Wednesday 20 February 1963
Two hundred wives in Westminster and Barnet are testing a new family-planning pill. The pill has already been tested on 599 women and not one became pregnant. A spokesman said, “A doctor’s prescription will be needed when the pill becomes available.”
Soft background music will be played as an experiment for the next fortnight to customers at Sunderland Savings Bank. If the majority of customers are in favour, the music while you bank will be made a permanent feature of the bank’s service.
The home of striptease king Paul Raymond was stripped of gems and furs. Thieves climbed in through a window and stole Mrs Raymond’s wedding ring, plus three mink stoles.
A Scotland Yard detective placed a nylon stocking over his head at the Old Bailey yesterday to show jurors how gangsters masked themselves. He pulled his ears forward and pushed his nose to one side as he drew the knotted stocking down below his chin.
Television highlights: Two in the Bush, The Sky at Night, Living With the Germans.
Radio highlights: Parade of the Pops with The Beatles, Get With It.
Rugby Union: Hospitals Cup, First Round – St George’s 3pts St Bart’s 11pts.
Today’s horse racing meeting at Fontwell is off. The prospects of a return to horse racing this week remain extremely remote.
Weather: very cold with snow showers. Outlook – similar. Maximum temperature 0c, 32f.
Thursday 21 February 1963
A book on marriage guidance that was written sixteen hundred years ago will go on sale for the first time today. It is a book that will shock, offend and outrage many people. It is The Kama Sutra of Vatsyayana. The publishers have deliberately priced the book at 42s to keep it out of the mass market.
The total of unemployed in Britain, due to be announced later today, is expected to exceed 900,000. A 100,000 jump from the January figure of 815,000 is feared. There is some speculation that the figure might reach 1,000,000. The main cause for this alarming rise is the Big Freeze, which has made 300,000 building workers idle.
Nylon prices to drop from 19s 11d to 16s 11d. A spokesman explained: “Until last September we were selling only seamed stockings. Now we are producing seamfree styles, which means that we are selling many more nylons.” The average price of nylons is 4s 11d. Some can be bought for as little as 2s 11d, but they only last for a few days.
Thirteen international starts including Bing Crosby, Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald and Edith Piaf have cut new tracks for an LP called All Star Festival. Sales from the LP, cost £1, will aid refugees. Britain’s contribution is Greensleeves by Anne Shelton.
Television highlights: Perspective – the British breakfast. Your Kind of Sport – Hockey. Public Speaking Contest.
Radio highlights: Smash Hits. Swinging UK.
Sheffield Wednesday’s FA Cup Third Round tie with Bolton Wanderers was postponed for the thirteenth time because of the icy weather. The game is now scheduled for next Wednesday.
Weather: sunny spells and snow showers. Night frost. Outlook – little change. Maximum temperature 3c, 37f.
Friday 22 February 1963
Venus is too hot to support life as we know it, according to signals sent back from Mariner II, which passed within 21,000 miles of the planet on December 14. Temperatures on the planet are between 300 and 400 Fahrenheit, 149 to 215 Centigrade. However, Venus may not have a deadly radiation belt, as the Earth has. This will make it less dangerous for spacemen to journey close to the planet.
The BBC is to broadcast help the motorist reports at the weekends, starting this Easter. Information about road and travel conditions will be given after the Light Programme news headlines. If the public shows interest, the reports might continue every weekend, or even every day.
Ten million savers who keep their cash in Trustee Savings Banks may soon be able to pay their bills by cheque. This will save them queuing up to draw out shopping money on Friday evenings and Saturday mornings.
Council house tenants in Halesworth, Suffolk are complaining because their houses, built in 1938, still do not have bathrooms or flush toilets. They have to dispose of every drop of water at the bottom of their gardens.
S.K. Bates of Devon writes: “Certain noises called Pop songs, and the people who make them, are often described as “fabulous”. The dictionary describes “fabulous” as absurd, incredible. Now, I begin to see the light.
Television highlights: Time Stood Still – Italian feature film. Moment for Melody. The Avengers.
Radio highlights: Unmarried Mothers – discussion. Alan Freeman Show.
Weather: mainly dry, but cold. Outlook – similar. Maximum temperature 2c, 36f.
Saturday 23 February 1963
Diners carried on undisturbed while fireman tackled a blaze on a fifth floor landing at the Cafe Royal, Piccadilly, last night.
There are 1,798,000 spinsters over the age of 35 in Britain – half a million more spinsters than bachelors. Oona P, 38, said, “Men are a lot of lecherous devils out for all they can get.” Jane G, 36: “Love ‘em and leave ‘em is my motto, before they leave you.” Marion P, 37: “Financially, I’m independent, and will have a pension for my old age. Why should I give up my freedom?” Rev R. Mary Webster said, “Women are able to achieve a much greater independence today. They can lead a happy life without marriage.”
Pin-up girls are appearing on long playing record sleeves, and fans are decorating their walls with them. However, one London dealer said, “There is a demand for sleeves, but it’s not terribly big at the moment. The EP type are the most popular, mainly of Cliff and the Shadows.”
Greens are still poor. Cabbages are 1s, sprouts 1s lb, King Edwards 5d, leeks 1s 4d, swedes 6d and cucumbers 4s.
Top television shows this week: 1. Coronation Street (Feb 11) 2. Steptoe and Son 3. Coronation Street (Feb 13) 4. Labour Party Leader Broadcast 5. The Paradise Suite.
Television highlights: A Song For Europe – selecting the British entry. Thank Your Lucky Stars – featuring Billy Fury, Clyde Valley Stompers and the Beatles.
Radio highlights: Desert Island Discs – Noel Coward. LP Parade.
Despite the Big Freeze, there will be no extension to the English Rugby Union season. The Rugby League season will close on 31 May.
Weather: Bright after early fog. Maximum temperature 4c, 39f.
Sunday 24 February 1963
Measles cases for the first seven weeks of this year total 130,154, compared with 7,587 a year ago, the Health Ministry said last night. Doctors expect 1963 to be the worst on record for the disease.
A report compiled by a senior member of the British Medical Association – “The Anatomy of Pop” – states that: “Pop music is a kind of social cement that binds young people together.” Furthermore, it concludes that songs from previous generations were much more suggestive than today’s songs, and that a pop idol is a “merchant of romance, a dealer in dreams.”
In shops soon – foods in tins with see-through tops. A vacuum cleaner driven by two motors is set to replace models driven by rubber bands. Within ten years more than half of the gadgets in our homes will work off batteries.
Television’s most prolific and successful composer is Ron Grainer. Hear him with his orchestra on the LP version of That Was The Week That Was.
Most American jazz stars think that modern British composers are not with it. But Ella Fitzgerald disagrees. On her latest nationwide concert tour she is going to sing some of Lionel Bart’s music. For the sixth year running Ella Fitzgerald has topped the Melody Maker poll as the world’s greatest female jazz singer.
Britain’s best female driver, Pat Moss, offers some advice on driving: Relax – driving should be done the easy way. Don’t drive in high heels – if you don’t have flat shoes, drive in nylons. Sound your hooter when overtaking. And flash your headlights when overtaking.
Television highlights: Billy Cotton Band Show with Cliff Richard and the Shadows. The Solitary Billionaire – J Paul Getty. Play – The Prisoner with Patrick McGoohan.
Radio highlights: Pick of the Pops. Tune a Minute.
Weather: dry and sunny, but cold.
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