1950s Fashion

1950s History

1950s Music

Every September when the hops were ready to be picked, farmers would write to workers – usually women and children who didn't have permanent jobs, in Kent, London, Sussex and East Anglia. They were invited to come down to Horsmonden and Kent, stay in huts on the farm and work in the hop gardens for about 6 weeks. For many Victorian Londoners this was seen as a holiday in the country, away from the dirty and polluted city. The same families would come 'hopping down in Kent' year after year. From the 16th century, Kent was an important centre for hop-growing. Hops are dried in oast houses before being used to make beer. By 1900 century, an estimated 250,000 men, women and children travelled to Kent each summer for the annual harvest. Hops grow on flexible branches called bines, in fields traditionally called ‘hop gardens’. The bines are grown along strings and wires attached to poles up to 12 feet (3.65 metres) high. Hops were harvested in late August and September. Picking began at dawn. The picked hops were put into large bins or baskets. First, the bine would be pulled down from the strings. It was then laid on the bin and the hops – which are the flowers of the plant – were stripped (picked) off. Pickers had to be careful not to drop leaves into the bins. Pickers could be paid anything from eight old pence to a shilling per bushel. The bins were moved down the alleys during the course of the day. After lunch, children were often allowed to play in the fields while their parents continued working. Work usually finished around 4pm. The harvest attracted many seasonal workers from London to Kent for the summer. Most of the workers were women who left their casual jobs in the City to work in the country for a few weeks. They brought their children, who were on school holidays, with them. Fathers who had work in London would often come to join their families at the weekend. Sometimes whole families moved to Kent for the summer, living in makeshift pickers’ huts. Often these were made of corrugated iron, without electricity or running water. Cooking was over open fires in front of the hut, and water was collected from a pump or well. Pickers often brought their own bedding and cooking equipment with them. After the Second World War, machines took over much of the work previously done by hand. With many jobs also beginning to offer paid holidays, the popularity of hop-picking holidays declined. By the 1960s, the annual migration from London for the hop-picking was all but over. The fifties also produced the “original teenagers,” a source of rebellion that does not support the idea that the fifties were calm and harmonious on all levels Even though teens had always been around, the fifties defined, analyzed and tried to make sense of this stage between childhood and adulthood. The time period right before and during the baby boom era reflects a marked rise in birth rate. Therefore, “in density alone, the massive teenage presence was something of a statistical anomaly,” Thomas Doherty states in Teenagers and Teenpics: the Juvenilization of American Movies in the 1950s.  Teenagers became targets for many markets: fashion, music, movies, food and literature to name a few. Juvenile delinquency was born and special laws were created. Psychologists, psychiatrists and counselors came up with a plethora of studies and advice to explain and cope with adolescents. Welcome to Butlins Memories, the web's biggest resource for Butlins nostalgia and information. Why not click to find out a bit about us, use the menu on the left to go straight to your camp or follow any of the links below to visit other sections of the site. We now have around 3,000 images online plus an additional 2,500+ in the User Photo Galleries. Thanks for visiting! 1950s birth of British rock The trad jazz movement spawned an offshoot when Chris Barber's Jazz Band introduced interval entertainment with their banjo player Lonnie Donegan playing guitar "skiffle". He had an unlikely hit with his version of Leadbelly's "Rock Island Line", recorded in 1955 and becoming a hit in both Britain and the U.S.A. in 1956. Skiffle introduced the idea of music being easy to play and spawned "skiffle groups" across the country, including "The Quarrymen" in Liverpool who would later become the Beatles. The folk scene also increased the appetite for Blues, bringing across artists like Big Bill Broonzy and Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee but there was a puritanical insistence on keeping music acoustic. American rock and roll had an impact across the globe in the 1950s, perhaps most intensely in the United Kingdom, where record collecting and trend-watching were in full bloom among the emerging "teenage" culture prior to the rock era, and where colour barriers were barely an issue. The British were quick to follow the success of Elvis Presley and in 1958 three British teenagers formed a rock and roll group, 'Cliff Richard and the Drifters (later renamed Cliff Richard and the Shadows). The group recorded a hit, "Move It", marking not only what is held to be the very first British full-on rock 'n' roll single, but also the beginnings of a different sound  British rock, prophesying "they say it's gonna die, but let's face it; we just don't know what's going to replace it". In the 60s other British groups would show them. They were not alone in copying the genre, others included Tommy Steele and Adam Faith. Cliff Richard and The Shadows became the most influential band in the UK and set standards for following British (and American) groups. With two guitars, bass guitar and drums, they also changed the way the guitar was featured, introducing the Fender Stratocaster and the concept of a "lead guitar" virtuoso (Hank Marvin) to the rock scene and featuring an electric bass guitar instead of the usual stand up bass. Appealing almost exclusively to and hugely popular with youth in Britain (including the nascent Beatles) as well as across Europe, Cliff and the Shadows also influenced many UK teenagers to begin buying records, a trend which would reach a peak with The Beatles a few years later. The group also paved the way for the Beatles in other ways, touring the US (without much fanfare) and whetting US record companies' appetites for a youth-oriented band to market stateside. An African American vocal style known as doo-wop emerged from the streets of north-eastern cities such as New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore. Doo-wop, with its smooth harmonies, was the closest rock style to mainstream pop in the mid-1950s. The Orioles helped develop the doo-wop sound with their hits "It's Too Soon to Know" (1948) and "Crying in the Chapel" (1953). Other important African American doo-wop groups included the Coasters, the Drifters, the Moonglows, the Teenagers and the Platters. The style spread to singing groups of other ethnicities, such as the Capris, Dion and the Belmonts, the Earls, and the Tokens. The term "doo-wop" was taken from the ad-lib syllables sung in harmony in doo-wop songs. Two songs in particular may lay claim to being the "first" to contain the syllables "doo wop" in the refrain: the 1955 hit, "When You Dance" by The Turbans, in which the chant "doo wop" can be plainly heard; and the 1956 classic "In the Still of the Night" by The Five Satins, with the plaintive "doo wop, doo wah" refrain in the bridge. It has been erroneously reported that the phrase was coined by radio disc jockey Gus Gossert in the early 1970s. However, Gossert himself said that "doo-wop(p) was already being used [before me] to categorize the music in California." It became the fashion in the 1990s to keep expanding the definition backward to include Rhythm & Blues groups from the mid-1950s and then even further back to include groups from the early 1950s and even the 1940s. There is no consensus as to what constitutes a doo-wop song and many aficionados of R&B music dislike the term intensely, preferring to use the term "group vocal harmony" instead The Fifties remain a popular nostalgia decade, and are often seen in the United States in simplified terms by both proponents and detractors. Nicknames for the decade include the "Fabulous Fifties" and the "Nifty Fifties". In the United States, different decades have approached Fifties nostalgia differently. Few people cared for Fifties nostalgia during the 1960s. The vast societal changes of the Sixties, particularly during the latter half of that decade, made the Fifties look repressive and square by comparison. Underground cartoonist Robert Crumb satirized Fifties middle-class culture, and Frank Zappa's 1968 album Cruising with Ruben & the Jets spoofed 1950s doo-wop.. During the 1970s, some people started viewing the Fifties as a calmer, more innocent time, a time devoid of the scandals, wars, assassinations, riots, and racial strife that had marked American life during the 1960s and early 1970s. Thus the success of mostly idyllic Fifties-themed entertainment such as the movies American Graffiti and Grease, and the TV series Happy Days and its spinoff Laverne & Shirley. Fifties nostalgia also appeared in popular music. 1970s songs such as Don McLean's "American Pie", Elton John's "Crocodile Rock", and Bob Seger's "Old Time Rock and Roll" reflected the early years of rock and roll and how popular music had changed since then. Patsy Cline (b. Virginia Patterson Hensley September 8, 1932 – March 5, 1963) was an American country music singer who enjoyed pop music crossover success during the era of the Nashville Sound in the early 1960s. Since her death at age 30 in a 1963 plane crash at the height of her career, she has been considered one of the most influential, successful, revered, and acclaimed female vocalists of the 20th century. The story of her life and career has been the subject of numerous books, movies, documentaries, articles and stage plays. Cline was best known for her rich tone and emotionally expressive bold contralto voice, which, along with her role as a mover and shaker in the country music industry, has been cited and praised as an inspiration by many vocalists of various music genres.. Posthumously, millions of her albums have been sold over the past 45 years and she has been given numerous awards, which has given her an iconic status similar to that of music legends Johnny Cash and Elvis Presley. Only ten years after her death, she became the first female solo artist inducted to the Country Music Hall of Fame. In 2002, she was voted by artists and members of the Country Music industry as #1 on CMT's television special of the 40 Greatest Women of Country Music of all time, and in 1999 she was voted #11 on VH1's special The 100 Greatest Women in Rock and Roll of all time by members and artists of the rock industry. According to her 1973 Country Music Hall of Fame plaque, "Her heritage of timeless recordings is testimony to her artistic capacity." Among those hits are "Walkin' After Midnight", "I Fall to Pieces", "She's Got You", "Crazy", and "Sweet Dreams". Did you know ? Britain and France talked about a 'union' in the 1950s and even discussed the possibility of Elizabeth II becoming the French head of state.  Once-secret papers from the National Archives have yielded the discoveries. On September 10, 1956, French Prime Minister Guy Mollet came to London to discuss the possibility of a merger between the two countries with Prime Minister Sir Anthony Eden. Film History of the 1950s The 50s decade was known for many things: post-war affluence and increased choice of leisure time activities, conformity, the Korean War, middle-class values, the rise of modern jazz, the rise of 'fast food' restaurants and drive-ins (Jack in the Box - founded in 1951; McDonalds - first franchised in 1955 in Des Plaines, IL; and A&W Root Beer Company - formed in 1950, although it had already established over 450 drive-ins throughout the country), a baby boom, the all-electric home as the ideal, white racist terrorism in the South, the advent of television and TV dinners, abstract art, the first credit card (Diners Club, in 1951), the rise of drive-in theaters to a peak number in the late 50s with over 4,000 outdoor screens (where young teenaged couples could find privacy in their hot-rods), and a youth reaction to middle-aged cinema. Older viewers were prone to stay at home and watch television (about 10.5 million US homes had a TV set in 1950). Many people who visit the British Monarchy web site have a specific purpose in mind - for example, applying for a message from The Queen for a relative's birthday or wedding anniversary, inviting a member of the Royal Family to visit their organisation or community, or buying tickets to visit one of the Royal Residences. Sterling Times ,_"the virtual scrapbook of British nostalgia",_is here in celebration of "Uncool Britannia". It's the site where etiquette is still more important than political correctness. SterlingTimes focuses upon some of the eccentricities of British culture. It's about old and vintage radio, television, music and literature. It's about Englishness and patriotism. Jill Daniels, started her singing career in the late 1970s even in those far off days her similarity to Vera Lynn was well recognised and earned her the title "The Sweetheart of the Midlands" . At that time Jill was selected to work in many of the top Cabaret Nightclub Restaurants such as the Talk of the Midlands (Nottingham), Talk of the North (Eccles) Heart of the Midlands(Birmingham) Embassy Club (London) as Support to Numerous Star acts and bands. Although at that time Jill was renown for her excellent renditions of Vera Lynn favourites. She did not actually specialise until she was asked to put on a special Show for the VE DAY 50th Anniversary Celebrations and a whole new show was produced at considerable expense, the music being especially created from scratch for all of the Wartime Favourites in Jill'singing key, (which happens tao be the same as Dame Vera's) to recreate as near as possible the original versions, The VE DAY Shows were a total success and bookings started flowing in for the Wartime Show which is known as "HITS OF THE BLITZ". The same success was repeated for the MILLENNIUM Celebrations and for The Queens Jubilee Celebrations and Jill Daniels is now known Nationally and Internationally as Britain's No1 singer of WWII Songs and Patriotic Anthems. Remembering Rock and Roll Artists Of The '50s, '60s and '70s Had Britain not been able to draw on a pool of labour in the Commonwealth, the British government might even have been forced to repeal the Aliens Act, to entice more workers to come to Britain in order to meet the continuing demand for labour in certain areas of the economy. As it turned out, the former colonial territories, their economies starved of investment and distorted by the previously insatiable demands of the leading Western nations for raw materials, ensured a continuous flow of labour out of the Caribbean and the Indian subcontinent and into America and Western Europe even after the long boom had reached its peak. Despite the thinly disguised message from the Royal Commission of Populations of 1949, which essentially tried to 'warn off' bosses from recruiting 'coloured' labour, prospective employers in the 1950s had little concern for the skin colour or religion of their new employees. Whatever racist ideas they held were secondary to their need for workers to fill gaps in the labour market by doing the worst jobs. The reason why Britain's employers so enthusiastically recruited workers from the Commonwealth was that they had nowhere else to get them from. When the 'racialisation' of British politics emerged fully, some years after the arrival of immigrants from the Commonwealth and the Indian sub-continent, it frequently relied upon a deliberate and insidious denial that there was ever an open invitation from Britain's cabinet ministers and employers to come to this country. To demolish all the racist myths used by politicians then and now, in their attempt to construct the notion that Britain has a 'race/immigration' problem, it is usually necessary to start with this one simple, and undeniable, fact: that British capitalists, and some sections of the British state, initiated and actively encouraged large scale emigration to Britain from the Caribbean and Indian subcontinent during the 1950s and 1960s. Workers from the Caribbean and the Indian sub-continent came to Britain in the 1950s and 1960s for the same reason that has led workers to migrate throughout the history of capitalism: to find work. Moreover, as with all labour migration, levels of immigration from the Caribbean--and later from the Indian sub-continent--at least to begin with, were always strictly related to the level of demand for labour within the British economy. There was only a slight 'delay' at each end of cycle as levels of immigration adjusted to changed economic circumstances in Britain. In 1959, for instance, levels of immigration into Britain from the Caribbean were too low to meet the boom of that year but, in 1961 when the boom started to peter out, figures for immigration were geared to suit the situation a few months earlier and were therefore slightly too high in relation to actual job opportunities in Britain.32 Post-war immigration into Britain from the Caribbean was drawn mainly from the very poorest Caribbean islands, where conditions were harshest of all both for rural and urban populations. Yet workers still continued to make the journey to Britain when the certainty of a job existed. A keen awareness of the state of the British labour market existed in the Caribbean and one West Indian migrant into Britain later recalled that 'the South London Press could be brought in Hildage's Drugstore, near West Parade, in downtown Kingston, Jamaica...'33 This knowledge was also built upon by an informal communications network between migrant workers already settled in Britain and friends and acquaintances back home. Individual employers in Britain were often known to exploit this informal network in their efforts to recruit labour, as well as paying for advertisements in New Commonwealth countries. However informal much of this process was, it still proved to be an extremely accurate mechanism for meeting labour demand in Britain and immigration levels consistently dropped very quickly after any drop in the number of advertised vacancies. It was only the racism of Britain's rulers some years later which destroyed this 'natural' relationship between levels of labour migration and the level of demand for labour. In the early 1960s government ministers, as well as private employers, started to recruit directly in the West Indies. These included Enoch Powell, who actively encouraged the migration of medical staff from India and the West Indies during his time as Minister for Health. The London Transport executive made an agreement with the Barbadian Immigration Liaison Service. Other employers, such as the British Hotel and Restaurant Association, made similar agreements. In the 1950s most Indian migrant workers to arrive in Britain were Sikhs from the rural areas of the Punjab, where the partition of the Punjab between India and Pakistan had created immense pressure on land resources during the 1950s and 1960s, greatly increasing such emigration from then on. Whatever the specific situation within the economies of the main Commonwealth countries which led different groups of workers to migrate to Britain during the 1950s and 1960s, the overall explanation for all labour migration from the Indian sub-continent, as well as from the Caribbean, was the same--the poverty and unemployment which were a direct result of economic problems caused by years of British colonial exploitation. Most of the first newcomers to Britain in the 1950s and 1960s tended to settle in areas of low unemployment. Therefore they inevitably gravitated towards major cities, to London in particular, but also to the Midlands and to areas further north, like Bradford. Contrary to 'popular' and racist mythology, many of the Caribbean workers who came to Britain in the 1950s and 1960s were highly skilled workers, but once here racism ensured that virtually all were forced into semi-skilled or unskilled work--often in those areas which had been partially deserted by the indigenous workforce in favour of the higher pay and better conditions in industries associated with new technology. With discrimination widespread, nearly all black workers remained in the manual working class with little hope of promotion or mobility. Moreover, when the economy did begin to slow down in the late 1960s, it was black workers who invariably lost their jobs first. In a period of only 12 weeks during 1956, for instance, unemployment rose from 23 to 400 in Smethwick, the West Midlands town which would later become famous for the notoriously racist election campaign which the Tory candidate ran there in the early 1960s.34 Of those who remained in work, Commonwealth migrants usually did twice the amount of shift work as other workers and on average earned significantly lower wages. One clear indication that the overwhelming majority of migrants from the Caribbean and Indian sub-continent intended to stay in Britain for only a short period of time is this readiness on the part of most of them to migrate internally within Britain. New Commonwealth migrants were predominantly young people in their late teens or early twenties and, in the case of Caribbean migration, almost half of those who came to Britain as wage labourers in their own right were single women. Conversely most migrants from the Indian sub-continent were single or married men. Nearly all members of both groups nevertheless came to Britain with the intention of staying only temporarily, long enough to earn enough money to improve the situation back home once he or she returned to his or her family. Where fares had not been loaned directly by employers to prospective migrants, workers' fares to Britain were often paid by pooling family resources. Do you remember those endless days of Summer, playing football until the sun was long gone, ice creams melting before you could eat them in the scorching heat? And what about those Winters; snow piled so high you could scarcely see out the window? I am currently hard at work building NC version 2.0, or "Son of Nostalgia Central" as I like to call it. This mammoth task is a complete ground-up re-build of nostalgiacentral.com. The make-over will take some time - probably the remainder of 2007 - but the end result will provide greatly enhanced content. Thanks for your patience, and please excuse the dust . . . Great British Vintage antique mechanical coin-operated Penny Machines: amusement machines, allwins, automata, working models, ball catchers, diggers, cranes, merchandisers, dropcase machines, fortune tellers, fruit machines, one arm bandits, betting, gambling and gaming machines, coin-op multi player competitive games, jukeboxes, polyphons and mechanical music machines, pinball machines and printables, weighing machines and scales, electric shock machines, skill games, strength tests, love tests, vending and service machines, 3D viewers, coin-op stereoscopes, peep shows, mutoscopes - and other old mechanical or electromechanical penny coin slot devices. YOU WILL NOT FIND A WIDER SELECTION OF OLDIES ANYWHERE! I was ten year old in July as the second world war broke out in September the things I remember about living through a war was, home service, that was school in a neighbours house which was only in the morning or afternoon we never did a full day.  My Dad was unfit for the armed forces so he did his bit like many others in his position by being a fire spotter that was being on the street after the sirens had gone with a stirrup pump government issue, there were buckets of sand outside many houses on our street. We had an Andersons shelter in our yard, half of which was below ground, the smell of damp was awful, the only light was from a candles left in the shelter, if you forgot to bring the matches in the haste to get down there then you had to sit in the dark, so Dad reinforced the cellar roof, so that is where Mum and I sat on Friday night of the Sheffield Blitz. If you love oldies MIDI music, golden oldies, free MIDI downloads and oldies lyrics then you have arrived at the right site. It's all here. bullet The goal of this web site is to provide its visitors with the best quality MIDI music contained on the web. Thanks for stopping by, enjoy your visit. This page is a joint project between the Harry S. Truman and Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Libraries developed to provide access to Korean War materials related to the two administrations occupying the White House during that period. The comic first appeared on 26 July 1938 and was published weekly. During the Second World War, The Beano and The Dandy were published on alternating weeks due to paper and ink rationing. D.C. Thomson's other publications also suffered with the Oor Wullie and The Broons annuals falling victim to paper and ink shortages. Paper and ink supplies were fully restored shortly after the end of hostilities and weekly publication of The Beano and The Dandy soon followed. As of 2007, over 3000 issues have been published. The Beano is currently edited by Alan Digby, who replaced Euan Kerr in summer 2006. Euan Kerr now edits the BeanoMAX, a version of the Beano for older readers. Its iconic characters such as Dennis the Menace, Minnie the Minx, and The Bash Street Kids have become known to generations of British children. Earlier generations will remember other notable characters which have been phased out, such as Biffo. Some old characters have made a return like Lord Snooty. The comics were distributed in some of the British colonies or former colonies as well. Because they were sent by sea mail, they would go on sale some weeks after the date shown on the cover. The comic holds the record for being the world's longest running weekly comic. When D.C. Thomson's, The Dandy Comic, was released on the 4th December 1937, it broke the mould on the way comics were to appear forever more. Prior to The Dandy Comic, childrens comics were broadsheet in size and not very colourful. This is to take nothing away from their content, but when compared to The Dandy Comic, and later on, The Beano Comic and The Magic Comic, these broadsheets looked rather staid in comparison. Having said all that, the size wasn't exactly new. The story papers, which had been going for many years, were already tabloid size, it was just new to comics. EveryHit.com is a website for fans of The British music scene from the beginning of the rock 'n' roll era right the way through to the present day. It aims to inform about the world's fastest-moving and most vibrant music industry and promote it across the planet. The site is non-profit making. There are no sponsors and no banner advertisements. Charles Hardin Holley was born in Lubbock, Texas to Lawrence Odell Holley and Ella Pauline Drake on Labor Day, in 1936. The Holleys were a musical family and as a young boy Holley learned to play piano, guitar and violin (his brothers oiled the strings so much that no one could hear him play.) He was always known as Buddy to his family. In 1949 Buddy made a recording of Hank Snow's 'My Two-Timin' Woman' on a wire recorder "borrowed" by a friend who worked in a music shop (not, as is often reported, a home tape recorder)[citation needed], his first known recording During the fall of that year he met Bob Montgomery in Hutchinson Junior High School. They shared a common interest in music and soon teamed up as the duo "Buddy and Bob." Initially influenced by bluegrass music, they sang harmony duets at local clubs and high school talent shows. In Lubbock, Holly attended Hutchinson Junior High School, which has a mural honoring him, and Lubbock High School, which has numerous features to honor the late musician. His musical interests grew throughout high school while singing in the Lubbock High School Choir. Holly turned to rock music after seeing Elvis Presley sing live in Lubbock in early 1955. A few months later, he appeared on the same bill with Presley, also in Lubbock. Holly's transition to rock continued when he opened for Bill Haley & His Comets at a local rock show organized by Eddie Crandall, who was also the manager for Marty Robbins. As a result of this performance, Holly was offered a contract with Decca Records to work alone, which he accepted. According to the Amburn book, his public name changed from "Holley" to "Holly" on 8 February 1956, when he signed the Decca contract. Among the tracks recorded for Decca was an early version of "That'll Be The Day", which took its title from a phrase that John Wayne's character said repeatedly in the 1956 film, The Searchers. For so many years, historians and casual observers alike have observed the events of World War II through faded black and white images. What most people do not know is the fact that quite a large portion of the WWII was shot using color film! However, it wasn't until recently that a lot of the photographs and motion picture footage was de-classified by the U.S. Government. We don't just have a collection of U.S. images, but we also have a diverse collection of German, Russian, Japanese, British and Italian photos British History Online is the digital library containing some of the core printed primary and secondary sources for the medieval and modern history of the British Isles. Created by the Institute of Historical Research and the History of Parliament Trust, we aim to support academic and personal users around the world in their learning, teaching and research. The museum shows the development of Germany's armoured troops from 1917 to the present with displays of vehicles, weapons, equipment, uniforms, documents and medals. The museum's exhibits cover all branches of the German armoured corps: tanks, mechanized infantry, armoured reconnaissance, anti-tank, self-propelled artillery, and armoured engineers. The Twentieth Century was one of sorrow and joy, pain and excitement, tragedy and hope. As we stand at the threshold of a new millennium, it is important to take a look back on where our country has been. Let us be your tour guides through these event-filled decades. When you are finished catching up on all the happenings of this great century, take our Century in Review Quiz to see how much you really know about this last century of the millennium. GREAT MOMENTS OF THE 20TH CENTURY features nearly 200 audio clips of the 20th Century's century's most important events from Marconi's first transatlantic radio transmission in December 1901 to the New Year's Eve celebration in Times Square on December 31, 1999. The U.S. population was 76,300,000. The Boxer Uprising ended as U.S. Marines helped Great Britain capture Peking. A hurricane & tidal wave killed 5,994 in Galveston, Texas. William McKinley defeated William Jennings Bryan for the U.S. presidency — the two had faced off with the same results in 1896. Dwight Davis established the Davis Cup for tennis. Lyman Frank Baum's Wonderful Wizard Of Oz was published. The Associated Press was founded. Popular songs included     The Maple Leaf Rag, You Can't Keep A Good Man Down and Absence Makes The Heart Grow Fonder. There were roughly 200 teashops each with a front shop for selling bakery items and inside one or more cafeteria type counter services for hot meals and beverages. Each shop had a code number for quick reference. The first was A - Picadilly. The code ran through from A to Z - Kings Cross and then AA to ZZ followed by A3 - Z9. Provincial and coastal shops had a double letter viz HE - Bournemouth. I can still remember a few as I was a young draughtsman in the New Teashops works department in the 1950s, drawing the catering equipment that made up the counters and kitchen. This three-part feature with discography appeared in In Tune magazine (November/December 2005 and January 2006). Im publishing it on the web as Clinton has not have enough acclaim and deserves to have his story told. Whether Ive done him justice of course is another matter. An appreciation of Clinton Ford by Spencer Leigh In another sense, though,Fanlight Fannyis typical of Clints songbook. His preference is for little-known but well-written songs from a bygone age. In concert, he resembles a one-man edition of The Good Old Days as you hear songs that nobody else has sung for years. He is a one-man custodian of the Tin Pan Alley archives who is entrusted with bringing these songs to life. Please take the time to look around the various areas of my site, there's plenty to see! Find out interesting facts about me, my career achievements to date, my current projects, and how I can improve your stations ratings. Enjoy the great times you grew up in with my Goldmine radio show, available online now-Enjoy.The Latest Goldmine Show is HERE NOW! The Tony James Goldmine Radio Show is updated with a NEW PROGRAMME on THE FIRST OF EVERY MONTH.Best of all it's FREE, Don't miss it!.We're Talking The Great Times You Grew Up In-The 60s,70s and 80s.If you have spread the word about us-Sincere Thanks, Tony. While “the good old days” could refer to any number of eras, one certainly could make a good case for the 1950s. The 1950s is popularly thought of as a time of uniformity and conformity, also a time when life was good. The war was over; the economy was booming, and wonderful Ozzie and Harriet type families prevailed. But the fifties was much more complex than these observations suggest. Indeed, a lot of the romanticized, nostalgic impressions of that era are rooted in myth. While it was a time of unusual prosperity and the prevalence of the nuclear family with a stay-at-home mom, the story does not end there. There was also widespread poverty and many women were not happy about being limited to the role of housewife. This decade was also home to McCarthyism, fear of the atomic bomb, and the rise of the civil rights movement. Many Americans were not happy with traditional roles. Minorities were beginning to collectively and actively protest injustices. The cry for greater attention to human rights at home became louder, and the availability of television provided a new dimension for experiencing what was going on in the country and the world. Golden Music Memories Of Yesteryear Take A Nostalgic Trip: Visit The Bands, Crooners, Comedy, Divas, Nifty 50's & Tenors Web Sites  Come On In And Enjoy The Many Message Forums Of  Our Featured  Stars  GOLDEN MUSIC MEMORIES OF YESTERYEAR If you don't know what "phone booth packing" means, take a guess. It's what it sounds like : a bunch of people cramming themselves into a phone booth. Sounds pretty silly, huh? Well, to college kids in 1959, it wasn't silly at all. It was the thing to do with all of your friends. It involved getting at lest ten people toghether and seeing how many you could get to fit into a phone booth. The easy part, though, was that the door could be left open so as long as half of the person was in, it counted. It began when a South African college said it had been able to fit twenty-five students into a booth made for one, setting a "world record" that has never been defeated. This set the competition off to a start that very same spring. Before coming to the North America, a group of London University students packed into one of the wide-body booths that were made over there. Unlike the inventors of this craze, they were only able to fit ninteen even though their booth was bigger. As of early March, cramming sessions were under way on many U.S. and Canadian campuses. Some tried using extra-large fraternity hall phone booths, and a group of Canadian boys was able to jam forty of themselves into one. However, this was considered cheating, and from then on, usually only standard American sized booths were used to pack people in. Another rule that was soon made was that the phone booth had to be upright. At a junior college in Modesto, California, a phone booth was donated by a phone company and the students turned it on it's side. They succeeded in going thirty-four people high, but their record was argued as invalid. Some real fun was had in April when seven young men from Fresno College crammed while underwater in a swimming pool. Not to be outdone, though, were theor co-eds who succeeded in jamming eight in the Fresno Hacienda Motel Pool. A British rule was that one of the inhabitants had to either place a call or answer a ringing phone. While this was soon the case all over Britan, here in America only a few followed that requirement. But something that slowly changed everywhere was the neccessity for planned-packing. At the beginning of this fad, people would get in a booth like they were stuffing crumpled paper into a drawer. When they wanted to cram as many as possible in, though, they had to be a little bit more sophisticated about it. One of the first planned styles of cramming was sandwhich-style. Ryerson Tech students in Toronto made this one up, but it was soon disregarded becuse of all the protruding legs coming from the booth. Students from MIT took a "scientific" approach, and were able to seat nineteen carefully and comfortably in a fraternity phone cubicle that was much larger than the regularly used type of booth. But the most efficient by far was the group at St. Mary's College in Moraga, California. They were encouraged to "Beat South Africa" and almost did. They were the group that came the closest by fitting twenty-two smallish students into a booth with a carefully planned and well-executed crosshatch stacking technique. This fad began to expire when cramming of a differnt kind was introduced. Studying for May and June finals meant that students had to cooncentrate on other things. So when the stuffing stopped, it marked the end of an era, bringing on new things in the sixties. South African college said it had been able to fit 25 students into a booth setting a "world record" that has never been defeated. Home of doo wop Many years ago, a party of Caroline enthusiasts travelled from Britain to Holland to sail past our ship Ross Revenge and so to celebrate Carolines 25th anniversary. Ronan ORahilly spoke to the crowd and wondered if we might meet up again on the fiftieth anniversary. It seemed like a foolish comment, but come this Easter that milestone date will only be seven years away. How quickly time and life passes by. These are vintage 1950s & 1960s rock n roll movies that contain quintessential music performances and vintage footage of important artists in their prime. If you dig the original rockers of rock n roll, these are the movies for you! Beginning in 1955 and finally ending in 1976, Dixon Of Dock Green was the longest running police series on British television and although its homeliness would later become a benchmark to measure the "realism" of later police series, such as Z Cars and The Bill, it was an enormously popular series. January 8, 2008 would have been Elvis Presley's 73rd birthday.  Yet to fans,Elvis will always be the sleek fellow with the wild hips and the mellow singing voice. Fifties Web pays tribute to Elvis Presley, the true King of Rock and Roll. Elvis Presley is The King of Rock-n-Roll and to this day people still buy his music. Even though he passed away 30 years ago, he continues to be worth several million dollars. Elvis was a legend and no other rock star has ever come close to filling his shoes. Many people are absolutely obsessed with Elvis, but many of them don't know these little known facts. Little Known Facts about Elvis #1: In Both the Rock-n-Roll Hall of Fame and Country Music Hall of Fame While Elvis was The King of Rock-n-Roll, he also had several country music hits as well. Not only is he in the Rock-n-Roll Hall of Fame and the Country Music Hall of Fame, he's even in the Gospel Music Hall of Fame. Little Known Facts about Elvis #2: Won Three Grammy Awards, but None of Them Were for Rock Music This is one of the most shocking facts. Elvis won three Grammy Awards, but all of them were for his gospel music. The fact that The King of Rock-n-Roll never won an Grammy Award for his rock music is unbelievable. Little Known Facts about Elvis #3: Had Plastic Surgery in the Mid-1970s Another shocker is that Elvis had plastic surgery in the mid-1970s. He had two full face-lifts and rhinoplasty surgery. During this time he would have been around 40 years old. Its hard to believe that he actually needed these surgeries. Little Known Facts about Elvis #4: Was the Biggest Tax Payer in 1973 There's no denying the fact that Elvis was filthy rich, but many people have no idea that he was the biggest tax payer in 1973. Little Known Facts about Elvis #5: Made the First Ever Music Video "Jailhouse Rock" was the first ever music video. Little Known Facts about Elvis #6: Had $5 Million in His Bank Account When He Died In August 1977, Elvis had $5 million in his bank account. That is quite impressive, but it's nothing compared to what he is currently worth. Little Known Facts about Elvis #7: Was Worth $45 Million in 2004  It may seem like a strange fact, but Elvis was worth more after his death than he was during his lifetime. In 2004, Forbes listed him as the #1 richest deceased person, with a worth of $45 million. Little Known Facts about Elvis #8: Only Performed Two Concerts Outside of the US Reminisce This recalls the golden era of the late 20th century...namely the three decades that helped define our lingering memory of that period, the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. Coin-operated music boxes and player pianos carved out a place for automatic pay-per-tune music in fairgrounds, amusement parks and other public places (such as train stations in Switzerland) a few decades before the introduction of reliable coin-operated phonographs. The first jukebox was an automatic phonograph produced in 1927 by Rowe International, then known as AMI. Some of these automatic musical instruments were extremely well built and have survived to this day in the hands of collectors and museums. But commercially they could not compete with the jukebox in the long run since they were limited to the instrument (or instruments) used in their construction, and could not reproduce the human voice. The immediate ancestor of the jukebox, called the "Coin-slot phonograph", was the first medium of sound recording encountered by the general public, before mass produced home audio equipment became common. Such machines began to be mass produced in 1889, using phonograph cylinders for records. The earliest machines played but a single record (of about 2 minutes of music or entertainment), but soon devices were developed that allowed customers to choose between multiple records. In the 1910s the cylinder gradually was superseded by the gramophone record. The term "juke box" came into use in the United States in the 1930s, derived either from African-American slang "jook" meaning "dance" or from a name given to it by critics who said it would encourage criminal behavior, this came from the fake family name Juke. The shellac 78 rpm record dominated jukeboxes until the Seeburg Corporation introduced an all 45 rpm vinyl record jukebox in 1950. The hula hoop is a toy hoop, usually made of plastic, that is twirled around the waist, limbs, or neck. Although the exact origins of hula hoops are unknown, children around the world have played with hoops, twirling, rolling and throwing them throughout history. Traditional materials for hoops include grapevines and stiff grasses. Today, they are often made of plastic. In Egypt around 3,000 years ago, hoops made out of grape vines were propelled around the ground with sticks. The word "hula" was added in the early 18th century as sailors who visited Hawaii noticed the similarity between hula dancing and tripping hoops. From 1954, for generations of children, Saturday morning was one of the great highlights of the week. Although the weekday "Children's Hour" provided rich entertainment for those between the ages of potty and puberty , Uncle Mac's selection of record requests was something very special: you might even hear your name being read out! Sheer bliss!!! His opening words "Hello Children Everywhere!" and the string orchestra signature tune of 'Puffing Billy', became symbols of the Fifties every bit as evocative as Dan Dare, Meccano and grey flannel shorts. Children's Hour—at first: "The Children's Hour", from a verse by Longfellow—was the name of the BBC's principal recreational service for children (as distinct from "Broadcasts to Schools") during the period when radio dominated broadcasting. Children's Hour was broadcast from 1922 to 1964, originally from the BBC's Birmingham station 5IT, soon joined by other regional stations, then in the BBC Regional Programme, before transferring to its final home, the new BBC Home Service, at the outbreak of World War II. Parts of the programme were also rebroadcast by the BBC World Service. For the last three years of its life (until 27 March 1964), the title Children's Hour was no longer used, the programmes in its "time slot" going out under the umbrella heading of For the Young. In the United Kingdom, Children's Hour was broadcast from 5pm to 6pm on weekdays, this being a time when children could be expected to be home from school, and was aimed at an audience aged about 5 to 15 years: in its earliest years, at least, the concept of the "teenager" had scarcely been invented. Programming was imbued with Reithian virtues, and Children's Hour was often criticised, like "Auntie" BBC itself, for paternalism and middle-class values. It was nonetheless hugely popular, and its presenters were national figures, their voices instantly recognisable. Derek McCulloch was closely involved with the programme from 1926, and ran the department from 1933 until 1950 when he had to resign for health reasons. Uncle Mac's Yesterdays gold. Great blog well worth a visit Dan Dare is a classic British science fiction comic hero. The comic hero was first created by Frank Hampson in his "Dan Dare - Pilot Of The Future" science-fiction strip-cartoon series in 1950. The series was distinguished by its snappy dialogues, meticulously illustrated artwork and complex story lines. The popularity and quality of the comic series remained high throughout the 1950s. Initially, Dan Dare was surrounded by a varying cast of characters that included Digby, Professor Peabody, Hank Hogan, Sondra and Sir Hubert Guest. The series was also aired five times a week on Radio Luxembourg during 1950s. Dan Dare appeared in the first issue of "2000 AD" magazine in 1977. The strip got a major changeover in 1987 and became more like a space opera. Dan sported a "tough guy" look and led a team of space commandos. Dan Dare starred in a series of three computer games during the 1980s. The series featured spacecrafts of various designs as products of the inhabitants of other planets. Later an experimental time-traveling ship "Tempus Frangit" was also introduced into the series. Welcome to Reel Classics, the Internet's most comprehensive site dedicated exclusively to Classic Movies. Comprising over 2500 pages and more than 3 gigabytes of content (with much more on the way), it may well be the biggest too. Enjoy your look around and remember to come back soon. Reel Classics is constantly being revised and updated. Old board games Fred Dibnah passed away on Saturday 6th November 2004 at Bolton Hospice following a brave battle with cancer. Fred's family pass on their thanks for the messages of condolence they have received. In the Spring of 2005 Fred's last series for the BBC will be screeened but in the meantime if you require any information on Fred's past series, videos or books please contact the BBC. Often dismissed as 'greasy spoons', classic cafes are actually little gems of British vernacular high street design. This site celebrates their ambience and architecture with over 130 vintage London Formica caffs reviewed, revealed and reappraised. The 60s also saw the most spectacular technical achievement of the 20th Century when America won the Space race and man landed on the moon in July 1969 - but the greatest shock of the decade was the assassination of President Kennedy in 1963. The second half of the sixties were the years of change. No year in the decade saw greater change than 1967. It was the year of Peace and Love. It was a year perfectly summed up in San Francisco by Scott McKenzie. Dressed in a kaftan, beads and bells and wearing flowers in his hair, McKenzie looked a right pratt. The village by village contact site for anybody researching family history, genealogy and local history in the UK and Ireland. Every UK county, town and village has a page for family history, local history, surname and genealogy enquiries. Use the search box to find your village or town. It is amazing to consider that from 1940 to 1962 France was almost continually at war. With the exception of the brief interlude of 1945 to 1947 - hardly itself a period of social stability within France - World War and wars of colonial control merged into one another. On one level, this is hardly surprising. After all, the Second World War was, as the three-way carve-up at the end of it showed, as much about control of colonies and resources for the World's major powers, as it was about stopping Fascism. Indeed, a majority of battles involving European armies took place in areas outside of mainland Western Europe (North Africa, South Eastern Europe, the Far East, etc.). This is not to belittle the suffering imposed upon French and other European peoples by the War, only to make a link between this experience and the events which followed Liberation and rebuilding. For there can be no greater irony in French contemporary history than that of the move from being an oppressed nation to quickly becoming an oppressor. This was to be the background to the modernisation and rebuilding of France which took place across the 1950s. On the day the Second World War officially ended (8 May 1945), French troops stationed in Sétif, in North-Eastern Algeria, fired on demonstrators killing somewhere between fifteen and fifty thousand unarmed protestors. A similar repression took place in Madagascar two years later. Indeed, there were more Algerians killed by French colonial control between 1945 and 1955, than French people killed by the Nazi Occupation. Many of those involved in gallantly fighting Fascism and for France's Liberation (in the FTP, and other organisations) were quick to recognise this irony, as they were drafted in 1947 to French Indochina (now Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam) to quell the local insurgents. Though rarely referred to, this bitter war of decolonisation has had numerous repercussions in history since. First and foremost, France's failure to deal with the Communist-backed movement led to the United States becoming involved in the 1960s, leading to the Vietnam War and the tumultuous events of the 1960s. But more importantly for France, its inability to suppress Indochina's desire for self-determination (symbolised most directly by the humiliating 1954 defeat at Dien Bien Phu, at the hands of far superior Viet-Cong forces) was to ignite the colonial situation around the World. Within months of Dien Bien Phu, a war of independence, set to become the most bloody in colonial history, was declared in the Aurès mountains in Southern Algeria. It was a war which, like the 'guerre franco-française' during the Occupation in which French fought French, was to split France in two. It also set the tone for the way in which those of North-African origin are treated in France today. When the Young@ Heart began in 1982 the members all lived in an elderly housing project in Northampton, MA called the Walter Salvo House. The first group included elders who lived through both World Wars. One of our members had fought in the Battle of the Somme as a 16 year old and another, Anna Main, lost her husband in the First World War. By 1983 our original group was ready to create our first stage production. We enlisted the support of Roy Faudree from No Theater to stage “Stompin’ at the Salvo”. No Theater was doing the most intriguing theater work in town and I was stunned when Roy agreed to stage the first show. That first production was memorable for the sensation and buzz it created in town. The show sold out four times and brought in a broad cross section of younger and older people from the community. It also brought us new performers. In early 1984 Eileen Hall, Warren Clark, and Ralph Intorcio joined the group. Warren and Ralph were both very good at doing female impersonations. Warren took on the persona of Sophie Tucker, a popular vaudevillian stage performer and Ralph did a send-up of Carol Channing’s “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend”. Eileen was born and raised in London and brought us an array of different routines, including strip, mime and the song “Nobody Loves a Fairy When She’s ...Ninety.” Y@H decided to combine these performances with a group of Latino break-dancers from another local housing project. The result was “Boola Boola Bimini Bop”. These two shows were the first of many collaborations Y@H created with different arts groups in town. Although most people know me as a researcher of West Texas rock ‘n’ roll music of the 1950s, and a historian of Buddy Holly and the Crickets, I’m really interested in the big picture, that of the entire 1950s music era. This website is devoted, as the title states, to the Rockin’ 50s. This is the title of my website, my magazine, and my business. Aside from various lists of related items for sale, I also offer a News And Announcements board and an interactive message board where you can ask any question pertaining to the 1950s and someone will come along and answer it for you. I have a lot of very knowledgeable people supporting this board and the amount of information they possess is scary, but very useful for all of you!So have fun exploring and browsing the various links and I hope you find whatever you are looking for.  "Ain't nothing but a hound dog" was barely heard through a crowd of wild teenagers of the 1950's listening to their teen idol, Elvis! This teen idol was perfect for this crowd of teens. Teenagers in the fifties wanted to be different and alike at the same time. They wanted to be cool, but "different". This is why  Elvis was perfect for them. Rock and Roll was brought into the world at this time and most parents thought it was unsuitable for a family audience. The teenagers loved him though, they thought he was the greatest thing on Earth. The 1950's was a very exciting decade and it still is. It was a time of happiness, individuality,  and plain old fun. The Wayback Machine plays the greatest songs ever recorded from 1955 through 1979, starting with Bill Haley and the Comet's Rock Around the Clock, the song that started it all Paul J. Warwick is Boston's half baked Bean bringing you the"Wayback Machine" covering the 45 RPM sounds of 1950s to late 70s. Paul's humorous look at these areas is not only entertaining for all ages of listeners, but also a wonderful trip down memory lane that everyone enjoys. A wonderful addition to the Flaming Oldies Showcase Series. Hey Chickie Baby, this site is rated Cool for Cats, hep Chicks, Greasers, Motor heads, Beats, Cool Kittens and Sandra Dee's. Site contains over 400 Photos of Fifties Cars, Fabulous 50's Visitors memories and pictures, nostalgia, Pinups, Retro Fashions and Fun Shopping. Oldies Clip-art, all the Fifties, all the time, completely modern and up to date. YouRememberThat.com is an online community focused on sharing and reminiscing about pop-culture video, audio, and images that stir our memories of the past - old television, theme songs, commercials, print advertisements, and more. We've got the sights and sounds you remember from the 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s and beyond... a Come join our friendly community and start sharing your memories! If you are a Baby Boomer or Gen Xer, you will find this to be the site for memories! This site is rated G (maybe PG on some posts) you can always feel comfortable sharing this site to your mother, kids or grandkids!  Welcome to the Early Blues Website There is precious little evidence that the commercially inspired fusion of black and white music that lay at the heart of rock and roll has made a significant contribution to inter-racial understanding or that the new generation of white blues fans has much appreciation of the context of human suffering from which this suddenly trendy music evolved. Still as they see the promise of socio-economic advancement that was once assumed to be nothing less than their national birthright give way to diminished hopes and frustrated expectations, a number of Americans of every race in every region may one day come to appreciate the difference between hearing the blues and feeling them. If so, just as the blues once so clearly chronicled the failure of Delta society to live up to its ideals (or to celebrate ideals, consistent with the life experiences of the majority of its members), their remarkable musical legacy may eventually transcend geographic boundaries and racial barriers to focus critical popular attention on the discrepancies between the real and ideal in not only regional but national life as well.”  Lost in the Fifties ''close your eyes baby, follow my heart, call on the memories, here in the dark, we'll let the magic take us away, back to the feelin's we shared when they played ..'' Welcome to British TV History, which concentrates on historic broadcasts, timelines, archive issues and TV technology, from the earliest days of mechanical television to todays digital broadcasts Everyone feels some nostalgia for the TV programmes that they watched when very young, so here we attempt to bring back to you some of the flavour of television in the Fifties. An introduction to TV in the Fifties, testcards, the BBC Clock and the major milestones of TV progress in the '50s feature in this section. A few video clips are included to illustrate how it all worked. The Potter's Wheel, London to Brighton in Four Minutes and those Announcers with the BBC accents like MacDonald Hobley and Sylvia Peters. Woodentops, Mr.Turnip, Hank the Cowboy, Hopalong Cassidy, The Bumblies, Billy Bunter, Sooty, Ivor the Engine, Tony Hancock, The Cisco Kid, Crackerjack, Robin Hood, Rin Tin Tin, Dixon of Dock Green, Captain Pugwash, Maigret, Bilko, Whacko!, Whirlybirds..... and loads more! We're talking about Fifites Rock 'N' Roll, Rockabilly, Doo Wop, Rhythm & Blues, Pin-Ups, Tattoos, Hot Rods, Weekenders etc. The home of Vintage and Classic Motorcycles..... Vintage Bike Sounds! The early 1950s was a time remembered for its innocence, timeless style (excepting perhaps pink tail-finned Cadillacs), the end of the Korean War, and the end of the big band era. By the end of 1953 "Rock Around The Clock" would be an international hit for Bill Haley and the Comets, and shortly thereafter Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Fats Domino, and Elvis Presley would take the limelight away from the crooners. 1950s 1960s 1970s Vintage Old Toys & Collectibles For Sale This page is dedicated to TV shows from the past, with a selection of links to pages looking back at classic TV shows. Welcome to British TV History, which concentrates on historic broadcasts, time-lines, archive issues and TV technology, from the earliest days of mechanical television to today’s digital broadcasts

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