Web Page No 2524

4th November 2018

1^st Picture. Family Bonfire Party

2nd Picture. Aspirin Packet

3^rd Picture. The Magic of Sparklers

Bonfire Night

For years Guy Fawkes Night has generated many varied opinions. Today when there are very few garden displays we tend to forget the complaints and comments that were generated by these small displays. Here are precis of three articles that appeared in the local press at the time. The first is dated 1952 and the other 1955. They are both windows into the attitudes of the past.

1952

‘Fireworks’ on Bonfire Night anecdotes about dogs point out a moral, but the true story of what happened to Buller, a big terrier, on Guy Fawkes night, will be a lesson for all married men. Just before Nov. 5th. letters appeared warning dog lovers that their pets, being highly- strung should be kept in on bonfire night, as fireworks might upset their nerves. There upon, the wife of the correspondent arranged that he should stay at home with the dog while she went to the cinema. On the appointed evening off she went leaving her husband dozing in the chair and Buller in his usual place on the hearth rug.

I heard a rap on the door and on answering it a very attractive young lady said ‘excuse me but do you have a dog?’ Just then Buller lurched his way along the passage a picture of outsized contentment and she explained that as she was a member of an Association of Animal Lovers she was going around from door to door where dogs were kept with aspirins for them and could she give may dog a few.

The gentleman in question stated that he never liked to hinder people from doing a good deed even to a do and a couple of aspirins were very unlikely to upset Buller. The animal lover was such a charming girl that he invited her into the house and we set to dosing the dog. As we were doing this she happened to have her hand on mine and her hat on the table, he looked up and saw his wife and her mother standing in the doorway looking most interested, they had come back for a forgotten handbag.

It took me quite a time to explain to my wife and her mother just what was going on and to make things worst the dog got up and walked away and husband could swear that it winked at him, twice.

He finished his letter to the paper by saying that next year would any Society that were going to send round callers to offer sedatives for dogs on Guy Fawkes Night from door to door, please would they send them out in the hands of an old man with whiskers so as to keep the peace in his house.

May 1955

Women Oppose Fireworks Ban. The sale of fireworks should be banned except in the week before Guy Fawkes night declared speakers at Women's Institute conference. For the common firework-night squib had become a public menace in the hands of Teddy Boys, it was said. At the Council meeting speakers went on to the platform to tell what the Teddy Boys were doing. Two people had been blinded by a squib put in a milk bottle; a milk-cart pony had been frightened into dashing through a shop window, killing itself and injuring two people: passers-by had been frightened and mail damaged when fireworks were dropped into letterboxes. Two months before Guy Fawkes night squibs are being thrown. One lady told that a house in her village had been partly destroyed and the woman occupier badly shocked all through a firework. One delegate thought that if any sort of ban was made boys would make their own fireworks and cause even more harm that way. Another thought it might make more voting people into delinquents if they were to prosecuted for letting off fireworks.

Happy Bonfire Night.

Keep in touch

Yours

Peter

gsseditor@gmail.com

You Write:

News and Views:

On this day 4^th November 1960-1965

On 04/11/1960 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 £ 13.68.The big news story of the day was Conservative Party Political Broadcast (all channels).

On 04/11/1961 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 04/11/1962 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 04/11/1963 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 04/11/1964 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 04/11/1965 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.