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1963

Social History 1963 #36

Wednesday 26 June 1963

Cricket: The Second Test at Lord’s yesterday, on its fifth and final day, achieved the incredible, the nigh impossible. With nerves already on edge, the game boiled to a mighty crescendo. England needed 234 runs for victory. Came the last over with eight runs the margin. Hall to Shackleton. A scrambled single off the second ball – seven wanted for victory.

Allen, a single to leg. Six wanted. Shackleton swipes, misses, starts late for the bye. The ball is hurled to Worrell who whips off the bails. Shackleton run out for four. Enter Colin Cowdrey with his broken arm in plaster. A word to Allen – play safe; I can’t face a ball. Allen jabs at the penultimate delivery. Still six runs to win for England, one wicket to win for the West Indies. 

Worrell tells Hall – don’t bowl a no-ball. Hall tears in and puts his heart and soul into the delivery. Allen defends. A draw. A glorious draw. Overcome with excitement, the crowd invades the field. The result was a draw, but the game of cricket was the winner. 

A court heard yesterday that toffee bars were used to dope racehorses. One of the doped horses, St Paddy, ran at Ascot. The intention was to slow the horse down, but he won by twenty lengths. Giving evidence, “Michael” said, The dope must have been a goer, not a stopper.” The case continues.

The prices of almost all “pop” records are to go up from Monday. EMI have put up their “single” prices by 5d to 6s 8d. Extended-play records will jump by 8d to 10s 9d. “Pop” long-play discs will go up by 1s 1d to £1 12s. EMI said the increases are due to rising costs. The Pye company is not increasing prices at the moment.

London Transport is now short of 3,000 bus drivers and conductors, despite a 10s wage rise in March. Currently, there are 27,000 busmen in Greater London.

Television highlights: President Kennedy in Europe – four programmes, four hours. Men of Our Time – Mahatma Gandhi. Glamour ‘63.

Radio highlights: Scandinavian Dances. Postal Bingo Show.

Weather: sunny intervals and showers. Outlook – similar. 18c, 64f.

Thursday 27 June 1963

Charles Houghton, the head porter who was coshed when bandits stole £250,000 worth of gold bullion from a London warehouse four weeks ago, has been sacked. Mr Houghton, his wife and two daughters must also leave their flat above the warehouse. They must be out by tomorrow. 

Wives who work should think twice about accepting promotion because the additional responsibility makes them irritable. Dr Amy Cohen said, “Over-conscientious women at work take their business worries home with them – and take their home worries to work.”

There’s been a five percent drop in cigarette smoking. Britons now consume 3,000,000 lbs of tobacco a year. This is the first significant drop since 1950. However, cigar and pipe smoking has increased.

After the thrill-packed Lord’s Test Match, a West Indian cricket supporter appeared in court in north London, accused of being drunk and disorderly. The magistrate, Mr Frank Milton told him, “You had reason to celebrate. There has not been a Test Match like this in a hundred years, so you are discharged.”

Is Elvis on the slide? His new disc, Devil in Disguise, will either confirm or deny it. Highest new entry this week – number nineteen, Da Doo Ron Ron by the Crystals.

Television highlights: Don’t Say a Word – gameshow with Michael Medwin and Maxine Audley. Alfred Hitchcock Hour with Robert Redford. News, weather and road-works report.

Radio highlights: Listeners Answer Back. Swinging UK. 

Weather: sunny intervals and showers. Outlook – similar. 19c, 66f.

Friday 28 June 1963

Nearly one-third of all households in Britain had the use of a car in 1961. And seven in 100 had the use of two or more cars. The average mileage over one week was 135 miles according to a survey conducted by the Ministry of Transport.

The Conservatives have pledged that the channel ITA 2 will be on the air by 1966. The BBC’s second channel is due on air in April next year, in the London area, and will probably extend to the Midlands by the following year.

The typhoid outbreak has spread to St Thomas’ Hospital, Waterloo. Further cases were also confirmed in the North East and Norwich.

Twenty women in Rome’s telephone exchange fainted yesterday when temperatures climbed into the mid-90s.

Englishmen in their holiday togs are an embarrassment. They should realise that baggy flannels went out with silent films, and tweed jackets and braces are not a sight for the beaches. Undone shirt buttons revealing string vests are also off-putting, and don’t get me started on knotted handkerchiefs worn on sun-sensitive heads.

The New Musical Express’ half-yearly poll places Cliff Richard at number one followed by the Beatles, the Shadows, Gerry and the Pacemakers and the Springfields. Elvis Presley has dropped from number one to sixteenth place.

Stirling Moss, one of the greatest motor racing drivers of all time, failed his motor scooter driving test yesterday. He said, “I am not so much disappointed as frustrated.”

Television highlights: Wimbledon. Robin Hood. Dad, You’re a Square.

Radio highlights: Play – The Mating Season. Continental Melodies.

Weather: showers or rain. Outlook – probably dry. 18c, 64f.

Saturday 29 June 1963

Scientists are trying to talk with dolphins. The scientists claim that the dolphins can say the words “no”, “okay” and “food”. If we learn to talk with dolphins then the scientists believe it will be easier to communicate with any creatures we might find on other planets.

Giving evidence at the Stephen Ward trial, Mandy Rice-Davies told the court that Ward said they ought to get married sometime. She also said that at Ward’s suggestion she entertained gentlemen and, by accident, she broke a two-way mirror that looked into a bedroom from the lounge.

Exclusively for Women: Win an Hillman Imp de Lux. Six new super mini-cars, taxed and insured for a year, to be won. In Balmoral grey this super car could be yours. Details on Monday.

Tennis: this year’s Wimbledon has been the dullest for years. The seeding committee botched their job and seeded the wrong players; the matches, bar the odd exception, have been one-sided, and now the weather has intervened bringing rain, which has descended like a plague on the Championships.

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Television highlights: Juke Box Jury featuring John Lennon. The Winifred Atwell  Show. Lucky Stars Summer Spin with the Beatles.

Radio highlights: It’s Latin. Motoring and the Motorist.

Weather: sunshine and showers. Outlook – probably little change. 16c, 61f.

Sunday 30 June 1963

In the Stephen Ward trial, Mandy Rice-Davies told the court that she had “relations” with Lord Astor. Mr James Burge, defending Ward, said to Miss Rice-Davies, “Do you know that Lord Astor has made a statement to the police saying that these allegations of yours are absolutely untrue.” The crowd erupted with laughter when Miss Rice-Davies replied quickly, “Well, he would, wouldn’t he?”

Lord Hailsham angrily lashed out yesterday at the people, who he said, were filling London with “the most extraordinary rumours” associated with the Profumo scandal. London, he said, “Has been filled with the filthiest rumours, seemingly systematically spread, affecting all manner of persons”. He added, “I am neither the man without a head (this was a reference to the Duchess of Argyll divorce), the man in the iron mask, the man who apparently goes about clad only in a Masonic apron, or a visitor to unnamed orgies.”

Housewives who want to aid Britain’s tragic thalidomide babies can now do so by collecting Green Shield Stamps. The Green Shield Stamp Trading Company will give £10,000 in cash in exchange for 15,000 full books of stamps. The stamps are available from a growing number of shops with one stamp given for every sixpence spent.

Music: the sick disc season is here. Following the American trend, the British charts might soon be invaded by songs about brides stranded at the alter because their fiancés have been killed in an accident. Tin Pan Alley has discovered that ghoulish death is a big money-maker.

Television highlights: Coronation of Pope Paul VI. The French Grand Prix from Rheims. Lorna Doone – serial with Jane Merrow as Lorna.

Radio highlights: Music Magazine. The Countryside in June.

Weather: cloudy with heavy rain and thunderstorms.

Monday 1 July 1963

A new do-it-yourself wine craze is sweeping Britain. The are now 164 wine-making clubs. Members are making wine from bananas, primroses, broad beans, marrows, spinach and rose petals. Wine-making sets are selling at 35s.

A female tennis player is being linked with a “black market” ticket racket at Wimbledon. “Miss X” is believed to be the key player in a five-strong syndicate. Players get free books of six tickets. It’s alleged that “Miss X” has bought twenty books at £10 a book, then sold them on to spivs who, at a higher price, sell them to spectators.

London’s most with-it pub is the Thomas a Beckett in the Old Kent Road. There, people like Stanley Baker and Richard Burton drink side by side with taxi drivers and dockers. However, the “Knees Up Mother Brown” days are over. Landlord Tommy Gibbons has installed a swinging band and a juke box which, for a shilling a time, also shows appropriate films.

Handwoven tweed ties with fringed ends are the top neckwear for German men.

Cut Your Own Hair. Penn’s Easytrim is easier and quicker than clippers. It cuts as it combs. For use with either hand. Suitable for gents and ladies. Send 7s 6d to Penn Ltd, Finchley, London.

Personal advertisement: Ursula – I know what has happened. I wish to help you. Write to your old address, Gordon.

Television highlights: Destiny 63 – play about neo-Nazis. The Choice is Yours – popular melodies. What’s New? Inventions and ideas.

Radio highlights: Housewives’ Choice. Top of the Morning.

Weather: showers and bright spells. Outlook – little change. 18c, 64f.

Anticipated pattern of future blog posts: Marian and Robin – every six days, 1963 newspaper digests – every six days.

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Categories
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.

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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 #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.

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For Authors

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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

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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 🙂