Saturday 1 December 1962
Actor Sean Connery, 32, married actress Diane Cilento, 25, in a secret ceremony at a Gibraltar registry office. Witnesses were two local taxi drivers. The couple spent their wedding night at the Rock Hotel, Gibraltar, before leaving to honeymoon in Spain.
Jellied eels are to go up in price, from 2s a bowl to 2s 6d. The last increase was in 1942 when the price leapt from 1s to 2s.
A rear-engined mini-car being built by the Rootes Group in Paisley, Scotland will be called the Imp, it was announced yesterday.
Two young beatniks were married yesterday, Linda Ellis and Richard Wardell. They borrowed the wedding ring and have no money. After the wedding, Richard said, “We intend to carry on our beatnik way of life.”
Events: an international caravan exhibition at Olympia and Bertram Mills’ Circus.
Cinema: West Side Story, The Longest Day, Lawrence of Arabia.
Television highlights: Grandstand, Dixon of Dock Green, Juke Box Jury.
Radio highlights: Sports Parade, Ted Heath Bandstand, Let’s Take a Spin.
Weather: early fog and frost. Outlook: little change.
Sunday 2 December 1962
Britain’s first ever 1 1/2 pint milk containers were delivered to doorsteps in London this morning.
Morphy Richards spin dryer £24 3s 0d (HP terms available).
“Put your favourite discs on the fabulous new Fidelity Duet Ampligram (pictured), pick up the mike and sing. From the loudspeaker comes the recorded vocal and your voice mixed!” No price-tag, but a booklet was available.
A new type of stingless aftershave lotion in the form of a jelly-like paste will be available soon – 5s 6d.
Television highlights: The Saint, with Roger Moore, Pinky and Perky, Perry Mason, with Raymond Burr; The Sudden Silence, a play starring Barry Foster (who later starred as Van der Valk).
Radio highlights: Pick of the Pops, 4pm – 5pm on the Light Programme.
Pop charts: 1. She Taught Me How to Yodel – Frank Ifield 2. Swiss Maid – Del Shannon 3. Let’s Dance – Chris Montez
Football highlights: Manchester City 2 – 4 Arsenal. The top two in the league, Tottenham Hotspur and Everton, played out a goalless draw in front of 60,000 fans.
The weather: fog and a heavy frost.
Monday 3 December 1962
Pictured, the Commonwealth Games medal table. The event finished on 1 December 1962 in Perth, Australia.
Mirror Group Newspapers Christmas Appeal: they requested funds for blind children, the deaf, orphans, plus money to buy coal for the elderly.
Stars threatened to take strike action against the BBC over pay. The BBC offered £18 18s, an increase of £10 10s minimum wage for a performance.
Cabbie drivers in Paris wanted to carry guns – bandits had killed nineteen drivers since 1945.
The Trades Union Congress was concerned about the spread of automation and the ‘robot peril’ with machines making more people unemployed.
Table Tennis: a dispute over a plan to ditch players aged 27 and over in favour of younger players. The newspapers carried county results alongside the football scores.
Television highlights: Blue Peter, Top of the Form, and Maigret.
Radio highlights: Listen With Mother, Desert Island Discs (BBC), and Hit Parade (Radio Luxembourg).
The weather: sunny, less cold.
Tuesday 4 December 1962
Harold MacMillan may become a pop star. His spoken version of the old song She Didn’t Say Yes, She Didn’t Say No was recorded at the Tory conference and given a rock and roll backing and chorus. Sales to date – 2,000.
More people are now injured in British industry each month, 16,000, than the average total of our servicemen during World War Two, 10,667.
Chimneys cleaned for 10 1/2d. Simply drop Imp onto a bright fire and in minutes your chimney is clean and soot-free.
Motor Racing: Ferraris (pictured) may be the only threat to British cars in 1963, but watch out for Hondas.
Television highlights: This Is Your Life, University Challenge, The Wall – a drama-documentary about the Berlin Wall.
Radio highlights: Housewives’ Choice, Workers’ Playtime, Pop to Bed 11.31 pm – 11.55pm.
Weather: cold with fog, 5c, 41f
Wednesday 5 December 1962
Nightmare Britain – Smog, Fog, Ice! Visibility nil. That was the grim report from most parts of freezing, fog-bound Britain last night. In London, the dense fog was officially smog. And grimmer weather is forecast for today.
One of the worst things about being a working wife is coming home to a cold house at night. This is where the new timer switches come in. They can switch on the electric fire before you get in. You can also buy multi-socket timers to switch on your radio and electric blanket.
Football: longest current undefeated run – Stoke, 17 games (third in Division Two). Longest run since a win – Raith Rovers, 14 games.
Football scores: Friendly: Ipswich 1 – 0 Vejle Boldklub (Denmark), abandoned after 27 minutes, fog. Cambridge University 0 – 0 West Ham, abandoned after 15 minutes, fog. Poole v Cambridge United, postponed, fog.
Television highlights: Z-Cars, Rawhide and Sportsview.
Radio highlights: Morning Story, Parade of the Pops, David Jacobs Plays the Pops.
Weather: foggy and cold, 7c, 45f
Thursday 6 December 1962
Grey Killer Claims First 40 Victims. The Smog Heroes. Give them all a cheer! Give them your thanks! Give them a medal! The railmen and bus workers of Britain are the heroes of the Big Smog. Half a million heroes! Due to the smog, the elderly and people with health problems are advised to stay indoors.
More and more patients are getting tranquillisers on the NHS. One reason why more people are taking “calm pills” these days is the increasing tension of modern living.
Britain’s cigarette smokers, especially women, are turning to tips. Last year, sales of tipped cigarettes soared by 4,600 million. Untipped dropped by 2,100 million.
A man believed to be a top Nazi war criminal was arrested in Chile yesterday. The man was named as Walter Raus aka General Walter Rauff, who has been on the run for eighteen years, and is blamed for 90,000 deaths.
Television highlights: Rin Tin Tin, Crackerjack, Double Your Money.
Radio highlights: Alan Freeman Show (fifteen minutes on Radio Luxembourg), Round Britain Quiz, The Jazz Club: Humphrey Lyttelton.
Miss King, Queen of the Hits. She is blonde, she is twenty, and married with two children. She is Carole King. And she is fast becoming the Queen of Tin Pan Alley on both sides of the Atlantic.
Weather: mainly foggy. No sign of the fog clearing. 7c, 45f.
Coming soon, Songbird, my novel set in the winter of 1962-63
https://books2read.com/u/bMqNPG
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