On
Wednesday 5th March Cait and I went along to the Old Station House
in Abingdon, the purpose of our visit being to explore memories with the
residents and collect them for future generation. On arriving we were met by Jeff Denton (Activities Coordinator ) and taken to a large living room
where residence sat already watching a large screen projector, which was
playing a documentary.
Once everybody was settled we introduced ourselves and then played some of the
archive from Youtube. The three archive groups I had set out were as followed:
1950’s Commercials
(Cornflakes, Daz, Double Diamond, Esso Blue –paraffin, OXO
Cubes with Sooty).
1950’s Childrens programmes
BBC Childrens TV – Larry the Lamb, Crackerjack-Pinky and
Perky, Meet The Penguins, Watch With Mother – Bill & Ben, Woodentops, Muffin
the Mule, Andy Pandy
1950’s TV Shows
Name that show from the intro (Bonanza, I Love Lucy, Denis
the Menace, Father knows Best, Leave it to Beaver, The Twilight Zone, The Lone
Ranger, Perry Mason, Wagon Train, The Donna Reed Show)
Elizabeth, Betty and Joan
(Committee Reminiscence Team )
foreground we see the Rock Around The Clock Team with Jeff
Richard to the right in the front
1950’s Commercials
On the Daz commercial the promoters were offering a
competition where people could win £5.00 or £10.00 . We wondered what it would have been worth by today’s standards.
We asked and residence felt this would have been a substantial sum in 1950’s. We discussed wages at the time and were told that they did vary from £3 - £6 Richard (resident -reminiscence team ) remembered farm workers getting anything from £4 to £5 and £6 is
lucky per week.
Jeff (Staff member) spoke about the Queens Coronation in 1953 many had
shared a TV set to watch the event. Joan (resident - Committee reminiscence team ) recalled her farther buying a set for the occasion. 1953: Queen Elizabeth takes coronation oath
Richard also spoke of early Radio that was not electric or battery
but a crystal set. He told us the first TV most people had was roughly 9inch
set. Some were in a cabinet which was very popular – but could set you back as much as
£200.
The Television licence itself was introduced in June 1946
to coincide with the post-war resumption of the BBC service the same month. Television licensing in UK
1950’s Childrens programmes
We then looked at Children's TV - Betty (resident - Committee reminiscence team ) remembered her niece being made about
Pinky and Perky and we had a looked at the old Watched with Mother programmers: Watch With Mother
Most of the Children’s programmes seem to have been puppets.However, shows like Blue Peter and Crackerjack were around although the Pinky and Perky dance routine shown was from an episode of Crakerjack. We also spoke about modern TV programmes for example Teletubbies. It was interesting to draw a comparisons with Bill and Ben the Flower Pot Men.
1950’s TV Shows
Finally moving onto TV shows, admittedly I had
mostly found American TV series. So this was very quickly pointed out to me. Although many remembered the likes of Bonanza, I Love Lucy, The Lone
Ranger and Perry Mason.
People also recalled going to the pictures
(Cinema), and the expectation that you would stand at the end the film for the national anthem. Those wishing to make a quick get away could expect stern looks from those waiting until the end.
It was a wonderful introduction and we really enjoyed
speaking to everybody. The next session is with Helen Jacobs and followed the next day by Nick Gill and his piano,
accompanied by Cait Sweeney. I am really looking forward to this.
With special thanks to:
Elizabeth, Betty and Joan - Rock Around The Clock - Committee Reminiscence Team
Jeff Denton - Activities Coordinator
Carol Flynn - Housing Manager
Cait Sweeney – Assistant Co-ordinator, Documenter &
Production Assistant
Sharon Woodward – Filmmaker/Artist in Residence, Project Manager
Supported by Vale of the White Horse Arts Development
Officer Abigail Brown.
Sharon Woodward - Projects and Films
WoodwardMedia Facebook page
Cait Sweeney - Broken Home
Nick Gill - Classic Jazz
Helen Jacobs - Artist
Helen Jacobs - Bullpen
