Things in living memory which seem very anachronistic now

[AM9]

Yes. It hid in plain sight. Very disconcerting to think about. The episode I saw was in 1964 or 1965 I estimate. I first started watching Crackerjack around 1960, when 'Seamus Android' was very much in control. That individual also presented another programme, 'Playbox', which I remember quite well. For a time Playbox used to alternate weekly with Crackerjack both hosted by Eamonn Andrews. Whereas Crackerjack was set in a theatre with an audience, Playbox was studio based with quizzes and games plus the animated cartoon Bengo about a pet puppy and the drawings of Tony Hart. Others who presented that show included Rolf Harris (!!!), Tony Hart, Cliff Michelmore and Johnny Morris. Let's not forget 'Whack-O' with Jimmy Edwards!

Why the triple exclaimation marks? Rolf Harris was originally a contributor to Whirligig, a '50s children's programme, - that's where his art skills first appeared on tv. Then there was Bengo, a cartoon/drawn image of a boxer dog. In the early days he was an accomplished entertainer.

 

[contrex]

Why the triple exclaimation marks? Rolf Harris was originally a contributor to Whirligig, a '50s children's programme, - that's where his art skills first appeared on tv. Then there was Bengo, a cartoon/drawn image of a boxer dog. In the early days he was an accomplished entertainer.

The reply was to one raising the issue of a culture which accepted toxic/predatory masculinity. You do know why Rolf Harris was imprisoned in 2014? Bengo was the creation of William Timym ("Tim") (1902-1990) .

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

"The Good Old Days" with the acts introduced by Leonard Sachs, which started in the early 1950s and ran for many years.

 

[GordonT]

The reply was to one raising the issue of a culture which accepted toxic/predatory masculinity. You do know why Rolf Harris was imprisoned in 2014? Bengo was the creation of William Timym ("Tim") (1902-1990) .

Precisely so. In his summing up at Harris's trial the presiding judge addressed Harris in the following terms: “You have shown no remorse for your crimes at all. Your reputation now lies in ruins, you have been stripped of your honours, but you have no one to blame but yourself.” The evil which Harris perpetrated on his young, innocent victims served to completely erode any of his talents or virtues.

 

[GRALISTAIR]

The FA Cup always kicking off at 3.00 on a Saturday afternoon.

I had forgotten about that one!

 

[AM9]

The reply was to one raising the issue of a culture which accepted toxic/predatory masculinity. You do know why Rolf Harris was imprisoned in 2014? Bengo was the creation of William Timym ("Tim") (1902-1990) .

Yes of course I do, but there's no reason why his early appearances on TV shouldn't be discussed in their own right as they have no relevance to his more recent convictions in the context of a discussion about "things in living memory which seem-very anachronistic now".

Precisely so. In his summing up at Harris's trial the presiding judge addressed Harris in the following terms: “You have shown no remorse for your crimes at all. Your reputation now lies in ruins, you have been stripped of your honours, but you have no one to blame but yourself.” The evil which Harris perpetrated on his young, innocent victims served to completely erode any of his talents or virtues.

Ah, the old let's airbrush history argument.

 

[Trackman]

The FA Cup always kicking off at 3.00 on a Saturday afternoon.

This time next year it'll be 'Remember when the FA Cup final was on free to air TV?'

 

[JamesT]

This time next year it'll be 'Remember when the FA Cup final was on free to air TV?'

The FA Cup Final is still on the list as having to be on free to air TV.
The BBC have sublicenced rights from TNT so will show some live matches including the final.

 

[Westinghouse]

I well remember those. There were at least two old established shops in Reading which had these, one was a shoe shop (which also had an X-ray machine to see how well a pair of shoes fitted one's feet!) and the other was Jacksons department store. Although Jacksons used a vacuum tube system the concept was exactly the same.

Yes, I can remember going into our local sweet shop the next day and buying some sweets with my pocket money. Normally I never bought sweets...!

Phonotas Ladies. In my (long past) youth, I worked in a large office in Liverpool. Every week a lady wearing a brown uniform from Phonotas called at every desk to spray/wipe the phone, with the idea of rendering them bug-free and preventing the mange or plague spreading around the office ! A heavy rubber bar was placed over the switch hooks/buttons so the phone would still ring with the receiver "off the hook" whilst being cleaned.

 

[contrex]

Ah, the old let's airbrush history argument.

No, the "let's acknowledge the feet of clay that formerly revered figures may turn out to have" approach.

 

[3141]

They used to go from the Bristol Commercial Vehicles works factory on Bath Road, Brislington, Bristol, as chassis, to Eastern Coach Works (ECW) in Lowestoft. The driver had to wrap up very warm. No fun if it was wet. Last one was 1981 I think, a VR type.

Last one was an Olympian chassis (then being produced at Brislington) in October 1983.

 

[Merle Haggard]

Phonotas Ladies. In my (long past) youth, I worked in a large office in Liverpool. Every week a lady wearing a brown uniform from Phonotas called at every desk to spray/wipe the phone, with the idea of rendering them bug-free and preventing the mange or plague spreading around the office ! A heavy rubber bar was placed over the switch hooks/buttons so the phone would still ring with the receiver "off the hook" whilst being cleaned.

Telephone sanitisers - one of the gags in The Hitch-hiker's Guide to the Galaxy'.
Ford Prefect & co encountered a space-ship full of them. They'd had been told that their planet was doomed and, because they're so important, it was best if they boarded this space ship to escape. But they noticed, looking back over a long period of time, that their planet remained unscathed...

 

[AM9]

No, the "let's acknowledge the feet of clay that formerly revered figures may turn out to have" approach.

Feel free to do that, more effectrive in a special thread, but it's not relevant to this discussion about memoirs of anachronisms as the offences have been committed for far longer than members here can recall and probably will continue well into the future.

 

[GordonT]

The former rarity of what became termed "mature students" on full time further education courses.

Yes of course I do, but there's no reason why his early appearances on TV shouldn't be discussed in their own right as they have no relevance to his more recent convictions in the context of a discussion about "things in living memory which seem-very anachronistic now".


Ah, the old let's airbrush history argument.

No quite the reverse. I am concerned to see that history is not airbrushed and that the full extent and horror of Harris's wickedness is not somehow diluted by his previous public persona.

 

[New York Giant]

People wearing a mobile phone holster on their belts, and then tucking their Ben Sherman, Ralph Lauren or YSL shirt behind it so the phone was visible to all.

Also, Von Dutch caps, Ed Hardy t-shirts...

Sorry for name-dropping brands.

 

[Busaholic]

Wasn't one of the main reasons footage was lost being that a lot of in-studio shows were videotaped, but because tape was so expensive then they got wiped and re-used? Hence the occasional plea for anyone - probably a media professional due to the cost and rarity if such machines (pre home video machines being common) to dig out their own footage?

Not sure - but didn't early b/w Dad's Army and Steptoe and Son turn up that way? Even poor recordings can now be enhanced and be made broadcast quality of course. Think, also, it explains why so little Granada TV footage of the 60's and early 70's local football exists - there are some local games I'd love to see again -, and what we see today were short highlights from "The Big Match" as the full games have now gone? If that footage does exist in Granada's vaults, surely with the success of "The Big Match Revisited" they could release those tapes - if they still have them of course!!

Some programmes were sold to foreign TV companies, and I believe episodes have been retrieved that way. Seem to remember mention of an African TV station turning some up.

 

[AM9]

The former rarity of what became termed "mature students" on full time further education courses.


No quite the reverse. I am concerned to see that history is not airbrushed and that the full extent and horror of Harris's wickedness is not somehow diluted by his previous public persona.

Acknowledging a person's past is not diluting more recent matters, it's just discussing facts, - failing to include relevant facts that are inconvenient to a different discussion is tantamount to airbrushing the past. As I implied above, a thread specifically to discuss his behaviour that was until previously not in the public domain would not include his earlier talents/skills that he was originally in the public domain for and in the living memory of many.

 

[AndrewE]

I don't remember farthings being mentioned here... I learnt them but they were withdrawn in 1961 before I had much pocket money! Black-Jack chews in the sweetshop continued to be the same price, but 2 for a halfpenny.

 

[contrex]

People wearing a mobile phone holster on their belts, and then tucking their Ben Sherman, Ralph Lauren or YSL shirt behind it so the phone was visible to all.

Also, Von Dutch caps, Ed Hardy t-shirts...

Sorry for name-dropping brands.

I worked with an absolute knob who was mad about Superdry.

 

[Killingworth]

Church! My grandparents were stalwarts, my grandfather a Methodist local preacher. Our church was massive, big organ, gallery, large spire, 2 large halls bigger than many chapels and several smaller meeting rooms used by a large Sunday school with classes covering ages 4 to 16. Going to church every Sunday was normal practice

In the 50s one of the stalwart management committee, proprietor of an electrical contractors, arranged the most up to date lighting and a microphone and sound system for the minister. At the time it was rathrr scoffed at because any minister worth their salt was expected to be heard at the back of any assembly. (I still prefer to speak without a mike.)

That church is long gone, the site used for sheltered accommodation for the elderly.

 

[High Dyke]

Bronco and Izal the "jaggy" toilet paper brands often dispensed in schools and occasionally also used as tracing paper.

Made a good paper streamer, when thrown out of the train window - apparently.

My father asked the local store to desist, but they ignored his complaint and blithely continued until, after a couple of months,...

Your Sainsbury's story reminds me. A local skip hire firm had a similar phone number to me, so we frequently received wrong callers. Having got fed up over a period of a few months, the next caller got the brunt of my ire. I'd just hired a skip myself so I possessed a price list. I patiently took the callers details (size required, duration and would they need a street permit). Imagine their anger when the skip failed to be delivered on the required day.

And here is the IBA test card.
View attachment 164224

What appears in the original picture appears to be the SMPTE colour bars.

Talking of TV test cards. I remember watching the IBA Engineering Announcements.

The BBC also put out transmitter information broadcasts.

 

[alxndr]

A heavy rubber bar was placed over the switch hooks/buttons so the phone would still ring with the receiver "off the hook" whilst being cleaned.

Not only are phones having hooks increasingly rare these days but on many you can't use the trick of putting your finger, or rubber bar, on the hook. Certainly it's not possible on the more modern Titan Signal Post Telephones as they work off magnets (I believe) rather than a physical switch built into the hook. It's much more sensitive so you do have to be quite careful not to knock it off just enough to start ringing in of its own accord when closing the door.

 

[Ashley Hill]

The BBC also put out transmitter information broadcasts

So did ITV. So and do transmitter will be operating on half power etc. Also some ITV companies had opening start up films. Here’s Westward Television’ start up ident from YouTube. It takes me right back to my youth.

A fuller version is available on YouTube containing transmitter information but will not play when linked.

 

[GRALISTAIR]

Ben Sherman shirts - now they are definitely something from the past!

 

[Pete_uk]

Flying a supersonic airliner.

Or even a hypersonic reusable space plane

 

[GordonT]

Using a "duplicating machine" with alcohol based ink and large handle to wind through each copy.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Using a comptometer machine.

 

[D6130]

Using a slide rule.

 

[Harpo]

Only boys doing metalwork, woodwork and technical drawing at school and with male teachers, and only girls doing needlework and cookery with female teachers.

 

[gg1]

People wearing a mobile phone holster on their belts, and then tucking their Ben Sherman, Ralph Lauren or YSL shirt behind it so the phone was visible to all.

Or if they couldn't quite stretch to a phone, a pager clipped to their belt.