Sunday 16 June 1963
Fun facts: the world’s population is 3,110 millions – nearly half as large as 1932. Cod make grunting noises. Seventy-two artificial satellites and space probes were launched in 1962. The average strength of beer is at its highest since the early years of WW2.
Stylish t-shirts are the latest hit for casual weekend wear. They come in white or black only and have a lion, ship or saxophone stamped on the chest and back. These items are being imported from St Tropez where many zippy holiday fashions start.
Pollo-necks, sleeveless dresses and denim are in. And for your headscarf why not try the Cleopatra style – the motoring snood.
Disc censors are taking a greater interest in smutty lyrics. We’ve had How Do You Do It, Please Please Me, and I Like It. The latest disc to fall under the spotlight – Some Do, Some Don’t, Some Will, Some Won’t by the Lorne Gibson Trio.
Lesley Duncan has been a chambermaid, pantry maid, shop assistant and waitress. Now with twelve songs published and her first single, I Want a Steady Guy, making waves in discville, she will be adding singer and songwriter to her job titles.
Personal advertisements: Past 40, old, run down? Women, try Orstrax Tonic Tables for vim and vigour. Jane, arrive tonight from Rome with Cesare (I got the part!) – Sylvia.
Television highlights: Robin Hood – The Flying Sorcerer. Le Mans – Raymond Baxter reports. Lorna Doone – part one.
Radio highlights: Guitar Recital. Top Twenty.
Weather: sunny spells. Outlook – cooler. 17c, 63f.
Monday 17 June 1963
“Shades” is the hep word for sunglasses. And it’s being used more frequently as the cult of the large dark sunglasses grows. These cool kingsize shades are popular all over the Western world. Prescription dark-tinted glasses are in. A psychologist said, “It’s all part of the dominant woman mood.”
The gift stamp war is growing. Gift stamps are now being traded in grocers, garages, greengrocers, furniture shops, tobacconists and even footwear stores. According to a report, by 1965 at least a tenth of trading in Britain will be covered by gift stamps.
HMS Ursa, the navy’s most with-it frigate, will be fitted with a commercial taped-music system. The crew will have the pick of 4,000 tunes ranging from pops to light classics. The ship is set for a tour of duty in the Caribbean.
Tory official Jim Salt said that the rumours linking Christine Keeler with a member of the Royal Family were, “Absurd and getting out of hand. The Prime Minister must deny them.”
Strawberry pickers urgently wanted from 1st July to 20th July. Ideal for holidaymakers and students. Enjoyable working holiday assured.
Television highlights: Paris International Air Show. Spain in September with Johnny Morris. Points of View with Robert Robinson.
Radio highlights: Cricket Scoreboard. Miss Dangerfield and the Irresistible Nightingale.
Weather: cloudy with drizzle. Outlook – rather cool. 17c, 63f.
Tuesday 18 June 1963
If it’s too hot in your home top London interior designer John Siddeley suggests that you should, “Take down the curtains and sit around stark naked.” Alternatively, you could paint your walls blue – a cool colour – and put an extractor fan in the window.
There are 8,500,000 telephones in Britain and very few of them are coloured. But since April, when the GPO lifted the 30s luxury charge on colour, and all new phones cost £1, three new colour phones have been sold for every four new black ones. The favourite colours are white, grey and red.
More than 250 train drivers turned up for work in old uniforms in protest at the inferior quality of their new uniforms. A British Railways spokesman said, “The drivers are complaining that their uniforms were made in Poland, but we obtained them from a supplier in Newport, Monmouthshire.”
A brand new theatre opened in Berkeley Square, London, aptly called the May Fair. The opening was a gay, glittering occasion. Ralph Richardson and Barbara Jefford starred in the play Six Characters in Search of an Author.
Britain has 13,000 caravan sites housing 60,000 caravans and 150,000 people.
Cricket: the Middlesex first innings closed at the overnight score of 121 for 3 because nine of the team were stuck in traffic jams and couldn’t get to the ground in Tunbridge Wells, Kent. Middlesex have filed a complaint and the MCC will adjudicate. However, under the Laws of Cricket, many observers believe the umpires made the right decision.
Television highlights: Supercar. The Buskers of Marrakesh. The Royal Highland Show.
Radio highlights: Witchcraft. Songs for Everyone.
Weather: sunny intervals and showers. Outlook – similar. 18c, 65f.
Wednesday 19 June 1963
The first all-British oral contraceptive is available from today. An ever-increasing number of married women are turning to this method of birth control. Other methods are only 70% reliable. Experiments with “the pill” were first carried out eight years ago in Puerto Rico. It is hoped that a birth control pill for married men will not be too far away.
New regulations to prevent excessive noise on the road have been drafted. There will be no change in the noise levels within the next three years, but the government hopes to have the new regulations in place by 1968.
More crimes were committed in England and Wales last year than ever before. The number of crimes reported in 1962 was 896,484, up 11%. In 1961 the increase was 8 1/2%. In 1960 it was 10%.
Marks are Spencer are offering a £1,000 reward for information about last night’s attack on four staff at Upon Park, London. The attackers got away with the £2,000 the members of staff were taking to the bank.
Cassius Clay beat British heavyweight champion Henry Cooper in five rounds last night. Cooper won the first four rounds, but after one minute of the fifth round blood poured from a gash above Cooper’s left eye and the referee had no alternative but to stop the fight.
Television highlights: Miss Interflora 1963. International Dancing from Germany. Professional Wresting from Wembley Town Hall.
Radio highlights: John Hooton – excepts from a jazz opera. The Contemporary French Novel.
Weather: sunny spells and showers. Outlook – changeable. 18c, 64f.
Thursday 20 June 1963
The petrol price war hotted up last night when Jet, who sell through 500 garages, knocked a penny off its premium grade, Jet 97, bringing the price down to 4s 6d a gallon. However, this price will only be available in areas near ports.
Caterpillars are invading High Wycombe. Millions of caterpillars have already picked clean a 60ft hawthorn hedge belonging to Mrs Richard Jones. Mrs Jones has appealed to the Ministry of Agriculture for help. She said, “Some of the caterpillars have got into the house.”
The mood today is for streamlining. And that applies to undies too. The basic requirements for Miss 1963 are a bra, girdle, a slip and briefs. But now the Braslip will reduce these garments from four to three. Made in Bry-nylon, they are set to become all the rage.
Agony Aunt: “Veteran” writes from St Albans – “Every time I bring my boyfriend home, my father pins him in a corner and tells him about how he helped win the desert battle from Alamein to Tripoli. I’m left cooling my heels.” Jane Adams’ advice, “Dad, maybe you should call a halt at Benghazi.”
The Pop Thirty is under siege from the groups. It’s the current mood of pop fans. So much so that a famous recording chief said the other day, “I think the days of the big-time solo artists are numbered.” The moral appears to be: there is safety and success in numbers.
Television highlights: Don’t Say a Word – charade game. Cricket – England v West Indies, Second Test Match from Lord’s. Perspective – a programme about luggage.
Radio highlights: Music While You Work. Lunchtime Prom.
Weather: cloudy with rain, brighter later. Outlook – continuing changeable. 18c, 64f.
Available for order and pre-order, my Swinging Sixties Mystery Series
https://books2read.com/u/bMqNPG
For Authors
#1 for value with 565,000 readers, The Fussy Librarian has helped my books to reach #1 on over thirty occasions.
A special offer from my publisher and the Fussy Librarian. https://authors.thefussylibrarian.com/?ref=goylake
Don’t forget to use the code goylake20 to claim your discount 🙂
Hannah Howe 