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1963

Social History 1963 #34

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

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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 #33

Tuesday 11 June 1963

Furniture of the future may be moulded and pressed out in one piece with glass fibre and plastic instead of wood. As a result, 65,000 furniture makers could lose their jobs. There are calls for a 30 hour week to secure employment.

Derek Gaisford has won himself a free trip to America. Fifty-one weeks ago, he bet his wife that he could eat a pound of sausages a day, and he’s still eating. After consuming over 3,000 sausages, an American sausage company has invited him to visit America.

The craze for the man-style shirt-blouse is still spreading. In the autumn, these shirt-blouses will be available in Chelsea-set checks and dark “beat” colours, from 39s 11d. The latest trend in jeans – wide legs with 17 inch bottoms, in bronze, with contrasting stitching.

Personal advertisements: Fiona, please contact for talk. Urgent. Australia is now possible – Len. Talented singer-songwriters, send sae to The Dene, Wembley, Middlesex.

Cricket: England v West Indies, First Test, Old Trafford. England were thrashed by ten wickets inside four days. England had no answer to Frank Worrell’s inspired captaincy. Lance Gibbs with eleven wickets in the match was the star performer. England will have to step up their form by two notches to win this series now. Scores – West Indies 501 – 6 declared and 1-0. England 205 and following on 296.

Television highlights: Bookstand. Dinner Party – after dinner conversations. Look to Tomorrow’s Climate.

Radio highlights: Music While You Work. A Welkin of Witches.

Weather: warm and sunny. Outlook – cloudy and cooler. 22c, 72f.

Wednesday 12 June 1963

Forty-nine heroes who battled through blizzards during the Big Freeze this winter to rescue animals in distress are to receive special medals from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Bronze statuettes and certificates will also be awarded.

Fashion experts reckon that Cardiff is the most fashionable provincial outlet. A spokeswoman said, “Cardiff is smarter than London – much more fashion-conscious. If you can sell it in London, you can definitely sell it here.” Formal evening dresses are in in Cardiff, along with figure-skimming dresses with cut-away arm-holes.

Two cans of corned beef, imported from South America, might have caused the typhoid outbreak in Harlow, Essex. Meanwhile, 20,000 people in Merthyr Tydfil have been told not to bathe in the River Taff after a burst sewage pipe polluted part of the river.

People and businesses in Essex have been warned that they face water shortages if they do not economise.

Professional footballers are treated like cattle or paid slaves. This argument was made in the High Court where Arsenal inside-forward George Eastham is challenging the current pay, transfer and contract system. The Professional Footballers’ Association is backing Eastham. The case continues today.

Television highlights: Ask Me Another – quiz. On Safari – in Cambodia. Sportsview – athletics.

Radio highlights: Swinging Softly. Theatre Organ Music.

Weather: sunny, thunderstorms. Outlook – thundery rain. 24c, 75f.

Thursday 13 June 1963

Dozens of members of the race-hating Ku Klux Klan were brought in for police questioning yesterday, on suspicion of murder. The victim, Mr Medgar Evers, was shot in the back. In Washington, the White House said, “The President is appalled by the barbarity of this act. No effort will be spared in the investigation to uncover the assassin.”

You could have boiled an egg on the atmosphere. Last night there was a fervour in suburban Surrey caused by five long-haired lads known as the Rolling Stones.  The lads are: Mick Jagger, who is studying at the London School of Economics; Brian Jones, an ex-lorry driver; Keith Richard, who used to be a post office worker; Bill Wyman, who likes poetry; and Charlie Watts, who collects pocket handkerchiefs. They have created a new dance craze called the Twitch, the Parox or the Sudden Attack. Listen to their first record, Come On, and try the dance for yourself.

Two members of Merseyside’s talented Beatles have written a song for Brighton’s Bobby Sansom and the Giants. It’s called There’s a Place.

A ban on bare chests has been imposed on deckchair men at Weymouth, Dorset. From now on, they must wear shirts while they work. A spokesman for Weymouth Corporation, who imposed the ban, said, “I don’t think it’s good for bare-chested attendants to hand out deckchairs to women. No one has complained, but some of the older women have mentioned the bare torsos to me.”

Butlin’s eight holiday camps made a record profit of £13,153,000 last year, an increase of £2,767,000 on the previous year.

Television highlights: Perspective – the pop music story. Ladies Showjumping from Richmond. Here and Now – dockers training school.

Radio highlights: Jazz Club. French Cabaret.

Weather: thunderstorms. Outlook – changeable. 24c, 75f.

Friday 14 June 1963

The whole island of Jersey is in “a state of nerves and uncertainty” because of a growing crime wave. An official said, “Jersey is now one of the wickedest places in the United Kingdom. Teenage reefer parties are adding to our troubles.”

“It took me twenty minutes to drink two cups of tea, smoke a cigarette and grow three new fingernails. This week, I became the first woman in Britain to try out instant fingernails, a new finger-tip beauty product. The nails are produced by a top-secret formula paste that is selling well in France and Germany.” – Paula James.

Best buys this week – medium eggs, not large eggs; kippers; crabs; herrings; shrimps; dover sole; and mushrooms.

Dish of the week, as suggested by the Macaroni Advisory Bureau – Spaghetti Fish Custard. It sounds disgusting, but tastes quite nice.

People have been told not to go to work in Harlow because of Typhoid. Meanwhile, dypyheria has broken out in Southwalk.

International football: Spain 2 Scotland 6. Scotland completed their close-season tour with a fine win, after shock defeats to Norway and Eire.

Athletics: London beat Munich by 94 points to 61. London won nine of the fifteen men’s and women’s events. Ron Jones was the star performer winning the 100 metres in 10.6 seconds.

Speedway: Oxford v Wimbledon postponed – waterlogged track. Lawn Tennis: Kent Championships – rain stopped play.

Television highlights: The Spread of the Eagle – Antony and Cleopatra with Mary Morris. Gardening Club. Dr Kildare – last of the series.

Radio highlights: Motor Cycling. Encounters with Animals.

Weather: cloudy with rain. Outlook – sunny, dry and warm. 19c, 66f.

Saturday 15 June 1963

Banger number 3,196 is poised on the end of Derek Gaisford’s fork. The four sausages on Sausage King Derek’s plate completed his marathon – pork sausages every day for a year. His wife, Florence, said, “Thank goodness that’s all over. I used to like sausages, but now I’m sick of the sight of them.” Derek celebrated by eating steak. He said, “It’s only for a change – I still love sausages.”

What’s the most important piece of equipment in the modern kitchen? Teeth. How else can you break into vacuum-packed sachets of bacon, ham or coffee? Cut with a scissors and you get coffee on the floor. Pierce with a knife and you get a hole in your thumb. The only solution is to use your teeth. But don’t try this with dentures.

The petrol price war hotted up last night when the National Benzole Company slashed the price of their bestselling premium grades by 1 1/2d from midnight. A spokesman said, “Make no bones about it – competition is extremely tough.”

Meet the new muscle men of Britain – clean, bright and lightly oiled. Over 10,000 men now compete in muscle men contests. One of the top contenders is Geoffrey Whittaker, a hairdresser, and the current Mr Yorkshire. “This isn’t a game for cranks,” said a spokesman. “The men who reach the top are highly intelligent people.”

Peter Sellers owns the world’s most expensive Mini. The basic car cost £567, but the extras cost £1,300. The extras include leathers and veneered woods, Rolls Royce finishing and double chrome, push button electric windows and a built-in ladies’ vanity box. He said, “You know me – I wanted a town car like no one else has got.”

Television highlights: Cricket – Lord’s Taverners v Old England. Juke Box Jury with Peter Sellers. Morecambe and Wise Show – new series. 

Radio highlights: Motor Racing. Let’s Take a Spin.

Weather: mainly dry. Outlook – changeable. 19c, 66f.

Available for 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 🙂

Categories
1963

Social History 1963 #32

Thursday 6 June 1963

The prospect of Britons receiving colour tv has been pushed back from April 1964 until the end of 1965. Part of the delay is due to a debate over which system to use. Some sources suggest that we will have to wait until 1970 to see widespread colour television coverage.

Bank workers, shoppers and holidaymakers joined police in a battle with four bandits. The bandits stole £20,000 in cash from a bank in Brighton. Stones, dustbin lids and groceries were hurled at the bandits, but they escaped with £11,000 in a Jaguar.

Pat Finch, Miss Wales of 1963, has given up her title because she broke the rules, which state that contestants should be born in Wales, or resident there for at least five years.

Coalminers want a pay rise. Scottish miners are demanding an extra £1 a week. Nottinghamshire miners also want a rise, but have not expressed the amount.

Thirteen more people in Harlow, Essex have contracted typhoid.

Two more Scouse groups on the rise – the Swinging Blue Jeans and the Searchers. Expect to see them in the charts soon.

Football: Switzerland 1 England 8 (Bobby Charlton hat-trick).

Television highlights: cricket – England v West Indies, First Test Match. World of the Unknown – a survey of science fiction films. This Week – single women and sex.

Radio highlights: Talk – Lifeboatmen. Primitive Folk Music from Spain.

Weather: sunny periods, thundery showers. Outlook – similar. 22c, 72f.

Friday 7 June 1963

Britain will launch its own satellite, UK3, which will be built entirely by BAC. The satellite will weigh 150lbs, cost £1,000,000 and orbit the world 400 miles up, gathering scientific data and measuring space noises. Date for the planned launch – 1966.

Miss Julie Ayers will become the BBC’s first “weather girl” today. She will make her radio debut on the Light Programme at 8.55 this morning. She may be seen on TV later. A spokesman said, “It is a trial to see how people like a woman reading the forecast.”

A special £25 a head pilgrimage to the Normandy beaches is being arranged for next year to commemorate the 20th anniversary of D-Day on the 6th of June.

Greengrocers and housewives believe that the rounder and redder the tomato, the tastier it is. However, people who have been abroad and tasted them are now asking for lower grade “kinky tomatoes”. These tomatoes go well with French dishes like the salade de tomate.

Cricket: England v West Indies, First Test, Old Trafford. West Indies closed day one on 244 – 3 after a century from Conrad Hunte and a brilliant 90 from Rohan Kanhai. Kanhai was run out when both batsmen were stranded at the same end. With Garry Sobers at the wicket, the West Indies are strongly placed.

Television highlights: Welsh National Youth Eisteddfod. Flags Are Not Enough – “have” and “have not” nations. The Most Powerful Woman of the Century – Evita Peron.

Radio highlights: Bath Festival. Test Match Special.

Weather: sunny intervals, thundery showers. Outlook – rain. 25c, 77f.


Saturday 8 June 1963

Last night, the Great Storm brought chaos to London. Torrential cloudbursts flooded homes, snarled traffic and halted underground trains. The switchboard at London Fire Brigade Headquarters was jammed with flood calls. Firemen were called to the homes of Princess Margaret and Princess Marina where the basements were flooded.

The Queen’s Birthday Honours: entertainer Harry Secombe CBE, director Peter Hall CBE, jockey Fred Winter CBE, swimmer Anita Lonsbrough MBE, Coco the Clown OBE.

Bass draught beer will go up 1d a pint from Monday.

More cases of typhoid have been identified in Harlow, Essex. Typhoid has also broken out in Biggleswade and Newcastle Upon Tyne.

Bandleader Edmundo Ros and comedian Jimmy Edwards are to become Tory Party candidates. Ros said, “I am very serious about this and anxious to have a political career.”

Britain’s best known L-driver, Miss Margaret Hunter, 65, failed her driving test again. She tried to drive with the hand-brake on and drove the wrong way up a one-way street.

Cricket: England v West Indies, First Test, Old Trafford. Day Two score – West Indies 501 – 6 declared (Hunte 182, Sobers 64, Worrell 74 not out). England 31 – 0. West Indies batted cautiously and on this flat wicket it should be a doddle for England to secure a draw.

Television highlights: Trooping the Colour. Juke Box Jury. The Ken Dodd Show.

Radio highlights: Popalong. Big O Show.

Weather: fog, sunny periods, thunderstorms. Outlook – warm with thunder. 25c, 77f.

Sunday 9 June 1963

Women have been told to remove suggestive badges from their lapels at twelve holiday hotels in Margate. A receptionist said, “These badges are a long way from ‘Kiss Me Quick’. I think the women were just calling at the hotel and were not guests. I understand the badges were made in America.”

Snuff is making a comeback. New, delicately perfumed varieties are proving popular with young men and their girlfriends. The desire to cut down on smoking and the fact that snuff clears foggy heads has given the snuff cult a big boost. Women are taking to it because they are more adventurous than men. Officer cadets, university students and even beatniks are also trying it.

At 10s, a Sunday salad now costs more than a joint. One reason is there are too many “middle men” involved, each taking a cut, as the tomatoes, cucumbers, etc move from the grower to the shopping basket.

The Liverpool beat group The Swinging Blue Jeans have been added to Lord Montagu’s “all-jazz” festival at Manchester this weekend. Tip for the top – Moonlight Tango by Acker Bilk and his Paramount Jazz Band.

Cricket: England crashed in the First Test against the West Indies at Old Trafford. They were dismissed for 205 and followed on 296 runs behind. Only Ted Dexter offered any resistance with 73. On a flat wicket, Lance Gibbs took 5-59 and Wes Hall 3-51. At the close of play England were 29-0 in their second innings.

Television highlights: Fireball XL5. Mozart – a Eurovision relay direct from Vienna. The Golden Rose of Montreau – the Swiss entry. 

Radio highlights: The Old Vic 1914 – 1963. Pick of the Pops.

Weather: very warm and sunny. Outlook – similar.

Monday 10 June 1963

Mr X telephoned Scotland Yard and informed the police that the £250,000 worth of gold bars, recently stolen in London, were on a motor-ship that left Shoreham, Sussex on Friday night. The Yard alerted Interpol and the ship was searched in Amsterdam. Nothing was found.

London outshines the hot spots. In the six days ending last Thursday, London enjoyed 61 hours 48 minutes of sunshine. Meanwhile, Nice notched up 54 hours 56 minutes, Majorca 50 hours and Biarritz only 43 hours.

The English language is changing. Beat language like, “I dig you the most, Dad” is out. Instead of “real swingers” use “rather jolly people”. And a lady is now a lady again, not a broad, doll or bird.

West Germany’s Foreign Ministry is studying the Argyll divorce case. Herr Sigismund von Braun, West Germany’s Ambassador to the United Nations, was named as one of the Duchess’ lovers.

The typhoid outbreak has now spread from Harlow to Bishop’s Stortford. Shared sandwiches are believed to be the source.

Cricket: England v West Indies, First Test, Old Trafford. Rest day. West Indies 501 – 6 declared. England 205 and 29-0.

Television highlights: World in Action – venereal disease. Deferred Terms – suspense drama. Adventures in Learning.

Radio highlights: Music for Dancing. World Top Pops.

Weather: warm and sunny with thunderstorms. Outlook – little change. 25c, 77f.

Cover reveal for Loot, book four in my Swinging Sixties Mystery Series. This one is about a train robbery.

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 #31

Saturday 1 June 1963

Hundreds of bees buzzed up and down the Victoria Station platforms last night for nearly three hours. Travellers and station staff scattered for cover. The bees were travelling from France to Fife, Scotland. “We found the Queen Bee and with her help got a lot of them back,” a policeman said. No one was stung.

There are plenty of new potatoes around at 6d to a shilling. Good scrapers are a luxury at 1s 9d a pound. Tomatoes are dear – 5s a pound. Oranges are reasonable at 5d each while grapefruit are 5d or 6d each.

Bunnies are the latest thing in night club hostesses. However, you mustn’t touch them or date them. When you dance with them it must be the Twist or the Cha-Cha. Waltzing is out because that would mean holding them.

With June weddings in the air, keep a sharp eye on the champagne. A behind-the-bar trick doing the rounds is to fill soda-making siphons with 6s a bottle white wine and serve it as bubbly.

Babs Beverley of the Beverley Sisters has announced her engagement to a dentist. Her twin sister, Teddie, married a dentist three years ago. Elder sister Joy is married to Arsenal manager Billy Wright.

Television highlights: Thank Your Lucky Stars with Freddie and the Dreamers and Gerry and the Pacemakers. Checkmate – detective series. Grandstand – cricket from Cardiff.

Radio highlights: Sports Service. Holiday Music Hall.

Summer time in 1964 will be from March 22 until October 25, a week longer than this year.

Weather: very warm and sunny. Outlook – similar. 27c, 81f.

Sunday 2 June 1963

A scorcher in the sun! Yes, it’s sunshine, sunshine all the way for Britain’s holiday thousands. How will you spend the day? In the country? At the coast? Cooling off under a rock fountain? Wherever it is, the chances are you’ll find the sun! Temperatures are expected to soar into the gay seventies.

At Oxford, a cricket match was held up because a batsman was dazzled by the sun reflecting off the metal clips on a spectator’s braces.

Clue to the big bullion grab. A man who recently left Brixton prison approached ex-major Peter Garstin, now a ship broker, and asked if he would be prepared to ship some gold bars abroad. This has led the police to believe that the gold bars, recently snatched from a Shoreditch warehouse, are still in Britain.

The Duchess of Argyll – My Life With the Duke. Life with Ian Argyll could change suddenly from a soft gentle breeze to a raging tornado. A day might start with a violent explosion, and end in serenity, or vice-versa. When he was good, he was very very good, but when he was bad he was horrid.

Twin beds are out. The answer for people who can’t agree about mattresses is the zip-together type, one hard and one soft. And make sure you buy the biggest bed you can, so that there is enough space when you’ve had a row.

Television highlights: Fireball XL5. Play – So Long, Charlie with John Thaw, Angela Douglas and Francis Matthews. Sunday Night at the London Palladium with Diana Dors.

Radio highlights: My Grandfather Nearly Bowled WG. Dear Marje – relationship advice.

Television viewing recommendations for next Saturday – no recommendations. Rest that tube, rest those eyes, write a letter and read a book.

Monday 3 June 1963

The Great Whitsun Creep. Millions of cars swamped the roads yesterday and forced motorists to do the Whitsun Creep. From Scotland to Southport there were traffic jams and queues, some 20 miles long. The AA said, “Something like eight million vehicles were out today, and the roads are incapable of coping with them.”

There will be no more naughty words on the radio. The BBC has given this promise to the Director of Public Prosecutions after two four-letter words were used during a reading of Henry Miller’s Tropic of Cancer.

A double-decker bus taking dancers home early yesterday evening had its roof sliced off by a bridge at Thurnby, Leicestershire after the driver took a wrong turning. Four top-deck passengers were treated in hospital for head injuries.

Courts should be allowed to cane people for persistent offences, Tory MP John Farr said yesterday.

Jerry Lordon, who wrote Apache and Wonderful Land for the Shadows, has come up with Atlantis for Cliff Richard’s mates. It’s a zoomer.

Personal advertisements: JK. The box fine. The key missing. Please contact. Love, WB. 

Television highlights: Panorama – on slimming diets. World in Action – the British and their rubbish. Whit Monday Sport – polo from Windsor.

Radio highlights: A Day at the Seaside. The Fiddler and the Dean.

Weather: prolonged sunshine. Outlook – continuing warm and sunny. 22c, 72f.

Tuesday 4 June 1963

Pope John is dead. The end came at 7.49 tonight. As the 81 year old Pope entered his last hour, more than 100,000 people prayed for him in the vast St Peter’s Square, below his apartment windows. He was surrounded by faded photographs of his mother, father and twelve brothers and sisters. Four candles burned at his bedside.

Hundreds of people were evacuated from their homes In Portsmouth last night as a bomb disposal expert prepared to explode two dangerous shells. The shells were of World War I origin. The blast from the second shell broke windows, damaged a garden wall and an outside toilet. In total, eleven shells were found in a garden. Nine were safety removed. 

A scorpion escaped among holiday crowds at London Zoo yesterday. It was spotted by Mrs Margaret Wheldon as it hid behind the steps of the insect house. Mrs Wheldon said, “I stood guard until someone went to find the keeper.” The scorpion was recaptured with a pair of tweezers. 

The conference of the National Union of Shoe and Boot Operatives was told that manufacturers no longer make shoes to last. They are now designed to serve a brief moment of time.

Hunstrete won the 3.05 at Chepstow yesterday, four minutes before the race was scheduled to start. The result was declared to the bookies two minutes before the race should have started. Stewards later declared the race void, with all bets off.

Television highlights: Animal Magic. What’s New? – inventions. Compact – series with Cleo Laine.

Radio highlights: Pop Go the Beatles. Play – The Seventh Day of Arthur with Bernard Cribbins.

Weather: cloudy with rain and thunder. Outlook – sunshine and showers. 19c, 66f.

Wednesday 5 June 1963

Doctors in Harlow, Essex are checking housewives’ shopping lists in the hope that they might provide a vital clue about the latest typhoid outbreak. So far this year ninety-three cases of typhoid have been reported. In a normal year around 100 cases are reported.

A new type of food that could nourish spacemen on their trips to Mars and Venus has been developed by scientists. The scientists have boiled down a range of ordinary foods, from roast beef to fruit juices. The resulting paste can be packed into a toothpaste tube. When water is added to the paste the result is just as nutritious as the real thing.

The Duchess of Argyll has not lodged an appeal against the Duke in their divorce case. A judge found in favour of the Duke because of the Duchess’ multiple counts of adultery.

The world these days is run by catchphrases – words designed to raise the emotions and deaden the mind.

A 19 year old BBC technician saved millions of The Dales fans from missing their favourite radio programme yesterday. The tape broke soon after the programme went on air, so Ian Morton pulled the remaining fifteen minutes of tape through the playback machine by hand.

Television highlights: Z Cars – the police trace two smallpox suspects. The Censors – current thinking on censorship. Wednesday Magazine – interview with an odd noises man.

Radio highlights: Parade of the Pops. Travels with a Praying Mantis.

Weather: thundery showers. Outlook – dry and sunny. 22c, 72f.

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Categories
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 🙂