Web Page 3105 23rd February 2024 First Picture: Ever Ready bell battery

Second Picture; Ever Ready Torch

Third Picture: Ever Ready Radio

Fourth Picture; Ever Ready cycle lamp and battery

Batteries When we were young there were only three companies that supplied us with batteries for torches etc so I thought I would look at the most popular. The British Ever Ready Electrical Company (BEREC) was a British firm formed in 1906 as the export branch of the American Eveready Battery Company. In 1914 it became independent of its American parent company and functioned independently. For decades the firm dominated the UK battery market and had several factories in the UK, the largest of which at Tanfield Lea, County Durham, in 1968. Other factories included Dawley, Four Ashes, Maldon, Newburn, London (Victoria Works, Forest Road and from 1936, the St Ann's Works in Harringay) and Park Lane, Wolverhampton. The company's research was centred upon the Central Laboratories in St. Ann's Road, Harringay. The company's head office was Ever Ready House in Whetstone, London. Overseas manufacturing sites included South Africa, Nigeria, Sri Lanka and Jamaica. The company was the subject of a hostile takeover by Hanson Trust in 1981. Upon acquiring the company the Hanson Trust closed factories, cut jobs and sold the German and Italian subsidiaries to Duracell. Shortly before this the British Ever Ready Electrical Company changed its name to Berec Group. From the 1950s the BEREC name was only used for exports of batteries and radio sets (as British Ever Ready Export Company). One of Hanson's first decisions was to revert from BEREC to Ever Ready as the UK brand. In 1992, the company was sold by Hanson Trust to Ralston Purina, owners of the American Eveready company, and is now a part of Energizer Holdings. The company closed its Tanfield Lea centre, it was last UK factory, this was in 1996. Production of some Ever Ready batteries (PP6, PP7 and PP9) continued in the UK until 1999 by Univercell Battery Company, near the old Dawley factory, using the original Ever Ready machinery. The company was also a producer of torches and bicycle lamps. They manufactured radios from 1934 up until 1964. With the 1922 founder of Lissen forming Vidor in 1934, Ever Ready took over Lissen completely. Many models of radio set were manufactured in both Lissen and Ever Ready versions until 1941, when the Blitz ended production. From 1942 until 1945 only one Ever Ready radio model was produced. In 1981 three "offshore" models were produced, one from Hong Kong and two from Malaysia. Tanfield Lea. wis a small village with a large factory, where batteries were made, the factory employed 1,500 people and produced more than 3 million batteries a day. Now it employs 200, makes half a million units a day, and is Ever Ready's last outpost. Stay in touch Peter gsseditor@gmailcom

Web Page 3103 16th February 2024 First Picture: Tin of Elastoplast

Second Picture; Tube of Salvon

Third Picture: Wrights Coal Tar Inhaler

Fourth Picture: Lucozade Advert

Medical Things When we were young and living at home Mum always kept a well-stocked medical box or tin for use when we injured ourselves. A box that contained all sorts of country remedies plus the usual proprietary medical products. As my mother was an ex assistant hospital matron (she had to leave nursing when she married as was the norm in those days) hers had plenty of professional and unusual medical items. But what did the normal box contain here are some items I remember. Surgical scissors and tweezers, little gold safety pins, Elastoplast dressings for the scratched and bruised knees plus the shiny waterproof version Sleek. For the more serious injury out would come the little brown glass bottle of iodine which we all knew meant a stinging sensation would follow when it was applied using a cotton wool ball and it would leave a yellow stain on the skin but mum thought it was important. When it came to minor injuries the medicants of choice were often a tube of Savlon or a tin of Germoline whilst Golden Eye Ointment and Optrex with its eye bath were the major treatment for anything optical. Olive oil for earache was common and Zambuck for pain relief and every first aid kit always contained a thermometer and a packet of cotton wool and lint. Mother always had a plentiful supply of bandages and dressings, slings, medical pads and eye patches. I assume many of them came from her nursing days. I particularly remember one very large sling with many types of bandages illustrated on it. There was also a medical book but it contained lots of words that I did not understand then and still do not so I left it alone. The one thing that I really do remember about being ill at home is that it was the only time I was allowed to have Lucozade, I loved it. Another thing that I remember is when my mother applied a bread poultice to some part of my body, I don’t remember where or what it was for but I know I did not like it. The poultice was normally applied to draw out any infection from an injury, but what infection I had or what the injury was I really do not remember. The other medicant that I remember is the Wright Coal Tar Inhaler which was set up in my bedroom at night when I had a cold. The other medicant at this time was the dreaded Vick Vapour Rub or Inhaler Aspirin, Andrews Liver Salts, Alka Selter and many small bottles with preparations mixed together by the local chemist, the word pharmacist was rarely used in those days. Jonathon writes:- Liquorice All sorts are my very very favourite sweets Its quite amazing how a packet ALWAYS accidentally falls into the trolley at our local supermarket usually in the queue aisle where it is narrow and I guess my trolley knocks them off the little display hooks. I prefer the South African Beacon sweets to the Basset ones in the UK. As we spend 6 months each year in Johannesburg I get lots of opportunity. My favourites are the mini sorts.....they last longer. The best of all are the ones covered in hundreds and thousands and the all liquorice cylindrical ones. Mary Writes:- Just love these Allsorts sweets but these days limit my sugar intake. In 1992 I went to Australia to visit my sister in law & family & was asked to bring some. She says that the ones in Australia aren`t the same. She was very pleased with them. My son has also taken some out to her. On visits to the UK we make sure that some are ready & waiting. Griff Writes:- Peter has just written an article on Bassett liquorice allsorts and Bertie Bassett, the figure made up of liquorice all-sorts which has to be one of the all time best advertising figures ever known. Here is my association with Bertie Basset and my story. I was an aircraft engineering technical officer back in the 1990's working for the MOD at RAF Boscombe Down at the Empire Test Pilots School where top RAF pilots were trained to be test pilots, a very coveted job and highly skilled pilot job in the RAF. My main aircraft responsibility was to look after all engineering aspects of a BAC 1-II with a small team of aircraft engineers. The BAC 1-11 was used mainly for training test pilots on how to recover from a stall and the flat spin that would follow but enough of that aircraft. I also had, as a sideline the responsibility of an aircraft known as a Beagle Bassett which was brought into service every year in the Summer to train mainly Indian pilots stall warning characteristics and stall recovery procedures for a twin engine aircraft The Bassett sweet company somehow got to know about this aircraft at Boscombe and a 12" exact copy figure of Bertie Basset was produced to fly with the aircraft and he was ceremonially positioned on a hook at the back bulkhead of the cockpit as the aircraft mascot. Needless to say the pilots loved this mascot and our very own "Bertie Basset" always flew with the aircraft. I left Boscombe Down in 1995 for pastures new, so, is Bertie Bassett still flying and smiling at the two front pilots?.........I would like to think so. Picture No.1 Boscombe Bertie Bassett.

Picture No.2 Boscombe BAC 1-11

Melvyn (Griff) Griffiths, Stay in touch Peter gsseditor@gmail.com

Web Page 3101 9th February 2024 First Picture: Allsorts

Second Picture; Bertie Basset

Third Picture: The Bassett factory

Fourth Picture: Bertie and Betty Bassett wedding

Liquorice Allsorts As we all know Liquorice Allsorts are made up of assorted liquorice confectionery sold as a mixture. Made of liquorice, sugar, coconut, aniseed jelly, fruit flavourings, and gelatine, they were first produced in Sheffield, England, by Geo. Bassett & Co Ltd. Allsorts are produced by many companies around the world, but are most popular in Europe, especially Britain and the Netherlands, where they are called Engelse drop, meaning English liquorice. They are also common in Scandinavia, where they are called Engelsk konfekt or Lakridskonfekt, and in Finland, where they are called Englannin lakritsi. South African confectionery giant Beacon produces substantial quantities of the product, selling it locally and exporting it to Australia, Canada, and Portugal. In 1899, Charlie Thompson, a Bassett's sales representative, supposedly tripped over and dropped a tray of samples he was showing a client in Leicester, mixing up the various sweets. After he scrambled to re-arrange them, the client was intrigued by the new creation. Quickly the company began to mass-produce the allsorts and they became a successful product.] Bassett's have released two varieties of allsorts that do not feature any liquorice. Fruit Allsorts feature mixed-fruit flavoured sweets, while Dessert Allsorts have flavours such as apple tart and lemon cheesecake. Both retain the shapes and textures of the original sweet. Red allsorts, with fruit-flavoured liquorice, were briefly released in the late 1990s, discontinued and later reintroduced to the UK with flavours including Blueberry Cube, Strawberry Check, and a red liquorice "Betty Bassett". The original items mixed by Thompson were "chips, rocks, buttons, nuggets, plugs and twists". It is not clear which, if any, correspond to Bassett's traditional allsorts, though certainly newer items have been introduced, such as the Bertie. The Bassett's company mascot is Bertie Bassett, a figure made up of liquorice allsorts, which has become a part of British popular culture. The character's origins lie with advertising copywriter Frank Regan, who used the sweets and a number of pipe-cleaners to construct what was the original version of Bertie]/ One of the sweets in the modern day allsorts mix is a liquorice figure shaped like Bertie. The Doctor Who television serial episode The Happiness Patrol featured a villain called the Kandy Man, who was made from liquorice allsorts and was thought by some to resemble Bertie Bassett. Although an internal investigation concluded that the programme had not infringed on Bassett's trademark, the BBC promised Bassett's that the Kandy Man would not appear again. In the 2001 satirical comedy film Mike Bassett: England Manager, the figure of Bertie Bassett appears in a short scene on a newspaper with the headline "Bassett's Allsorts". As a publicity stunt, Bassett's staged a mock wedding between actors dressed as Bertie and Betty Bassett, another character composed of confectionery, at its Sheffield factory, in February 2009. Stay in touch Peter GSSeditor@gmail.com

Web Page 3099 2nd February 2024 First Picture: Tessie O’Shea

Second Picture; With the Beatles

Third Picture: With Ken Dodd

Fourth Picture: Her 78rpm record

Two Ton Tessie O’Shea When we were growing up a fair amount of the variety on television involved quite a few of the old music hall stars. Tessie O’Shay was one of them. Tessie O'Shea was born at 61 Plantagenet Street in Riverside, Cardiff to newspaper wholesaler James Peter O'Shea, who had been a soldier and who was the son of Irish emigrants, and his wife Nellie Theresa Carr. She was brought up in the British music hall tradition and performed on stage as early as age six, billed as "The Wonder of Wales". When staying at Weston-super-Mare as a child, she got lost and was only discovered when her mother heard her singing the Ernie Mayne hit, "An N'Egg and some N'Ham and some N'Onion". By her teens she was known for her BBC Radio broadcasts and appeared on stages in Britain and South Africa. She frequently finished her act by singing and playing a banjolele in the style of George Formby. While appearing in Blackpool in the 1930s, she capitalised on her size by adopting "Two Ton Tessie from Tennessee" as her theme song. In the 1940s, she was a frequent headliner at the London Palladium, and established herself as a recording artist in the 1950s. In 1963, Noël Coward created the part of the fish and chips peddler "Ada Cockle" specifically for her in his Broadway musical, The Girl Who Came to Supper. Her performance of traditional Cockney tunes charmed the critics and helped win her a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical. In 1963, O'Shea was a guest on The Ed Sullivan Show. She was popular enough that she came back in 1964 and shared the billing with the Beatles. Their joint appearance drew what was then the largest audience in the history of American television, helping bring her to American audiences. She was a member of the repertory company on the short-lived CBS variety show The Entertainers (1964–65). In 1968, She was cast in the television movie The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, which earned her an Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Drama. In December 1970 and January 1971, she entertained American troops in Vietnam with versions of her musical act. On December 24, 1970 she performed for troops at Long Binh and took time afterwards to greet each soldier and wish them "Happy Christmas". She starred in a short-lived British sitcom As Good Cooks Go, which ran from 1969 to 1970. She appeared in films including London Town, The Blue Lamp, The Shiralee and Bedknobs and Broomsticks. She regularly appeared on BBC Television's long running variety show, The Good Old Days. She died of congestive heart failure at age 82, at her home in East Lake Weir, Marion County, Florida. Her life was celebrated in the BBC Two documentary Two Ton Tessie!, first broadcast in March 2011. She was aptly and affectionately dubbed "Two Ton Tessie" not only for her plentiful girth but for the tons of talent she possessed as one of the British Isle's most beloved, unabashed music hall entertainers. Give her an audience and bawdy Tessie O'Shea could have them on their feet in seconds flat.

Web Page 3097 26th January 2024 First Picture: Old English Advert

Second Picture; Spangles selection

Third Picture: Spangles Lemonade

Fourth Picture: William Boyd Hopalong Cassidy

Spangles I had not noticed that Spangles had disappeared from our sweet shop shelves. Had you? Spangles were was a brand of boiled sweets manufactured by Mars Ltd from 1950 to the early 1980s. They were sold in a paper packet with individual sweets originally unwrapped but later cellophane wrapped. They were distinguished by their shape which was a rounded square with a circular depression on each face. When Spangles were introduced in 1950, sweets were still on ration, and the price of sweets had to be accompanied by points from one's ration book, but Spangles required only one point instead of the two required for other sweets and chocolate. This bonus, accompanied by effective marketing, made Spangles even more popular. American actor William Boyd was chosen to front the advertising campaign as the character he made famous in numerous cowboy films, Hopalong Cassidy, along with the slogan "Hoppy's favourite sweet" Another slogan was "The sweet way to go gay!" During the early 1970s Mars Ltd commissioned a redesign of the packaging using a ‘funky’ period and appropriate bespoke typeface. The new typeface and packaging designs were created by Neville Uden. Spangles were discontinued in 1984, and briefly reintroduced in 1995, including in Woolworths outlets in the UK, though only four varieties were available – tangerine, lime, blackcurrant and Old English. There are many nostalgic references to them from children who grew up with them. In 2008, Spangles topped a poll of discontinued brands which British consumers would most like to see revived. Today the Tunes brand is the only remaining relation of the Spangles brand, sharing the shape and wrapping of the original product. The regular Spangles packet (labelled simply "Spangles") contained a variety of translucent, fruit-flavoured sweets: strawberry, blackcurrant, orange, pineapple, lemon and lime, and cola. Originally the sweets were not individually wrapped, but later a waxed paper, and eventually a cellophane wrapper was used. The tube was striped, a bright orange-red colour alternating with silver. It bore the word "Spangles" in large letters. In the 1970s, a distinctive, seventies-style font was used. Over the production period many different, single flavour varieties were introduced including Acid Drop, Barley Sugar, Blackcurrant, Liquorice, Peppermint, Spearmint and Tangerine. A white mint Spangle, complete with hole, was produced as a competitor to the Polo mint. The Old English Spangles packet contained "traditional English" flavours. The standard line-up was liquorice (black), mint humbug (brown), pear drop (orange/red), aniseed (green) and treacle (opaque mustard yellow), but other flavours appeared from time to time. The sweets' individual wrappers were striped, distinguishing them from regular Spangles. The tube was black, white and purple, and designed for a more mature and sophisticated clientele than the regular variety. At one point a mystery flavour was released where the wrappers had question marks on them and you would be invited to guess the flavour. The flavour was eventually revealed as Fruit Cocktail. Spangles were mentioned in The Kinks' song "Art Lover", from their 1981 album, Give the People What They Want. In 1977, the British novelty pop band Lieutenant Pigeon released an instrumental single titled "Spangles". The Fall song "It's A Curse" on their album The Infotainment Scan, also includes a reference to Spangles. Stay in touch Peter GSSEditor@gmail.com

Web Page 3095 19th January 2024 First Picture: William Tell

Second Picture; Gessler

Web Page 3093 12th January 2024 Cherry Blossom Shoe Polish First Picture: Cherry Blossom Advert

Second Picture; Shoe cleaner base

Third Picture: Shoe cleaner brushes

Fourth Picture: Kiwi Shoe Polish

When we were kids you could always guarantee on finding a tin of Cherry Blossom shoe polish along with brushes and polishing cloths in a box under the sink in the kitchen. But where did the actual shoe polish come from? Tired of having rub shoe polish off of their clothing in 1906 Dan and Charles Mason decide to create a polish that would last an entire day. They called the product Cherry Blossom Boot Polish and launched it across the UK! Backed by imaginative marketing, the brand quickly became a huge success. In 1911 the Exhibition Centre at the Crystal Palace was hired by the Cherry Blossom company for a day and the gates were thrown open to the general public. Free entry was provided for anybody who brought with them a lid from a Cherry Blossom tin! The event is a huge success and 200,000 visitors produce a mass of traffic unseen in London at this time. Come 1913 and due to Cherry Blossom’s success it was taken over by the Chiswick Polish Company, which was owned jointly by the Masons and Reckitt & Sons Ltd, and between 1916 and 1923 with workers’ welfare high on the agenda at Cherry Blossom, a staff magazine called “Forward” was launched, Shortly afterwards, the company introduced a 5-day working week in 1918 and a pension scheme in 1923 Business was improving and in 1924 the ‘fish plate’ metal opener was introduced and was the first of this type of opener to be introduced. In 1929 the company merges with the Nuggent Polish Company Limited creating a global brand and a year later the company made 50 semidetached houses available for their work force. In 1936 a young girl called Daisy Sander joined the company as a library assistant, she later became better known as the actress Dandy Nichols of ‘Till Death Us Do Part’ fame By the 1960s over 1,500 people were employed by the company. These people didn’t just make and fill polishes though – they also stamped and printed the tins, creating the brand’s iconic packaging. The company’s factories at the time manufactured everything needed on site, just like today! Stay in touch Peter gsseditor@gmail.com

Web Page 3091 5th January 2024 Cars First Picture: Mendac Car Coat

Second Picture; My first Car a Standard 10

Third Picture: Driving Gloves

Fourth Picture: Tiger tail

Here is a page for the lads looking back at our cars of the 1960’s. At this time cars came with very few assessories and we had to buy the add ons ourselves. Very few cars came with built in radios and we had to rely on our portable transister radios with an ariel socket in the back if we wanted music in the car. To make the radio work properly we had to rely on either home fitted ariels fitted through the wings of the car or rely on an ariel that clipped onto the window of the car but this meant a wandering lead inside the car. One of the most popular assesories was the home fitted wing mirror I can remember fitting them myself, one of the major suppilers of wing mirrors was a firm called Wipac. Very few cars came with efficient heating systems or a windscreen demister although a small unit that could be attached to the screen using couple of rubber stickers. This unit was often wired directly into the car battery, not an ideal situation. As time went by the keen motorist could purchase a consul that could be fitted between the front seats and over the handbrake, these units provided an area for the motorist to store small items. There were also units that could be fitted to the car doors to provide storage for cassettes, however these had the big disadvantage of rattling away as the car moved or the door was closed. Another item that seems to have disappeared over the last few years is the undercar paraffin overnight heater. A unit that could be slipped under the engine during the winter months to try to keep the engine warm. Motor clothing was very different, most motorists carried travelling rugs and road atlas’s. My father always insisted on wearing a car coat which he always bought from a company called Mendac. The smart set at the time would never have thought of driving anywhere without wearing string backed driving gloves, I even had a pair at one time for a short time. This was the time when the car accessory shop came to the fore. Shops such as Halfords and Cosham Car Accessory’s were popular and most things for the home motor repairer could be bought there. I remember buying a engine decoking kit many years ago. I squirted the liquid into the spark plug ports and left, as instructed, them over night. The next morning the car was a job to start and it covered the back garden in noxious smoke but made very little difference to the performance of the engine. This was the season for novelties and many of us had comic stickers in their cars along with little triangular stickers stating that we had been to Bideford or Southend. However one of the cleverest advertising programmes came to us via Esso petrol and its put a tiger in your tank campaign. This became so popular that practically every other car that you saw around in the 1960’s had a synthetic tiger tail attached to its filler cap. Life has moved on since those days. Cars are more comfortable with all sorts of built in gadgets including mini tv cameras. At one time I did most of my own maintenance, as many of us did, but today I lift the bonnet of my car and are faced with a mass of engineering which I do not understand anymore. I fondly look back upon the days that with a little ingenuity we could keep ‘old bangers’ on the road for miles and miles. Stay in touch Peter gsseditor@gmail.com

Web Page 3089 29th December 2023 Have you noticed the we have just passed the half a million hits on the page Billy Smart First Picture: The Governor

Second Picture; The Smart family

Third Picture: The Circus in its heyday

Fourth Picture: Billy Smarts Circus poster

William 'Billy' Smart was one of twenty-three children born into a fairground family from London. Born in 1894, he worked with his family on the fairgrounds of London and the South East from an early age up until his marriage to Dolly in 1925, after which he branched out with his brothers to set up his own fair. By the 1930s he was an established member of the fairground community in the South East and London area and travelled with up to ten rides, with some of his rides featuring alongside Bertram Mills' Circus at Olympia in 1939. More success followed in the war years when he operated some of London's largest morale-boosting Holiday at Home Fairs, supplying entertainment to a war-weary public. Although always interested in horses, and interested in circuses for some time, it was not until 1946 that he came across Cody's Circus and bought the big top. By the time he opened his New World Circus in 1946 he was fifty-two years old, following P.T. Barnum's example in taking on a second career as a circus proprietor. Billy Smart's New World Circus made its debut at Southall Park, Middlesex, on 5 April 1946, for the first full season after the end of the war. The circus which he had purchased from Cody was run in conjunction with a travelling fun fair and at first he was seen as an interloper by other more established circus showmen. By 1952, the fun fair, which had been increasingly overshadowed by the circus, disappeared to leave room for a bona fide menagerie. Three years later, the two-poler tent was replaced by a giant 6,000 seat, four-pole round big top with a hippodrome track around the ring, and a vast entrance tent, thus enabling the staging of spectacular parades, which became a Billy Smart's Circus trademark. His greatest innovation was his relationship with the newly established television networks when he agreed for Billy Smart's Circus to be broadcast live by the BBC in 1947. Over the years, Billy Smart's Christmas Spectacular became a BBC holiday tradition, which ITV took over in 1979 and carried on until 1982. A large part of the success of the circus was the showmanship that Billy brought to the operation of the circus, the large family he could draw upon to run the shows and his ability as a showman to market and capture opportunities to advertise. Whilst other circus proprietors were threatened by the rise in popularity of television and shunned the cameras, Billy Smart embraced them. Smart's Circus grew to be one of the largest in the world, touring every part of the British Isles, and with permanent quarters and an associated zoo at Winkfield, Berkshire, not far from where Billy Smart began his fairground career. His success took the circus through twenty-six tenting tours, winter seasons, frequent TV appearances and the provision of animal acts to other circuses. He died in his caravan on 25 September 1966, shortly after conducting the Romford Boys' Band in front of his mammoth circus tent at Ipswich, which had been set up that morning for a two-week stand. With his large Stetson hat, inevitable cigar and unique flair for self-promotion and publicity, Billy Smart was a showman of the highest order. One of his greatest stunts was when he rode an elephant through the streets of Mayfair and parked it at a meter before inserting a shilling! Billy Smart was such a colourful character that on his death his lifelong friend Sir Billy Butlin described him as the greatest showman of our time and probably the last of the great showmen. I remember Billy Smart coming to the King George V he playing fields at Cosham. This was proceed by a mesmerising circus parade with the Governor sat on the back seat of his Rolls Royce in his Stetson hat and smoking a large cigar. Cosham Memories from Peter B:- My father owned the Chemist business in Cosham High Street. “BAKERS OF COSHAM” during the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s. In the 40’s and 50’s, we were a family of 5 living above the shop, which incidentally was originally Cosham Post Office. But there goes another story of the History of Cosham. Once a week, my mother, often with me, would go into Threadinghams to order our weeks groceries. Mr and Mrs Threadingham worked in the shop. They would weigh out things like sugar and flour etc; into cones that they made up from sugar paper. They had a huge bacon slicer which was worked with a big handle. Mr Threadingham would pack it all into one box and then deliver it to us. We got our meat from Pinks further up the street where I remember Miss Rickman sat in a kiosk to take the money after the butchers had prepared the meat. Our fish came from Mr Mays fish shop. We got our Green Groceries from Wilton’s where Mr and Mrs Wilton would serve us. Our bread was delivered twice a week from Campions up the High Street. Our Gold Top Channel Island milk was delivered every day from Gauntlets Dairy in Stakes Road, Waterlooville. We had a big long garden behind the shop and we kept 24 chickens. 12 Rhode Island Reds and 12 Black Leghorns. They were fed on a mixture of waste vegetables mixed with what was called balancer meal and a couple of handfuls of corn which we got from Curtis’s the corn and coal merchants next door to our shop. Once a week, I was sent down to the food office in the High Street to collect our ration of orange juice and cod liver oil. Twice a week I had to take the accumulator from our Wireless across the road to Seals to get it charged up. In my fathers chemist shop, there were no proprietary medicines. He had to make up all the prescriptions from the individual ingredients. He also had to count all the pills and tablets out from bulk bottles into small individual bottles. People often would not go to the doctor and they would rely on my father, John Barlow for his advice. Miss Bartlett was in charge of the Cosmetics side of the business. I hope you may find this interesting. I could go on and tell you a lot more about our life in Cosham High Street Stay in touch Peter gsseditor@gmail.com

Web Page 3087 22nd December 2023 Happy Christmas to all of you First Picture: Harrods at Christmas

Second Picture; Selfridges window

Third Picture: 1950’s Christmas Book

Fourth Picture: Christmas at Home

Had this sent to me during the year:- How Christmas has changed since our childhood. I don’t ever recall making demands on my parents for particular presents under the tree, we were always grateful for what we received. The magic started on the late afternoon of Christmas Eve, we as a family, would take the bus to town where we would go to the Ships in Meadow Street and Deacons in Charlotte Street for our fruit and vegetables. We would buy our Christmas Tree in the market and then would go to the meat lorry for a piece of pork and a capon. The shopping was always left till late as the stalls had to clear their stock by the end of the day or throw it away, so you could buy a string of sprouts for next to nothing and they were literally the first BOGOF known, as a pound of carrots would turn into two or three, they would give you as much as you could carry and more. (this practice changed in later years when most of the stall holders owned shops in Portsmouth, so the left over produce was kept until they opened again. (refrigeration had been become common by then). We then struggled with all our bags and the tree back onto the bus to take us home. Try that today and you would be told to walk. The tree was set up and decorated during the evening and yes we had real candles on our tree, plastic decorations and real glass baubles, we also hung chocolates on the tree and put a fairy on the top, then off to bed before Santa came. On Christmas morning we would find a stocking, aka a pillow case, at the end of the bed filled with goodies. I wouldn’t be far wrong when I say it contained:- A magic drawing pad (when you scribbled lightly over the page a picture appeared) in later years this was exchanged for a colouring book and crayons or colouring pencils. A pretty picture tin of Bluebird toffees. A small stocking of fresh peanuts and raisins. A Clementine or Mandarin Orange. An annual (the first ones were always Rupert the Bear advancing to the Robin and the Swift, then on to Girl) There was usually some form of clothing such as a bobble hats and scarves, socks, gloves and if you were really lucky a cardigan or jumper. Usually, a Dinky toy or animals for the farmyard set. There would be a board game or a small pack of cards and a simple toy that would have cost only a penny or two. Of course Santas present was always left under the tree to be opened in front of all the family. And we were always very happy with our lot. Maureen Writes:- I had an envelope of things to give to you but left them in Cornwall but one thing I will share with you as it is the appropriate time of year. I have a booklet from Christmas 1958 with Lyons Christmas Fare. It opens out into an 8 page banner advertising goodies for Christmas as follows: Lyons Christmas Puddings 2lb in foil wrapper     6s 6d 1lb in foil wrapper     3s 6d 5lb 12oz rich fruit cake with almond paste and decorated 30s 0d 3lb 11oz rich fruit cake with almond paste and decorated 21s 0d 2lb 15oz rich fruit cake with almond paste and decorated 16s 6d Dundee Cakes 16s 6d     12s 6d      8s 6d Tin of petit fours       9s 0d per tin Chocolate Walnut layer cake   9s 6d On the other side of the banner are 8 Christmas Carols and 10 party games Have a wonderful Christmas and stay in touch Peter

Web Page 3085 15th December 2023 First Picture: Duffle Coat

Second Picture: On the Bridge

Third Picture: Dr Who

Fourth Picture: Jonathon Creek

Duffel Coats When we were young duffle coats were very popular, I had one, mine was navy blue with natural wooden toggles, I did not want a camel coloured one. Did you have one? The duffle coat must be the only article of clothing which spanned the classes from the Royal Naval officers to farm workers. A duffel coat (also duffle coat) is a coat made from duffel cloth, designed with toggle-and-rope fastenings, patched pockets and a large hood. The name derives from Duffel, a town in the province of Antwerp in Belgium where the manufacturing process of this kind of fabric, a coarse, thick, woollen cloth originated. Duffel bags were originally made from the same material. As the hood and toggle fastenings from Polish frocks proved popular, the frock spread across Europe by the 1850s. By 1890 a less sophisticated version was being supplied to the British Royal Navy, from various manufacturers. During World War II all British troops wore the coat, among them Field Marshal Sir Bernard Montgomery and Lieutenant-Colonel Sir David Sterling. After the war, the coats became available in England as government surplus stock and became popular, especially with students. In countries freed by British, wearing the coat also meant a tribute to all troopers that fought in the war and a statement to civilian freedom. There are many variations of duffel coat. The basic British style features: • Genuine double weave woollen duffel fabric, lined with a woolly tartan pattern, or plain in the military version. • Three or, later, four front wooden or horn toggle and leather fastenings. • Two large outside patch pockets, with covering flaps on post-war versions. • Originally knee length; shorter on later versions. • A buttonable neck strap was added.. • Bucket hood with press stud adjustment. Later versions feature a neater "pancake" hood. The large toggles and long ropes from the army coats were designed to enable easily fastening and unfastening while wearing gloves in cold weather. Current designs often feature imitation plastic buffalo horn. The original hood was oversized to allow room for a Naval cap. Toggle-and-rope fastenings are known since ancient times, among others in China. The Duffel cloth has been manufactured since about the 1450's in Belgium and since the 1550s in The Netherlands (Leiden). British outerwear manufacturer John Partridge developed the first version of the duffle coat. In the 1890s the British Admiralty purchased the coat in quantity for the Royal Navy from multiple manufacturers, where it was referred to as the "convoy coat". The navy issued a camel-coloured variant during World War I,] most probably also made from Melton wool. The design of the coat was modified slightly and widely issued during World War II. It became known under the nickname "Monty coat". Large post-war stocks of low-cost military surplus coats turned the duffel into a ubiquitous item of British civilian clothing in the 1950s and 1960s, especially among students. Today, the duffel coat is often made of Melton cloth, as opposed to modern duffel cloth, which is a softer wool fabric with a distinct nap used for high-end coats and parkas. British Major Calloway played by Trevor Howard in the 1949 movie The Third Man wears a standard issue Army duffel coat throughout the film. In the Doctor Who serial The Curse of Fenric, the Seventh Doctor wears a tan duffle coat over his costume. David Bowie wears the coat in the music video for "The Man Who Fell to Earth". In the BBC series Jonathan Creek, part of the character's signature look includes a duffle coat, which was from actor Alan Davies' own wardrobe. YOU WRITE:- This from Mary{:- Hello Peter, I have just read your blog, & much enjoyed it. After leaving Portsmouth & moving out nr Hambledon we were living nr the Chairmakers Arms. With my mother being very anti alcohol, I wasn`t allowed in pubs, not that I always stuck to the rules!!! However I was sent to the Chairmakers one day with some eggs from our chicken. The landlord, Major Good was quite a character, & got on well with my Dad, both being ex soldiers. Mrs Good , I think, was Lebanese, & Dad said was a lovely lady. Their son was a little older than me & was a handsome lad, a fact not wasted on me. My then boyfriend told him that I was already spoken for, a fact I didn`t know for 50 yrs! A few yrs ago we took our day centre clients for lunch at the Chairmakers & I felt sad that it had lost it`s wonderful character. I`ve enjoyed a ploughmans at the Plough & Harrow nr Steep, a marvelous place. The Horse & Jockey nr the Chairmakers was good too. These days I live 1 minute from a small Welsh pub, which does excellent roast dinners on a Sunday. It`s a very friendly place & we`re all looking forward to meeting up next Wednesday for a Christmas lunch, free for us 70+yr olds. Wishing you all the Best, Stay in touch Peter gsseditor@gmail.com

Web Page 3083 8th December 2023 First Picture: Ploughmans Lunch

Second Picture: Pickled Eggs

Third Picture: Pickled Onions

Fourth Picture: Uncle Toms Cabin

Ploughman’s Lunch It’s as if the term ‘Ploughman’s Lunch‘ has been on the archetypal village pub’s menu for several millennia but you might be astonished to find out its use started far more recently! According to agreement from various sources including the BBC, the phrase ‘Ploughman’s Lunch’ was first promoted by the Milk Marketing Board in the 1960s. It was part of a campaign to promote the sales of cheese and other dairy products, especially in pubs. However, the concept of the combination of ingredients is much older. If we journey back slightly further to an edition of a magazine published by the Brewers’ Society called ‘A Monthly Bulletin’ (dated July 1956), we read a superb quote describing the activities of a group called the Cheese Bureau. It says “that it exists for the admirable purpose of popularising cheese and, the public house lunch of bread, beer, cheese and pickle was a heart attack waiting to happen. This traditional combination was broken by war time rationing and the Cheese Bureau hoped, by demonstrating the natural affinity of the bred and cheese to effect a remarriage”. The use of the phrase ‘traditional combination’ suggests this type of well balanced, locally produced food has indeed long been a part of rural folk’s diets. Whenever this perfect meal first originated, there is one thing that is vital to the perfect Ploughmans Lunch: generosity. Each piece of cheese, or bread or accompaniment used were large and chunky. Perhaps this explains why rationing and the war got in the way of our enjoyment of this unique English dish and we needed the advertising skills of the Milk Marketing Board in the ’60s to remind us how good it always was. There were also two other essentials that usually accompanied a Ploughman’s Lunch and they were held on the bar in large jars and were pickled onions and pickled eggs. Additional items could be added such as ham, gammon, green salad, hard boiled eggs, and an apple, or tomato and the other usual accompaniments were a portion of dairy butter and "pickle", or a chutney-like condiment. Back in the 1960’s there were many country pubs in southern Hampshire that served really good Ploughman’s Lunches. I remember eating them in The Chairmaker Arms at Worlds End (before it was modernised), The Royal Oak Hooks Way when it was in the hands of Alfie Anger the oldest landlord in West Sussex and locally Uncle Toms Cabin when the tenants were Mr and Mrs Rule. At that time, the early and mid-1960’s, none of us went out for an evening meal, the nearest we got was to buy packet of chips with salt and vinegar from Mr. Francis chip shop on the Havant Road in Drayton. Not exactly haut cuisine!! Stay in touch Peter gsseditor@gmail.com