Category: 1963

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1963

Social History 1963 #30

Monday 27 May 1963 

Interference to BBC television reception got worse yesterday. Some people heard French voices when they switched on. A BBC spokesman said that heavy atmospheric heat layers could cause strong signals from the Continent to interfere with their wavebands at this time of year. He added that it was a good omen for a fine summer.

Yesterday was the finest day of the year. Sun-starved Britons headed for the coast and countryside in droves. At Southend, Essex, the temperature reached 75f, the highest anywhere in Britain so far this year.

The cost of a large loaf will increase by 1/2d today. New price: 1s 1d unwrapped, 1s 2d wrapped.

Fact: Britain leads the world in newspaper readership and the publication of literary works. 

Football: Teeside League – Cargo Fleet 3 Britannia Rovers 5. One of the Britannia Rovers goals was scored by a collie dog who leapt and nodded a wayward shot into the net. Despite protests from Cargo Fleet, the referee allowed the goal to stand.

Ten days before the First Test, the West Indies tourists are suffering. Willie Rodrigues has a displaced kneecap, Lance Gibbs has a broken bone in his left hand, Alf Valentine has strained a hamstring, Seymour Nurse has also strained a hamstring, Frank Worrell has a knee strain, Conrad Hunte has stitches in his head, and wicketkeeper Allen has the flu.

Television highlights: Men of 1862 – Napoleon III, lecture series. Fireball XL5. Man From Interpol.

Radio highlights: Whack-O! Ballads.

Weather: sunny periods. Outlook – warm, thundery rain. 18c, 64f.

Tuesday 28 May 1963 

Britain’s new hover-bus will start £1 a head pleasure trips on the Thames next month. It will ply between the Festival Pier, the Tower and the Houses of Parliament. Over £300,000 has been spent on the development of this hover-bus, and they will sell at £75,000 each.

The latest fashion craze – choose a lipstick to match your mood. Ya-Ya Yellow is a “real Yes colour”, Yum-Yum Pink is for when you are in your sweetest mood, and the Palest is for when you are feeling frail. If you don’t know what mood you are in you could try 63 Pink or 64 Rose.

In a daylight raid, a gang of safe-breakers stole 150lbs of explosives from an army store in Netheravon, Wiltshire. Enough explosives were stolen to blow 2,000 safes.

The number of pet budgies is on the decline in Britain. A spokesman for the PDSA said that the popularity of pet budgies may have passed its peak.

Questions in the House of Commons: what is the name of the wonder drug that turns brunettes into blondes? Health Minister Enoch Powell refused to answer. It was a clinical matter and not his responsibility, he said.

Despite the current measles epidemic, Health Minister Enoch Powell said the Government would not be recommending vaccines for general use at present.

Television highlights: Bookstand – sex in literature. Background – the colour bar. Living Today – cooking a Chinese meal.

Radio highlights: Say it With Music. The Canterbury Pilgrims. 

Weather: mostly dry and sunny. Outlook – similar. 19c, 66f.

Wednesday 29 May 1963 

Jill Kennington is a typical 1963 model. She is 5 foot 8 inches, 34-23-35, may look like a waif suffering just the teeniest bit from malnutrition, but give her a zany job, and she’ll do it. She said, “I don’t ask for danger money. I don’t mind doing anything crazy because I know it will produce a marvellous, exciting picture.”

Soho is now regarded as the “most disreputable place in Europe”. In the House of Lords steps are being considered to control strip clubs, “clip joints”, back room clubs and naughty film clubs. Lord Morrison said, “Something should be done for the good name of Britain.”

MP Leslie Hale is to challenge a law that forbids housewives from taking fish and chips home on a Sunday. They can take home pies, peas, puddings and mash, but because of a law made in 1936 and consolidated in 1950, they must eat fish and chips inside the shop.

The new totting up law aimed at dangerous drivers comes into force today. Under the law any driver who is found guilty of one of twenty motoring offences will have his convictions totted up against him. Three endorsements within three years will lead to an automatic ban of six months.

Economy drive: mechanics in the US forces will now have to make do with 235 kinds of screwdriver instead of the present 526 kinds.

Television highlights: Football – Czechoslovakia v England, the last 25 minutes. The Des O’Connor Show, first in a new series. Let’s Dance with Marion Ryan.

Radio highlights: Classic Language of Architecture. Evensong. 

Weather: cloudy with a chance of rain. Outlook – heavy showers. 14c, 57f.

Thursday 30 May 1963 

A petrol bomb was hurled through the window of a London betting shop last night. This is one of more than a dozen similar incidents over the past few months. Protection gangs are thought to be responsible.

Crime is rising so steeply in Britain that there is a danger of going back to mob rule, like the Gordon Riots of 1780, so said Mr H Rutherford, Chief Constable of Surrey. He added, “I am not blaming the young people of the country. I think on the whole they are jolly good. But something must be done. Attitudes must change in homes and schools.”

From the British Medical Journal: an ideal husband would have a sense of humour, good manners, tolerance and intelligence. An ideal wife would have a sense of humour, intelligence and be physically attractive.

Agony Aunt: Sophisticated Paula writes, “I’m going out with a very dominating man. I obey him, but wonder if I’m being a fool” Jane Adams’ advice, “Dominating men grow weary of women who give in all the time. They yearn for a woman with spirit.”

Agony Aunt: Susie writes, “One of our flat mates is so untidy, she is driving us wild.” Jane Adams’ advice, “Untidiness is a chronic disease and it can only be kept under control by constant nagging and bullying.”

Television highlights: Rag, Tag and Bobtail. Moonstrike – World War Two Resistance drama. Science in the Shadows – scientific resources in Britain.

Radio highlights: Berlin in the 1920s. Saludos Amigos!

Weather: sun, cloud and rain. Outlook – same. 15c, 59f.

Friday 31 May 1963 

The average housewife spends 365 hours a year washing dishes and 160 hours washing clothes. Despite the criticisms from Which? magazine, dishwashers are set to become the next “must have” labour-saving device in the home.

Figures from last year reveal that, for the first time, more people travelled by air than sea between Britain and the rest of the world – 7,675,000 people travelled by air, 7,223,000 by sea.

A new £400,000 computer – a kind of robot forecaster – is to be used by the Meteorological Office. A spokesman said, “This should lead to improvements in the forecasts, though it will be a gradual process.”

The outgoing Conservative run council in Walsall has announced that no more coloured people will be hired as bus drivers or conductors. However, the incoming Labour council has announced that it will reverse that decision.

Selling the family silver. Lord Brownlow’s collection of family silver sold for a record £141,600 at a Christie’s auction yesterday. Meanwhile, a pair of cake baskets fetched £15,500 at Sotheby’s.

Too many plays these days have unhealthy and sordid themes, says a report by the Rev D.F. Strudwick, chairman of the Public Morality Council. He added, “It’s high time the public insisted on different entertainment.”

Television highlights: The Victorians – new drama series. The First Australians with David Attenborough. Let’s Imagine – spending a million pounds.

Radio highlights: Break for Music. Public Service Announcements.

Weather: sunny and warm with scattered thunderstorms. Outlook – similar. 24c, 75f.

Cover reveal for Runaway, book three in my Swinging Sixties Mystery Series. Inspired by my research, and the people themselves, this story will feature a young woman who cannot hear or speak. She will become a series character.

Available for pre-order, Songbird, my novel set in the winter of 1962-63

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 🙂

Categories
1963

Social History 1963 #29

Wednesday 22 May 1963 

A dramatic move to hold the 1968 Olympics on both sides of the Berlin Wall was revealed today. The move is being discussed by Olympic committees and a final decision will be made next month.

The first Pop Pools starts this weekend. For a stake of 3d a line punters can select this week’s top ten tunes. If they select them in the right order they will win the jackpot. The dividends will depend on the number of clients.

In the interests of road safety a 50 mph speed limit is to be introduced on all derestricted roads other than motorways during five peak holiday weekends this summer. The BBC Light Programme will also broadcast “mood music” over these weekends.

Advice for picnickers: crumbs and jam attract ants and other creepy-crawlies. Keep them at bay by drawing a magic circle around you with a Git-Stick crayon. It contains a powerful insecticide. And for cooking outdoors a Norwegian picnic set is the answer. Cost: 7s 10d.

Chelsea beat Portsmouth 7 – 0 to clinch promotion to Division One. Stoke City are the other promoted club. The match between Walsall and Charlton was abandoned at half-time because of heavy rain.

Television highlights: European Cup Final – Milan v Benfica. Queer Fish in the Red Sea. International Professional Wrestling.

Radio highlights: Living English Dialects. On with the Bands.

Weather: rain, cool. Outlook – wet. 14c, 57f.

Thursday 23 May 1963 

Anxious housewives rushed to the grocers yesterday to stock up on sugar as the price rocketed higher. And the sweet-tooth stampede might sweep the shelves clean today. In Peckham some women carried 20lbs of sugar home in prams. Political upheaval in Cuba has provoked the sugar crisis.

The BBC is to seek a £10,000,000 loan from the City to finance its second television channel, colour television and other developments. Experimental programmes will start in January and the full service should be operational by the end of the decade.

An experiment in breeding salmon has led to 20,000 fish being born with two heads. Blame has been placed on a fertilisation defect and too much iron in the water.

A new word for our fashion lexicon – the skimmer. A skimmer is a shift with a shade more shape.

Romantic conundrum: Bob goes out with Sarah who loves Mick who loves Pat, but she goes out with Tom. Mick goes out with Ann who loves Bob.

Kiki Dee has entered Discland with her first single, Early Night. Also out soon, Lesley Gore with It’s My Party.

European Cup Final Result: Benfica 1 Milan 2. Half-time 1 – 0. Played at Wembley, on Wednesday afternoon. Attendance 45,000.

Television highlights: Roadworks Report. Sir Lancelot. Moment for Melody.

Radio highlights: Swinging UK. Frontiers of Sociology. 

Weather: sunny spells. Outlook – changeable. 17c, 63f.

Friday 24 May 1963 

A quote on the ongoing sugar crisis: “You can cold-shoulder us immigrants. You can starve our islands of aid. You can push us around. But as long as you want a cup of hot, sweet tea you can’t do without our sugar.”

Prime Minister Mr Macmillan’s view of the 1970s: express passenger trains travelling at record speeds to all the great cities; a thousand miles of motorway; an entirely automatic telephone system; the removal of all slums; housing made up of fifty percent new buildings; further education for all young people; a new modern hospital in every large town; pleasant old people’s homes, and home nurses for people who need them.

Women are luckier than men. On what facts do I make this assertion? Well, when men have a slight cold they need a week in bed to get over it, whereas women just roll up their sleeves and carry on.

An idea to improve television: when programmes break down, which they inevitably do, the BBC should show nature clips instead of playing music.

A maggotorium in Harmondsworth, Middlesex is to close because people have complained about the smell. 

A plea that a white football should be used at the FA Cup Final tomorrow because it’s easier to see on tv.

Jim Clark broke his own lap record at Monte Carlo in the first practice session for Sunday’s Monaco Grand Prix. In a fuel-injection V8 Lotus, he lapped at 73.81 mph. Second fastest was Graham Hill. Third fastest was Willy Mairesse. 

Television highlights: Bush Walkabout with David Attenborough. Football – England v the Football League, from Highbury. Living in the South of France.

Radio highlights: Folk Songs. Speedy Disc Show.

Weather: sunny, some rain. Outlook – much the same. 13c, 55f.

Saturday 25 May 1963 

American teenagers are climbing into tumble driers and spinning at sixty revolutions a minute. These laundronauts have to complete 1,000 “orbits” to “travel to the Moon and back.” The record is 2,000 “orbits”.

£250,000 worth of gold bars were snatched in the Great Bullion Robbery yesterday. The raiders put 6d in a parking meter, parked their getaway van then stole the bars from a warehouse. Twenty hand-picked detectives have been formed into a Ghost Squad. They will merge with London’s underworld and search for the gold and robbers.

Catsuits are in. And they will be in the shops in three weeks’ time. You can lounge in them, or sleep in them. But if you really feel like stopping the traffic, wear them while riding a scooter.

Here’s a disc the Beatles probably hoped they would never hear again – it’s their  first recording, My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean, and it’s a stinker!

Football result: England 3 Football League 3.

Top TV programmes this week: 1. Liberal Party Broadcast.  2. Coronation Street (May 13). 3. Coronation Street (May 15). 4. The Odd Man. 5. Sunday Night at the London Palladium.

Television highlights: Master of the Signature Tune – Ron Grainer. Gala Variety Show. Supercar.

Radio highlights: Saturday Club. Science Survey.

Weather: sunny spells and showers. Outlook – thundery rain. 18c, 64f.

Sunday 26 May 1963 

Ordinary housewives – the people who know where the shoe pinches – were given a raw deal when the Government set up its Consumer Council. They are not represented. And its chairman, Baroness Elliot, does not even do her own shopping. This Consumer Council sham will not bring an end to the High Street trickery.

The latest on the Gold Bullion Robbery. A man with a cockney accent phoned the Sunday Mirror and said, “The gold bullion is being shipped to France tonight. That’s all I’m telling you.”

The Duchess of Argyll continues her story: “These days, the owners of stately homes may have a bitter and heartbreaking struggle to live on their estates and keep them going. Things became so desperate that in late 1955 my husband told me that we would have to move out and take the roof off, which was a way of avoiding paying rates in Scotland. To stay, we had to find £100,000. This put a strain on our marriage, and I sensed it was going to end.”

Black nail varnish is in. Some women are adding tiny spots of gold. Braided straps for wristwatches are also in. You can choose the colours to match your club or organisation.

FA Cup Final Result: Manchester United 3 Leicester City 1. Receipts – £89,000.

Rugby Union Result: New Zealand 21 England 11.

Television highlights: Sunday Night at the London Palladium with Jane Morgan. The European Grand Prix – Raymond Baxter reports from Monaco. Play – How To Get Rid of Your Wife with Peter Sallis.

Radio highlights: Music for Wind Instruments. Pick of the Pops.

Weather: mainly dry with sunny spells.

Cover reveal for The Duchess, book two in my Swinging Sixties Mystery Series. Inspired by my research, and the people themselves, this story will feature a young woman who cannot hear or speak. She will become a series character.

Available for pre-order, Songbird, my novel set in the winter of 1962-63

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 🙂

Categories
1963

Social History 1963 #28

Friday 17 May 1963 

Frank Derry, 68, received an X-ray for a persistent cold. The X-ray revealed that he had a bullet in his lung, the legacy of a wound inflicted in May 1917. Doctors at the time treated the wound, but did not notice the one and a half inch bullet. Mr Derry’s current doctors have advised him not to have the bullet removed.

Cucumbers are female, and they come in three shapes – straight, bent and hooked. But do they cause indigestion? The rind has fibrous tissue, which can be tough on the gastric juices. Also, a peeled cucumber can be fragile, and swallowed without chewing, can cause indigestion. The antidote – try a pinch of nutmeg.

Public houses where music is played will have to pay £2 to £11 a year higher music royalty charges to the Performing Rights Society. The society claims that the current charges are “trivial”. 

Derek Gaisford has eaten 3,000 sausages in eleven months. He has to eat a pound of sausages a day for another month to win a £1 bet with his wife, Florence.

Agony Aunt: My wife is more interested in our dachshund than me. Jane Adams’ reply: Time you proved yourself a more interesting companion than your dachshund.

Agony Aunt: Should I trust a rich man who wants to take me to the South of France and promises that he wants nothing in return? Jane Adams’ reply: Don’t trust him if he’s 19, 29, 39, 49, or 59. You might trust him if he’s 99.

Television highlights: The Sky at Night. Let’s Imagine…writing a pop song. Dr Kildare with Richard Chamberlain. 

Radio highlights: Cricket – Yorkshire v West Indies. Speedy Disc Show.

Weather: rain then sunny intervals. Outlook – rain with sunny intervals. 15c, 59f.

Saturday 18 May 1963 

TV stars come and go. There are exceptions, of course, like Eamonn Andrews who seems to go on forever, David Jacobs who popped up on both channels recently, and Peter Dimmock who is now a BBC executive. For most though fame is fleeting. The life of a TV star may be gay and prosperous, but it is also very short.

Britain’s first National Nature Week starts today. Throughout the week naturalists all over the country will plan to pinpoint the dangers threatening the nation’s wildlife.

Boxers knocked down at the end of any round – except the last – will no longer be “saved by the bell”. Instead the count will continue until the boxer rises or is counted out. This is a safety measure brought in by the British Boxing Board of Control.

Manchester City, Manchester United and Birmingham City face the prospect of relegation from Division One this afternoon while Chelsea, Sunderland and Stoke City are chasing promotion from Division Two. Sunderland are home to Chelsea and the players will receive a £600 bonus if they win.

Tiny tortoises are the tops! Tortoises measuring 3 1/2 to 5 1/2 inches stood up to the British winter better than those of other sizes. One owner wrote of a tortoise that has been in his family for 41 years.

Television highlights: Cricket – MCC v West Indies. Supercar. Alan Whicker Goes to Sweden.

Radio highlights: Saturday Club – Helen Shapiro. Hot Twenty.

Weather: mainly dry and bright. Outlook – showers. 16c, 61f.

Sunday 19 May 1963 

Britons seem to be suffering from a twentieth century social disease with the idea that possessions are more important than people. Sociologist Dr Howard Jones said there was reason to believe that the affluent society was a bad thing. He added that as people become more affluent society’s standards and behaviour will decline.

A fortnight ago the British housewife could buy a 2lb bag of groceries for 1s 6d. A week ago the price reached 1s 7 1/2d. Now it is at 1s 11d and may reach 2s 6d. Why? Because of the political upheavals in Cuba, sugar plantations have been neglected causing a shortage in world markets.

A reliable and harmless birth control pill for men will be available for sale within three years. The pill will cost no more than the ordinary aspirin, and will be taken every week or every month. The pill is now being tested by volunteers in an American prison.

The Duchess of Argyll speaks about her divorce from the Duke. “Wild rumours were being spread about me. One of the most vicious was about the supposedly sensational contents of my private diaries. The rumours suggested that my diaries were another Lady Chatterley’s Lover, but they were only a useful record of where I’d been and what I’d been doing.”

Police are hunting Hampshire’s New Forest for a “wild man” dressed in a loincloth.

Television highlights: 1963 Golden Rose of Montreux Festival. The Palladium Show with Tommy Cooper. Sword of Freedom.

Radio highlights: Shakespearean Songs. What Does Nature Mean to You?

Weather: cloudy and dry with warm spells.

Monday 20 May 1963 

Five French customs officers swooped on 200 British trippers yesterday as they travelled to Boulogne. Their haul? One bingo table and a basket of coloured bingo balls. The trippers, mostly women, were warned that bingo is illegal in France.

Emigrating to South Australia? Your new tiled roof, brick house, individually designed in Adelaide from £2,818 including land. Low deposit, mortgage facilities, 500 plots available.

Graham Nash is studying to become an oceanographer – that’s a cat who digs currents and tides. In the meantime he’s leading the Hollies group disc Ain’t That Just Like Me. It should transfer Graham’s interest to a different kind of chart.

Prediction – this will be in the charts in two weeks: I Like It by Gerry and The Pacemakers.

FA Cup finalists Leicester City have eight players injured and all are doubtful to play against Manchester United. In the league, Leyton Orient and Manchester City have been relegated from Division One.

Stanley Matthews has no plans to retire. After thirty seasons he is still scoring goals, this weekend against Luton Town. He said, “I will retire when I feel the rest of the team are carrying me, and I don’t think that has happened yet.”

Television highlights: Mr Magoo. The Major – the story of a giant oak. World in Action – insecticides.

Radio highlights: Talking About Music. World Top Pops.

Weather: cloudy with rain at times. Outlook – brighter with showers. 12c, 54f.

Tuesday 21 May 1963 

Housewives should be represented on the new Consumer Council the Government was told last night. The Council, which will act as a consumer watchdog, still has three places to fill. Labour and Liberal MPs backed the proposal, but no Tory MPs spoke in favour.

A plea for a temporary ban on Chinese frozen eggs was rejected yesterday by the Ministry of Heath even though it has been confirmed that the frozen eggs have led to outbreaks of para-typhoid. 

Britain’s shoe firms took a hammering last year because the “square-toe” look for women didn’t catch on. Over 200,000 pairs of “square-toe” shoes were left on the shelves. Instead, women opted for the pointed-toe styles of 1960 and 1961.

A television programme about a club where female and male homosexuals dance together has been shelved by the BBC. The club – The Link in Amsterdam, was filmed for Panorama. A BBC spokesman said the programme could not be broadcast in Panorama’s normal time slot, but might go out later as a Panorama Special.

Church leaders have protested to the Home Secretary about Tottenham Hotspur’s victory procession on Sunday. To celebrate the 5 – 1 victory over Athletico Madrid, fans dressed as Christ and as angels and carried slogans like “Hallowed Be Their Names”.

Television highlights: Giants of Steam – documentary about the railways. Chelsea Flower Show – preview. The 625 Show featuring Joe Brown.

Radio highlights: Stringalong. Record Review.

Weather: rather cool. Showers with thunder. Outlook – sunny intervals, ground frost at night. 13c, 55f.

Available for pre-order, Songbird, my novel set in the winter of 1962-63

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 🙂

Categories
1963

Social History 1963 #27

Sunday 12 May 1963 

One of the world’s loveliest women, the Duchess of Argyll, is to tell her story to the Sunday Mirror. As soon as the Argyll divorce case is disposed of, she will reveal all. What is she really like? She is twice married, has a magnolia complexion, green eyes, chestnut hair and a 33-23-33 figure. She has been called the perfect woman with the loveliest eyes.

The Duchess considers sleep a waste of time. She is devoted to animals and is a music lover with a collection of over 3,000 records. What is the truth about the scandals raised in her divorce case? The Duchess will tell us when she is legally allowed to do so.

Greville Wynne, the businessman accused of spying, has been sentenced to eight years in prison by Russian judges, three years in jail, five in a labour camp. Some people in the court yelled, “Too little! Too little!” Mr Wynne will appeal for a pardon.

Sweden is to drive on the right, leaving Britain and Ireland alone in Europe to drive on the left. Cross-over Day will be in 1967. Every sign and road mark will be changed. Bells and sirens will sound to warn road users and speed restrictions will be in place for weeks.

Football: Everton are Division One champions. They beat Fulham 4 – 1 at Goodison Park while Tottenham Hotspur, their nearest rivals, lost 1 – 0 to relegation-threatened Manchester City.

Television highlights: Fireball XL5. International Soccer – Italy v Brazil. Play – Jungle Juice.

Radio highlights: Pick of the Pops. Show Time ‘63.

Weather: rain at times, sunny periods. Outlook – showery.

Monday 13 May 1963 

Grete Wiltschka, 22, from Vienna has offered to give Ray Charles her left eye. When Ray Charles heard of the offer, he said, “Her sacrifice would be too much for any man to ask. Life is still life, whether one is able to see people or not. Eyesight doesn’t bother me much.”

The Conservatives have been trounced at the Local Elections. If these elections are any guide to the General Election then Mr MacMillan and his bedraggled troops have had it. What is for sure is that the next General Election will see the dirtiest pieces of political in-fighting for a long time.

Jewellery valued at £11,000 was stolen from the country mansion of millionaire Malcolm McAlpine. Raiders climbed a drainpipe and entered through a bedroom window.

The rear-engined Hillman Imp has opened up a debate – where should the engine go? Even though rear-engined cars are becoming more popular, I forecast that the majority of the cars of the future will have engines at the front, driving the front wheels.

Aerosol cheese is a new idea. Processed cheese is packed in a can and, by gas pressure, is pushed out like toothpaste. The can and contents are guaranteed sterilised.

Television highlights: Panorama – unemployment in the USA. Coronation Street – Elsie is double-dated. World in Action – a report on charities.

Radio highlights: Woman’s Hour. Cricket – Lancashire v West Indies.

Weather: sunny intervals, showers, windy. Outlook – sunny spells. 14c, 57f.

Tuesday 14 May 1963 

Britain must stop treating nurses as Cinderellas. There is widespread discontent over the recent pay award because people who work in the City are having a ball on the proceeds of the affluent society.

Mr Hennicker Thorpe, who will be 99 on Friday, has mumps. His doctor said, “This is extremely rare. I’ve never heard of anyone at his age getting mumps.” Mr Thorpe said, “I’m fed up with being in bed. I want to get up. A fine thing having mumps at my age!”

The Duke of Edinburgh got a blasting yesterday for his “trigger-happy exploits”. The League Against Cruel Sports said the Duke shoots game birds “by the hundred for the kick of it. That he is President of the World Wildlife Fund is humbug.”

Milk-selling slot machines may vanish from Britain within two years. The sixpenny slot machines should contain just under half a pint, but some vendors are charging sixpence for a one-third pint.

The latest Chelsea fashions for men – pale blue flap-fronted denim pants, silk tailored jackets and pink gingham shirts. The conservative look is out. More jazzy styles are in.

A new floor covering has been declared Twist-proof. Women can dance on it without leaving stiletto heel marks. 

Television highlights: State Visit of the King and Queen of the Belgians. American Space Flight (three hours). Do It Yourself Democracy – Iceland.

Radio highlights: Songs For Everyone. Dancing Party.

Weather: sunny periods then rain. Outlook – changeable. 16c, 61f.

Wednesday 15 May 1963 

The Independent Television Authority is to control the content of programmes on ITV. They will be able to ban any item of which they do not approve. The main problem is not with British programmes, but with American imports, which are often considered too violent.

The Duchess of Argyll protested against the huge divorce bill she must pay – £50,000. She said, “I feel that as a woman I have the right to defend my fair name – without having to pay these vast costs.”

Engineering workers have joined the campaign for a forty-hour working week. At present they work forty-two hours. They believe that a forty-hour week will lessen fears of redundancies in the industry.

Cigarettes worth £25,000 were stolen from a lorry in Sussex. The driver and his mate were attacked by masked men, tied up and bundled into a shed. They escaped two hours later. The lorry was found empty and abandoned in Essex.

Bets won recently: eating 246 oysters – £50 won. Eating 45 half chickens – £50 won. Eating 54 eggs in seven minutes – £10 won. Hymn singing: the Holy City, thirty times in the middle of Trafalgar Square – £5 won.

Football Fixtures: European Cup Winners’ Cup Final – Tottenham Hotspur v Athletico Madrid. Scottish FA Cup Final Replay – Celtic v Rangers.

Television Highlights: I’m Going To (careers advice) Work Overseas. Professional Ice Skating. The Flowerpot Men.

Radio Highlights: Theatre Organ. Vespers. 

Weather: mainly dry, sunny intervals. Outlook – cloudy, some rain. 15c, 59f.

Thursday 16 May 1963 

Gay Gordon is on the Big Ride Round. It has been Go, Go, Go all the way for American astronaut Gordon Cooper. Early today he was gaily whirling around the world in his spaceship Faith Seven. He said, “What a thrill! What a thrill! It looks real pretty here. I feel comfortable, real comfortable. In fact, I had a little nap.”

The beat non-conformists now look so alike you cannot tell them from the crowd. Men no longer look original. Women will have a similar problem because it’s getting harder and harder to tell the difference between a boy with long hair wearing  jeans and boots, and a girl with short hair wearing jeans and boots.

Buses that replace train services axed by the Beeching Plan may be equipped with luggage carrying trailers. The buses would link up with the trains that will continue to run.

A lorry loaded with £6,000 of tea was stolen in Islington, London, yesterday.

Battery-operated gadgets are set to replace items that rely on the mains. They include a magnetic torch, a battery gas lighter, an alarm clock radio, a transistorised four-speed record player, a battery shaver, a drink mixer, a battery toothbrush, and a portable tv run off rechargeable batteries.

Football: Last night Tottenham Hotspur became the first British side to win a European final. They beat Athletico Madrid 5 – 1 in Rotterdam to take the European Cup-Winners’ Cup. Leo Horn, a top Dutch referee who watched the match said, “This is the best performance I have ever seen from an English club.”

Television highlights: Perspective – Being With It. Pops and Lenny the Lion – featuring the Beatles. Hot Ice – The Cool DJ Show, new series of disc shows on ice.

Radio highlights: The Strategic Thinking of Henry Kissinger. Italian Serenade.

Weather: Sunny spells. Outlook – sunny intervals. 14c, 57f.

Available for pre-order, Songbird, my novel set in the winter of 1962-63

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.

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Categories
1963

Social History 1963 #26

Tuesday 7 May 1963 

Tougher laws to tame fascists. Tougher penalties are to be provided for anyone convicted of trying to arouse racial or religious hatred. The current penalty is a fine of £50 or three months in prison. The new legislation will double or treble these penalties with the possibility of heavy prison sentences.

The three-day national rail strike is almost certain to take place next week, and the men on London’s underground trains will be called out to support the strikers. The strike has been called over redundancies caused by the Beeching Axe.

British businessman Greville Wynne goes on trial in Moscow today charged with spying. A Russian scientific worker, Oleg Penkovsky is expected to face trial with him. Mr Wynne will be defended by a Russian lawyer. The two accused men face a possible death sentence.

Pele, the fabulous Brazilian forward, is unlikely to face England in tomorrow’s clash at Wembley. He was injured in Hamburg when his taxi collided with a tram. Brazil want to use a Brazilian football in the second half, but England manager Alf Ramsey has refused this request.

An inquiry has been called to look into allegations of match-fixing in football league games. Players from Bradford, Mansfield and Bristol Rovers have been named in the allegations.

Television highlights: Decision – Young People and Politics with Michael Heseltine. Background – Marriage and Divorce. Supercar.

Radio highlights: Music While You Work. Cricket – Gloucestershire v West Indies.

Weather: cloudy, some rain. Outlook – sunshine and showers. 15c, 59f.

Wednesday 8 May 1963 

Mrs Hedy Walduck (pictured below), 33, is the mother of nine children. She is also a chimney sweep. She said, “It’s tiring being a chimney sweep, but a lot of fun. It keeps me fit. I often start work at 6.30 am and often don’t finish until 9 o’clock at night.”

At present, a man can claim damages “for the loss of the services of any female servant of his who is seduced by a third person.” For the purposes of the law a “female servant” includes an unmarried daughter living at home. Fathers have been using this right to sue the seducers of their daughters. However, the government has said this law is now out of date.

Prime Minister Harold MacMillan stated in the House of Commons, “I think more spies will be caught. We shall bring to justice traitors who have for the present escaped.” This was taken as a hint that Mr MacMillan has information he cannot yet reveal. 

The Telstar 2 satellite will bring highlights of next year’s Olympic Games in Japan to BBC and ITV screens. It will also send colour pictures, but only viewers in America will see them. 

For every manual job eliminated by automation in America since the end of World War Two, four new white-collar jobs have been created. There are now over 30,000,000 white-collar workers, 10,000,000 more than in 1947.

Independent Television’s share of the viewers has increased to 60% according to TAM, the independent audience research firm. This is an increase from 57%.

Television highlights: Holiday in the Skies – Czech film. International Football – England v Brazil, second half. Hippodrome starring Annie Ross.

Radio highlights: Clinton’s Cake Walk. Background to Music.

Weather: mainly dry and sunny. Outlook – sunny spells. 17c, 61f.

Thursday 9 May 1963 

At the conclusion of one of the most costliest divorce cases in history, a judge decided yesterday that the Duchess of Argyll committed adultery with four men. The judge, Lord Wheatley, delivered his 64,000 word judgement at the Court of Session in Edinburgh. The four men were named as John Cohane, Baron Sigismund von Braun, Peter Combe, and an Unknown Man who appeared nude in photographs, his face hidden, with the Duchess.

Lord Wheatley said, “The Duchess is a woman who had ceased to be satisfied with normal relations and had started to indulge in disgusting activities.” The judge added that the pictures, apparently taken by a Polaroid camera, were “gross”. He left the court in no doubt that he regarded the Duchess as a woman of low moral character.

The Duke said that he intended to celebrate and light a huge bonfire. He added, “I am very happy and contented.” The Duchess said, “I have no comment to make.” This is the third time the Duke has been involved in a divorce.

Football: Scotland 4 Austria 1 (abandoned after 79 minutes). The game came to a sensational close when referee Jim Finney took the players from the Hampden Park pitch eleven minutes before the end of time. Mr Finney later said, “The game was getting seriously out of hand. Someone might have been seriously injured.” Austria were reduced to nine players. “I ordered Nemec off for spitting and Hof for a diabolical waistline tackle. I can in no way fault Scotland.”

Football: England 1 Brazil 1. An equaliser from Bryan Douglas six minutes from time saved face for England. From the opening minute they were totally outplayed by Brazil. England live in a different world as far as modern tactics are concerned. England’s hope of winning the World Cup in 1966 are purely pipe-dreams.

Television highlights: Perspective on Failure with Frankie Howerd. Amateur Boxing – Wales v Ireland. Royal Windsor Horse Show.

Radio highlights: Frontiers of Sociology. David Jacobs’ Startime. 

Weather: rain then sunny. Outlook – rain then sunny. 16c, 61f.

Friday 10 May 1963 

Seven women walked out of their jobs yesterday because their boss banned them from wearing hair-curlers at work. Why the ban? A factory manager said, “I did it because the welfare nurse mentioned to me that girls were keeping rollers in their hair too long and it was not healthy.” Irene Dodd, one of the walk-out girls, said “It’s all right for someone who’s married. I’m still looking for a husband and you’ve got to use curlers to look your best.”

The yearly total of drink convictions is now double that of the 1930s. There were 92,100 convictions in England and Wales in 1962, 10,000 more than the year before. 

Tests on a birth control pill for men are to be carried out soon. The pill has been tested with animals and the results are “most encouraging”.

Maybe we should start calling it LiverPop, Liverpool that is, because the city is the gateway to the hit charts. A third entrant from the Mersey beat scene enters the Pop Thirty stakes today – Billy J Kramer with Do You Want to Know a Secret? He joins Gerry and the Pacemakers, and the Beatles, the group that seems to be setting the current Liverpool scene.

Police are investigating allegations of bribery involving a gambling syndicate and Third Division footballers. The bribes scandal started when two players told of the parts they played in trying to fix the Bradford v Bristol Rovers match. One of the players involved is Bristol Rovers goalkeeper Esmund Million who agreed to accept a £300 bribe to lose the match.

Television highlights: Let’s Imagine – Going on Safari. The Spread of the Eagle – nine part cycle based on three plays by William Shakespeare. Adventure with David Attenborough.

Radio highlights: Take Your Partners. Motoring.

Weather: showers. Outlook – sunny periods. 15c, 59f.

Saturday 11 May 1963 

Britain does not have a single coloured policeman despite the high number of coloured people living in the country. A government spokesman said, “There is no bar on the recruitment of coloured policemen provided they are in other ways qualified.”

The rag trade is deep in fur and tweed for the autumn. The trends for the new season will include Cup Final tams complete with pom-poms and matching college scarves. Shift dresses and woollen jerseys will keep out the cold. Housecoats will be in tiger and leopard printed fur fabric while in bed we’ll be wearing hooded pyjamas and the new sleep tights.

Racing ace Sterling Moss divorced his wife Katie yesterday. He plans to re-marry, but the name of his bride-to-be is a secret. He said, “I hope to marry a wonderful girl, but I won’t tell you her name because I’m scared of jeopardising the marriage.” His secretary said, “I don’t know who the girl is. Sterling has quite a few girlfriends, you know.” His manager said, “I don’t know who Sterling is going to marry. I can think of a dozen girls he has taken out.”

The three-day rail strike has been called off. Also, seven hundred men ended their two-day strike at the Rover motor plant in Birmingham.

The Duchess of Argyll, denounced in court by the judge as “a completely promiscuous woman” will make “an important announcement” tomorrow.

Winifred Atwell, the West Indian pianist, has been banned from visiting South Africa.

Television highlights: Rugby League – Challenge Cup Final, Wakefield Trinity v Wigan. Man of the World – adventure series. The Third Man – adventure series.

Radio highlights: Interlude. Everybody Step. 

Weather: sunny intervals, a few showers. Outlook – mainly dry, rather warm. 14c, 57f.

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