Sunday 15 April 2012

A to Z 1950s/60s Nostalgia: M

M Smell:
Moth Balls - When Grandma and Great Aunties put on their best clothes, especially the fox fur wrap, the air was filled with that sickly sweet smell.

M Memories:

Money – These were pre-decimal days of sterling, i.e. pounds, shillings and pence [£.s.d] 
  • Today’s 50p is equal to an old 10 shilling note [10/-] except in those days you could buy a couple of gallons of petrol with 10/-!
  • At school we had to learn how to do sums where there were 12 pennies in a shilling and 20 shillings in a pound. What a headache!
  • There were 4 farthings in a penny and the farthing had a robin on the back. [I loved that!]
  • The threepenny piece [pronounced thrupny] was a little chunky multi-sided copper coin.
  • Paper money included the 10/- note and £1 note. You hardly ever saw a £5 note unless you were really rich.
  • Expensive items in shops were priced in guineas [£1 and one shilling = 1 guinea]. It made the item sound cheaper than it really was.

Motown – The best music to come out of the 60s (with apologies to the Beatles!) It was named after the city where it was created, Detroit, the Motor City. Motown music takes up more space on my ipod than any other music. It gave us Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, the Temptations, the Four Tops, the Supremes *sigh* I could go on.....


The Moonlanding – "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind...” as spoken by the  astronaut Neil Armstrong on July 20, 1969. We watched it on the television and we could hardly believe it. There were many older people who didn’t believe it. Men actually walking on the moon! Amazing! Inconceivable! How could this possibly be real?!?


M Programmes:
Muffin the Mule with Annette Mills
On TV:
Muffin the Mule
Maigret
The Monkees
Perry Mason who never lost a single case

On Radio:
Music While you Work



M Names:

Harold MacMillan PM
Johnny Morris, the man who made animals talk.
He was on TV as The Hot Chestnut Man and then he was on Animal Magic.
Nelson Mandela
Bobby Moore
Roger Moore
John Mills
Kenneth More
Cliff Michelmore
Johnny Morris
Marilyn Monroe
Nana Mouskouri
Manfred Mann
Dean Martin
Matt Monro
Mamas and Papas
The Monkees
Moody Blues
Johnny Mathis
Scott McKenzie who provides the...

M Music:
Scott McKenzie singing San Francisco
[I wore flowers in my hair but, regrettably, I never went to San Francisco.]



There must be some Ms that I've missed!