Web Page No 2590

15^th June 2019

1st Picture. A spoonful of Malt Extract was the normal medication

2nd Picture. Frost appearing on the inside of the window pane

 3^rd Picture. The dreaded knitted bathing costume

 4^th Picture. Tony Curtis hair style

14 fabulous memories of a post war childhood

Do you remember Children’s Hour and bread ’n’ dripping?

We might not all remember the war years, but all of us who were born in the 1940s will recall the deep scars it left and the incredible wartime spirit that lived on long after the VE Day celebrations. We remember some of the shortages, especially sweets and chocolate and bomb sites, we always passed several as we travelled from Drayton to Commercial Road on the bus.

The war also brought about huge social change – women became vital to the workforce, the National Health Service gave us free healthcare and secondary education was a must for all children over 11. All things we take for granted today.

In the early 1950s life remained tough and rationing continued. but the glamour of technicolour of the big Hollywood films and the birth of rock’n’roll kept our spirits high. There’s no doubt that we sometimes grew up with very little but we always managed to create our own fun. Here’s just a few of my most cherished memories of precious times and I am sure you will share some of them and be able to add other highlights to the list.

Chip and PIN was not heard of, the hardest thing was remembering your mum’s Co-op divi number when we were sent to the shop on an errand.

Food supplements and additives were unheard of although some of the flavours of the time are hard to forget. The taste of malt and cod liver oil all washed down with welfare orange juice to this day I think I can still taste it!

However, not even rationing could keep us from our favourite treat and the only take away choice we had- fish and chips - wrapped in newspaper of course and in our case coming from Mr Francis chip shop in Drayton.

When it was cold outside we just put another jumper on and in the morning, ice on the inside of the windows got us out of bed and off to school sharpish.

We always seemed to play outside and invented our own games with whatever we could find. playgrounds win our case were the Marshes, Portsdown Hill and the Recreation ground in Farlington Avenue. This had a spectacular bomb hole we could play in. When the Naval Estate began to be built at the top of Farlington Avenue this provided another play area at the weekends when the builders were not working.

Nothing could beat the pictures on a Saturday morning at the Odeon in Cosham. Cheering the goodies, booing the baddies and gripping our seats whilst watching Zorro, Hopalong Cassidy and the Lone Ranger, before standing up for the national anthem at the end.

Nothing much happened on a Sunday… unless we went to visit relatives or went for a family walk but whatever it was Dad would never  take his jacket off and was never seen in shorts!.

And who can forget the droop of a soggy knitted swimming costume? But it didn’t dampen our spirits!

We never answered back, and we always got a good telling off if we misbehaved and failed to keep our elbows off the table…

There was always someone at the door – delivery boys, the coal man, the milkman, the rag and bone man… the list was endless. We grew up listening to Children’s Hour, Vera Lynn and the American big band sound on the wireless (that’s a radio in a wooden box, kids!).

Then rock’n’roll was upon us. We shaked, we rattled and we rolled. The girls swooned, the boys practiced that lip curl and sported DA or Tony Curtis haircuts the teenager was born. We were free, independent and doing our own thing. We may not have had much when we were kids but we made the most of it and got so much pleasure from the little things and blowing 6d at the sweet shop was the richest of pickings! If this trip back to the post war years has got you feeling nostalgic for simpler times, I would love you to share your memories.

Peter

gsseditor@gmail.com

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You Write:

Mary writes:-

I`ve meant to write to you for ages ever since you did the bit on Wilfred Pickles and his relatives. My parents and even my grandparents loved Wilfred and Mabel. I remember Violet Carson playing the piano. Later she was Ena Sharples in Coronation St. When I was living in South Devon a Canadian friend stayed with me. She asked if we could all watch a play on the TV as the girlfriend of her nursing pal`s stepson was in it. The play was about agricultural life in the late 18th century. Caroline Pickles was playing the part of a farm labourer`s wife. She was about to have a baby, and along came a woman from the village to help. During the birth there was rather a lot of nudity. Then when the play ended our Canadian friend phoned her nursing pal and said "Tonight we`ve seen rather more of your Caroline than we expected". I found this rather funny but I was reassured that it wasn`t Caroline but a body double was used! Incidentally it was a very good play, which highlighted the poverty and how hard the men worked for a very low wage. Since then Caroline has gone on to appear in lots of programmes. I think she`s great and I like her.

News and Views:

On this day 15th June 1960-1965

On 15/06/1960 the number one single was Cathy's Clown - Everly Brothers and the number one album was South Pacific Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was Sunday Night at the London Palladium (ATV) and the box office smash was Psycho. A pound of today's money was worth £13.68 and Burnley were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 15/06/1961 the number one single was Surrender - Elvis Presley and the number one album was GI Blues - Elvis Presley. The top rated TV show was Probation Officer (ATV) and the box office smash was One Hundred and One Dalmations. A pound of today's money was worth £13.25 and Tottenham Hotspur were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 15/06/1962 the number one single was Good Luck Charm - Elvis Presley 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.

On 15/06/1963 the number one single was From Me To 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 Everton were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 15/06/1964 the number one single was You're My World - Cilla Black and the number one album was Rolling Stones - The Rolling Stones. 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 Liverpool were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 15/06/1965 the number one single was Long Live Love - Sandie Shaw 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 Manchester United were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.