Advert - Triumph Dolomite (1970's)

Click to Enlarge

A 1970's Triumph Dolomite from Henley's of Bournemouth, what more could you want?

Cutting - Hitler Dead (1945)

1st May 1945

Click to Read

Adolph Hitler actually committed suicide in the Fuhrer Bunker in Berlin on 30th April 1945 along with Eva Braun, who he had married the previous day. Hitler's last Will and Testament surprisingly named Grand Admiral Karl Doenitz as the new Fuhrer. The expulsion of both Heinrich Himmler and Hermann Goering from the Nazi Party for 'betraying Germany' meant that the leaders of the Army and the SS were out of the running as Hitler's successor so the head of the Navy was next in line i.e. Doenitz. Goebbels was made Chancellor but he committed suicide on 1st May. 

On the 4th May Doenitz surrendered to Field Marshall Montgomery and after the War was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment. He was released in 1956 and died in 1980.

Advert - Ferguson Radiogram (1940's)

Click to Enlarge

For those that are too young to know, a radiogram is a radio receiver and record player in one cabinet. If you don't know what a radio or a record is then Google it. This advert is from the late 1940's. 47gns? Approx £1585 allowing for inflation.

Cutting - Doctor in the House (1969)

3rd July 1969

Click to Read

The 'Doctor in the House' TV series ran to 26 episodes and was originally aired in 1969/70 starting on the 12 July. As well as Barry Evans, it starred Robin Nedwell and George Layton with Martin Shaw popping up in 10 episodes and the beautiful Yutte Stengaard in 5. The writers included Graeme Garden, Bill Oddie, Graham Chapman and John Cleese. Evans also starred in 'Doctor at Large' with Nedwell and Layton, who went on to 'Doctor in Charge', 'Doctor at Sea', 'Doctor on the Go', 'Doctor Down Under' and 'Doctor At The Top'. Barry Evans is probably best remembered by my generation as the star of the film 'Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush'.

Advert - Austin Healey Sprite (1958)

Click to Enlarge

The Austin Healey Sprite was introduced in 1958 by BMC and made at their MG factory at Abingdon. 0 - 60 in 20.5 seconds and a top speed of 83mph.

Cutting - Tommy Farr from Happy! (1937)

8th September 1937

Click to Read

If you thought punning headlines were a modern invention think again.

Tommy Farr was born in Blaenclydach in 1913 and had a boxing career from from the age of thirteen until 1953 during which he had 84 wins, 34 losses and 17 draws. He fought as a Light-heavyweight up until 1936 and then switched to Heavyweight. Ted Broadribb managed him from 1935 but they didn't get on and the American trainer Babe Culnan took over after the failed attempt to take the World Championship off Joe Louis in August 1937. Broadribb went on to manage (and become father-in-law of) Freddie Mills among others. 

Advert - Hoover (1929)

Click to Enlarge

The new Hoover is a British Empire product! By the look of these ladies in this 1929 advert it was probably the maids that were cleaning from floor to ceiling rather than them.

Cutting - Head-Hunting to End (1927)

28th April 1927

Click to Read

The mountain ranges known as the Naga Hills straddle the border between India and northern Burma. Despite considerable investment in schools, hospitals and roads on the Indian side, the Naga people of Burma remain almost entirely undeveloped and headhunting has been reported from the region as recently as the 1980's. At the time of this report in 1927 the writer George Orwell was a member of the Colonial Police Force stationed in the Sagaing region which included the homelands of the Naga peoples.

Advert - Oldsmobile car (1939)

Click to Enlarge

Another car leaping out of the page at you. From a 1939 US paper this is an Oldsmobile for $939 - except for State taxes and local taxes and optional equipment and accessories.

Cutting - Audie Murphy obituary (1971)

1st July 1971

Click to Read

Audie Murphy was one of 12 children in a poor tenant farmer family in rural Texas. His father came and went from their life and finally left for good. When Murphy was 16 his mother died and at 17 soon after Pearl Harbour and America's entry into World War II, he joined the US Army by lying about his age. By the end of the War he had been awarded just about every medal for bravery in combat available including the Congressional Medal of Honour. After the War he turned to film acting and appeared in about 50 film and TV roles including playing himself in the film of his autobiography 'To Hell and Back'. 

Advert - Nolan's Furniture store (1970's)

1970's advert for Nolan's Furniture store in Southbourne. 'All stock at bargain prices' just like those never ending sales at DFS etc.

Cutting - Backing for Britain to Join Common Market (1969)

3rd July 1969

Click to Read

On March 25, 1957, France, West Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg sign a treaty in Rome establishing the European Economic Community (EEC), better known as the Common Market. At first Britain decided not to join the Common Market and established the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) in 1960 as an alternative. 

By the early 1960s, however, the Common Market nations showed signs of significant economic growth, and Britain changed its mind. Because of its close ties to the United States, however, French President Charles de Gaulle twice vetoed British admission; consequently Britain did not join until January 1973.

Cutting -First Evacuation of Schools (1939)

28th September 1938

Click to Read

This is an aspect of the World War 2 London evacuation of children just 3 weeks after the outbreak, that I've never come across before. The use of the words 'cripple' and 'little cripples' as well as describing other kids as ' normal children' would have gone unnoticed at the time but rather jar these days.

Advert - Garrould's Red Cross etc supplies (WWI)

A WWI advert for Garrould's of Edgware Road. For 'the seat of War' read 'up to your ears in mud and bullets'.

Cutting - Peter Manuel not Guilty (1958)

29th May 1958

Click to Read

Peter Manuel was born in the USA of Scottish parents and moved to Scotland when he was 5. He was arrested in January 1958 and confessed to killing 18 people, but he was only tried on 8 counts of murder. As detailed above one of the charges was dropped due to lack of evidence, but despite conducting his own defence and almost convincing the jury of his insanity, he was found guilty of the other 7. He was hanged on July 11th 1958.

Also see this post. 

Advert - Royal Mail Parcels (1980's)

Click to Enlarge

I love the cartoon in this 1980's ad for the Post Office Parcels Service. Note the Vague Fashion shop, the Bodger Tools (with picture of a badger) and the snooty looking lady walking by outside.

Cutting - The Shadow Show (1926)

17th October 1926

Click to Read

‘The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse’ was originally released in the USA in 1921 and was the first starring role for Rudolph Valentino. Alice Terry, who co-starred, was married to the director of the film, Rex Ingram. The bitterness towards Germany left by the war to end all wars is obvious in the review written only 5 years after the Armistice.

Phonofilm was an early invention for recording sound onto film, but was not as successful as the synchronised disc systems that were also being tried out at the time. Both were superseded by the improved sound-on-film systems of the late 1920’s and the rest is history, as they say.