Web Page 992

Top Picture: Hand made chocolates from the 1960’s


Second Picture: They still sell these! The spud gun.

The Tuck Shop

When you were in Junior School did you have a local Tuck Shop? I know that we did. Ours was on the corner of Solent Road and Highlands Road in Drayton and opposite Solent Road School. It was run by a couple, Mr & Mrs Shaw and it was situated in the back room and conservatory of their home. It was actually a typical corner shop which sold almost everything rather like Arkwrights in ‘Open All Hours’ and it sold everything from toilet cleaner to potatoes! But it had a small counter off to one side for all those pocket money type of items. The shop was run by Old Man Shaw and his wife, well at least we called him Old Man Shaw he was probably in his mid 50’s when we were 7 or 8 so he seemed very old to us.

A trip into this Aladdin’s Cave before or after school was a necessity for most of us. Here we would buy our Jamboree Bags, Penny Chews, Fruit Salad Sweets and various other unhealthy but enjoyable sweets. One of the products that were popular were the chewing gum packets that contained collector cards in them, I remember collecting scenes from ‘Quo Vadis’ and portraits of film stars and there was quite a thriving black market going on in swapping and exchanging these cards so you could collect the whole set.

Mr Shaw seemed to run the shop on a seasonable basis making various things at the back of the counter as the year progressed. In summer he would make penny ice lollies in various flavours which we had to finish off either before we got home or went into school. Also in the summer he made his own fizzy drinks and I can remember a large red metal contraption behind the counter which added the fizz to the fizzy drinks. As the year progressed other things appeared on the counter the main one that I remember, and never liked, were home made toffee apples.

When the marble season was declared open, (who ever decided that?) Shaw’s always had a big selection of either individual or packet marbles and, of course, large glass Alleys. When the marble season was over then came Yoyo’s and stamp collecting. Yoyo’s came in various sorts and colours. The heavy wooden ones being the best and stamps came in little packets and of course you then needed the album to put them in and the hinges to stick them down. Come November it was the firework season and of course we were far too young to be sold fireworks but the law did state that we could be sold coloured matches and I remember that these came in two colours red or green and gave off a terrible smell when they burnt.

Some time during the year the Swanee Whistle would become popular and it seemed that practically every child had one of these instruments and would play them, if that is the right word, on their way home from school, all bought from Shaw’s. Christmas saw an influx of tiny presents on the counter all of which a child’s pocket money could afford, maybe as a gift for a favourite aunt or a teacher!

But there was more than food for the youngster whose 6d piece was burning a hole in his pocket. Toys were also a side line and I remember buying a spud gun, (you can see from the illustration above that they are still around,) and one potato as ammunition. I also bought Lone Star cap guns, cap bombs and of course the caps to go with them.

One other item that used to sell well were goggles. These were modelled on the RAF pattern and we all fondly believed that they were the actual ones worn by fighter pilots in the Battle of Britain, it never crossed our minds that they were far too small to fit an adult head, but we were happy we were wearing fighter pilots goggles. On one side of the counter the keen lad could always find cheap balsa wood gliders, these planes came in paper packets and consisted of a fuselage, wings and a tail which were slotted in plus a weight for the nose and many an air battle was waged with these packet planes but, of course, we had to wear the right googles to fly these fighters!!!!

Well these are just some of the things that I remember from my local tuck shop, I am sure you will be able to remember other things from your own. If so send me an Email and we can share your memories with everyone.

Stay in touch,

Yours,

Peter

DUSTYKEAT@aol.com
Pj.keat@ntlworld.co.uk

You Write:

Tom Writes:-

I'd like to talk a bit more about Court Lane School of which I enjoyed more than Manor Court. Although, I quickly add that I have happy memories of both. There was a very special teacher at Court Lane by the name of Mr Butler who not only the children liked a lot, but also the Parents liked very much too. To him controlling a class was second nature and he did it all with such kindness and encouragement. I can imagine my fellow pupils wherever they are now, still remember him with the same fondness as I do. It was in his class that I met Susan Jones and got smitten. See what just one old photograph has stirred in me. Crazy isn't it.

Malcolm Writes:-

Hi Pete, enjoying being reminded of the good years we had. Listen to Gold all day when in the car and the music does not really seem like 30 - 50 years old. We've had mini-skirts and hot pants make a come back, but what about cheese-cloth shirts?? I really loved wearing them, really felt the cat's whiskers strutting down Cosham High Street, complete with flared trousers and platform heels!! The previous update mentioned the Savoy, Southsea and I can clearly remember going there to see The Nashville Teens, when Tobacco Road was in the charts. The place was packed out, had real trouble getting to the bar (this was before ID was needed!!).

Mary Writes:

Hello, I read last weeks blog with great interest as always. Behind Widley church is a small military cemetary. Most people do not realise this. Last week it was mentioned that Frankie Vaughan appeared in Portsmouth to support a youth club. I`m not surprised as he had a life long interest in Boys Clubs. He grew up in a deprived area under very difficult circumstances. His grandfather deserted his young wife and large family of very small children to live in America. For a long time the family thought the grandfather was dead. Frankie soon knew the value of a club to keep young lads out of trouble hence his interest. On a personal note about the only thing that my mother and mother in law agreed on was a mutual love of Frankie Vaughan. Both adored him. My mother had an artificial limb but that didn`t prevent her from singing "Give me the moonlight, give me the girl etc" followed by a high kick".

Linda Writes:

One advert I remember was for Mr Clean it went - Mr Clean gets rid of dirt and grim and grease in just a minute - Mr Clean will clean your whole house and everything that's in it. Sad aren't I - I have just never forgotten that one.

News and Views:

Sad to see the death of Basil D’oliveira, a real gentleman of cricket. I used to know him when I and his family when I lived in Worcester in the mid 1960’s.

On this day 26th November 1960-1965.

On

26/11/1960

the number one single was It's Now Or Never - Elvis Presley and the number one album was South Pacific Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was Labour Party Political Broadcast (all channels) 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

26/11/1961

the number one single was Little Sister/His Latest Flame - Elvis Presley and the number one album was Ipswich Town. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street and the box office smash was One Hundred and One Dalmations. A pound of today's money was worth £13.25.The big news story of the day was Sunday Night at the London Palladium (ATV)".

On

26/11/1962

the number one single was Lovesick Blues - Frank Ifield and the number one album was Out of the Shadows - Shadows. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street 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

26/11/1963

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 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

26/11/1964

the number one single was Baby Love - Supremes and the number one album was A Hard Day's Night - Beatles. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street 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

26/11/1965

the number one single was The Carnival is Over - Seekers and the number one album was The Sound of Music Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street 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. The big news of the day Mrs Mary Whitehouse had just formed the National Viewers Association

Web Page 990

Top Picture: A railway poster advertising Portsmouth








Second Picture: Bargains at Weston Harts!






What was happening in 1963



By 1963 the teenage revolution was really underway. Portsmouth’s leading young man’s fashion store “The Shirt King” in Charlotte Street and I expect you remember here was a branch in Cosham High Street, (I used it regularly) advertised its first-ever January Sale with cutaway shirts at 12/6d, Chelsea boots at 49/6d, Casual Jackets at 50/- (£2.50) and denim shirts were only 25/-. However to the people of our parents generation the wearing of denim was seen as a sign of something rather undesirable and this was reinforced by an article in the Evening News called “Delinquency and Discipline. The teenage girls’ fashion at the time were variously described as smart or odd as they featured polo neck sweaters, shortish skirts and knee-length boots.
In 1963 it was possible to rent a black and white television with the two channels, BBC and ITV for 8/8d per week from Radio Rentals or Rentaset or for the teenager a three-speed record player could be bought for 8 guineas (£8/ 8/-). It really did not matter if you could not afford new records to play on it long-playing albums (LPs) cost 32/- and 45rpm singles at 6/8d, a visit to “Haskell & Green” or “The House of Wax” in Lake Road cured that because both these shops were emporiums where you could buy (or sell) second-hand records. Transistor radios were all the rage in 1963 and they were relatively expensive at first, pocket sets (Japanese ones at least) were down to £3-£6 but they were soon down to 50-bob in the local Co-op. As a comparison, if you were lucky enough to have access to a car you would have been able to fill the tank of a Mini for £1.00!

There were new teenage magazine appearing almost every week and the year started off in mid-February with a new magazine for girls, “Diana” – costing 6d per week and offering a free “golden chain bracelet”. I wonder how many of those are still around in jewellery boxes on dressing tables? Other well known magazine which started that year were ‘Jackie’ and ‘Roxy’.

Fashions and hairstyles were changing too and in Portsmouth, Jackson the Tailor in Commercial Road were selling what they called “Young Man’s Choice” suits, ‘off-the-peg’ for just nine guineas while Helene, again in Commercial Road had a “stunning cape suit” for the young women at £15.4.6d. Other stores were not to be outdone and C&A were promoting “Paris-inspired dresses” for 98/-; the boys were not ignored they could buy Big Beat jackets at Junior C&A for £4/9/11d, the Co-op advertised needlecord Beatle jackets at £6/19/6d.

In August of that year ITV launched a new weekly pop show ‘Ready Steady Go’ this, as I expect you remember, was a highly popular programme with the slogan “the weekend starts here” but for some mind blowing reason Southern Television decided to broadcast it on Sunday afternoons, maybe their weekends were different to other peoples! Very odd!

But nothing was as odd as what occurred in St Albans Church in Copnor when a teenage rock & roll performance caused a controversy with the presentation of a modern nativity featuring an unexpected pregnancy, a coffee bar, motorbikes and “beat music”. The Evening News ran a feature called “Rocking in the Nave” about this “controversial religious drama”, which caused a lot of interest especially when it revealed that the girl star had been banned from appearing by her father. The controversy continued with a letter complaining that churches are not right for “rock, skiffle and plays”. However the play was performed to “packed” church with no sign of protests or dissention for the rest of the performances.

The teenage world had hit Portsmouth this was shown with the opening of the Paulsgrove Youth & Community Centre which cost £55,000. But nothing changed as the girls complained that the boys are too shy and rarely got up and danced.

But all was not free and easy because on Saturday 24 August 1963, a newspaper headline revealed “Girl (14) took drugs, drank beer in bar at Southsea”. The drugs included Benzedrine and reefers and it was one of the earliest reported prosecutions of this kind in the city. Over the years to come there would be many more. But that is another story.

Stay in touch,

Yours,

Peter

DUSTYKEAT@aol.com
Pj.keat@ntlworld.co.uk



From the Web Site 9 years ago:-

Did You Know?

From the Keat pool of useless trivia comes these local gems. Some are well before our time but nevertheless interesting.

Farlington Station was built in 1891 to serve the Farlington Racecourse which was opened on 27th June that year. The course, complete with grandstand was south of where the railway triangle is today and the station straddled the two lines. In July 1894 a horrendous derailment happened when the train guard died and eight of the passengers badly injured. The racecourse was taken over by the Army in 1915 and used as an ammunition dump and for a time it was used as a depot for the Army Veterinary School. Racing was never resumed after the war. The station closed in the mid 1930’s but in 1948 sidings were laid to serve the new Co-op Bakery at the bottom of Station Road. However this was not the only racecourse served by a station in the area. Between 1933 and 1939 a halt was opened to serve Paulsgrove racecourse, the site of this today can be verified by the existence of Racecourse Lane which is off the main road.

Drayton: According to old maps of 1869 the New Inn in Drayton was originally called the George Inn but no other documentary evidence can verify this suspicion. Originally Lower Drayton Lane took a sharp turn to the East near the top and came out opposite Upper Drayton Lane, one assumes this was for the ease of the horses pulling the wagons up the slope. Between the wars the short extension of road, which is used today, was cut straight up to the Havant Road. The original road was unadopted for many years and remained so despite have a terrace of houses, Wellington Terrace, situated on it. The road remained like this until the redevelopment and the building of the new shops called the Broadway.

Court Lane: This road was generally accepted, although totally unofficially, as the eastern boundary of Cosham. At the top of Court Lane on the north west corner where it meets the Havant Road stood, until its demolition for new housing, stood one of the last thatched houses in Cosham.

Cosham: Wayte street commemorates the memory of Honor Wayte one of the members of the family who once owned Wymering Manor in the 15th and 16th centuries. In 1608 she endowed alms house to accommodate four honest and sober women of the parish. The original houses were destroyed by fire in 1800 but were replaced by new cottages, however nothing of these remain today.

During the Boer War, 1899-1902, many thousands of soldiers embarked onto trains at Cosham station. These embarkations were usually preceded by a parade down the High Street often led by a band. During the second world war large concrete tank traps were put in place next to the railway line on the south side opposite the signal box, between the High Street and Northern Road and these lasted in place well into the 1960’s. I remember sitting on them as a child and watching the trains go by! But the history of Cosham goes back many hundreds of years and when in the 1930’s excavations were made on the corner of High Street and Magdala Road to set in petrol holding tanks for the garage substantial remains of a Roman Road were discovered.

Highbury: Until the building of the motorway and the development of that area there were still remains of a working dock and quay alongside Portscreek. This was built to bring in the materials for the construction of the houses, buildings and roads on the estate.

Portsdown Park: This was an ill-fated development on the slopes of Portsdown Hill opposite the QA hospital. The development included three tower blocks as well as low rise housing, a public house and shops. Work began in 1971 and the first tenants moved in 1975. The building suffered water ingression and vandalism and was rife, it was costing the Council a fortune to maintain and so it was decided to cut their losses and pull out so in 1987 the order to remove all the tenants was given and the Park was demolished.

Widley: The old village of Widley lay well to the west of the modern development and the community was served by the church of St Mary Magalene. There had been a church on the site from 1291 but this one was replaced by a new building in 1849. However with the movement of the population the church became disused and was demolished in 1953. All that remains is the outline of the church, the cemetery wall and a few grave stones among which was buried the infant brother of Charles Dickens, Alfred Dickens. The church remains can be found on the left hand side of the road descending Pigeon House Lane.

Cowplain: In 1934 a growing number of people liked where they lived but they did not like the name of the place. Suddenly Cowplain had lost its rural charm and so began a long forgotten campaign to change the name of the area. A Dr Beddows suggested to the Residents Association that the time was right to change the name to the more refined name Latchmere, which was the name of a small area within Cowplain itself. The argument soon waged and continued for many months but the campaigners got no backing from the Council the move to change the name slowly disappeared until now very few people are even aware that the campaign ever happened.

Now over to Paulsgrove: One cannot imagine Paulsgrove being the south of Englands answer to the dollar rich oil fields of Dallas, but it nearly did happened. To this day there must be a family living somewhere in Paulsgrove who are situated on top of a 6,500ft hole. Hopes were high in 1936 when the D’Arcy Exploration Company set up a 135ft drilling rig on what was farm land. The soil samples indicated that there was a strong possibility of oil in the region and drilling continued until mid 1937, but oil was not found in commercial quantities. Another attempt was made after the war with a 3,000ft shaft being sunk near to the original but again no strike. Lets just hope that these two holes are well capped because it certainly is a long way to the bottom. I am sure only a very small percentage of the people who live on the estate now even know about these ambitious plans.



You Write:

Peter writes:

I was very impressed that Wally Dunstan knew Sir Adrian Boult and Sir John Barbirolli. This must have been a choir directed by John Stephens when Sir Adrian visited Court Lane School in 1956. What an event. John Stephens never mentioned it to us. I remember, although my memory is very misty about this, when there was a schools choir festival, or competition, that included our school choir. It was held at, I think, the Guildhall? About 1958 ish? Also another memory of a marvellous concert given by Sir Charles Groves and the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, especially for schoolchildren. Was this at the Guildhall as well ? I can't remember when, or what they performed.....but I was hooked.

Editor replies:

Yes it was at the Guildhall and they played the Surprise Symphony and the Young Peoples Guide to the Orchestra.



News and Views:

Keith Richards was awarded a Norman Mailer Prize for Distinguished Biography in a ceremony in Manhattan. Keith, who was introduced by former President Bill Clinton, won the award for his autobiography, "Life."

On this Day 19th November 1960-1965

On 19/11/1960 the number one single was It's Now Or Never - Elvis Presley and the number one album was South Pacific Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was Take Your Pick (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 19/11/1961 the number one single was Little Sister/His Latest Flame - Elvis Presley and the number one album was Another Black & White Minstrel Show - George Mitchell Minstrels. The top rated TV show was Sunday Night at the London Palladium (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 19/11/1962 the number one single was Lovesick Blues - 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 19/11/1963 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 Conservative Party Political Broadcast (all channels) 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 19/11/1964 the number one single was Baby Love - Supremes 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 19/11/1965 the number one single was Get Off Of My Cloud - Rolling Stones and the number one album was Liverpool. 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. The big news story of the day was Take Your Pick (AR)".

Top Picture: Sir Adrian Boult



Web Page 988
Second Picture: The Savoy Dance Hall

Entertainment in Portsmouth in the 1950’s

The other day I was researching the music and entertainment scene in Portsmouth and I soon discovered that the City was alive with stars and entertainers throughout the year. The one thing that I did not expect to see was a mention of Court Lane School.
In the entertainment listings, to my amazement, I read that on March 19th 1956 Sir Adrian Boult conducted the choir of 150 at Court Lane Modern School in rehearsal for a national Festival of School Music. Now this is something that I had never heard of so I set off in search of the truth. My first and only port of call was to June Blitz as she was the only teacher I know that was working in the school at the time and whose contact address I had. She most certainly did remember the occasion and she thought the reason that such a prominent and well respected conductor should grace the school was because he was a friend of the Head Master Wally Dunstan, (she thinks that he also knew Sir John Barbiroli). I did not start at the school until September 1957 but I thought news of the great mans visit to the school would have still been buzzing around.

Famous conductors apart let’s look at the line ups at some of the live entertainment venues in 1956.

The Savoy Ballroom hosted many bands and was most certainly the hottest venue in town for Dance Bands, so it is best to list them month by month.

January: Johnny Dankworth and his Orchestra , Sid Phillips and his Band
February: Ted Heath and his Music, Lou Preager and his Orchestra, Ronnie Scott and his Newly Augmented Orchestra
March Eric Winstone and his Full Broadcasting Band, Stan Kenton and his Orchestra play two sit down concerts. 16th Ray Ellington and his Quartet Tubby Hayes and his Orchestra
April 20th Ken Mackintosh and his Radio Band, Eric Winstone and his Orchestra
May Johnny Dankworth and his Orchestra, Alex Welsh and his Dixielanders, Mick Mulligan and his Magnolia Jazz Band with George Melly,
June 1st Ted Heath and his Music, Ken Mackintosh and his Orchestra, Freddy Randall and his Orchestra
July 20th Tubby Hayes and his Orchestra, Ted Heath and his Music admission 5/-d.
August Johnny Dankworth and his Orchestra
September Johnny Dankworth and his Orchestra
October 5th Ray Ellington and his Quartet, featuring Marion Ryan, Ted Heath and his Music
November 9th Joe Loss and his Orchestra, Ray Ellington and his Quartet featuring Marion Ryan
December 14th Ted Heath and his Music, Ken Mackintosh and his Orchestra
At the Theatre Royal the customers could see Jon Pertwee and the Kentones appear in January and Monswer Eddie Gray and Arthur English appeared in February. In March Ronnie Hilton and May Anne Shelton, The Five Skyliners and Arthur Worsley appeared. In June Elsie and Doris Waters starred with Peter Cavanagh and Saveen with Daisy May and in the following month they could see David Nixon plus Reg Varney and they were both back for a second week later that month. In September Fred Emney and Betty Driver appeared and at the end of the month the ‘Cheeky Chappie’ himself Max Miller graced the stage whilst the end of the season in October saw a week with Vic Oliver.

South Parade Pier had a variety of acts: In March Victor Silvester and his Ballroom Orchestra play on South Parade Pier Victor senior was in hospital so his son Victor junior conducted the orchestra. In May Danny Kaye made an appearance and in June Cyril Fletcher appears for two weeks followed by Eric Delany and his Band Show, the Tommy Trinder and in July Jack Parnell and his Orchestra

The Kings Theatre was a little more high brow with Rawicz and Landauer in March, Fenella Fielding in April and the Sadlers Wells perform a variety of ballets in June. Come August George Formby stared in 'Too young to marry' and this was followed by The Ballet Rambert and Cardew (the Cad) Robinson in October.

Just a look at a couple of other events both in October, this time in unusual venues.

October 16th saw Wilfred Pickles bring 'Have a go' to the Trafalgar Club in Edinburgh Road and it's broadcast on the BBC Light programme.
And how they managed this I really do not know for on October 25th Frankie Vaughn appeared for a Youth Club dance arranged by Hillside and Goodwyns clubs.

Stay in touch,

Yours,

Peter

DUSTYKEAT@aol.com
Pj.keat@ntlworld.co.uk


You Write:

Tom Writes:
Hi Pete

The photo called Court Lane Children, I do remember many of them because I also went to Court Lane. In fact Ian Sellars lived almost opposite me in Lonsdale Avenue, very near the school. But to my surprise there's also Susan Jones in the photo. Well, what can I say the truth I suppose, is always the best. For a long time at Junior School she had a spell on me, it was of course only puppy love but I still even up to today wonder what happened to her. She used to live in a road which was on the route to the back of the Odeon cinema car park. This route we took on our way to the Saturday Morning Pictures. Wow, how that picture of her and some of the others has bought a flood of memories back to me. So much so that I had to write and tell you.

Steve Writes:

On our visit to Portsmouth last May I was surprised that Drayton had changed very little and a few shops from our day still remained. The Co-op of course and a Fish & Chippy still there where Fishy Francis was and of course no milk machine outside. Across the road was still a Womens hairdresser's. Yes, the old New Inn was under refurbishment, I think it's going to be a restaurant?

And back on the Co-op side the Opticians, with the name of Malcolm Smith, remember me asking you later if anyone knew if this was indeed the Malcolm Smith of Manor Court and in my class?

Of course no Nappers the hardware shop, Lights and my favourite shop R.A. Fraser's where I spent some of my early wages on records. In fact just dug out one of my Pink Floyd albums to check the shop name from the sticker, yep I still have this and a few others. I believe you worked there around this time, so you might have sold it to me!

Further afield, as we were staying in a B&B on Portsdown Hill road I got the urge to look at Dead Man's wood, a favourite haunt of ours as kids. As you know it's in the middle of a golf course now, but that didn't deter me. Inside the wood it is a lot more open now with all the shrubbery I remember now cleared and two war memorial stones are still there!

And lastly we managed to find time between various meet ups with old pals for a trip to Hayling and the Kench, where my Father had a houseboat back in the late 50s, that is gone now but still a half dozen remain. And of course we had a great big meal in the Ferry Boat Inn (recommended) after, that Inn has certainly grown since our days!

Peter Writes:

Thanks so much for the Staff list. What a diverse lot they were............as indeed were their teaching methods!. No uniform box ticking for them. You learned as much from their personalities as from their subjects. They were clearly in charge of their own teaching, and it made them individualists. I 'm sure we had more variety in those far off days than many do today.

There were some unforgettable staff at Manor Court at that time. Bert Ray, with his suppressed humour ....."I'll take umbrage on you boy".David Gee's gentle wisdom. Norman Folland's patience....by God he needed it! Mick Jones's extrovert enthusiasm. Ray Dopson who never talked down to us. John Stevens who liberated the most feeble voices and gave me a lifelong love of music. There were many more of course. When you are young you take it all for granted. It is only later that you realize how much some of these folk enriched our lives. And there was always Miss Burden, our resident Pre Raphaelite beauty...... It was'nt all good...........careers advice!!!.... But, like you Peter, I still own a coffee table and teapot stand, so we could have done furniture making....,rather badly!!

News and Views:

It's been reported that "Monkess Business: The Musical" will open in Manchester, next March. Manchester is, of course, the birthplace of Monkee Davy Jones. The story line is described by producers as a "madcap Austin Powers-style plot."

On this day 12th December 1960-1965.

On

12/10/1960

the number one single was Tell Laura I Love Her - Ricky Valance. 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.

On

12/10/1961

the number one single was Michael - The Highwaymen and the number one album was The Shadows - Shadows. The top rated TV show was Sunday Night at the London Palladium (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

12/10/1962

the number one single was Telstar - The Tornadoes 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

12/10/1963

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

12/10/1964

the number one single was Oh Pretty Woman - Roy Orbison 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

12/10/1965

the number one single was Tears - Ken Dodd 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 986

Top Picture: The Milky Bar Kid



Second Picture: Charles Atlas

ADVERTISING SLOGANS


It seems to me that the advertising slogan must have grown up with us. In our formative years there seemed to be a slogan for almost everything in our lives, so lets look at a few.

The first section, Medicines, was much loved by my mother being an ex Assistant Matron in a children’s hospital, if there was a pimple, it had to be squeezed, a rash had to be investigated and an upset stomach had to be nursed. So these products were closed to her heart. Talking of tummy upsets Alka Seltzer “Plop, plop, fizz, fizz, oh what a relief it is!” This is the first slogan that came to mind, the for a headache “Nothing acts faster than Anadin”, we never had Andrews Liver Salts Andrews for “Inner Cleanliness”. But we did have Andrex toilet tissue “Soft, strong and very long”, which meant that we could get rid of that ghastly roll of Izal!!!!
Now who can forget these sweet slogans? "The Milkybars are on me!" – this was an advert first shown in 1961 to promote Nestlé Milkybars featuring "The Milkybar Kid", a blonde, spectacle-wearing young boy, Terry Brooks, usually dressed as a cowboy. He is now 58 and married to his second wife, Sue, he has four children and five grandchildren. He works as a gardener and odd-job man at a country club in Murcia, Spain. He says: It's my lifelong claim to fame that I was the very first Milkybar Kid - people laugh when I tell them I was paid £10 for my first advert. I got into it because my elder sister persuaded me to start at the Peggy O'Farrell Stage School near my home in the East End of London, and I auditioned for the role. No one knew how popular it would be - it made me famous instantly. I was a panel-beater's son, so as you can imagine, it changed my life. I did it for five years, on and off. After the second year, they upped my pay to £100 a year, which was good money for that time [the equivalent of a £3,000 salary today]. I got time off school, and as many chocolate bars as I could stomach, too.

One of the other most popular adverts was "Opal Fruits — Made to make your mouth water, fresh with the tang of citrus, four refreshing fruit flavours". For a time in the last ten years or so they had their name changed to Starburst, like Marathon changing its name to Snickers, it does not have the impact!

You all must remember “Have a break…Have a Kit Kat.” This has been running since 1957, and Kit Kat’s slogan has been seen all over the World.

Now for food! Birds Eye Peas have been as “Sweet as the moment when the pod went 'pop'” since 1954. The Bisto Kids have been saying “Ahh Bisto!” since 1919 and in 1930 the company decided to name the Bisto twins? In Birmingham a competition was held to put a name to the characters, a boy and a girl sniffing the beautiful aroma of Bisto's gravy. The competition was won by Mr and Mrs Simmonds,who named them after themselves...they called them Bill and Maree.They were awarded a beautiful china doll as a prize.

Go to work on an egg, ‘Happiness is egg shaped’, ‘You can rely on the lion’ are just three slogans used by the British Egg Marketing Board "Go to work on an egg" was an advertising slogan used during the 1950s as part of more than £12 million it spent on advertising, including a series of television adverts starring the Tony Hancock actress Patricia Hayes in 1965. The proposition was that having an egg for breakfast was the best way to start the working day.

If I said “They’re G-r-r-r-eat!” I am sure you would all instantly the Kellogg’s Frosties advert with Tony the Tiger. Back in the 1950s, Tony growled his way into American consciousness with this memorable slogan for Frosted Flakes. Tony’s catchphrase has become one of the longest running and most recognized slogans in TV advertising history. Tony the Tiger’s character has evolved over the years: he stands upright rather than on all fours, has travelled to more than 42 countries, in the adverts Tony has a mother, a wife and a son and daughter.

Heinz makes 1.5 million cans of baked beans every day in the UK, and we all recognise “Beanz meanz Heinz”. "It has been voted one of the best advertising slogans ever created and it is as relevant today as when it was first shown." A Heinz spokesman has said "Some people might say it's being lazy not updating the slogan, but when something works, why change it?"

And of course Bournvita said you could “Sleep sweeter, with Bournvita”, whilst Horlicks claimed that it was “the Food Drink of the Night”.
Just to round off one of the best known drink adverts came from the Gaymer Cider Company who claimed that “I'd love a Babycham” for the ladies and for the gents Charles Atlas always claimed that “You Too Can Have A Body Like Mine”. Actually it does not ring so well when you know that his real name was Angelo Siciliano, incidently he was born in October 30, 1892, in Acri, Italy and died on December 23, 1972, in Long Beach, New York.

I am know that I have missed off many adverts, maybe you can remind me of some more?

Stay in touch,

Yours,

Peter

DUSTYKEAT@aol.com
Pj.keat@ntlworld.co.uk

You Write:

Peter Writes:-

Hi Peter

You recently asked if anyone had any old school memorabilia such as
programmes, reports and photographs etc;. Your blog mainly covers the time
from the inception of Manor Court in 1959/60. I left Court Lane in the
July that it moved to Manor Court in September. You recently introduced a
new reader, Malcolm Merritt who I have since contacted for the first time
since we left school all those years ago. He was in my class and our class
teacher when we left, was Norman Folland. It would be nice if you could
extend your blog back a little bit, say to 1956 and see if a few of that era
came out of the woodwork. I'm sure a lot of your readers although just a
little bit younger than us would know or recognise the names of some of the
people. Could I ask that if anyone does know of any of these, they ask them
to perhaps identify themselves through your pages. I could give you a list
of quite a lot of people who were at the final years of Court Lane Secondary
School. I enclose some photos that I have of people from that final year:
The first photo refers to a cycle ride that 5 of us made from Cosham to
Beaulieu, in it, is shown David Christopher and Malcolm Lee. The second
photo shows me Peter Barlow and the last two show the last Sports Day of
Court Lane at East Lodge playing fields. It may be that some computer
wizard can enhance the pictures which were taken with my Brownie 127 camera and identify some of the people in them.

I Write:-

I will work on the pics and put them on asap


News and Views:

The Bandleader Edmundo Ross died on 21st October in Alicante aged 100 two months short of his 101 birthday. He entertained much of the British public during the war and well into the 1960’s. Edmundo Ross was a singer, bandleader and percussionist, who was famous for popularising the rumba. He was born in Trindad-Tobago and then lived in Venezuela, the UK and on his retirement moved to the Costa Blanca in Spain with his wife Susan. He spent his last years in the Residencia de Benimeli, now confined to a wheelchair. He gave his last performance in 1994, and was awarded the OBE in 2000.

Also as you will have read in the papers Sir Jimmy Savile died in his sleep at his home in Leeds two days before his 85th birthday.

On this day 4th December 1960-1965.

On

04/11/1960

the number one single was It's Now Or Never - Elvis Presley 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

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 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 Severe flooding in SE England

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 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

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 Beatles perform at Royal Variety Show.

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.

Web Page 984

Top Picture: The Boyfriend


Second Picture: The NME






The Pop Magazine Explosion 1960-65


Dozens of magazines sprang up in the early 60s to cover the growth of pop music. By the early 1960s, there were already several weeklies catering to the teenage female market - long established as being in the forefront of youth consumerism: Marilyn, Mirabelle, Romeo, Roxy and Valentine. Boyfriend was launched in 1959, with Marty - based on the popularity of Marty Wilde - following in 1960.

In February 1963 The Beatles were No 2 in the charts with Please Please Me and an anonymous reporter from Boyfriend goes to interview them for "an exclusive scoop" and her impressions are revealing. "They are almost frightening-looking young men," she said, "but when they smile, which is not often, they look wholesome and nice. But the rest of the time they look wicked and dreadful and evil, you almost expect them to leap up and chant magic spells." The Boyfriend article ("Pop A La Mod") was one of the first in-depth articles about the group. It was well-written and made it clear just how weird the Beatles were when they first arrived. The magazine was aimed at young women, with colour pin-ups, ads for cosmetics and hair lacquer and picture stories. Boyfriend picked up on the hysteria surrounding the Beatles and invested heavily in the British pop boom that they helped to create.


In summer 1963 the magazine produced "Big New Beat", the first of several pop supplements "about the Northern Raves". The Beatles were on the cover, standing amid the rubble of Euston Road. Inside were group shots and close-ups with large type comments. One shot from the session was used by EMI for the front cover of the Beatles' Twist and Shout EP released in July 1963. It showed the group leaping into the air and it remains one of the key 60s images to this day.

Between 1963 and 1965, Britain had a vigorous pop and teen press, with at least a dozen weeklies and/or monthlies all bringing their readers the latest pop news. Selling between 70,000 copies up to 200,000 a week The Record Mirror and The New Musical Express reported the unprecedented rise in singles sales in the years after the Beatles' breakthrough: reaching a peak of more than 70million in 1964. These magazines created an all-inclusive, environment of pop. Reading them today, they are historical documents yet retain the fervour of the moment.

The newer titles were more pop-heavy: as well as "love scene" picture stories and problem pages, there were innovative layouts and colour photos. The star staples were Elvis, Cliff Richard, Adam Faith, John Leyton, Eden Kane: the manufactured dream teen pop idols of the early 60s were perfect for the girls' mags, leaving the weekly music papers somewhat becalmed.

Of these, there were several. Launched in 1926, Melody Maker was the longest-running: with its commitment to jazz, folk and blues, it was not pure pop. That was taken up by the New Musical Express (est 1952), Record and Show Mirror (est 1953 as Record Mirror) and Disc (est 1958). All were black and white with weekly charts and plenty of news: aimed at young men as well as women.

Basically you paid your money and you made your choice. Melody Maker was serious about music and jazz and it made headway during the early 60s trad boom. The New Musical Express was hamstrung by its prominent front cover ad, but it had great insider gossip: "Tail-Pieces by the Alley Cat". Disc was poppier, with prominent charts and front-page news stories.

The Beatles' revolutionised pop publishing. Boyfriend's Big Beat No 2 (autumn '63) promised "12 colour pages and all the mod pop that's popping". Inside were Cliff and Elvis but coming up fast were the Searchers, Freddie and the Dreamers and the Rolling Stones.

Two important new weeklies were launched in January 1964. Jackie ("for go-ahead teens") was published as a girls' "comic", a streamlined version of Boyfriend: all the same elements but with larger pages and unusual, candid shots of the stars. It was a winning mixture: by the late 60s, its circulation was up to half a million.
Fabulous was a completely new tabloid pop paper it contained at least one pin-up of the Beatles in every issue for two years. Several issues were almost totally devoted to the group, with quirky features, 11 colour pages, and a central double-page poster (now hard to find, as they were usually stuck on the wall). Selling for one shilling, Fabulous was pricier than the competition but it had more pages, better quality paper, and a regular team of photographers. It also introduced a more direct rapport between the stars and their audience. In the all-Beatles 15 February 1964 edition, there were articles about "famous escapes" (how the Beatles got away from the fans after a show), Brian Epstein speaking in his own words, and a forensic breakdown of Paul, Ringo, George and John's height, weight, eye colour, inside leg etc. Features showing stars in their own homes were interspersed with old school photos and pop stars' musings on ideal girls.

Fabulous saw pop not just as a teen process but as part of something wider. Fashion was given prominent space, not only in the adverts, but in spreads directly related to star "gear". A double page spread on "bee-oootiful beat babes" showed the Beatles in their corduroy jackets and then told you where to buy them - cut for the young female shape of course.

After the Beatles cracked America Britain became Pop Island and the bombsite-ridden capital a youth mecca. On 3 October 1964, Fabulous published its "Shaking London Town" issue, with a spread about the best TV programme of the day, Ready Steady Go!
At 2s 6d, Rave was five times as expensive as the weekly music papers, but in return you got an 80-page A4-size monthly, with excellent quality paper, meaty content and great photographs. The first issue showed the cross-media spread of British pop culture with a front cover shot of the Beatles with 007 badges. Paul McCartney has a spy camera, while Ringo's gun shoots. Inside are Dusty's fashion tips, a feature on star holidays and a regular monthly event, DJ Alan Freeman's "Heart to Heart": this month, Billy Fury - '"The Billy No One Knows".

Rave went further and deeper with articles about Stuart Sutcliffe, the lost Beatle, a fashion round table with John Stephen and the Pretty Things, and notices about up-and-coming groups such as the Yardbirds. Like Fabulous, Rave prominently featured young women writers. Cathy McGowan was a regular. However, if the ads for guitars were anything to go by, Rave also appealed to young men and it acquired a circulation of 125,000 by 1965.

The music weeklies responded to this challenge by hiring new writers. Disc sharpened up its act with bang-up-to-the-minute news stories on the front page, race-track-style chart rundowns, a contentious readers' postbag and incisive singles reviews by Penny Valentine.

Melody Maker developed a good line in eye-catching headlines and increased its circulation to nearly 100,000. Record Mirror also had colour and was well-regarded for its thorough charts page.

1966 was the year of change. Singles' sales dropped by 10million. The papers began to feature stories about star exhaustion and unavailability: the surliness of the Kinks, the Who and the Rolling Stones. A new micro-generation of more cheerful groups appeared, apparently unburdened by significance: the Troggs, Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich, the Monkees. Sentimental ballads returned, Soul engaged the hardcore mods, while the drug culture began to take an effect. Rave was particularly hostile to the last development and vainly predicted, in its January 1967 issue, that "psychedelic music and psychedelic happenings won't happen".
Stay in touch,

Yours,

Peter

DUSTYKEAT@aol.com
Pj.keat@ntlworld.co.uk

You Write:

Griff Writes:


The fire lighting saga made me chuckle Pete. The lack of heating in our houses in those far off days would not be tolerated today and that's a fact isn't it. Surprising when you consider that loft insulation to keep the heat actually in the home was not even thought about or considered years ago and I can remember in my bedroom in Station Rd. the build up of ice on the inside bedroom window in Winter on a frosty morning and the rush down stairs to stand next to the newly lit fire to thaw out holding a cup of hot tea.
When my Mum moved to a modern 1950's bungalow in Waterlooville the very large roof void was not insulated and the place use to freeze inside even with electric storage heating. I eventually insulated the loft in 1973 for her.
Now you would think that the vast majority of houses would have had their roof attic spaces insulated by now wouldn't you? but it is not always the case even today with all the publicity that is given out about home insulation and being "Green".

My Daughter has just moved into a fully renovated 1840's Stable in our village which comprises of a large converted stable and an attached Stable Cottage. We have just discovered that the Stable Cottage roof has no roof insulation at all! The reason for this is there is no ceiling attic hatch to actually get in there to do the job. The loft hatch is about to be installed for access and you may all wish to know that B&Q are selling 8" thick rolls of roof insulation for £1 a roll. Bargain.

John Writes:


There was a very interesting article from a number of us old Manor Court Oiks regarding good manners and discipline,
As a young man growing up on the Highbury Estate I was no angel but then I was not a thug,bully or a criminal, I put a lot of my up being down to my late Grandfather who's moral standards were second to none, he was not a religious zealot but a kind and respectful person to whom you could look up to and emulate.

Many years later I now find myself working as a PCSO for the Derbyshire Police here in Chesterfield policing the area around the famous crooked Spire. Through my job I meet all members of the public who's attitudes and behaviour are so varied that its difficult so say who's normal and who's not.

I also meet a lot of younger folk who are on both sides of the spectrum ranging from the Arrogant rude belligerents to Lads and Lasses who have a goal in life to do something positive.

Mary Writes:-

I meant to write this earlier but have just read Chris and Toms` comments on manners. Yes, we certainly lived under very strict conditions, and I vowed that if I was ever lucky enough to have children some things would be different. My mother had been a wartime teacher and my father was ex-army so I didn’t argue with them. You never answered back. You accepted what you were told and got on with it. I can remember when I left Court Lane School and went to Cowplain Girls that there was a careers day to which parents were invited. A gentleman came from the employment services to give advice. When my mother came in with me it didn’t take her long to tell him that my parents would be giving me all the advice I needed, thank you very much! It was a bit like Chris’s experience. Actually I had to find a job myself with no help from anyone but I was really happy working in St Mary’s Hospital. My parents wanted me to work in a bank. Later on I was a dispenser for Boots the Chemists and met up with 2 friends from Court Lane. On the subject of clothes, parents picked them no say there! Then there was the love life, parents had a lot to say then. My mother sent my boyfriend off one morning and he was told never to return. His only crime was that my mother said he was interfering with my school homework. We were both heartbroken but we accepted it. We didn’t argue with parents. I do not feel in any way resentful when I remember the past as those were also days when people were very polite. You never heard bad language or witnessed revolting behaviour. Once when visiting my parents grave I said "I’m sure I disappointed you when I didn’t get a bank job but I did get a banker,(my kind, loving boyfriend of the past 15 yrs)" My children were given the family allowance when teenagers and chose their own clothes. I never interfered with their love life and I always encouraged them. As for the old boyfriend he found me after 48yrs and told me that he still loved me and had never forgotten me (I had never forgotten him) so perhaps things didn’t turn out too badly after all!

News and Views:

Lulu was given the Woman of the Year Lifetime Achievement award in ceremonies in London on 18th October 18.

On this Day 30th October 1960-1965

On

30/10/1960

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 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

30/10/1961

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 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

30

/10/1962

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 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

30/10/1963

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 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 30

/10/1964

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 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

30/10/1965

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 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 982

Top Picture: Doc Martens.





Second Picture: The 1960’s mini skirt.

Icons of the Sixties

I thought I would look at some of the things that are associated with the early to mid 1960’s

Doc Martens. When the German doctor, Dr Maertens, injured his foot in a ski-ing holiday in Bavaria, he could not have imagined that the orthopaedic shoe he designed for himself would still be going today, let alone become a boot of rebellion. In 1958, the Grigg family acquired rights to the air cushioned sole and started making boots at their factory in Wollaston. The first boot was produced on the 1st April 1960, and so was christened the 1460. The 1460, in black and later cherry red, was popular with postmen and policemen and then the 'mods' began to adopt them in the mid-60s. They became notorious when the steel-toecapped variety was used to inflict grievous bodily harm on football fans and rival gangs, but now Doc M’s are now almost compulsory kit in the music industry - worn by rockers and boy bands alike. There are 70,000 possible varieties of Doc Martens, starting at 3-eye and rising to a 20-eye boot. Elton John wore an enormous pair in The Who's rock opera movie 'Tommy'.

Mothercare. This is thought of by many as the first major fashion outlet for tiny tots. Mothercare stores opened in 1961 to great public interest. Although not from the babies themselves. Mothercare became popular with mothers for pioneering easily laundered fabrics and bringing a bit of style to kids clothes at reasonable prices. Mothercare UK now supplies goods through their stores and mail order to customers from 130 countries.

Teddy Boy Suit. The original teen rebels, Teddy Boys originated in early 50’s London. Though their days were numbered in the Sixties, the young mods were taking a leaf out of the Teds fashion book. Teds dressed in a blend of romantic Edwardian clothes including slim coats with velvet trim. Hair was cut into an outlandish DA (Duck's Ass), long jackets were worn with thin, bootlace ties, stovepipe trousers which were cut short to show off patterned socks - and the look was completed with suede brothel creepers or winkle-pickers. But behind the dapper facade Teddy Boys were hard as nails - carrying flick knives bicycle chains and razors. The look was synonymous with coldhearted violence and was used as a basis for the costumes of the thugs in A Clockwork Orange. Though the Teddy Boy style was decidedly macho, there were girls who wore velvet-collared jackets and black stockings and cut their hair into a DA.

Mop Top Hair. The description came from the similarity to a dish mop, and led to comments such as: 'Did you see that boy? His hair touched his ears!' Much was done to stamp out the Mop Top cut made popular by The Beatles, but nothing was going to stop the trend going into fashion history. When the boys from Liverpool turned up with their dodgy bowl cuts, people were shocked. The older generation in particular hated it - seeing men with long hair was just 'not on'. Although very tame by today's standards the mop top was shaggy - even daring to touch the shoulder in days when men were expected to show military precision and have the hair neatly cut above the ears. Mop top hairdos took off across the country, despite some schools banning the style - and Middle England calling on the government to reinstate National Service and 'stop the rot'.

Wigs. Once it was discovered that The Supremes used them on stage the wig went right to the top of the fashion class. And it wasn't only women, led by Pop artist Andy Warhol who sported a selection of silver, blue and white wigs, chaps got in on the fad too. Of course, the Beatles got in on the act. Their famous Beatle wigs were one of the best selling pieces of pop merchandise ever, although the band made very little from them after one of Brian Epstein's less successful business deals. A range of 'groovy' wigs were also created by John Stephen and found popularity with trendy blokes across the land. Later in the decade 'afro' wigs became popular with both men and women, although the people sitting behind them at the cinema weren't too impressed.

Twiggy Look and False Eyelashes. In the 1960s there was only one model anyone was bothered about - Twiggy. Girls dieted and slaved over a hot pair of eye-brow curlers to perfect her look and designers clamoured to have her wear their clothes. Woman's Mirror magazine had been on the look-out for models who were young and very thin. They found her in Lesley Hornby who was only six and a half stone and a size 6. Designer John Bates described her, rather coldly as 'Narrow body, perfect square shoulders, long legs, small bust'; in other words the opposite of the pin-ups of the fifties in the Marilyn Monroe mould. Twiggy's distinctive look was typified by two elements - her elfin haircut and panda eyes. The first time her hair was cut into the trademark pixie style it reputedly took eight hours. Almost as long as it took women across the land to master the art of applying three sets of false eyelashes to each eye in order to gain the right amount of doe-eyed appeal. In 1967 a range of Twiggy clothing was launched, presumably to a rather restricted market but the fact that Twiggy's still a star today proves that there was more to her than big eyes and a fancy haircut.

Mini Skirts. If one fashion item could sum up the 60’s it would be the mini-skirt. Opinion is split on who came up with the idea - the wise money would probably go on a Frenchman, Jean Courreges, but Mary Quant is widely accepted as having dreamt up the ever more daring hemline. Within a year anybody who had the body to pull it off was wearing a mini. In New York the norm was 4-5 inches above the knee but in Swinging London anything other than 7-8 inches above the knee was considered positively decent! The usual look was to pair what little was left of the skirt with matching sweater and tights for a uniform look. When, in 1968, Jackie Kennedy wore a white Valentino miniskirt for her wedding to Aristotle Onassis its place at the pinnacle of fashion was confirmed.

Just a few more items from the Diddy box of memories.

Stay in touch,

Yours,

Peter

DUSTYKEAT@aol.com
Pj.keat@ntlworld.co.uk

You Write:

Anida Writes:-

I am an avid allotmenteer and have been safely gathering in my harvest - this of course means much chopping, stirring and filling the house with vinegary smells as I make chutney from this years huge crop of beetroot. Inevitably there is always a surfeit of runner beans and gardenless friends have been known to receive parcels of them in the post! I also have plenty of vegetables to take me through the winter, nothing like going to pick your own Brussel sprouts and parsnips for Christmas dinner.

This led me to think about Harvest Festivals at school and church. We were encouraged to take along something from the garden but I inevitably took a tin of something from the larder. At church on Harvest Festival Sunday the church was filled with a beautiful smell of all the flowers and vegetables, at the back there was the loaf of bread in the shape of a sheaf of corn. As children we had to come to the front and give our contribution to the Minister, the following night there was Harvest Supper when some of the food was used and some was auctioned off for church funds - all very simple but memorable.

I was born in St Mary's Hospital, where a payment had been made to the doctor and hospital. This was done by most people belonging to a Mutual Aid Society to cover any doctor's bills. Another small payment was made for the hospital stay, this was based on what you could afford, my Mum's friend had to pay less than her because her husband had a smaller military pension. Apparently St Mary's was very popular and Mum didn't know anyone who had their baby at home which must have been quite a social change. I suppose there aren't many of us who still have their Mum's around to fill in the information!

Tom Writes:-

Your article on children's manners then and now was excellent. I, like so many of us, were children of those parents served their country and suffered the hell of WW2 for our basic freedoms, am revolted by the horrible, spoilt, rude brats of today's society. I add quickly that they aren't all like that thank God but sadly too many are. Even here in Thailand which tells the World how polite they are, has serious problems with its youth.

Chris Writes:-

I quite agree with what you say about manners and discipline. My father was very strict and if I uttered a word sometimes he would say "Little boys should be seen and not heard". I remember once when holiday plans were under discussion, I just managed to get out "I think.." and was promptly told "We do not wish to know what you think".

On one occasion I brought home a form from school about careers, what sort of thing I was hoping to do etc. I had already filled it in, but when father saw it I was told to destroy it, get a new form from school the next day and redo it with HIS answers!

Actually I reckon much of this just made me dislike my parents, which continued into adulthood. However, things seem to have gone way too far in the other direction these days. But I would like to think and hope that my experiences made me a kinder and more considerate person towards others, whatever their age, as I've got older.


News and Views:

Clear Lake, Iowa, near where Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper died in a 1959 plane crash, dedicated the Three Stars Plaza in their honour on October 13th. In addition, the city will dedicate Ritchie Valens Drive and J.P. Richardson Avenue, along with the existing Buddy Holly Place. Together they will triangulate the Surf Ballroom, where the trio played their last concert.

On this day 21st October 1960-1965.

On

21/10/1960

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 No Hiding Place 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.The big news story of the day was Britain launches first nuclear submarine.

On

21/10/1961

the number one single was Walkin' Back to Happiness - Helen Shapiro and the number one album was Black & White Minstrel Show - George Mitchell Minstrels. The top rated TV show was Sunday Night at the London Palladium 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 21/10/1962 the number one single was Telstar - The Tornadoes and the number one album was Best of Ball Barber & Bilk. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street 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

21/10/1963

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 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.

On

21/10/1964

the number one single was Oh Pretty Woman - Roy Orbison and the number one album was A Hard Day's Night - Beatles. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street 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

21/10/1965

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 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 980

Top Picture: Clarence Parade 1960
Second Picture: Bilbow and Clibbery in Cosham

Behaviour

Many people, especially those under the age of around 45 will often hear 'us oldens' say "If I'd have spoken to my parents like that, I'd have got a clip round the ear". If you gave a child a clip round the ear nowadays, they'd probably sue you and put you up in front of the European Equal Rights Committee or something very similar!
But in most cases it's true what we say, you would never answer back to your parents or any older person, you would do as you were told because that's how it worked. Possibly part of the reason was that for the last 100 years, the vast majority of us were children of those who fought in the Services during the two Wars and this brought about a discipline. There again, discipline goes back centuries before that even.

It is best write how things were back in the 1950's by just giving examples and the 'rules' which existed, most of which are long forgotten I'm afraid.

1. When any adult, excepting your Parents, entered the Room, you would stand up. If you didn't you'd get ticked off for sure.

2. You would always vacate a Bus or Train seat for a Woman or someone of senior years. You would also offer them your place in a Queue when alighting from a Bus or train.

3. You would never leave the Table without seeking permission first. In fact, you would usually not even bother asking, in the 50's most would eat as a family and then everyone would leave the Table together.

4. "Please" and "Thank you" were compulsory and unlike nowadays, if you didn't say it, it wasn't a case of the Adult saying what an impolite young child you were after you'd left, they would tell you face to face. Also you never said ‘I want’, it was always ‘I would like’.

5. At School, every Teacher was referred to as 'Sir' or 'Madam' and upon entry into the Classroom, everyone would stand up and unanimously say "Good morning Sir or Miss" and if the Headmaster walked in during a lesson you all stood then.

6. If you wore a hat, you would never wear it indoors, home or shop. You would take it off if you met or you were talking to a Lady.

7. "I want" were two 'no no' words, it was always "I would like" or "may I have" (followed by the mandatory Please and Thank you of course.

8. You would always open a door for someone, a woman or adult and allow them entry or exit before you.

9. 'Speak when you're spoken to', another expression us oldens often say. You would not normally make the first comment other than to ask how a person was, you would sit politely when you had guests and wait for the question - and that was usually based around your Schooling!

10. Going back to Buses and Trains and even walking down the Street, if you saw a Lady struggling with her Shopping, you would offer to help, even if that meant going out of your way to take them to he home.

I'm sure there are many more you'd be able to find, but ten is a round number.
Much of the above would remain for some years to follow, but the main change in 'youth' came about in the mid 1960's. Manners and etiquette was just a part of the 1950's lifestyle, it was more disciplined, you wouldn't see so much rubbish in the street, you would find it hard to find untidy front gardens, people wanted to show others that they had things sorted, they were leading a decent life, did the right thing and the children's manners were one way of showing this.
Or am looking through rose tinted spec?
Stay in touch,

Yours,

Peter

DUSTYKEAT@aol.com
Pj.keat@ntlworld.co.uk

You Write:

I'm Tom West in the photo of the 1961 woodwork class. Also went on the trip to Hochsolden, Austria but I'm not in the photo. I have been living abroad for the past 12 years and any photos I may still have are at my sisters home. Found your wonderful collection of memories today, thanks for your efforts. It was a real treat to see them.


News and Views:

The original Beatles drummer, Pete Best, is getting a street named after him in his native Liverpool. In addition to "Pete Best Drive," another street in a new development there will be called "Casbah Close" to honour the Casbah Club, which Pete's mother owned and where the Beatles got their start.



On this day 15th October 1960-1965.

On 15/10/1960 the number one single was Tell Laura I Love Her - Ricky Valance 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 £not very interesting and 13.68 were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.The big news story of the day was No Hiding Place (AR).

On 15/10/1961 the number one single was Kon-Tiki - The Shadows and the number one album was The Shadows - Shadows. The top rated TV show was Sunday Night at the London Palladium (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. The big news story of the day was Heller's Catch-22 published.

On 15/10/1962 the number one single was Telstar - The Tornadoes 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 15/10/1963 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 15/10/1964 the number one single was Oh Pretty Woman - Roy Orbison 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.The big news story of the day was XVIIIth Olympics in Tokyo were under way.

On 15/10/1965 the number one single was Tears - Ken Dodd 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 978

Top Picture: Mile End Chapel in Old Commercial Road



Second Picture: Car Ferry to the Isle of Wight







Wow I have been married 44 years this week!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Another new school pal this week Tom West



Warm memories of childhood firesides

The childhood winters were always freezing when we settled by the fireside in the evenings in the 1960s. And this reminds me of Bonanza. What is the connection between Bonanza, the hit cowboy series of the 1960s, and your old coal fire at home? Read on!

Bereft of any form of central heating, we at home resorted to our open coal fires and electric radiators. Most of our houses were essentially Arctic wastelands in winter, except for the semi-circle in front of the coal fire. There was a strict pecking order for pride of place. The cat was usually first on the scene. Behind him would be the clothes horse with the washing or, alternatively, the bed linen “being aired” before it went on the bed. Finally, grouped around the fire like a well placed team fielding at a Test match, would be our family, dimly aware that somewhere behind the washing and the cat was a source of heat.

The fireplace was a place of great activity, with its gleaming companion set comprising poker, shovel, dustpan and brush (often slightly singed). There would also be a coal scuttle and possibly a toasting fork. This led to one of the fireside rituals toasting bread or crumpets. Father would sit, with the toasting fork getting ever-hotter in his hand, while lesser mortals (like me) would shriek with pain at the heat and drop fork and bread into the open fire. There’s something about toast or crumpets cooked on an open fire that is infinitely better than a toaster or grill. Then in the season there was always roasted chestnuts!

So, where does the reference to Bonanza come in? Well if you remember the opening credits, these used to show a map of Nevada and “The Ponderosa” being devoured by a flame that would start at the centre of the page. Igniting a coal fire at home could lead to something very similar. The process would start with a few sticks wrapped in paper or, with a commercial firelighter, Zip normally. Setting light to these fire starters was usually quite easy but the whole process could fall apart if, like me, you were over-enthusiastic and buried the flames to soon in half a ton of coal dust. However all was not lost if you could always “draw the fire” by blocking off the fireplace and causing air to rush through the grate and then up chimney. The blocking mechanism of choice was always a piece of newspaper, the bigger the better. I quite enjoyed this job, watching the paper being partially sucked into the hearth and seeing the flames begin to work their way up through the dust. However, if I lost concentration I would miss the telltale charring in the middle of the sheet and would suddenly find myself clutching the headlines as the rest of the paper vanished in flames. Then came the worry that you had set the chimney alight.

I never had this experience but my father did once and when it happened he shoveled as much of the fire he could into a metal bucket and then he dashed to the shed, grabbed an old potato sack, soaked it in water and stuffed it up the chimney in the hopes that it would stifle the flames and put the fire out. Luckily this worked. But what a mess was left behind. Firstly the bucket of fire had to be moved, this was not easy as the handle was now red hot and it could not be put down on the carpet or lino as it would burn a hole. Then, when the fire was totally out it was a case of clearing up the water and slurry left behind from the damp sack. But one of the worst things of all was the smell. Nothing else quite smelt the same it was a horrible cloying smell that seemed to linger for days. In fact it was very easy to tell if there was a chimney fire in your area, you did not look for the billowing smoke, you just sniffed.

Sometimes the fire brigade would be summoned but this was to be avoided whatever happened because if the Brigade turned out the householder could get charged for their attendance.

However there was one person who never minded chimney fires and that was the chimney sweep because it was almost guaranteed that a soon as someone had experienced a chimney fire, the sweep was called to clear the rest of the soot. I would have thought that was rather like closing the sable door……
Mind you the visit of the sweep with his brushes and vacuum machine is yet another story.

Stay in touch,

Yours,

Peter

DUSTYKEAT@aol.com
Pj.keat@ntlworld.co.uk

You Write:

Malcolm Writes:-

Memory is a funny thing, when I see a picture of a Ford Zephyr I immediately think of the bench seat and column change, leaving the rest of the front clear for courting!! And when I drive down Hilary Avenue I can still imagine Bert Ray (science), June Blitz (english), Norman Folland (maths), Mr Fentiman (art), Mr Ord (PE), and of course she who must be obeyed!! Miss Pipe.

News and Views:

A copy of the Beatles hit single Please Please Me signed on both sides by all four members of the band has fetched £9,000 at auction in Liverpool. The 1963 record was sold by a Liverpool woman who asked the group to sign it after listening to them at the city's Cavern venue as a youngster.The "very, very rare" item was among 322 lots at the annual Beatles memorabilia auction. Among other highlights was a cap owned by John Lennon which sold for £3,200. There were bids made from around the world.Other items at the sale, held in the Paul McCartney Auditorium at the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts, included the door of number 38, Kensington, which went for £2,300.

On this day 8th October 1960-1965.

On

8/10/1960

the number one single was Tell Laura I Love Her - Ricky Valance. 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. Tottenham Hotspurs were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.The big news story of the day was No Hiding Place (AR).

On

8/10/1961

the number one single was Kon-Tiki - The Shadows and the number one album was The Shadows - Shadows. The top rated TV show was Sunday Night at the London Palladium (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. The big news story of the day was Heller's Catch-22 was published.

On

8/10/1962

the number one single was Telstar - The Tornadoes 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

8/10/1963

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

8/10/1964

the number one single was Oh Pretty Woman - Roy Orbison 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. The big news story of the day was XVIIIth Olympics in Tokyo

On

8/10/1965

the number one single was Tears - Ken Dodd 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.