Friday 7 December 1962
The Great Smog should vanish today. This was the heartening forecast last night after three days of death and chaos in Britain. Over the past three days, sixty-seven people have died.
Four gibbons escaped across a frozen moat surrounding their artificial island in Whipsnade Zoo. They climbed nearby trees and were captured by the zoo keepers.
The government is to be asked to ban completely cigarette advertising on television. The request will be made to the Home Office next Thursday by a deputation from the National Society of Non-Smokers.
‘Agony Aunt’ Marjorie Proops’ CHRISTMAS. C is for Cash – where does it all go? H is for Hints – get the right presents. R is for Roulette – you can’t learn to gamble too young. I is for Indigestion. S is for Sex, Sin and Sausages – all in their way delicious. T is for Tibetan Lamb – a snug outfit that costs 45 guineas for the jacket and 5 guineas for the hat. M is for Men – I don’t need mistletoe or an excuse for kissing. A is for Apprehension – so far, I’ve only bought one present. S is for more Sausages – chipolatas for the Christmas dinner.
Television highlights: Captain Pugwash, Dr Kildare, Take Your Pick.
Radio highlights: Take Your Partners, Parliament, Smooth ‘n’ Swinging.
Frost threatens the horse racing meetings at Lingfield, Newcastle, Chepstow and Uttoxetter.
Football League Cup semi-final draw – Aston Villa v Sunderland, Birmingham or Manchester City v Bury.
Weather: hazy sun, some rain. Outlook – persistent fog unlikely. Rain in most places.
Saturday 8 December 1962
London breathed a sigh of relief as the Great Smog lifted yesterday. However, nearly 1,000 people were taken to hospital, and 116 people died.
Autolite Ltd have created cigarettes that light themselves. They light when you rub the end against a striking surface on the packet. The cigarettes will be on sale early in the new year, cost 4s 6s for a packet of twenty.
Hitler’s deputy, Martin Bormann, who vanished in 1945, died in Paraguay three years ago, a French news agency reported yesterday.
There’s a battle of the sexes every time the television is switched on at Dinsdale Lodge Retirement Home. The women want to watch travel, fashion and Coronation Street while the men prefer Westerns, boxing and football. The residents asked the council for a second television set, but they said “no”.
Best weekend buys: sprouts 10d, swedes 4d, bananas 1s 4d, Spanish oranges 3d each, Belgian hothouse black grapes 5s.
Television highlights: The Lone Ranger, Laramie, That Was The Week That Was.
Radio highlights: Variety Playhouse, World of Books, Honey Hit Parade.
Today’s rugby: Lancashire v Yorkshire, Cornwall v Gloucestershire, Harlequins v Cardiff. Varsity match: Oxford v Cambridge at Wembley.
Weather: dry and cloudy, mild.9c, 48f
Sunday 9 December 1962
Thieves stole 400 Christmas trees from an estate in Wiltshire.
Chris Preece of Shropshire, tired of his rugby injuries, took up soccer – and dislocated his arm. Now he’s taken up darts…
Agony Aunt Column: Sue writes from Merseyside – “My fiancé was horrified when I told him that I wear hair curlers in bed. He said I must never wear them when we are married, but my hair will look terrible. What should I do? Jane Adams’ advice – Settle for straight hair. He’ll love you all the more.
Agony Aunt Column: “Modern Miss” writes from North London – “I spend many weekends at my boyfriend’s flat. After six months of intimate living, I’m still not sure if we are suited for each other. What should I do? Jane Adams’ advice – I suggest you go home for the weekend for a change, and put this affair in cold storage.
Christmas gift ideas: Revlon’s Cleopatra-inspired milk bath that turns ordinary bath water into a mass of foaming milky-white bubbles. 29s 6d.
Television highlights: Indoor Soccer, Sunday Break – Love, Sex and Marriage. Sunday Night at the London Palladium with Lonnie Donegan.
Radio highlights: Gardening, Thinking Aloud, Reith Lectures.
Weather: sunny spells and showers. Strong winds reaching gale force.
Monday 10 December 1962
A whirlwind roared through Redditch yesterday leaving a one and a half mile trail of havoc. And in three minutes it damaged sixty houses, blew the roof off a prefabricated school, uprooted trees, and carried parts of garages into neighbours’ gardens.
Nearly a thousand viewers jammed the BBC switchboards yesterday in response to That Was The Week That Was. The satirical show lampooned prime minister Harold Macmillan and religion. In one sketch, Millicent Martin told a man in a restaurant that his fly buttons were undone.
According to the magazine Films and Filming, seven of this year’s top ten films are British. The top three: 1. The Guns of Navarone 2. Dr No. 3. The Young Ones.
Television highlights: What’s My Line? Panorama, Professional Boxing.
Radio highlights: Melody on the Move, The Dales, Democracy in America.
Sue Dexter (pictured), 24 year old wife of England cricket captain Ted Dexter said. “I’ll guarantee that the press will blame me if Ted does not do so well.” Sue arrived in Sydney to join Ted and his team on their Test Match tour of Australia.
Weather: bright at first, rain later. 8c, 46f.
Tuesday 11 December 1962
The Minister of Health, Enoch Powell, yesterday gave local councils the go-ahead to add fluoride to drinking water supplies.
Ninety-seven-year-old Dr William George was preaching at the evening service at a chapel in Criccieth when suddenly two windows shattered and a bullet whistled overhead. Carnarvonshire police are looking for the gunman.
Soccer: seventy-four out of eighty-four of Algeria’s referees have gone on strike because the “don’t shoot the ref” rule was ignored on the weekend. At several matches, referees had to run for their lives to avoid being shot. Meanwhile, in world football, English referees are no longer considered the best.
Manchester City’s goalkeeper Bert Trautmann broke a bone in his left thumb at West Bromwich on Saturday. His regular deputy, Harry Dowd, is also nursing a broken finger.
Television highlights: Soccer – the second half of the European Cup Winners’ Cup tie, Glasgow Rangers v Tottenham Hotspur. Andy Pandy. Compact.
Radio highlights: Movietime, Bing Sings, Time for Laughter.
Weather: rain and drizzle. Outlook – rather cold, with showers. 9c 48f.
Wednesday 12 December 1962
Bing Crosby has sold 12,000,000 records with White Christmas. Now he has another likely super-seller with Little Drummer Boy.
Nottingham Police plan to frighten motorists into good driving with a Ghost Squad – a fleet of all-white vehicles.
A jury awarded a jilted woman £850 for breach of promise. She was also allowed to keep the £522 engagement ring.
Elastoplast reported £2,217,000 profits for the first nine months of 1962, up £263,000 on last year.
Television highlights: Bucknell’s House – DIY, In or Out? – a panel discuses the Common Market, Take a Letter – crossword game with Bob Holness.
Radio highlights: Postal Bingo, Teen and Twenty Disc Club, Get With It.
Football: Best home record – Everton, 27 games since a defeat. Best away record – Stoke and Celtic, 8 games since a defeat.
Results: Birmingham 6 Manchester City 0. Two own goals, one by goalkeeper Steve Fleet, helped Birmingham into the League Cup semi-finals.
European Cup Winners’ Cup: Glasgow Rangers 2 Tottenham Hotspur 3 (aggregate 4 – 8).
Weather: sunny intervals, showers, high winds. Outlook – little change. 7c 45f.
Coming soon, Songbird, my novel set in the winter of 1962-63
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