Web Page 1094
8th November 2012

 Top Picture : Fairy Snow

Second Picture: You are never alone with a Strand

Third Picture: 4 bedroom pub for sale £17,500  

TV Adverts the First Years

With the coming of Commercial Television in 1955 the whole ethos of watching television changed completely, the adverts and the commercial break had arrived. Now most of us know that the first TV advert to be seen was for Gibbs SR Toothpaste. It was transmitted at 8.12pm on the 22^nd September and featured a block of ice with a tube of toothpaste stuck in it and this was followed by a shot of Meg Smith cleaning her teeth. However, what is less well known is that this advert was chosen from twenty three other opening night adverts to be the first shown simply by drawing lots.  Some of the other adverts seen that night were also to become household names and these included Guinness, Surf, National Benzole petrol, Brown & Poulson custard, Lux soap powder, Summer County margarine, Batchelor’s Peas and Brillo Pads. But one of the best remembered for years to come was the advert featuring the animated Guardsmen in Bearskins advertising “Murray Mints, Murray Mints the too good to hurry mints”.

The following year saw the arrival of the now World famous Brooke Bond tea Chimps promoting PG Tips. The very first advert was set in a stately home with a smartly dressed Chimp as the Lord of the Manor. Peter Sellers who was paid the princely sun of £100 for the job did the voice over! Later that year Sooty promoted Omo and elsewhere we were told not to “say brown say Hovis” and everyone wondered where "the yellow went when they brushed their teeth with Pepsodent” toothpaste. 

In 1957 we were told for the first time that the “ESSO sign meant happy motoring”, that Fairy Snow gave you “washday white without washday red hands!” and we were told by someone with a very wheezy voice that “Woodbines were a great little cigarette”

Moving on yet another year we were all introduced to the “ESSO Blee Dooler” and were told that Mackeson “Looked good, tasted good and, by golly, did you good”. This year was 1958 and it produced at least two very memorable adverts. Who can forget “Fry’s Turkish Delight?” with the girl wrapped in the carpet, the jingle being written by Cliff Adams of  “Sing something Simple” fame on the radio. This was also the year that we first met Katie and Phillip whose married life seemed to revolve solely around her gravy which was made with Oxo. As you all know these adverts continued on for many years, in fact until 1976 when they were dropped, as Oxo wanted a fresher image only to be resurrected again in the early part of the 1980’s and again in this present decade.

1959 saw a remarkable show of patriotism when the Managing Director of Sutherlands Paste withdrew £4,600 worth of advertising because ITV did not play the National Anthem at the end of the evening’s programmes. It was in this year that the soap powder wars really took hold with the advent of the White Tide Man in his snow-white suit claiming that you could “Hold it up to the light, not a stain in sight”. Fairy Snow “ forced grey out and forced white in” and Persil began the “someone’s Mum isn’t using Persil” campaign by comparing two little girls white dresses and Daz claimed that it washed cleaner than Brand X and in fact an enterprising shopkeeper in Lancashire actually attempted to put Brand X on the market.

Domestos was busy killing all known germs in an hour and ladies you were urged to wear the Silhouette U bra. A “Double Diamond worked wonders” and you were made “a little lovelier each day with mild pink Camay”. Bernard Miles urged us “to go to work on an egg” and Smarties told us to “buy some for Lulu”. But the burning question of the day was “Can you tell Stork from Butter?”

With the start of the 60’s came an advert, which was expertly made and well received but really had the reverse effect that the manufacturer wanted. I refer, of course to the infamous “Strand” advert. It was based on a Frank Sinatra film and showed Terrance Brook as a mysterious man lighting a cigarette on a street corner with the legend “You are never alone with a Strand”. It was hugely popular and the actor became an overnight celebrity and the theme “The Lonely Man” reached number 39 in the charts. However much as people loved the advert, and still remember it, the product did not sell and the campaign was soon discontinued. The theory being that viewers thought that if they smoked Strand they would end up being as lonely as the chap in the commercial. Just for the record a packet of 20 Strand cigarettes in 1960 cost £3s 2p (16p). 

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News and Views:

Neil Sedaka staged his first-ever piano concerto Wednesday (October 17), with the London Philharmonic Orchestra at Royal Albert Hall. The Julliard-trained pianist performed his composition, “Manhattan Intermezzo.”

I understand that Clive Dunn has died aged 92. Which only leaves two of the major stars from Dads Army left. Ian Lavender who is now 66 and Bill Pertwee who is now 86 and has moved into a nursing home in Cornwall to be near his son. I will talk to Bill when I can and see how he is. Below Ian, Clive and Bill. 

On this day 8th November 1960-1965

On 08/11/1960 the number one single was It's Now Or Never - Elvis Presley 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 £ and 13.68 were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.The big news story of the day was Conservative Party Political Broadcast (all channels).

On 08/11/1961 the number one single was Walkin' Back to Happiness - Helen Shapiro and the number one album was Twenty One Today - Cliff Richard. The top rated TV show was The Royal Variety Performance (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 08/11/1962 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 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 08/11/1963 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 The Royal Variety Performance (ATV) 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 US recognises new regime in Saigon.

On 08/11/1964 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 08/11/1965 the number one single was Get Off Of My Cloud - Rolling Stones 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.