenny Piccolo" (played by his real-life daughter Cathy Silvers). He died on November 1, 1985 in Century City, California at the age of 74. The cause of death was a heart attack. He was interred at Mount Sinai Memorial Park in Los Angeles, California.

A few years ago a remake of Sgt Bolko was made staring Steve Martin but this was a poor shadow of the original.

Take Care

Peter

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

YOU WRITE:

Steve writes:-
Hi Peter, reading your blog and the announcement of the upcoming solid silver 60s tour and P.J.Proby, reminded me of a conversation I had with a second hand record shop owner in Evesham some years back.

According to this chap P.J.Proby lives or did live in Evesham and the Man himself used to frequent his emporium occasionally.

The shop owner also ran the Billie Davis fan club and had met her a few times and She was currently (back then)touring with Jet Harris the ex and original bass player in The Shadows.

I was taking this info at face value only unless.....someone out there knows better?

NEWS AND VIEWS:

Elvis Presley's 17 year-old grandson, Benjamin, has been offered a $5 million, five-album deal by Universal Music. "The music will be nothing like Elvis, nothing like him at all," said the teenager.


ON THIS DAY 24TH OCTOBER 1960-1965

On 24/10/1960 the number one single was Only the Lonely - Roy Orbison and the number one album was South Pacific Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was Take Your Pick (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 24/10/1961 the number one single was Walkin' Back to Happiness - Helen Shapiro and the number one album was Black & White Minstrel Show - George Mitchell Minstrels. 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.The big news story of the day was Britain grants Malta autonomy.

On 24/10/1962 the number one single was Telstar - The Tornadoes 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. The big news story of the day was Cuban Missile Crisis. Very scary at the time.

On 24/10/1963 the number one single was Do You Love Me? - Brian Poole & the Tremoloes 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 24/10/1964 the number one single was (There's) Always Something There to Remind Me - Sandy Shaw 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 24/10/1965 the number one single was Tears - Ken Dodd 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 Liverpool were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

Web Page No 778

FIRST PICTURE: SOME OF THE ORIGINAL FITTINGS THAT CAME WITH THE HOUSE WHEN A PURCHASER BOUGHT A HOUSE ON THE HIGHBURY ESTATE.





SECOND PICTURE: A BLAST FROM THE PAST A ROYAL BLUE COACH PASSING THROUGH FAREHAM IN JUNE THIS YEAR.


Three programmes from our Youth


ALL OUR YESTERDAYS

This was an ITV documentary series featuring archive news footage of the previous 25 years. Unusually its duration time was only 20 minute duration and ran for two series. 1960 - 73. 1987 - 89.

It was of Granada Television's most successful series of all time, and began in 1960 and was presented by James Cameron who linked together edited version of two 1930s cinema newsreels from the same week twenty-five years ago. In 1961 Brian Inglis took over and it was with him that the programme became best remembered.

Each programme took a somewhat light-hearted look at past life; but by 1964 it took on much more serious overtones as it concerned itself with the outbreak of World War Two. In fact a friend of my mothers saw her husband going off to war on film and unfortunately he never came home again. This really upset her and she wrote and complained to Granada who sent a standard letter of apology in reply. Studio guests and newspaper articles were used to get a flavour of the time. The programme continued with the war years throughout the rest of the 1960s and in the early 1970s took a look at post war austerity and how the Britain came to terms with the after-effects of the conflict. 'All Our Yesterdays' finished in 1973 after thirteen years. The series was revived in 1987 and was presented by Bernard Braden, utilising footage from the archives of Granada, ITN and Pathe Newsreel-but it finally disappeared from our screens in 1989.

Animal Magic

Who can forget this unique BBC programme all 440 half hour episodes of it between 1962 and 1984!

Presented by Johnny Morris 'Animal Magic' was a firm children's favourite on BBC television for 21 years. Johnny Morris had previously hosted a radio show in the West Country in which he became a jack-of-all-trades, doing other people's jobs for a day. The shows were 15 minute slots and went out under the title 'Pass The Salt.' Later on he became television's Hot Chestnut Man, telling a weekly self-penned children's story whilst standing on a street corner waiting to sell his next bag of hot chestnuts from his barrow. It proved hugely popular and ran for 8 years. The year after he finished with The Hot Chestnut Man, he was asked to host a new show when the BBC's Natural History Unit was formed. It was thought that the show should be about animals that was instructive and entertaining. It was said that "Children love animals and they love magic," so it was called 'Animal Magic.'" Originally the programme staggered along to start with until a new producer was found and it was under him that Johnny Morris became the zookeeper who was responsible for looking after all the animals at Bristol Zoo. You never saw the boss - he was a voice off-stage who shouted out from time to time, 'Morris, what do you think you are doing?”

In order to get close up Johnny would often enter the animal's cages as a nervous cameraman filmed him. Mostly, the cameraman took as little equipment as possible into the cages because once a young gorilla ripped a tripod from a camera man's grasp and hit him over the head with it. Oddly enough it was years before the BBC realised that they hadn't taken out an insurance policy on their star presenter. In spite of its success, 'Animal Magic' drew criticism. To make animals appear as though they were talking was absolutely unscientific and complaints were received that it was a cheap way to entertain children. Despite this 'Animal Magic' became a runaway success and soon other nations zoos realised they had increased attendances. 'Animal Magic' was very much a show of the 1960s. The zoos may have provided the animals, but it was Johnny Morris who provided the magic.

OUT OF TOWN


Out of Town was a hugely successful series from our local station Southern Television that ran for 25 years, each episode presented by Jack Hargreaves offering viewers an insight into rural life of years gone by, as well as their dwindling traditions.

Jack Hargreaves effortlessly managed to cross the generation gap and imparted his knowledge of country life of times gone by. Up to the age of 17 he went to a market every Wednesday at 6mph behind a grey pony called Quicksilver. At 23 he sailed to America in five days on the Aquitania to take part in a programme called 'The March of Time'. He had listened with earphones to Big Ben chiming midnight on 31st December 1921: this was 2LO, the first station of the British Broadcasting Company. As an army cadet he learned to shoot a Lee Enfield rifle and was blown up in Antwerp by a V2. At 22 he became associated a radio entertainment and when he was 44 he was asked to do a few television programmes about the old country life.
but he believed people had little interest in the past. How wrong he was as 'Out of Town' on for 25 years.

Jack Hargreaves was not born a country boy he came from North London on the last day of 1911, to James and Ada Hargreaves. Jack (christened John Herbert) was one of three brothers. The family was rooted in Huddersfield but in his youth Jack was placed by his mother with old family friends at Burston Hill Farm north of Aylesbury. Later, he went on to study at the Royal Veterinary College at London University, but left to earn a living as a copywriter, journalist and script writer for radio and films. By the late thirties he had established a enviable reputation.

With the outbreak of war in 1939, it was recognised that broadcasting would become an important part of the war effort and his talents meant he would possibly be recruited by radio. However, he wanted active service and joined the Royal Artillery as a private. He working his way up to an NCO and entered the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and then commissioned into the Royal Tank Regiment. He could not escape his reputation as a communicator and was recruited to the staff of General Montgomery to help setting up broadcasting services to allied forces before and after D-Day. He left the army in 1945 as a major.

After the war, he returned to the media and during the 1950s became editor of the magazines 'Lilliput' and Picture Post. He was recruited to the National Farmers Union by Lord Netherthorpe and developed the NFU's Information Department, founding the 'British Farmer' magazine. In 1959, as representative of the NFU, Jack was sent to Southern Television to talk to Roy Rich following an inaccurate TV programme on 'meat marketing', that had incensed the union. From that, Southern Television began a series called 'Farm in the South'. and Jack was offered the post of programme maker and assistant programme controller, which he accepted. Roy Rich he'd heard Jack was a bit of a fisherman, and asked if he would he take a cameraman and catch a fish for them live on air. Once again Rich was impressed and offered Jack the chance to do another show like the last one. Allegedly, Jack replied "I'll do six, for a lark!" and Rich said okay. Those six shows went out under the title 'Gone Fishing'. The signature tune to 'Gone Fishing' was sung by Bing Crosby and Louis Armstrong 28 editions of the programme were made.
'Gone Fishing' led straight into 'Out of Town' which began in 1963. An article in 'Television and Radio 1978', informed viewers that 'whether it shows the shoeing of horses, angling or rabbiting, 'Out of Town' presents a complete and unsentimental picture of country life in all its aspects. It is not a programme solely about fishing, nature or gardening, but all of these things as they effect the countryman; if it is interesting and part of country life it will be in the programme.' Jack received a 1972 silver award from the Royal Television Society for outstanding creative achievement in television in front of the camera, and later still an OBE from the Queen.

Jack Hargreaves became a household name in England during the 1960s and 70s. He devised and co-presented the long running 'How! shown from 1966 until 1981 when Southern Television lost its franchise. His country TV programmes continued in the 1980s with 'Country Boy' and 'Old Country' for C4. Jack Hargreaves passed away on 15th March 1994. The series may well be a distant memory, but its legacy lives on. The Inner London Education Authority found Jack a fifty acre farm at Beaulieu, Hampshire where a hostel was built called the 'Out Of Town Centre', to show children what rural ways and life in the English countryside were really like. Jack regarded this as his retirement project and, still going strong today as part of the Countryside Education Trust.
Take Care

Peter

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

YOU WRITE:

NEWS AND VIEWS:
To be confirmed
Next spring, the Solid Silver 60s tour will be The Troggs, Swinging Blue Jeans, plus Vanity Fare who will back Brian Poole, Dave Berry and Mike Pender.
In the autumn, The Searchers undertake a large tour, with Gerry and The Pacemakers, PJ Proby and The Tremeloes with Chip Hawkes

ON THIS DAY 17TH OCTOBER 1960-1965

On 17/10/1960 the number one single was Tell Laura I Love Her - Ricky Valance 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 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 17/10/1961 the number one single was Michael - The Highwaymen and the number one album was The Shadows - Shadows. 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.


On 17/10/1962 the number one single was Telstar - The Tornadoes 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. The big news story of the day was Hyde Park Underpass opens.

On 17/10/1963 the number one single was Do You Love Me? - Brian Poole & the Tremoloes 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 Macmillan resigns as Prime Minister.

On 17/10/1964 the number one single was Oh Pretty Woman - Roy Orbison 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 Brezhnev replaces Krushchev.

On 17/10/1965 the number one single was Tears - Ken Dodd 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 Liverpool were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions. The big news story of the day was Lesley Ann Downey's body found on Pennines.

Web Page No 776

FIRST PICTURE: THIS SOMETHING THAT MOST OF US LADS COULD DO WITH THESE DAYS, A ‘BEATLE WIG’.


SECOND PICTURE: IT WAS THE CAMERA FOR THE MASSES BOTH POST WAR AND PRE WAR, THE KODAK BOX BROWNIE.




Smile Please and watch the Birdie

One of the things that have changed out of all recognition since we were kids is they way we take photographs and the number of picture we take today.

My first camera was bought second hand from a Boy Scout Jumble Sale in the Scout Hut in Farlington and was a Kodak Eastman Box Brownie. A very basic box with a shutter release on the side, very slow shutter speed and not at all tolerant of bad light conditions. The first Brownie, was introduced in February 1900 and was a very basic cardboard box camera with a simple lens that took 2¼-inch square pictures on 120 roll film.

In my early teens I was bought for Christmas 1960 a Kodak Brownie 127, millions of which were sold between 1952 and 1967. The Brownie 127 was a simple bakelite camera which used 127 roll film. This was cutting edge technology at the time Three models of the 127 were produced. Model 1 introduced in 1952 and Model 2 in 1959 (this was mine) had a side in orange filter but I never found out what it was supposed to be used for. The model 2 was discontinued in 1963. However the brand identity was so strong that two years later a model 3 was introduced and was produced for four years. Despite sharing the name, this was a complete redesign, with little in common with the original models. They all had the famous Kodak logo on the front and the model 2 the selling price in 1960 was £1 4s 6d. The model 2 originally took 8 6 x 4 pictures on a roll of film but this was soon stepped up to 12 4 x 4 pictures. In those days a roll of film, which was developed at the chemist, was expensive to process so a roll or two would probably have lasted you all year. It was at this time that my father an I set up dark room in the kitchen and developed and printed our own black and white prints. This was a relatively easy process as the negatives were the same size as the prints so an expensive enlarger was not needed. I then progressed on to having a flash gun with single use flash bulbs for inside work, with this new innovation we did debate going into colour processing but the chemicals were too expensive so when colour became popular it was the long walk back to the Chemist.


From the 127 type of camera things rapidly developed with the mass production of SLR (single lens reflex) cameras and the introduction of German and Japanese products at affordable prices. Most of us had one or more of these with their interchangeable lens whilst the ladies carries those small flat miniature cameras, the Instamatic type, that would fit into a handbag, I know my wife did.

From here technology moved onto Polaroid cameras and other self-processing cameras. I am not going to touch other sorts of cameras, the 8mm cine camera which progressed onto the Super 8 and if you were really good 16mm. Then on to video and huge video cameras down to the one I have now which I can put into my pocket.

But look at today all this has been bypassed and even the transparency market is falling off with the introduction of the instant view and easily printed digital camera which most of us have now.

All very efficient and we no longer have to work out exposures, lens settings, shutter speeds and the ASA speed of the film. A little gismo within our modern cameras does all this for us and gives great results but somehow we seemed to have lost the challenge of composing and taking a good picture. And all this can be done just as easily on you mobile phone today!!!!!!!


So stay in touch
Peter

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

YOU WRITE:

Ray Writes:

Thanks as always for your, so interesting' articles and here is some additional notes on the song: Diggin' My Potatoes was the second track on side B of the E.P. released on Decca DFE 6345 under the title "the LONNIE DONEGAN Skiffle Group", (how imaginative was that?) following behind "Bury My Body", another track which didn't meet with BBC approval at the time, both tracks having been recorded at the Royal Festival Hall on October 30th 1954. Side one consisted of "Rock Island Line" and "John Henry" which was a studio recording made on July 13th 1954. I have a (almost mint) copy of the original EP here in front of me although the cover is a little discoloured (as am I!!) but not too surprising after 50 years


NEWS AND VIEWS:

A survey of sales of records over the years has led to a definitive list of the top 40 selling Beatles singles in the UK. "She Loves You" is no.1 and "I Want To Hold Your Hand" is no.2, followed by "Can't Buy Me Love," "I Feel Fine" and "Day Tripper/We Can Work It Out."


ON THIS DAY 10TH OCTOBER 1960-1965 +2

I know I normally only cover 1960-65 but today I have to cover 1967 as well as it was our wedding day!!!

On 10/10/1960 the number one single was Tell Laura I Love Her - Ricky Valance and the number one album was Tottenham Hotspur. The top rated TV show was Bootsie & Snudge (Granada) and the box office smash was Psycho. A pound of today's money was worth £13.68.The big news story of the day was No Hiding Place (AR).

On 10/10/1961 the number one single was Kon-Tiki - The Shadows and the number one album was The Shadows - Shadows. 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 Heller's Catch-22 published.

On 10/10/1962 the number one single was Telstar - The Tornadoes 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 10/10/1963 the number one single was Do You Love Me? - Brian Poole & the Tremoloes 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 10/10/1964 the number one single was Oh Pretty Woman - Roy Orbison 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 XVIIIth Olympics in Tokyo.

On 10/10/1965 the number one single was Tears - Ken Dodd 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.

On 10/10/1967 the number one single was The Last Waltz - Engelbert Humperdinck 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 Jungle Book. A pound of today's money was worth £10.99 and Manchester City were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions. The big news story of the day was Che Guevara confirmed dead and there was a very interesting wedding in St Andrews Church in Farlington!