A Jubilee Evening of Reminiscences of the 1950s

At a meeting of the High Country History Group held on the 29th March, 2002, members were requested to bring to the meeting some object which to them was reminiscent of the 1950s. Members were encouraged to record their thoughts in a few words. These thoughts are recorded here together with more observations on the decade.

The Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II

For many, the Coronation of Elizabeth II provided that first memorable television experience. Despite a developing network of transmitters, reception was variable. Pictures were often poor, characteristically snowy and, viewed in the company of invited neighbours, at best the 12 inch (or today, 30.48 cm!) tube, meant that much had to be left to the imagination. It rained and Queen Salote of Tonga remained the memory of a persistent triumph over the inclement weather.

Loving Cup from the Coronation
“The loving cup from the Queen’s Coronation, and I remember watching it on TV. I was most impressed by the Queen’s dress which was embroidered with the emblems of all her Commonwealth countries around the world, plus England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland.” – Margaret Padfield

Mementoes of the event survive and are still plentiful.

Coronation Teaspoon and Postage Stamps
“The coronation teaspoon has been in daily use, so much so that the silver plate has nearly all work off. The stamps of Great Britain provide reminders of the age:

1948 75th Anniversary of the Universal Postal Union
1951 The Festival of Britain
1952 The Definitve Stamps of Great Britain, designed by Dorothy Wilding
1953 Coronation and the commemorative stamps of the 62 Colonies
1957 50 Year Anniversary of World Scouts
1958 6th British Empire and Commonwealth Games at Cardiff.

Commemorative stamps were produced much less frequently than they are today.” David and Wendy Thompson

Some mementoes carry special and personal significance.

Hand woven silk velvet for the Queen’s Coronation and Parliamentary Robes, Coronation Medal and citation for William Doe, my father

“In 1952 and early 1953, my father William Doe, a director of Warner & Sons Ltd, was responsible for the contract to weave on the hand looms at Braintree the silk velvet for the Coronation robe and crown, and the parliamentary robe worn today by Her Majesty the Queen to open Parliament. Warners also supplied all the other vestments and hangings for Westminster Abbey. My parents were at Buckingham Palace to watch the Queen leave for Westminster Abbey and return after the ceremony. My father was also responsible for the silk supplied by Warners for Princess Elizabeth’s wedding dress in 1948.” – Peter Doe

Building Society Share Pass Book
“My wife and I began to save when we became engaged, so the original entry includes her maiden name. The only large deposit was a wedding present. The biggest withdrawal was to deposit on our first house. The passbook pages are interleaved with blotting paper; all entries are in ink and are pre-decimal. Thirty years later, I took the book for the nearly-forgotten rump of the money to be updated. The girl at the counter blanched when she saw the £.s.d.. The book had to go to Head Office to be calculated.” – Jack Stewart

Premium Savings Bonds were introduced in 1957.

“My wife and I got married in 1958. I had a new suit for the wedding. As I paid for it in cash, I was given a £1 premium savings bond. Needless to say, we have won nothing on it.” - J. Wood

Living

Everyday living in the 1950s was coloured by austerity and household economy. Rationing, introduced during the war, was progressively relaxed until 1954, but coal was still rationed until 1958. Devices such as the wire mesh soap-saver, which enabled a bar of soap to be used up completely in the interest of that additional wash, was typical of careful attention to household expenditure.

Ration Book from 1952

“I can remember coupons being exchanged at the grocery store run by Mr Liddel. This ration book still has the majority of stamps inside. Only the ones for Mr Liddel’s food have been removed.
My mother saved clothing coupons for a pair of new red shoes for me. These were duly purchased. I can then remember my mother being furious with our Labrador puppy, Trixie, for chewing the shoes.” – Anne Brooks

The 1950s brought innovation in the home; labour-saving devices; new materials; new food options. Numerous examples of these have become accepted as indispensable to modern living, whether liked or not! Terylene clothes were introduced into the UK in 1951. One year later the telephone answering machine was invented. The first electric kettle was developed in 1954. Convenience food took mouth-watering steps forward with the development of the fish finger. The appearance on the High Street of the first outlets of the Wimpy hamburger chain followed one year later. The Tetley tea bag was first introduced to the teapot or teacup in 1952.

The Government had introduced measures to improve the diet of young people.

Coupons
“In 1958, we had our son, Richard, and I was given orange juice coupons and cod liver oil coupons.” – Margaret Padfield

Education

The 1939-45 World War had restricted developments in education. The attention of authorities was diverted to matters at least as pressing and education was disrupted, through the evacuation of children, and the partial destruction of the fabric of education.

Letter dated 8th June, 1946, from King George VI
“All children of school age received a letter from the King shortly after the end of the war in which the King spoke of the “shared hardship and dangers of total War”. As a small boy growing up in London, I well recall the air raids. I slept for several months in a cellar under our house, partly in a gas tent. I was evacuated to Much Hadham for a period where I slept in an Anderson shelter with the mice. My school in Loughton was hit
by a Doodlebug – a cause for some rejoicing!” – Patrick Griggs

Essex was keen to present a memento of the Coronation to children.

Book, “Royalty in Essex”

“All the children in Essex were presented with this book in 1953 on the occasion of the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.” – Anne Cook
“We also have the “Royalty in Essex” book that was given to all Essex school children by County Education in commemoration of the Coronation.” – Phillipa Giles

Perhaps strangely, much official data on education only dates from the 1960s. Generally, education in the 1950s followed a succession from infant, through primary to secondary schools. Secondary education was selective based on an examination, the 11 Plus Exam, to determine whether attendance at a grammar school was appropriate, or whether the secondary modern school was better suited. For those considered more able, the ‘Grammar’ held the promise of education leading to A levels and possibly university, whereas the alternative would often result in an early exit from the education system at the age of 15, unfortunately.

School satchel, leather
“I passed “The Scholarship” in 1952, the year of the Queen’s accession. This is the satchel that was bought for me. It was used throughout the rest of my schooldays.
My daughter used it when she started school and used it until holdalls became fashionable.” – June Wood

Hospital Nursing Certificate
“Training for the nursing profession was strict, regimental and exhausting. Patients were segregated in fifty bedded wards and drugs were limited, so strict hygiene was essential. Everything was sterilised by hand.
We worked shifts of eight hours by day and twelve at night with one day off a week. All breakages had to be paid for. Each year, we were required to pass both a hospital and a State examination.
Today I recognise the enormous responsibility we carried for the care of our patients, with limited resources, but the training offered then has been acknowledged today as second to none.” – Anne Stewart

The family holiday of the 1950s still carries enduring memories. Most families afforded one annual holiday, which was usually spent in the UK at holiday camps, hotels or guesthouses at seaside resorts. The first National Park, the Peak District, was designated in 1951. Today, the majority of holidays are taken abroad. Holiday photos from the 1950s, usually black and white, do survive in corners but sometimes the memento is more notable.

Charcoal Sketch of Shirley Fisher
“I was on holiday in Devon with my family and encountered an artist sketching the scenery. My father asked him if he did portraits, He did, and for a cost of 1/6d each, he sketched my parents, my sister and myself.” – Shirley Fisher

Again, a present from a typical holiday -

1951 Necklace and Earring Set
“My best friend, Margaret, gave these to me on returning from a holiday in Llandudno. However, we often had holidays together, with parents, and thoroughly enjoyed them despite the fact we didn’t go far from our homes in Yorkshire, but to Scarborough, Skegness etc. We played tennis, swam, sunbathed and went for cliff top walks, once almost missing lunch as my watch had stopped and we’d no idea of the time. We are still good friends and recently had a wonderful day as guests at her son’s wedding.” – Maureen Meddows

and a coincidence, left at a holiday cottage -

The Illustrated London News magazine
“We discovered this copy of The London Illustrated News magazine in Cornwall in a holiday cottage that we had rented in the 1970s. The date on its cover, 25/4/59, was the date of our marriage and, inexplicably, we found it in one of our suitcases when we arrived home in Essex!” – Joan White

Transport

In 1952, there was no motorway in Great Britain. With just 3 million cars, both the bus and the train, and the bicycle, provided alternative ways of travelling even for short journeys. Less than one in six households had access to a car. More use was made of public transport, the train, and a combination of the two, the trolleybus.

A Trolleyhead
“Essex once had trolleybuses. These were electrically powered passenger vehicles and were used to replace trams in the ‘thirties and ‘forties. Their great attribute was quietness of operation.
Trolleybuses were to be found in Southend-on-Sea, and on London Transport system at places like Woodford, Leytonstone, Barkingside and Ilford. As a youngster, I often caught the 661 at the ‘Green Man”, Leytonstone, to travel to London. Regrettably though, I never sampled the delights of a Southend trolleybus ride, along the seafront to the Kursaal. Trolleybuses disappeared from Southend in 1954 and from Ilford in 1959.
The artefact here is a trolleyhead. It is one of a pair, fixed to long poles mounted on top of the vehicle, that pressed up on the overhead wires to collect the electric current that powered the vehicle.” – Keith Farrow

Entertainment

LP “Rock Around the Clock” by Bill Haley

“Bill Haley was the first rock n’roll star. In February, 1977, Bill Haley came to the UK. He crossed the Atlantic by transatlantic liner, docking at Southampton. The big sister of a friend of mine travelled to London on one of the four or five trains that were laid on to carry all the fans. Bill Haley must have been one of the last touring stars to travel by sea. The passenger traffic at Southampton docks remained steady but eventually declined under competition from cheaper, faster and more convenient air transport. The formerly grand and busy transatlantic passenger facilities, for example, the Great Western Hotel, with its associations with the Titanic, Mauretania, Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth liners, slowly succumbed during the 1960’s to the airlines.” – Rob Brooks

Collection of bird’s eggs and “The Observers Book of Birds Eggs”

“As a country schoolboy, born in 1950, I spent many happy hours scrambling around the hedgerows of Stapleford Tawney, collecting bird’s eggs. I would ‘blow’ the contents, making holes with a pin at each end, and identify them using the Observer book. At the time considered an innocent and healthy hobby. It is now a criminal offence!” – Duncan Padfield

78 rpm “Hound Dog”, Elvis Presley
“This was my first love. The record label still retains traces of lipstick. Was the lipstick Lucky Pink?” – Christine Marchant

Hound Dog reached number two, spending 16 weeks in the charts. Blue jeans were also part of this teenage revolution in spending habits. They first sold in the UK in 1955. They were different, fashionable and comparatively cheap.

My Mother’s Dress
“I am wearing my mother’s dress, one of those she wore when courting my father. It is white cotton with mauve roses, shoestring straps, a ruched bodice, which was originally boned, and a small skirt that would cover a net underskirt. There is a contrasting wrap to go with it. At some time it was in our dressing up box and I have worn it to dances. I will keep it and pass it on to my daughter for dressing up in fancy dress in the future!” – Phillipa Giles

The formality of the dance or the ball of the 1950s has largely passed.

Dance Card
“In 1955, I went to the Scotch Bachelor’s Ball, where we were given cards. As the first half hour before the dancing began, you filled it in to arrange you dancing partner.

In 1956, we got married. We met at the Young Farmer’s Club. Maurice belonged to “Harlow” and I belonged to “Ongar”. It was known as the Marriage Bureau for the Young Farmers.” – Margaret Padfield

The 55th Aldeburgh Festival takes place this year.

Programme, Aldeburgh Festival, June 14th to 22nd, 1952
“In the early days of the Festival, before Snape Maltings, concerts were heard in the Jubilee Hall and the Parish Church. Lectures were held in the Church Hall, Baptist Chapel and the Cinema. It was all very informal and friendly.

I went to the Kathleen Ferrier recital in the Parish Church. When a concert was due there, streams of folk would be heading in that direction carrying cushions as the pews were very uncomfortable.
Tickets on sale at the Festival Office were priced at 3 shillings each. The complete programme book was 6 shillings.” – Jean Millbank

The festival, founded by Benjamin Britten in 1948 lost some of its importance following his death in 1976. The auditorium at the Maltings was burnt down on its first night in 1969 but was rebuilt in time for the festival the following year. Alas, Kathleen Ferrier died tragically in the year following the date of the programme. Was the programme book a bargain at 3 bob?

Sport

F.A. Cup Final programme and ticket from 1950
“This was my granddad’s programme and ticket from the 1950 F.A. Cup Final between Liverpool and Arsenal. Arsenal won 2-0 in very wet and muddy conditions. Joe Mercer captained Arsenal and Phil Taylor captained Liverpool. Denis Compton, the England cricketer, played for Arsenal. At half-time, Denis, flagging in the conditions, was given a glass of brandy to revive him.” – Robin Fisher

The Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships were strictly amateur throughout the decade. A professional circus, led by Jack Kramer, toured extensively providing spectacular entertainment throughout the decade. Kramer, having won Wimbledon in 1947, joined Bobby Riggs, the winner of all three male Wimbledon titles in 1939, in the circus. In the 1950s, Frank Sedgeman and Lew Hoad, both Wimbledon singles winners, among several others, turned professional, leaving the amateur game poorer for their absence. The major tennis tournaments were only opened to professionals in 1968.

Wimbledon programmes from the 1950s
“I played at Wimbledon during the amateur days when professional tennis took the form of a travelling circus. The programmes recorded most of the results. I played Rod Laver at Wimbledon but prefer to forget the score. The amateur days were reflected by the home players travelling to the courts by bus, and players getting to the third round earned themselves a player a meal ticket.” – John Ward

Acknowledgements in the preparation of this article are also due to the Internet, and in particular the National Office of Statistics and the St Osyth Parish Magazine for July 2001. among many others.