Web Page  No2102

1^st November 2014

First Picture: Sky Banner

 Second Picture: Drinking Fountain

Third Picture: Pink Pills for pale people

Another of those do you remember? pages.

 It all started off the other afternoon when Pam and I were sitting quietly reading in the garden when we heard a light aircraft pass overhead some way off. It was not until I looked at it that I noticed that it was towing something. We both looked and realised that it was towing an advertising banner, rather like the one in the illustration something that neither of us had seen for a very long time. Three times this plane passed overhead and in each case it was east to west so the banner was back to front to us so we have no idea what it said,( we are assuming that the west to east leg was done along the north coast of the Isle of Wight. However it was definitely worth seeing as it brought back memories of our childhood and the way these advertising banners patrolled a lot of the south coast beaches in the 1950’s and 60’s. Whilst talking about things aerial who remembers the parachutists jumping from an old barrage balloon moored in Portsmouth airfield every Sunday afternoon? I wonder who they were? I never have found out.

Another of those do you remember things are drinking fountains. All around the city there were dotted drinking fountains, normally in public parks or playing fields. Three different types readily come to mind. The first was a squat cast iron piece looking rather like a mile marker with a round top facing outwards. This round top had a handle looking rather like a lemon squeezer in the middle. This handle was rotated and the thirsty one had to bend down and drink from a water spout underneath. However try as I might I cannot find a picture of one. I remember one being in the lower half of the Rec in Farlington Avenue, the area all round it seemed always to be muddy but the water was icy cold and delicious on a hot day.

Then there was the bowl type of fountain with a hand operated spout within the bowl. These were very common around Portsmouth and were really ideal for spurting water all over everyone with the dextrous use of a figure over the spout.

Another, less common type was the wall mounted drinking fountain with a round bottomed cup on a chain attached to it. We were always told not to drink using the cup because you never knew who had been there before you. As luck would have it this was almost always impossible as nine times out of ten the cup had been wrenched off and stolen.  

My godmother always had a saying which went something like, “ she looks unwell, she needs those Pink Pills for Pale People”, we all laughed and dismissed it as just her, being a country girl not understanding modern medicine.

You can imagine the surprise when I searched the Internet and found out that there were actually Pink Pills for Pale People. The story is below.

Here’s a big-business remedy which originated in Canada. “Dr Williams” was a brand name, and the pills were manufactured by George T. Fulford of Brockville, Ontario. Born in 1852, Fulford went into the patent medicine business in 1886 and four years later bought the rights to the Pink Pills recipe from Dr William Jackson for $53.01. The Pills arrived in Britain by 1893, and the company had premises on Holborn Viaduct, London.

The Pink Pills included ferrous sulphate, so they would have had a genuine effect against anaemia, but they were weaker and far more expensive than the ordinary iron pills commonly prescribed by the local doctors.

Advertisements in local and national papers were written so that they  appeared to be news stories reporting a miracle in some distant town – the miracle always turning out to be a result of someone taking Dr Williams’ Pink Pills.

In 1905, George Fulford had the dubious honour of becoming the first Canadian to be killed in an automobile accident, but his company remained in business until 1989.

 REMARKABLE AFFAIR IN YORKSHIRE.–The daughter of Mr.  J.  Bridges,  42,  Foljambe-Road,  Eastwood View,  Rotherham,  has  been  the  theme  of  a  well- authenticated report in the Yorkshire papers, the facts having been investigated, and the  lady and her parents seen, by press representatives. Miss Bridges at seventeen was described by her parents as “prematurely old.” She could  not  eat,  had  no  strength,  and  was  nearly copper-coloured, suffering severely from palpitation of the heart. But when seen by  the  reporter  she  was  in the bloom of health, eating and sleeping well and quite free from heart-trouble, with complexion  like  the  rose —a recovery entirely due to the now  famous  remedy, Dr.   Williams’  Pink  Pills  for  Pale  People.   

When a    girl    is   pale,   weak,   easily   “tired   out,”   troubled   with    headache,    backache,    pain in the side;   when   her  temper  is  fitful  and  her  appetite poor—she  is  in  a  condition  of  extreme  peril, a fit subject for the development of the most  dreaded  of all diseases—consumption. Dr. Williams’  Pink  Pills will assist the patient to  develop  properly  and  regularly; they will enrich  the  blood,  and  danger  of  consumption and premature death will be  averted.   Prudent mothers will insist  upon  their  daughters  taking Dr.  Williams’ Pink  Pills  upon  the  approach  of  the period of womanhood and thus avoid all  chances  of disease or early decay.   The same  medicine  cures rheumatism, sciatica, neuralgia, paralysis,  locomotorataxy, nervous headache, scrofula, chronic erysipelas and influenza. A specific for the female sex. In   men   they   cure   all   cases   from   worry,   overwork, or excesses.

Sold by  Dr.  Williams’  Medicine Company,  46,  Holborn  Viaduct,  London,  and   by chemists, at 2s. 9d. a box, or six boxes 13s. 9d., post free.  Only  genuine if ina  pink  wrapper  with  full  name, Dr. Williams’ Pink Pills for Pale People.

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Peter

DUSTYKEAT@aol.com

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On this Day 1^st November1960-1965

On 1/11/1960 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 1/11/1961 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. The big news story of the day was Stalin removed from Lenin's tomb.

On 1/11/1962 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 1/11/1963 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 1/11/1964 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 1/11/1965 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.