Web Page No 800

FIRST PICTURE: MARILYN MUNRO EVERY TEENAGE BOYS FANTASY












SECOND PICTURE: A PLACE TO COOL OFF AFTER LOOKING AT THE FIRST PICTURE, HILSEA LIDO.


Firstly with the help of Steve and Tim I have now managed to name almost all of the pupils on the 27th picture down on the Blog Side Bar. Are you there?


CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL MY FRIENDS WHO WERE BORN IN THE 1940s AND 1950s!




I have seen many of these remember when articles but I think this is one of the best! So I have localised it a little.

First, we survived being born to mothers who sometimes smoked and/or drank while they carried us and lived in houses made of, or full of asbestos. They took aspirin (my mother took Rennie by the cwt when she was carrying so I was told), ate blue cheese, raw egg products, loads of fatty bacon and pork, processed meat, tuna from a can and never thought of getting tested for diabetes or cervical cancer.

Then after that trauma, our baby cots were often second hand and repainted by Dad with bright coloured lead-based paints.

When we rode our bikes we rode on the road and not the pavement because we knew a policeman would tell us off if we did, we had no helmets or protective clothing. Later some of us took up hitchhiking without a thought of danger. As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags and we often rode in the front seats on Mum’s lap.
Take away food was limited to fish and chips, (in our case from Fishy Francis in Drayton) there were no pizza shops, McDonalds , KFC or Subway but there were Wimpey Bars if you could find them.
Even though all the shops closed at 5.30pm and didn't open on Sundays, somehow we didn't starve to death and Dad still got his DIY done!
We could collect old drink bottles and cash them in at the corner store and buy Toffees, Gobstoppers, Bubble Gum and some bangers to blow up the mud on Farlington Marshes with.
We ate sugar heavy cupcakes, white bread and real butter and drank soft drinks with loads of sugar in it, but we weren't overweight because.......WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING!! We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on. No one was able to reach us all day. And we were still O.K.
We would spend hours building our go-carts out of old prams and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. Then come the winter we would build sledges to use on Portsdown Hill. We built tree houses and dens and played in the garden with Matchbox cars.
We did not have Playstations, Nintendo Wii , X-boxes, no video games at all, no 999 channels on SKY or cable, no video/dvd films, no mobile phones, no personal computers, no Internet WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!
We fell out of trees, got cut, grazed and scratched ourselves, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents. Only girls had pierced ears! We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever. You could only buy Easter Eggs and Hot Cross Buns at Easter time...We were given air guns and catapults for our 10th birthdays. We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just yelled for them! Mum didn't have to go to work to help Dad make ends meet!
RUGBY and CRICKET had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!! Getting into the team was based on MERIT.
Our teachers used to hit us with canes and gym shoes, threw blackboard rubbers or chalk and bully always ruled the playground at school. The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law!
Our parents didn't invent stupid names for their kids like 'Kiora' and 'Blade' and 'Ridge' and 'Vanilla'
We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned HOW TO DEAL WITH IT ALL ! And YOU are one of them! CONGRATULATIONS!
You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up as kids, before the lawyers and the government regulated our lives for our own good.
And while you are at it, forward it to your kids so they will know how brave their parents were.

PS –It might be an idea to foreword this to friends in big type because their eyes are not too good at their age.
Stay in touch and Take Care and how often did you say,’yes I remember that’?

Peter

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

YOU WRITE:
Someone told me the other day that back in the mid 1950’s when ‘Fish Figures’ were first put on the market the launch was delayed because it was decided to change the name of the product. I really do wonder just how long they would have lasted under the original name ‘Cod Pieces’ !!!!!

NEWS AND VIEWS:
Royal Mail will issue a series of stamps depicting legendary album covers. Among them are "Let It Bleed" from the Rolling Stones, Mike Oldfield's "Tubular Bells," David Bowie's "Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust" and the album known simply as "Led Zeppeliv IV."


ON THIS DAY 10th JANUARY 1960-1965
On 10/01/1960 the number one single was Why - Anthony Newley and the number one album was South Pacific Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was not listed and the box office smash was North by Northwest. A pound of today's money was worth £13.68 and Burnley were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.The big news story of the day was Aswan Dam foundation stone laid.


On 10/01/1961 the number one single was I Love You - Cliff Richard & the Shadows The top rated TV show was Emergency Ward 10 (ATV) and the box office smash was One Hundred and One Dalmations. A pound of today's money was worth £13.25 was Tottenham Hotspur were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions. The big news story of the day was Sunday Night at the London Palladium (ATV).


On 10/01/1962 the number one single was Moon River - Danny Williams 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. The big news story of the day was Avalanche buries 16 villages in Peru.


On 10/01/1963 the number one single was The Next Time/Bachelor Boy - Cliff Richard & the Shadows 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 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 Sylvia Plath publishes her only novel The Bell Jar.


On 10/01/1964 the number one single was I Want to Hold Your hand - The Beatles and the number one album was With the Beatles - The Beatles. The top rated TV show was Steptoe & Son (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 Anti-US demonstrations over Panama Canal.


On 10/01/1965 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.