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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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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.

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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

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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

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