Tuesday 3 April 2012

A to Z 1950s/60s Nostalgia: C


Now for a collection of Cs

C Smell:
Camphor – In the winter there was always someone at school who had been lathered with the menthol vapour rub. What a whiff!

C Memories:
Chimney Sweep – He arrived on a bike with his long wooden box. Kneeling on a layer of old sheets he assembled his brush. My excitement grew as long handle after long handle was screwed together and all the time it was disappearing further up the chimney until... “Run out and see if you can see it!” I didn’t need telling twice and there it was, a round black brush waving from the chimney pot.

Cars – I’ve blogged about cars before but as this is a marathon A to Z I don’t feel guilty repeating myself so here are 3 car memories...

1.  Instead of flashing light indicators, cars had little orange arms that popped up from the side of the car and when they got jammed you had to bash the door to knock them back in again.
2.  There were no car radios. I used to hold my tranny (transistor radio) up to my ear and shift it around every time Dad turned a corner.
3.  Every car had a crank handle in case it wouldn’t start with the key and it often wouldn’t, especially early in the morning. If the handle didn’t work we had to push and run to catch the car up before Dad chugged off without us. [You can read the original post here.]

Carnaby Street – I still get a tingle of excitement when I hear that name. It reminds me of psychedelic patterns, tiny skirts, bells, afghan coats and it was THE place to shop in London.

C Programmes:
On TV:
Criss Cross Quiz
Fanny Craddock, the original TV chef
Davy Crocket
Crackerjack [every time they said Crackerjack the audience had to scream the word back so... “CRACKERJAAAACK!!!!”]
Eamonn Andrews and the Crackerjack game Double or Drop
On Radio: 
Children’s Favourites with Uncle Mac [more about that in U for Uncle!]


C Names:

Roy Castle
Sir Winston Churchill PM
James Callagham MP [PM in 70s]
Naom Chomsky, philosopher
Bobby Charlton, footballer
Cassius Clay, boxer who became Mohamed Ali
Sean Connery
Ray Charles
Julie Christie
Alma Cogan
Perry Como
Russ Conway
Chubby Checker
Roy Castle
Peter Cook
Nat King Cole
Petula Clark 
Eddie Cochran who provides the...

C Music:
Summertime Blues


Which Cs did you remember?