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The phone box was a mock up - the design only came in 1970s and was disliked. Only London and a few big cities had dialling from a phone box. At that time everywhere else was button a / b with a chance to get 4d refunded. Captain Crunch got going in the 1960s as you could use a breakfast cereal whistle and get free calls. By 1970 I had learned to make a "blue" box with a handful of cheap electronic parts.
My father's disinterest in d-i-y and lawnmowers did not improve nor did my mother's liking for housework new gadgets or not. The 60s mum on the program was spot on. Mine took advantage of the Empire Windrush to sort out her domestic chores. Floor polishers were a bit ahead of their time by the late 60s fitted carpets were all the rage and some have still not got over them. We had an AGA cooker which was very popular with the cats. No buttons.
Not everybody liked Bingo. Cards remained very popular with the parents of the teenagers - bridge, canasta which went well with Mr Booth and Mr Walker and the ever rising divorce rate and drink drive accidents - something else the program was silent about. No church going though.
I remember seeing my first mini at launch in Cornwall 1959 little did I think that I'd be driving one before the 60s were out. My father hated them preferring a "proper" car. Now when I see one I wonder how on earth I ever got into it. Yesterday I forked out £ 200 to have a part replaced which had not even been invented by 1969! My mother learned to drive after a fashion and was able to cause seizure for miles with her Morris Minor. Once she got it into a gear - 2nd or 3rd - that was it until she arrived when the car was left where it sat for some minion to park it. Kerrunch.
I used to feel like a time traveller too coming home from school where life was stuck in the 1930s. At least from 16 you were allowed a record player. I thought 45s were 7/6 and LPs 32/6. You were not supposed to stack LPs but otherwise you had to flip the record after 15-20mins. The program was entirely silient about this problem (away from school) fixing which initially brought about the K7 and then the CD.
I thought that color TV came out in 1968? I came home from school that Christmas and was absolutely mesmerised by the color TV utterley unexpected. I was an instant addict. Fortunately tv was still OFF most of the time which gave me a chance to play our piano. My parents liked this inc jazz and ragtime. They were a lot less happy about a small Marshall amp and an electric guitar. The amp could spread revolution for half a block if I left the windows open :-)
There were two sorts of upright pianos (a) understrung wooden framed pianos which were always going to have a limited life given the damp and heating extremes of the UK and (b) overstrung pianos with iron frames. The piano smashing was of the former variety. The latter would have put up far more resistance and in any case were still worth money. All the same I picked up a nice Bechstein upright for not much over a hundred pounds.
Ah, Barry Bucknell and the developers. Who did the most damage to our urban fabric ?
I have never ever seen prawn and sausage rings at a buffet. Surely not.
Did 60s fashion and auto diy really unite mums and daughters, fathers and sons? I don't think so. The program did just about catch the vast changes from 1960 to 1970 but they were for the most part disruptive which the program skipped over completely.
So rollon part 3 and the 70s. You can prepare for it here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-hXUehyRlE
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Well I've just come back from our jazz band practice and mentioned about the smashing up of pianos...our drummer ,who is a youngster of 68 and hails from the Midlands said they used to have contests of who could smash up the most pianos
...Living in the wilds of Wales and leading a very busy life,running a cafe and guest house looking after my 2 children and playing occasionally in a band I'd never heard of this.
He did say they were old wooden framed ones.I always had a German iron frame overstrung.i have played some terrible pianos in clubs,so maybe that was justified.
Had a mini van in the 60s with extra seats in the back...surprised at how much room there was in it..can still remember the registration no!
I had a Hoover junior vac in the 50's and it was a real hard worker
Will see what they bring up from the 70s
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