Web Page 1138
14^th April 2013

Top Picture : Toasting Crumpets in front of an open fire.

Second Picture: Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier wedding picture.

Those were the Days!

Over the past few months I have had lots of memories sent to me and so here is a small selection.

Do you remember sitting in front of the living room coal fire with a toasting fork in one hand and hand cut slices of bread in the other. Sitting patiently trying not to singe you hair as the toast browned and absorbing that delicious smoky flavour. Then taking it off the fork and smothering it in rich Anchor Butter. But also do you remember the panic when the bread fell off the end of the fork and having to hook it out of the fire and brush off the ash before it could be buttered. There is nothing quite like toast made over an open fire, unless, of course, crumpets!   

Another abiding memory is the need to boil the milk in the summer to keep it a bit longer, because we had no fridge just a slate shelf in the larder. Or keeping the milk in a bucket or stone jar of water in an attempt to keep it fresh.

Our diet was home cooked and limited to what the local shops stocked. We always seemed to have a meat meal every day even though at least two days a week featured offal. In Drayton and Farlington were three local butchers, two bakers, four greengrocers and one fishmonger Sidney Slape, there was a 'Pinks’ store - part deli and part dry and tinned goods. There were no takeaways other than the fish and chip shop. Coal was delivered in heavy sacks by coal encrusted men and if you get lost,” just ask a policeman". 

If I was hungry in between breakfast and dinner (lunch) I was given a jam sandwich or a biscuit from the broken biscuit tin, so called because they were broken biscuits from Woolworth, the Co-op or Liptons. There was never any crisps or chocolate bars. Apples, plums and pears, grown in our own garden were eaten regularly but a banana was a real treat! These did not make an appearance in our house until the late 1950’s. Vegetables such as broccoli and asparagus hadn't been 'invented', so we never heard of it. I was always made to eat everything on my plate and extolled to 'eat my greens up'. The Corona man would come round on a Friday selling bottles of lemonade and I'd save up the empty bottles that were worth tuppence each. 

When we had visitors High Tea was a highlight and it was always the same. Tinned salmon, lettuce, tomato, bread and butter and tinned peaches with ideal milk to follow - we thought we were very grand! 

Although the diet when we were kids would look old-fashioned by modern standards food was slowly becoming varied and plentiful. Novelties such as frozen vegetables appeared along with washing machines and televisions. We had our first television set in 1955, the picture was black and white and we could only receive BBC broadcasts. When Grace Kelly married Prince Rainier in 1956 our living room was full of neighbours who came in to watch the broadcast. 

My father had held a driving licence since before the war but for most of my childhood we did not own a car, so every summer he would take a week off work and rent a car from a garage in Southsea. Then we would go to various places during that week or go to Essex to visit my Godmother.

With the end of sweet and chocolate rationing all these sweets which were now available helped to produce tooth decay which meant that visits to dentists were a sheer nightmare of pain and fear, due to the old slow, belt driven drills and no anaesthetics. 

Specialist shops were everywhere and there were no supermarkets just shops... a cake and bread shop, the butchers, the milliners, the haberdashers...all with beautiful ornate gold leaf and glass fascias. In the Co-op shop or Pinks, Lipton’s or Home & Colonial the assistants sliced bacon from whole sides, cut cheese from huge roundels, weighed pounds of sugar from hundred weight sacks. Nothing was pre-packed, wrapped or labelled. It seemed that all staff had a pencil stub stuck behind their ear and some did still wear starched cuffs! No computerised tills, just an amazing set of cables or tubes, depending where you shopped, on the ceiling along which travelled a small metal canister holding the customers tendered money along with the bill. This canister was `fired` by the counter assistant along the cable, or tube, to the cashier who sat aloft at a little illuminated window. The bill, stamped `PAID`, together with any change was then `fired` back down to assistant to give to the customer. These were the days when you could ask a shop assistant their advise on a product and they would cheerfully give it.

Just to finish off a short story about an event which happened to me the other day. I went into a local Post Office to send off some letters overseas. The attractive and well made up young lady started to deal with my letters. Working out the costs of letters to Australia, New Zealand and France but I was a little dumbfounded when she read the address on the last envelope and looked up to me and asked, “What country is Moscow in?”

Well at least we learnt geography at school.

Take Care

Peter

DUSTYKEAT@aol.com

Pj.keat@ntlworld.co.uk

You Write:

Colin Writes:-

Following up from John.  The Teacher that died in the school towards late 60's was a Mr Capper.  He lived at railway cottages.  Young teacher.  Very sad.  He left a wife and a small child.  I remember the announcement at the school assembly.

News and Views:

On this day 14^th April 1960-1965

14/04/1960 the number one single was My Old Man's a Dustman - Lonnie Donegan and the number one album was South Pacific Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was Wagon Train (ITV) and the box office smash was Psycho. A pound of today's money was worth £13.68 and Burnley were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 14/04/1961 the number one single was Wooden Heart - Elvis Presley and the number one album was GI Blues - Elvis Presley. The top rated TV show was Labour Party Political Broadcast (all channels) and the box office smash was One Hundred and One Dalmations. A pound of today's money was worth £13.25 and Tottenham Hotspur were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 14/04/1962 the number one single was Wonderful Land - The Shadows and the number one album was Blue Hawaii - Elvis Presley. The top rated TV show was The Budget (All Channels) and the box office smash was Lawrence of Arabia. A pound of today's money was worth £12.89 and Ipswich Town were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 14/04/1963 the number one single was How Do You Do It? - Gerry & the Pacemakers and the number one album was Summer Holiday - Cliff Richard & the Shadows. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was The Great Escape. A pound of today's money was worth £12.64 and Everton were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 14/04/1964 the number one single was Can't Buy Me Love - The Beatles and the number one album was With the Beatles - The Beatles. The top rated TV show was The Budget (All Channels) and the box office smash was Dr Strangelove. A pound of today's money was worth £12.24 and Liverpool were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions. The big news story of the day was Two footballers suspended over match fixing allegations.

On 14/04/1965 the number one single was Concrete & Clay - Unit 4 Plus 2 and the number one album was Rolling Stones Number 2 - The Rolling Stones. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was The Sound of Music. A pound of today's money was worth £11.69 and Manchester United were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

Web Page 1136

7^th April 2013

Top Picture : Liquorice Pipes

Second Picture: Remember cycle clips?

On my computer I have a file marked ‘Odds’ and this contains the odd nostalgia things that I think of, they are mostly totally unrelated and are a jumble. Every so often I have a clear out and here is the latest!

Do you remember?

Liquorice pipes with the red hundreds and thousands stuck to the bowl to represent glowing tobacco or chocolate cigars with the foil band around them just like the real thing or even sweet tobacco, terrible stuff but I never did like coconut. How times have changed can you imagine the Advertising Standards Committee today allowing PC49 sweet cigarettes?

My family never owned a camera when I was a child but for my 14^th birthday my parents bought me a Kodak Brownie 125 which had a built in filter and close up lens. It was great the only thing was that film was so expensive then that I could only afford one or two 12 exposure films a year and that was when we went on holiday so photo’s of my childhood are rare.

Did you have a John Bull Printing Kit? I did one of the smaller ones, they came in various sizes with each one having different components. It was a real game managing all those little rubber letters and wooden holders so we could print smudgy messages or letter headings in thick black ink.

Where did the Diablo come from all of a sudden? Somewhere in the late 1950’s a Diablo was a must have for most kids. I had red one. But why, all of a sudden did , did they become popular?

I am sure my mother must have had shares in Germoline because every cut, graze, scratch and bump was liberally covered with the pink, sticky stuff. But that was not the major problem that was the ghastly smell!

 As we grew older we were allowed to have bicycles that meant we had to have a puncture outfit to repair flat tyres. Why was it that when you came to repair a puncture you never had a patch of the right size or the puncture was in such a place that repair was impossible? What was French Chalk any way?

Now ladies do you remember that eye mascara which came in little pots with a tiny toothbrush to apply it. I am told that the accepted way to apply this was to either gently spit into the black goo to make it malleable or, a bit more delicate this, lick the brush. Anyway whichever method was used I am informed that what ever you did you still ended up with thick globules on your eye lashes! Obviously I have no practical knowledge of this so I rely on you ladies to correct me. Likewise with lipstick, but I can remember on a Saturday morning a group of girls crowded round the Revlon ‘Beauty on a budget tray’ display in the Woolworth’s in Cosham High Street.

Cap bombs are something else that I remember. We used to buy them from Shaws tuck shop in Highlands Road along with a box of specially round shaped caps; if these were not available we had to buy rolls of ordinary caps and tear them up. We soon found that by putting two caps in the bomb made a far bigger bang than one.

Records soon came into our lives and especially for me as I worked in a record shop part time whilst I was still at school. This is probably why; sad although it is, I can still remember the prices we sold records at in 1961. A single cost 6s 3d an EP 10s11d and a Long Player £1 14s 3d unless it was a classical LP when it was £1 18s 3d. These were the days before cheap labels such as Pickwick and Kay-tel but the Pye record company saw a hole in the market and soon their Golden Guinea range were on the shelves costing as the title said one guinea £1 1s. 0d. 

Now lads how many of you remember jumping on your bike and peddling away without putting you cycle clips on and coming to a grinding halt with torn trouser bottoms? Then having to go home to mum and explain what had happened. Apart from tucking your trousers into your socks there were only two types of cycle clips, the round one, which gripped your legs, and the vertical ones that were supposed to keep the material together. I suppose that the female equivalent was the skirt guard on the back wheel. 

Here are a couple of other odd things that were popular in the early 1960’s. Do you remember the leather covers for the Radio Times and the TV Times plus also the ones for the telephone directory. Talking about phones whose parents had little velour covers for the instrument and the handset? Not us we did not even have a phone. The there were those terrible home phone directories for your friends numbers. They had either a dial on the front or a slide at the side and when they got a little old the spring gave out and shot the index cards all over the floor!

Also remember French knitting and the singing duo Mikki and Griff?

Hey life’s like that!

Peter

DUSTYKEAT@aol.com

Pj.keat@ntlworld.co.uk

You Write:

Colin Writes:-

Following up from John.  The Teacher that died in the school towards late 60's was a Mr Capper.  He lived at railway cottages.  Young teacher.  Very sad.  He left a wife and a small child.  I remember the announcement at the school assembly.

Griff writes:-

Talking of pre-decimal money when myself and Alan Clarkson & Martyn Smith joined the RAF as engineering apprentices in 1962 our weekly RAF pay was paid in Guinea's and this remained so right up until 1965 until the end of our RAF apprenticeships.   Why this RAF military pay should be paid this way I have not a clue!  Weekly Pay rates for RAF Apprentices in 1962:  £2 Guinea's a week at age 16.   £4 Guinea's a week at 17 and then the big one!  £7 Guinea's a week from the age of 17yrs. and 6 months.  

News and Views:

No luck for Bobby Rydell. He had a crown put on an upper back tooth at the end of Jan. then started to get jaw pain and shoulder pain and thought it was related to the crown. He did 4 shows and his wife insisted he see a cardiologist. Went to Dr. Sokil -who ordered a nuclear stress test. The Test came out positive -then the catherization which showed exactly where the blockages were. Next stop was the OR for the 2x by-pass. Stents could not be done because the clogged vessels were too twisted. After all this he does need a root canal but the pain was from his semi blocked heart vessels and not the tooth.

On this day 7^th April 1960-1965

On 7/04/1960 the number one single was My Old Man's a Dustman - Lonnie Donegan and the number one album was South Pacific Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was The Budget (All Channels) and the box office smash was Psycho. A pound of today's money was worth £13.68 and Burnley were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 7/04/1961 the number one single was Wooden Heart - Elvis Presley and the number one album was GI Blues - Elvis Presley. The top rated TV show was Labour Party Political Broadcast (all channels) and the box office smash was One Hundred and One Dalmatians. A pound of today's money was worth £13.25 and Tottenham Hotspur were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 7/04/1962 the number one single was Wonderful Land - The Shadows and the number one album was Blue Hawaii - Elvis Presley. The top rated TV show was The Budget (All Channels) and the box office smash was Lawrence of Arabia. A pound of today's money was worth £12.89 and Ipswich Town were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions. The big news story of the week was Film director Michael Curtiz and ex Beatle Stu Sutcliffe die.

On 7/04/1963 the number one single was Summer Holiday - Cliff Richard & the Shadows and the number one album was Summer Holiday - Cliff Richard & the Shadows. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was The Great Escape. A pound of today's money was worth £12.64 and Everton were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions. The big news week of the day was Atomic US submarine sinks killing 129.

On 7/04/1964 the number one single was Can't Buy Me Love - The Beatles and the number one album was With the Beatles - The Beatles. The top rated TV show was Labour Party Political Broadcast (all channels) and the box office smash was Dr Strangelove. A pound of today's money was worth £12.24 and Liverpool were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions. The big news story of the day was Beatles have 13 records in US chart.

On 7/04/1965 the number one single was Concrete & Clay - Unit 4 Plus 2 and the number one album was Rolling Stones Number 2 - The Rolling Stones. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was The Sound of Music. A pound of today's money was worth £11.69 and Manchester United were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

Web Page 1134

31st March 2013

Top Picture : Remember the old white fivers

Second Picture: So that’s what happened to Martins Bank?

Real Cash

You are all old enough to remember “old money" or Pounds, Shillings and Pence or even more confusingly L.S.D. (that stood for Libra Solidus Denarius by the way not the well known drug) was what people spent before what is affectionately remembered as D-Day (no, not the one in the Second World War!) meaning Decimalisation Day.

Before the 15th February 1971, if you needed to understand money life wasn’t quite as simple as it is today. You’d need to have understood the old system of pounds, shillings and pence.

OK, calculators ready for the younger readers, while I explain how it all worked:

Four farthings made a penny (1d)                                                                                   Two half pennies made a penny (1d) Six pence or a silver six pence made half a shilling (6d) or a tanner                                                                 Twelve pence made a shilling (1s or 1/-) or 'bob' (as in 'bob a job')                            Two shillings made a Florin (2/-)
Five shillings made a crown (although there was no such thing except on special occasions, such as to mark the Queen's Coronation in 1953, the death of Sir Winston Churchill in 1965 and for no apparent reason in 1960)
You could have spent a half crown - that's 2/6 (two shillings and six pence)
20 shillings made a pound and there were notes for 10 shillings as well.

So there were 240d (that's pence) in £1. That's 12 (pence in a shilling) x 20 (shillings in a pound) - easy isn't it? I don't know why they ever changed it! If you needed to add up in pounds, shillings and pence you needed three columns.

Banknotes started at 10 shillings (50p in today's money). The ten-shilling (or ten bob) note disappeared in 1971, being replaced by the strange shaped fifty pence coin.

Oh, and what about guineas. One guinea was 21 shillings - that's one pound and one shilling. There were no guinea coins, but you might still find bills in guineas from solicitors, accountants, auctioneers and other professionals, and if you went on holiday you might have to settle your hotel bill in guineas. It was a way of sounding posh and also making a bill seem a little bit smaller than it actually was – similar to the modern trick of £9.99 instead of £10! Even here there was a variety. I always assumed that in the days of real money when items were priced at 19/11^3/₄d or 9/11^3/₄ d was to fool us into thinking that the item was a lot less than £1.0s.0d. or ten shillings. Not a bit of it says a retired accountant friend of mine it was a security measure. When the item was sold it meant that the counter hand had to give change and so would have to go to the till and open it, whereas if the item was just £1 or 10/- the receipt for the sale could be written out and given to the customer and then the note quietly palmed into the assistants pocket. I think my friend has a suspicious mind!

It was not until 1967 that minting of the old coins ceased. However, the Royal Mint devised a method to stop people hoarding the last of the old money. All coins minted in the old denominations from 1967 to 1970 were dated 1967.

Starting from 1968 the “new money” started to be minted and put into circulation. In fact the system started with the coins being entitled 'New Pence' and issued in the values of 5p and 10p at first. These fitted in well with the old system, as they were direct replacements for the one and two shilling pieces. In those days today's pence were 'new pence' and that was what was on the coins.

The decimal half penny (½p) was introduced in 1971 and remained in circulation until 1984, by which time its value had been greatly reduced by inflation. It was not struck, except for collectors' sets, after 1983 and was no longer legal tender after 31^st  December 1984. The 50p piece was reduced in size in 1997, following the reduction in size of the 5p in 1990 and the 10p in 1992. The 1p and 2p underwent a compositional change from bronze to plated steel in 1992. However, both coins remain valid back to 1971, the only circulating coins valid on Decimal Day still to be valid.

In 1982, the word "new" in "new penny" or "new pence" was removed from the inscriptions on coins, to be replaced by the number of pence in the denomination (i.e. "ten pence" or "fifty pence"). This coincided with the introduction of a new 20p coin, which, from the outset, simply bore the legend "twenty pence".

A new bi-metallic £2 coin was introduced in 1997, and continues to be minted. Before that date, commemorative £2 coins were minted in 1986, 1989, 1995 and 1996, but these are hardly ever found in circulation.

And you just thought it was money, any way I must be off to try and find my silver threepenny pieces and my white fivers!

Stay in Touch

Peter

DUSTYKEAT@aol.com

Pj.keat@ntlworld.co.uk

You Write:

Joy Writes:

I have been trying to find my best friend PAMELA TANDY. I left Court Lane in 1956.  My name was JOYCE LEWINGTON.  I was the first person to join Mr Fentiman's art class and I was greatly influenced by Miss Bray.  I fondly remember Miss Blitz and recall with terror Miss Pipe. Is there anyone around still who could have been in my year? I too am nostalgic for the days of black & white television with one channel and I wallow in the nostalgia of your wonderful reports.

John writes:

I don't know if you have ever done an article on the schools annual poetry competition, but many years ago I won a prize (Can't remember what it was) when I wrote a piece of poetry and it was published in the schools newsletter.

I can still recite it today.

It may be a bit of fun to get your readers who did the same to send them in.

The Nightmare 

"Night falls, monster creep.

Coffins open the dead step out

Werewolves cry into the sky

Haunted men they fall and die

Horror houses have many creeps

I just cannot get to sleep".

The mindset of a very young 12/13 year old lad

News and Views:


Dionne Warwick filed for bankruptcy in her home state of New Jersey, listing assets of $25,500 and liabilities of over $10 million, mostly stemming for tax debts to California and the federal government. Claiming "negligent and gross financial mismanagement," she says the original tax debt was paid, but penalties and interest continue to mount.

On this day 31st March 1960-1965

On 31/03/1960 the number one single was Running Bear - Johnny Preston and the number one album was South Pacific Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was Wagon Train (ITV) and the box office smash was Psycho. A pound of today's money was worth £13.68 and Burnley were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 31/03/1961 the number one single was Wooden Heart - Elvis Presley and the number one album was GI Blues - Elvis Presley. The top rated TV show was The Dickie Henderson Show (AR) and the box office smash was One Hundred and One Dalmations. A pound of today's money was worth £13.25 and Tottenham Hotspur were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 31/03/1962 the number one single was Wonderful Land - The Shadows and the number one album was Blue Hawaii - Elvis Presley. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was Lawrence of Arabia. A pound of today's money was worth £12.89 and Ipswich Town were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions. The big news story of the week was US Air Force consider using lasers to shoot down missiles.

On 31/03/1963 the number one single was Summer Holiday - Cliff Richard & the Shadows and the number one album was Summer Holiday - Cliff Richard & the Shadows. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was The Great Escape. A pound of today's money was worth £12.64 and Everton were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 31/03/1964 the number one single was Little Children - Billy J Kramer and the number one album was With the Beatles - The 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 Liverpool were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions. The big news story of the day was Radio Caroline starts broadcasts.

On 31/03/1965 the number one single was The Last Time - Rolling Stones and the number one album was Rolling Stones Number 2 - The Rolling Stones. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was The Sound of Music. A pound of today's money was worth £11.69 and Manchester United were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

Web Page 1132
24th March 2013

Top Picture : Michael Caine

Second Picture: Palmerton Road in 1952

What’s in a name?

Entertainers adopt new professional for different reasons maybe to abandon an embarrassing name given to them by their parents, like Marion Morrison who became John Wayne or Archibald Leach, Cary Grant. The fortunate are simply born with the right name, like Marlo Brando or Elvis Presley, others need the magic of a makeover. "Hello, my name is Maurice Joseph Micklewhite" somehow doesn’t sound as good as  "Hello, my name is Michael Caine ".

Name changes seem to be the only way that some folks can get on in the entertainment business but this is a universal situation so I shall only take a quick look at a few British artists’ and see how a name change has affected them and given them a career.

Foe example, in their 50^th Anniversary year, would you go and see a band whose line up included William Perks, Lewis Brian Hopkin-Jones and Michael Phillip Jagger. They are of course Bill Wyman, Brian Jones and Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones. Likewise how does the name William Howard Ashton and the Dakotas sound? Not so good eh!

Some stars retained some of their names Donovan is actually Donovan Phillip Leitch, Eric Clapton is Eric Patrick Clapp (I think I understand why he changed that name). Manfred Mann was actually Manfred Lubowitz, Rod Stewart is Roderick David Stewart and Tom Jones’ full name is Thomas Jones Woodward and would you believe that Helen Mirren’s given name is - Ilyena Vasilievna Mironov.

But as we can see from above some stage names are totally different. Would Adam Faith have made it to the top as Terence Nelhams or Billy Fury as Ronald Wycherley.  Most of us know that Elton John was originally Reginald Kenneth Dwight but did you know that Georgie Fame was Clive Powell (Clive Powell and the Blue Flames does not sound right does it!) and Jonathan King was Kenneth King. but I doubt if many of you knew that James Marcus Smith actually made his name as PJ Proby. Mike Berry retained part of his real name Michael Bourne and Tommy Bruce kept the lot Thomas Charles Bruce. Acker Bilk is actually Bernard Stanley Bilk and Clinton Ford rejoices in the name Ian George Stampford Harrison. Tony Meehan from The Shadows was born Daniel Meehan and Matt Monro would never have made it as Terry Parsons. Naturally we must not forget Sir Harry Webb (oh! sorry Cliff Richard). Adam Ant was known as Stuart Leslie Goddard and David Bowie was David Robert Hayward-Jones. Just two more here (Sir) Sean Connery was born Thomas Connery and Michael Crawford was known as Michael Patrick Dumbell-Smith

The ladies also have succumbed to name changing too. I am sure that Dusty Springfield would not have been such a hit as Mary O'Brien or Lulu as Marie Lawrie or Cilla Black as Priscilla Marie Veronica White and Sandie Shaw using her given name Sandra Ann Goodrich. Even Julie Andrews was originally Julia Elizabeth Wells.

Groups were just the same did you know that The Detours became The Who and that the Drifters became The Shadows? Other well-known examples are The Silver Beatles to The Beatles and Dave Dee (who is really Dave Harman) and the Bostons to Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Titch. Even the Irish group The Batchelors were originally known as The Harmonichords.

Name changes applied to comics too. Now just who was Maurice James Christopher Cole?  Why Kenny Everett of course. Now try this one who is the sister of Basil, Baron Feldman of Frognal? The answer is Fenella Feldman known to us as Fenella Fielding (contrary to many popular rumours she is not Kenny Everett’s’ sister). Lastly in this comedy section and locally Benny Hill, was actually born Alfred Hawthorn Hill but his family (for a time I employed his cousin and she looked just like him when he was in ‘drag’) knew him as Alfie.

 

Finally now lads would you have found Brigette Bardot just as alluring under her real name of real name Camille Javal? Or Yana as Pamella Guard and most certainly not Diana Dors if she was still using he given name Diana Mary Fluck.

Stay in Touch

Peter

DUSTYKEAT@aol.com

Pj.keat@ntlworld.co.uk

You Write:

John Writes:

What about the Apron for woodwork and metalwork, My Nan made mine and my twin brother. it was a bit short.

News and Views:

It was announced on Tuesday March 12 that Bob Dylan has been selected for the prestigious American Academy of Arts and Letters. He is the first rock star to be chosen among the best in music, literature and visual arts by the society, founded in 1898. Memembership is limited to only 250 and new members are added only upon the passing of an old one.

On this day 24th March 1960-1965

On 24/03/1960 the number one single was Running Bear - Johnny Preston and the number one album was South Pacific Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was Wagon Train (ITV) and the box office smash was Psycho. A pound of today's money was worth £13.68 and Burnley were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions. Chuck Berry is jailed and fined in the U.S.A.

On 24/03/1961 the number one single was Wooden Heart - Elvis Presley and the number one album was GI Blues - Elvis Presley. The top rated TV show was The Dickie Henderson Show (AR) and the box office smash was One Hundred and One Dalmations. A pound of today's money was worth £13.25 and Tottenham Hotspur were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 24/03/1962 the number one single was Wonderful Land - The Shadows and the number one album was Blue Hawaii - Elvis Presley. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was Lawrence of Arabia. A pound of today's money was worth £12.89 and Ipswich Town were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions. The big news story of the week was French Algerian War ends

On 24/03/1964 the number one single was Little Children - Billy J Kramer and the number one album was With the Beatles - The 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 Liverpool were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions. The big news story of the week was 10 found guilty of Great Train Robbery.

On 26/03/1965 the number one single was The Last Time - Rolling Stones and the number one album was Rolling Stones Number 2 - The Rolling Stones. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was The Sound of Music. A pound of today's money was worth £11.69 and Manchester United were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

Web Page 1130

17th March 2013

Top Picture : Double World Champion, bikes and cars  John Surtees

Second Picture: Tokyo Olympics opening ceremony.

1964

I thought that I would look at what was happening here at home and to other Brits in 1964 and what a year that was, so much happened we were teenagers and the Queen was only 38. So what of 1964?

The Average Weekly Wage in 1964 was only £18.2s.2d                                        

But

A  Sliced white loaf cost 1s 2d (5.8p)                                                                             20 Cigarettes - 4s 11d (24.6p)                                                                                         A Litre of petrol - 1s 0.24d (5.1p)                                                                                 A Pint of milk - 9d (3.8p)                                                                                                   A Pint of beer - 1s 6.5d (7.8p)

In May the first change in tobacco and alcohol duties since 1961was imposed.

Philips introduce the musicassette ( compact cassette )
Rudi Gernreich 'designs' the topless swimsuit
Henry Cooper wins the European Heavyweight boxing title                Chemotherapy is first used in the treatment of cancer
Unemployment was at 405,000
The first MOOG synthesiser is developed by Robert Moog ( who died last May)
British troops are sent into Cyprus
Miss World is Ann Sidney ( Miss United Kingdom )
The first electronic ticket barriers and unmanned trains are seen on the London Underground

But what about the Olympics you ask?

Lynn Davies and Mary Rand won Gold in the Long.  Anne Packer won Gold in the 800metres and Ken Matthews  Gold in the 20km walk

Other sporting happenings

Donald Campbell captures land ( 403.10 m.p.h. ) and water ( 276.33 m.p.h. ) speed records in Australia

John Surtees becomes the only man to win world titles on two and four wheels

Now month by month.

On 1st January The first 'Top of the Pops') programme is broadcast from a disused church in Manchester. The Rolling Stones start their first tour as a headline act, supported by The Ronettes. 'I Want to Hold Your Hand' by The Beatles was released in the United States                                                                                                       



February  Britain and France agree to build a Channel tunnel
 Beatlemania hits the States as The Beatles arrive to start their first U.S. Tour and they make their first appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show
The first £10 notes are issued

March. Malta gains independence                                                                                         The Dave Clark Five make their debut on the Ed Sullivan show singing 'Glad All Over' and they were still only semi professional then!                                                 Prince Edward is born
The Dave Clark Five turn professional
A Dallas jury finds Jack Ruby guilty of killing JFK assassin Lee Harvey Oswald
Radio Caroline starts broadcasting, Britain's first 'pirate radio' station



April 1964 The first commercial hydrofoil service to France from the Channel Islands is introduced. The Great Train robbers receive a total of 307 years imprisonment. BBC2 broadcasts its first programme - 'Play School'
Thieves steal the head of the Little Mermaid statue in Copenhagen



May 1964. The first Habitat store opens in London at 77 Fulham Road                                     Mods and Rockers clash in seafront riots at Brighton and Margate                                                                                                                                  Radio Sutch ( later Radio City ) begins broadcasting

June 1964. Blue Streak is used in a launch from Woomera, Australia. Christine Keeler is released from prison. A crowd of 300,000 greet The Beatles on arrival in Adelaide, Australia. The Vatican condemns the female contraceptive pill

July 1964 ITV is off-air for five days due to strike action. 275 BEA flights are cancelled at Heathrow due to strike action. The first family planning clinic opens. Jim Reeves dies in a plane crash near Beery Field airport, Nashville

August 1964. A Rolling Stones gig in the Kurhaus in Scheveningen ends in a riot after 15 minutes. Great Train robber Charles Wilson escapes from Winston Green prison. Ian Fleming, author of 13 James Bond books dies in Canterbury, aged 56. Freddie Trueman becomes the first man to take 300 Test wickets in cricket. Three women are found guilty of indecency for wearing topless dresses in public.The first 'Match of the Day' programme is broadcast, Kenneth Wolstenholme commentating

September 1964. The Forth Road Bridge opens over the Firth of Forth in Scotland. The presses at 'The Sun' start rolling at 10 p.m. Licences are granted to 22 applicants to drill for oil and gas in the North Sea.Bill Haley returns to Britain for the first time since 1957 as a support act to Brenda Lee

October 1964.  Musician Cole Porter dies. Harold Wilson becomes Labour Prime Minister in U.K. general election. EMI records reject The Who. Northern Rhodesia becomes the independent Republic of Zambia, ending 73 years of British rule. The Windmill Theatre, famous for its nude tableaux, closes down.

November 1964. The first episode of 'Crossroads' is broadcast. The House of Commons votes to abolish the death penalty for murder in Britain. The first British commercial radio station, Radio Manx, goes on air.

December was a quiet month!

So how many of them did you remember?

 

Stay in Touch

Peter

DUSTYKEAT@aol.com

Pj.keat@ntlworld.co.uk

You Write:

Peter (Willie) writes:-

The Soloists at our production of Handels Messiah were Loris Sutton,Soprano. Pamela Walker, Contralto. Richard Wood, Bass , and David Hillman , Tenor. Loris Sutton was an Australian singer who must have been about 30 at the time of our performance. She sang in many Australian competitions, and was a promising singer as early as 1951. How she came to perform in our production is just another of John Stevens miracles.

Pamela Walker and Richard Wood I cannot remember, but David Hillman went on to become a distinguished opera singer. He was an important Tenor with Sadlers Wells Opera and later when it became the English National Opera. He was just setting out as a professional when he performed with us.  He had been a quantity surveyor ! ..I met him again when I was a scenic artist with the English National Opera , and was able to remind him of his humble roots at Manor Court!  He remembered it very well..........He died in 2009.

News and Views:

Dale Robertson, who took his Oklahoma drawl and a way with horses into a long career as a star of westerns on television and in the movies, died on 27^th February in San Diego. He was 89.

The cause was complications of lung cancer and pneumonia, his wife, Susan, said. He had been hospitalized near his home in San Diego. He was a skilled rider at 10 and training polo ponies by the time he was a teenager. He often said that the only reason he acted professionally was to save money to start his own horse farm in Oklahoma, which he eventually did.

He appeared in more than 60 films and 430 television episodes. He refused to call himself an actor. Rather, he said, he was a personality with a distinctive style, not unlike that of the actor he most admired, John Wayne.

He was born Dayle Lymoine Robertson in Harrah, Oklahoma, about 30 miles east of Oklahoma City, on July 14, 1923, to Melvin and Varval Robertson. He starred in sports in high school, boxed professionally as a young man and attended the Oklahoma Military Academy. In World War II, he served in the Army in Africa and Europe and was wounded twice, earning bronze and silver stars.

He developed, owned and starred in the “Wells Fargo” series, playing Jim Hardie, a troubleshooter for the stagecoach company. To make the character distinctive, he had the otherwise right-handed Hardie draw his gun and shoot left-handed.

“Wells Fargo” was originally shown in black and white and in half-hour episodes. In 1961, however, the producers wanted to turn it into a full-hour show in colour but he refused, and sold the show to them.

He was married four times. In addition to his wife whom he married in 1980, he is survived by his daughters, Rochelle Robertson and Rebel Lee, and a granddaughter.

On this day 17th March 1960-1965

On 17/03/1960 the number one single was Running Bear - Johnny Preston and the number one album was South Pacific Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was Wagon Train (ITV) and the box office smash was Psycho. A pound of today's money was worth £13.68 and Burnley were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions. The big news story of the day was Venereal disease rising in teens.

On 17/03/1961 the number one single was Wooden Heart - Elvis Presley and the number one album was GI Blues - Elvis Presley. The top rated TV show was No Hiding Place (AR) and the box office smash was One Hundred and One Dalmations. A pound of today's money was worth £13.25 and Tottenham Hotspur were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 17/03/1962 the number one single was Wonderful Land - The Shadows and the number one album was Blue Hawaii - Elvis Presley. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was Lawrence of Arabia. A pound of today's money was worth £12.89 and Ipswich Town were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 17/03/1963 the number one single was Summer Holiday - Cliff Richard & the Shadows and the number one album was Summer Holiday - Cliff Richard & the Shadows. 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 Everton were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 17/03/1964 the number one single was Little Children - Billy J Kramer and the number one album was With the Beatles - The 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 Liverpool were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 17/03/1965 the number one single was The Last Time - Rolling Stones and the number one album was Rolling Stones Number 2 - The Rolling Stones. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was The Sound of Music. A pound of today's money was worth £11.69 and Manchester United were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.