Web Page  No 2198

29^th September 2015

Top Picture: A Sticky Bud

 Second Picture: Grass Darts

 Third Picture: Bird Collecting Book

Forth Picture: Sycamore Helicopter

Nature Study

I have discussed before how the seasons of the year influenced the way we played as children. However the natural seasons of the year also played their part. I am not talking about the weather conditions because during those rainy periods places such as Portsdown Hill or Farlington Marshes and very possibly our own back gardens were no go areas to play in whilst it was soggy and damp. No I am looking at the natural world of nature  and its seasons.

To start with we all know that the conker season was ruled by when the conkers fell from the trees (sometime helped by the odd well aimed branch or stone) but that was not all, there were natural seasons for everything.

There were seasons for throwing things like sticky buds in January or possibly, in June, throwing grass seed darts into woollen jumpers and later in the year tossing Sycamore helicopters high in the air. Then there was collecting teasels and checking if someone liked butter with a buttercup placed under their chin or sucking the sweet nectar out of the flowers of the clover and making daisy chains. Dandelion clocks and Old Man’s Beard all came into their own at specific times of year as did blackberries and other wild fruits which we collected and greedily ate. Mind you sometimes we were sent out by our parents with a bag to try to collect as many blackberries as we could so that our mothers could make blackberry jam, that is if she could get the sugar!

I seem to remember a hedge or bush being called the bread and cheese plant because the leaves, when chewed tasted just like bread and cheese, but I could never taste it myself. I don’t really remember but was that the Hawthorne bush which was called this strange name?

Then early in the morning, often on the way to school, many people bent a twig over and on their way collected cobwebs. You have to feel sorry for the poor old spider having spent hours and hours weaving a web only to have it taken away by a giant!

There were the days when we could pick wild flowers Bluebells, Harebells, Snowdrops, Primroses and Cowslips and take bunches of them home to our Mothers and Grandmothers. This was also the time when the enterprising youth could climb rocks and trees to a nest to collect bird’s eggs or if down on the Marshes take home jars full of frogspawn. Some folks would dash around with a net and catch butterflies and mount them on cards but this was never for me. There were even Observers books on Birds Eggs or Butterflies to help you complete your collection and to identify it correctly. Then there always was fishing or pond dipping for sticklebacks.

Sometimes we would climb around the cliffs of the chalk pits with a hammer looking for fossils and shells embedded in the chalk and flint layer, here I must admit that I was marginally successful and still have a small fossilised fern that I found in the late 1950’s, it now does duty as a door stop to my shed.

The major time of year for collection, surprisingly was not in the summer but during the winter at Christmas time. We would walk miles to find a Holly tree in fruit with its bright red berries, we would look for swags of attractive ivy and most important of all a bunch of Mistletoe with it creamy white berries attached. Not forgetting the sweet chestnuts for roasting in the open fire in the living room of an evening.

We were encouraged, especially in the Junior School to observe nature and every class has a nature Table with various things the children had collected over the term. At the end of each term all this was swept away and at the beginning of the next term the table would be started all over again.

Do you see now what I mean when I say that as kids, we were ruled by nature.

 Keep in touch

Peter

DUSTYKEAT@aol.com

Ray Writes:-

If it is of any small interest to your and all your readers, the picture of the motor assisted bicycle brought back memories, to me, of  Mr. Eric Greer when he was at Copnor Road Junior Mixed.  As I have explained to you some while ago, he was class teacher to Class 3A when I was one of his pupils in 1954/55, and at that time he always arrived at school riding, what would appear to be from the recent photo, a "vehicle" exactly the same as in the picture.  No protective headwear, of course, except, maybe, a flat cap as a concession to inclement weather. Ah well!  Happy Days.
 
Regards,  Ray Johnson.  (ex Copnor JM and Northern Grammar)

News and Views:

On this day 29^th September 1960-1965

On 29/09/1960 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 The Army Game (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 29/09/1961 the number one single was Reach for the Stars / Climb Ev'ry Mountain - Shirley Bassey 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 29/09/1962 the number one single was She's Not You - Elvis Presley 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 week was Flood kills 333 in Barcelona.

On 29/09/1963 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.

On 29/09/1964 the number one single was I'm Into Something Good - Herman's Hermits 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 29/09/1965 the number one single was Make It Easy On Yourself - Walker Brothers 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.

Web Page  No 2196

Welcome to Martin Stanwood who has just joined us and remembers being in Chalky Whites Class.

Top Picture: Tie Press

 Second Picture: Hallway Brush Set

 Next Picture: Childs paraffin nightlight

Bottom Picture: Table Brush

All Long Gone.

Whilst wandering around a rather jumbled museum in the grounds of  Calbourne Mill on the Isle of Wight recently I spotted several things that we all took for granted in the 1950’s and 60’s and that are no longer around in most homes.

It all started off when I spotted a wooden tie press just like the one illustrated above, I do not remember my father or any of my male relatives ever having or using one but they always seemed to turn up at the troop Jumble and Rummage sales when I was a Wolf Cub and Boy Scout. So too did hat brushes, those specially curved ones for brushing the brim of the hat, because practically every man worn a hat in those days and they had to look their best. The set also came with round brushes for buffing up the crown.

Many homes at this time had a brush and mirror set hanging prominently in the hall, so that the adults could brush down their coats and hats and check in the mirror before they went out. This is something that is never seen in the home these days. Us kids we had to make do with a spit wash!!!!

One other accessory that was popular for men was the brush and comb set it a zipped mock leather case. The set consisted of two identical brushes and one comb, so after father had liberally applied Brylcreme to his hair he could then brush it vigorously to a bright shine and drag in a straight and clear parting with the comb.

Manicure sets were popular for both men and women and these seemed to be a standard present for the distant aunt that you did not know very well!

One other type of brush I remember and I think my grandmother must have brought it with her when she moved in with us in 1952 was the table brush. I can clearly remember a small dustpan and brush no longer than six inches long, see picture, whose function in life was to brush the crumbs off the table cloth between courses. As I remember it we never used it.

Dressing table sets were also very popular. They consisted of a pink glass tray with a bowl for powder, a ring tree, a bowl for the powder puff and two matching candlesticks. I am sure we have a set like that lurking around the house somewhere.

What else? Stone and metal hot water bottles, gas stoves with a lighting lance or gun on the side and a modern eye level grill. I must agree with Flanders and Swann when they sing about the benefits of an eye level grill so that the hot fat can squirt straight into your eyes without you having to bend down.

Wheelbarrows with wooden wheels which creaked when pushed, large captious prams with a compartment under the mattress for mother to store her shopping. Hobby horses and metal wheeled roller skates, coal scuttles and companion sets, dried peas, (handy for the pea shooter), Monk and Glass custard powder, the list could be endless.

Various forms of ash trays some on stands, match box holders table lighters and cigarette cases were all around in our youth as were loudspeakers wire around the house and plugged into the one radio, sorry wireless, in the house. Our radio was in the front room and my father had wire a loudspeaker into the kitchen so my mother could listen to her programmes while she cooked and did the washing!

White enamelled bread bins with coloured lettering were popular and these also had coloured lettering on the side saying Bread, just in case you forgot. Cheese was kept in the Larder (they also area a thing of the past) under a china cheese wedge, meat was kept in the metal meat safe with tiny holes in the sides so that the flies could not get in, flour and sugar was stored in ceramic pots and almost everyone had preserving jars full of fruit, vegetables and sometimes pickled eggs.

Sheets, blankets, eiderdowns and counterpanes, large bolsters and pillows are what we slept under the duvet had not crossed the English Channel then. Small paraffin night lights were popular to dispel the dark when we were very small, despite being dangerous they gave a warm comforting glow, I remember mine was a blue one and my one of my parents used to light it very evening when they put me to bed.  

Keep in touch

Peter

DUSTYKEAT@aol.com

You Write:

Chris Writes:-

Another thing I remember from the late 50s early 60s is the tricks you could play with the telephone. I remember buttons A and B in the phone boxes and that if you rang the speaking clock you could get your money back, I guess they expected you to press the right button once connected, which we never did! Also we discovered that if you dialled the code for your nearest area, then made a long distance call (code and number), the system only charged you for a call to the nearby area! What a basic flaw that was.

News and Views:

On this day 22^nd September 1960-1965

On 22/09/1960 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.

On 22/09/1961 the number one single was Reach for the Stars / Climb Ev'ry Mountain - Shirley Bassey and the number one album was Ipswich Town. 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 £Argentinian swims English Channel both ways non-stop and 13.25 were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.The big news story of the day was Take Your Pick (AR)".

On 22/09/1962 the number one single was She's Not You - Elvis Presley 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 22/09/1963 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.

On 22/09/1964 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 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 22/09/1965 the number one single was Make It Easy On Yourself - Walker Brothers 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.

Web Page  No 2194

15th September 2015

Top Picture: The Queen Mary leaves Southampton for the last time.

Second Picture: Donald Duck lecturing!

Sex Education with Donald Duck!

We have all done it, turned out a cupboard or drawer and discovered an old newspaper that you have just got to sit down and read. Well it happened to me the other day the newspaper was a double page spread of the Daily Mirror from 1^st November 1967, complete with the cartoon “The Perishers”. The centre fold featured the very last departure of the RMS Queen Mary from Southampton on her way to retirement as a floating hotel in Long Beach California. The article had pictures, like one above and was very moving. I am sure that many a tear was shed that day!

I then turned the paper over and was amazed to read:-

DONALD DUCK GROWS UP - TO A CAREER IN FAMILY PLANNING

Having read the piece I just had to reproduce (no pun intended) it for you to read. Remember this article is almost fifty years old, attitudes have changed but it is well worth a read it went like this:-

Donald Duck, the squelchy-voiced hero of a thousand Walt Disney children's car­toons, is really growing up. He is to star in a film about birth control, which is to be shown in the developing nations in Asia, Africa and also Latin America. The ten-minute colour film is now being made at the famous Walt Disney studios in Hollywood and should be ready for distribu­tion by the end of the year. (1967)

The film which will feature Donald’s frank advise about birth control will be dubbed by a lucid interpreter in twenty five or more different languages. The production of the film is being paid for by the Rockefeller Population Council, an American foundation group which is oper­ating this year on a budget of more than £3,000,000. It is envisaged  that the film will be shown all over the developing World. 

Donald's co-stars will be what the Population Council describe as "a couple of Afro-Asian and Latin-American cartoon types." A council official ex­plained : " Donald Duck acts as the narrator for the film. He does not go into any detail about birth control methods he just tries to impress upon people that there is nothing wrong with practicing it.  He points out that there are millions of people using it all over the world.

"We hit on the idea of using Donald Duck because he is so well known" Also that in this cartoon form he will be able to explain things very, very simply.'

The family planning advice in the film was at best vague and the film carefully avoided anything explicit and perversely only the male characters get a voice in the film. One critic stated that ‘this family planning film goes on for a very long time about why family planning is important and then gives absolutely no information about how to do it.’

For us who were brought up in the 1960’s I know that sex education was rather hit and miss, our parents would leave significant books around for us to read and inwardly digest. As far as I remember nothing was ever mentioned at school or at the doctors or the clinic but there again have you ever wanted Donald Duck teaching you all about sex? After all he doesn’t even wear trousers!

I wonder what would Daisy Duck, Minnie Mouse and Hortense Horsecollar have to say about all this!

Mind you this is not the only public service film that Donald Duck made, there were several wartime ones and one which was called “Donald Duck wants you to pay your taxes”.

None of them were Oscar winning material.

Keep in touch

Peter

DUSTYKEAT@aol.com

You Write:

Griff Writes:-

Seeing Peter's article on The Cyclemaster brought back the memories for me.  I couldn't wait to be 16 so that I could tax and insure and ride my 32 cc 2 stroke Cyclemaster.

This machine was going to help overcome the steep ride up Portsdown hill on a Saturday and Sunday to my milk bottling job at Gauntlett's Dairies in Stakes Rd. Purbrook (now a housing estate! ). I had been working at Gauntlett's for around 18 months during the weekends and school holidays and the cycle ride was certainly keeping me fit.   Up the Eastern Rd turn right, along the Havant Rd and then left up the steep hill that was Gilman Rd. to join Crookhorn Lane over the top of the hill and then free wheel all the way down to Stakes Rd. It was all grass fields either side of Crookhorn Lane back then in 1962 belonging to Mr. Gauntlett himself and full of dairy milking cows.

       Anyway my Cyclemaster was bought off Mr. Hoddgson our next door neighbour in Station Rd. for the princely sum of just £2 as he hadn't used it for a number of years and he wanted rid of it. I cleaned it, polished it  and oiled it and checked it over as best as any 16 year old could do. 

 The great day came and it was just magical for me scooting along at around 15 miles an hour. Gilman Rd. of course was assisted pedaling required to get to the top but it was brilliant to have the freedom. I kept this bike for around 6 months and traded up to a Vespa 125 but that is another story.

The picture of the Cyclemaster is exactly the same one that I had. A converted Raleigh type Gents bike. These now fetch around £400 for pristine working bikes on eBay.   Amazing!  That's inflation for you.

Regards to Everyone  Griff.

 

News and Views:

On this day 15th September 1960-1965

On 15/09/1960 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.

On 1/09/1961 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. The big news story of the day was First Mothercare shop opens in Surrey and this was the week that Manor Court School opened.

On 15/09/1962 the number one single was She's Not You - Elvis Presley 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 15/09/1963 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.

On 15/09/1964 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 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 15/09/1965 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.

Web Page  No 2192

8th September 2015

Top Picture: Hercules Shop Bike

 Second Picture: Cyclemaster

Third Picture: Walls Ice Cream Bike

Street Scene

I looked out of our front window the other day and there in the road was a man with a two wheeled trolley, a brush and a shovel, he was cleaning out the gutters and curbs. He must have been the first Road Sweeper that I have seen anywhere for years. This got me to thinking about the other things that we took for granted on our streets when we were young and we see around no longer. Whilst in the gutter do you remember those strange vacuum tankers with the long elephantine style trunks attached so that they could visit each individual drain in the street and suck up the fallen leaves and muck that had drifted into them to keep them clear.

Now let us look at some of the other road users. The first obvious one to look at is the AA or RAC man with his shiny motorbike and sidecar, looking smart and efficient in his riding britches, gauntlets and crash helmets and ready to salute any member who passed. During our youth the patrols were always male, the AA did not employ any female patrols until 1988 and the RAC not until 199. Not many people realise that there was a strict hierarchy within these two organisations and a Patrol Inspector or Chief Inspector, in full uniform with gold braid, could turn up at any time and demand to inspect not only the patrolman for neatness and cleanliness but also the contents of his sidecar and panniers. At this period of time the patrolmen were obliged to write up note books for each incident and the Inspector would make a point of examining these as well.

This was the era of unusual vehicles on the road and the three wheeled vans built around a motorcycle chassis were an example of them (A friend owned one as his first car, it was an ex sweeps van and we never did get rid of the smell and residue of the soot). They were unusual vehicles with a central driving position (handle bars and a twist grip not a steering wheel and accelerator and the clutch and gear change were on the left hand side of the handlebars rather like the motor scooter arrangement). These vans had a form of basic girder suspension poking out from the centre of the front of the cab, they also had a motorcycle headlight attached to this suspension mechanism.

I remember window cleaners calling round to our house, sometimes with the ladders and buckets carried on a homemade side car attached to a motorcycle but more often than not this type of customised side car was attached to a basic three speed push bike and the window cleaner had to cycle the whole of his round with this strange item attached to his bike.

Bicycles were also the preferred form of transport for the local knife grinder and sharpener. The specially made bicycle had a grindstone attached to the front of it and by jacking up the back wheel and applying a rubbing wheel to the bicycle rear tyre the knife grinder could drive the grindstone wheel to sharpen your knives, shears or scissors.

Uniformed Telegram or Telegraph Boys on their little 125cc BSA Bantam’s were a common sight and a sight dreaded by many mothers a few years earlier during the hostilities, because a visit from the telegraph boy could only mean one thing, injury to a loved one or worse.

Shop delivery bikes were common, not just the one used by Granville in Open All Hours. The grocer had a lad who would deliver on a shop bike as did the butcher, the florist and fishmonger.

Corona deliveries came by lorries and they each had their regular rounds as were paraffin deliveries in vans, coal deliveries and many other utilities.

The one thing that always comes to mind about this period of time are policemen on bikes, always cycling with their helmets on their heads, cycle clips tightly around the trousers and a waterproof coat or mackintosh strapped over the handlebars.

When I start writing like this I really do realise that at last I am getting old!!!!! or maybe just older!!!!!

Keep in touch

Peter

DUSTYKEAT@aol.com

You Write:

Anida Writes:

I was interested in the picture of Charlotte Street market as co-incidentally my Mum and I were talking about it only last week.  I remember it as a girl of course and I used to love going there on a Saturday when there were lots of different stalls but the ones I liked best were the China stalls the salesmen, surely forebears of Del Boy, would somehow manage to put a whole tea set along one arm and reduce the price 'not a pound, not 15 Bob but to you ladies just 10 bob'.  My Mum goes back even further of course and my Grandmother told me how she used to visit it in the evening with her mother to get things cheap.  It would be lit with flares and would be full of noise and smells, if they were lucky they would be able to buy a joint of meat for the next day. In the picture you have posted I think that is the end of Meadow Street?  At the Commercial Road end Burtons was on one corner and Dunns the gentleman's outfitters on the other. Halfway down was the Shirt King, the place to go for every discerning young man who aspired to sartorial cool in the 1950's and 60's.

As Mum's memory is brilliant about her childhood and youth, we have been walking North End and Commercial Road shop by shop it's amazing the detail she can remember!  Incidentally I assume that the picture of the ladies in uniform is that of First World War workers at the gas works? 

Chris Writes:-

I remember my parents in the 1960s got so fed up with all the morse code interference on medium wave radio from the naval communications that they went out and bought one of the early VHF sets to cure the problem.

On this day 8th September 1960-1965

On 08/09/1960 the number one single was Apache - The Shadows and the number one album was South Pacific Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was Rawhide (ITV) 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 08/09/1960 the number one single was Apache - The Shadows and the number one album was South Pacific Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was Rawhide (ITV) 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 08/09/1962 the number one single was I Remember You - Frank Ifield and the number one album was West Side Story Soundtrack. 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 08/09/1963 the number one single was Bad to Me - Billy J Kramer 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 08/09/1964 the number one single was Have I the Right? - Honeycombs and the number one album was A Hard Day's Night - Beatles. The top rated TV show was No Hiding Place (AR) 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 08/09/1965 the number one single was I Got You Babe - Sonny and Cher 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.