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1936 - 1945 (1)

1961 - 1965  (5)

Marriage and Motherhood (4)

          However, the rumblings of a revolution were beginning to vibrate over the radio and in the newspapers. Glenn Ford had made a film called “Blackboard Jungle”. It was a pretty ordinary black and white film about rebellious schoolchildren but the soundtrack was something else! It was called “Rock Around the Clock” and played by a group called Bill Hayley and his Comets. It shot up the top twenty to No.1 and stayed there for some weeks. By now young men were beginning to have their own style of dress. Wearing bright coloured suits with very narrow trousers known as “drainpipes” and black velvet lapels, with huge widow’s peaks at the front of their hair, they became known as Teddy Boys”. They strutted like peacocks with their “birds” on their arms sometimes causing mayhem among the more staid “grownups” that didn’t approve at all! They adopted Blackboard Jungle” as their cult film and “Rock Around the Clock” as their anthem. Unfortunately they often got carried away when watching it in the cinema and would jive in the aisles and often this was followed by a fight breaking out or cinema seats slashed. The girls would be screaming so much that it was impossible to hear the soundtrack of the film. Letters of disapproval were flying back and forth to newspapers but in the end, they won with a string of films with the same kind of music being released. The music became known as Rock and Roll and the music scene was never the same again! “Bye-bye” Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra , Dickie Valentine. “Hello” to Little Richard, Pat Boone (Who?) and Jerry Lee Lewis. In July, I.T.V, which was the new commercial T.V. station, opened in Birmingham. Dad had bought a new television so that we could watch the new channel. The B.B.C. had monopolised the telly and we weren’t too sure how we would react to advertisements appearing half way through the programmes. We took a walk round to Mum and Dad’s that evening to see what this new innovation entailed. It was fascinating really. The first advert I watched was for Oxo Cubes. I seem to remember they were tramping over rooftops, starting off as two and multiplying until there were “Millions and Millions of Oxo Cubes” with little matchstick legs, marching away. We looked upon the adverts as a novelty and also a break during which we could make a cuppa! Soon after the station opened, the producers saw what the “ teenagers” (as they came to be called ),wanted on Saturday evenings. So began a programme dedicated to the new Rock and Roll era called Six-Five Special. Pete Murray and Josephine Douglas hosted it and the resident band was Jack Goode. Many new stars were born on that programme over the next few years! Marty Wilde, Cliff Richard, and Tommy Steele to mention but a few. One night in October, I was sitting knitting in my chair after John had gone out, listening to Radio Luxembourg. It was a record programme---I can’t remember the DJ--- Possibly Pete Murray or Jack Jackson. Whoever it was started to play a new record. It was one that I’d never heard the like before. It was called “Heartbreak Hotel” sung by a young man named Elvis Presley and it was the most exciting sound that I ever heard! Of course we all know what happened after that. How he became the King of Rock and Roll. When I saw his photograph in the “Daily Mirror” a couple of days later, I knew that I was instantly and utterly in love!

Even after all these years, I would still class him as my favourite singer of all time and he certainly influenced many of today’s pop stars, including the ones who are legends in their own right such as The Beatles, David Bowie, Queen, .Tom Jones and the Rolling Stones. Soon afterwards, he brought a record out called “Hound Dog” backed with “Don’t Be Cruel”. I bought it, got it home and after tea, played it non-stop from 6.30 PM. to 10.30PM. Over and over, playing alternate sides and not tiring of it! My next door neighbour must have been driven out of her mind although she never complained. Later, John treated me to Elvis’s first album. A rock and roll classic that, of course I enjoyed to the full. Vinyl records were a new innovation at this time and we called them L.P’s. This was as opposed to the 78 RPM shellac records that were still being made into singles. A little later of course, they made the 45RPM records in vinyl as singles or extended play records. EP’s had a couple of hits on each side and were good value for money. Many people believe that it was the 1960’s that changed the status quo between adults and teenagers but it happened in the second half of the 1950’s. I know-I was there!

          During the summer of 1956, news came over the radio of trouble in the Suez Canal. At the time, I let it all go over my head and didn't realise then the significance of it all. So much so that I have had to research the details of what it was all about so that I could make some sense of my story. On July 26th, President Nasser of Egypt nationalised the Suez Canal, provoked by England and France's joint decision to no longer finance the Aswan Dam. Nasser would charge tolls for the use of the canal in future to finance his dam. This upset the British and the French who were worried about their oil supplies getting through from the Persian Gulf. Basically, we attempted, with the help of Israel to regain control of the Suez Canal and if possible to depose President Nasser. On October 29th Israel invaded Egypt. The U.N.troups made them withdraw and due to Russia's threats of intervention, told us more or less to mind our own business. This left Sir Anthony Eden, then Prime Minister of Britain, with egg on his face. It also coincided with the Olympic games that were being held that year in Melbourne, Australia. Nasser called for the banning of France and Britain from the games and when the I.O.C. refused to comply, Egypt, Lebanon and Iraq withdrew in protest. At the same time there were anti communist protests in Hungary, which at that time came under the rule of the Soviet Union (Russia). These were quickly suppressed with poor little brave Hungary once again crushed under the iron boot of communism, but more of that later in my story.

          Meanwhile, with all this unrest going on----There was a real fear that the situation could lead to World War 3 and nuclear destruction----there was a petrol shortage and all factories had to work a four day week, with the possibility of having to work for only three days! The upshot of this was that Jo had to get off her backside and go out to look for a job. I managed to get John into Poole Rd., day nursery and after countless interviews and "We'll let you know's" I got a job as a cashier at Woolworth's in the office. I bought a child's seat for the back of my bike for John to sit in to go to the nursery, after which, I would cycle on to work. The job was only temporary over the Christmas period and the wages were £5.0.0d a week. I started at the end of November, just in time for Christmas and I met a couple of girls there who were to become good friends for a while. Cynthia and Judy. Cynthia worked in the same office as me. We had our lunch together at Farmer Giles restaurant in the Burges. Vienna steaks were on the menu and they were really good.  They were really a type of minced beef rissole, a bit thicker than a beefburger, but they were really nice and good value for money. We had them most days with chips and peas. Sometimes after work we would go to the Casino snack bar at the bottom of Smithford St and play the latest record on the jukebox while we had a cup of espresso (frothy) coffee. It was around this time that a young singer by the name of Frankie Vaughan hit the charts with "Garden of Eden" and "Green Door". He had already made an impact the previous year with "Gimme the Moonlight" Judy was to become a good friend a few years later. She worked downstairs in the stores and she was a laugh a minute with a great personality. Bill Hayley was appearing at the Coventry Theatre (Hippodrome) early in 1957. At that time, most of the top stars appearing there stayed at the quite new and up-market Hotel Leofric. One lunchtime, Cynth and I went through an alleyway leading from the Precinct to the back of the Leofric, so that we would have a short cut through to the Burges. Lo and behold! There was Bill Haley and his Comets boarding a coach to leave Coventry for their next venue. We had a great view of them all and no one else in sight! Normally they were mobbed.

          My temporary job came to an end in March 1957 but I was fortunate enough to get another job straight away at Francis and Barnett motor cycle factory in Ford St., in the sales office as a copy typist. How I passed the interview I'll never know. I had to type something out and I hadn't been near a typewriter for three years, so I was very nervous and made a lot of mistakes. However, pass I did and I started work there the following Monday. I really enjoyed working at Franny Barnett's! It was just a small firm and the staff was more like family than colleagues. The boss, Mr. Humphries was a lovely man who came from Harbourne in Birmingham. He would let us have "sweepstakes" if there was a big race on such as the Derby or the Grand National. There were two other girls in the office with Me. Eileen who lived at Hipswell Highway and Marion who lived in a prefab in Brookside Avenue with her daughter Judith. She was divorced from her husband, but unfortunately she had breast cancer and had recently had one breast removed. She was still in a lot of discomfort. Her arms would swell up at the top. She died later that year at the age of 36. I believe her daughter was 12 years old at the time. Both Eileen and Marion had recently had their ears pierced at Carvell's in Hertford St and persuaded me to do the same, as a new painless technique had just been developed whereby the operator would "shoot" the piercing gun into the lobe and simultaneously apply the sleepers. All clever stuff! All in all I was very happy at work and my typing skills improved rapidly but I soon discovered that I was pregnant again. I was very happy about it and continued work for another month. John's job was back to normal by this time. Everyone bought presents for my baby the day I left. They were all very kind. Baby was due on December 31st. During the Coventry holiday fortnight, we got a day excursion ticket for the train to go to Blackpool. Mum looked after John for us. We left at 7o'clock in the morning and got the train at Coundon station. Of course they were still steam trains at that time. It took us about 4 ½ hours to get there. When we arrived, we walked along the Golden Mile went up the Tower and to Tussaud's waxworks museum. After that we went on the Big Dipper at the pleasure beach. It was the biggest one in England and I loved it! We went on the beach and I had a plate of oysters. Oh boy! I was hooked for life! I got three oysters for half a crown! 12 ½ p). As the average wage at that time was about £8.0.0d to £10.0.0d and there were 8 half crowns to the pound, you can imagine how pricey oysters were! Not that they are cheap in this day and age.

These are photographs taken in July 1957 when we went on a day trip to Blackpool.

          Mum and Dad Started to go to ballroom dancing lessons during 1957. They were really enthusiastic about it and took lessons with two well-known teachers, Alf Kendall and Hetty Armstrong. They went for a number of years, and got their certificates, and bronze, silver and gold medals and bars. Really they went as far as they could go and were very good. Elvis Presley's long awaited first film came out. "Love Me Tender." It was a western film which, looking back, was just about as corny as they made 'em. Plus, Elvis died in the end (how dare they?) I think that I went to see it about five times which when you come to compare it to his later films that I saw ten or more times, sums it up as not one of his best films. 

          In October 1957 The Space age began. Russia put an unmanned orbiting satellite into space on October 4th. They called it a sputnik. There was tremendous excitement all around the world, but the Americans weren't very happy to be beaten to the post! They soon made up for it though! Just after this event was my 21st birthday. It is one that I will never ever forget! Mum had arranged to make me a birthday party round at her house and invited friends and family to celebrate with me. Young John was going to stay the night. He wasn't very well and had a temperature. Mum made me a lovely birthday spread, pride of place going to a cake that she had baked for me. The music was playing and everyone was having a great time! Everyone except me, that is! I sat in a corner feeling cold and shivery and got progressively worse as the night went on. I really can't remember how I got home, possibly by taxi but I awoke the next morning feeling worse than I'd ever felt in my life! I had Asian 'Flu! I was desperately ill for about a week. Young John had it as well but he was still at Mum's and she was nursing him. What a way to spend your 21st birthday! Seven months pregnant with Asian flu! It could only happen to me! When I finally got out of bed at the end of the week, I still felt extremely shaky. A couple of weeks later, at the beginning of November, a tragedy occurred that was to really shake me up. My friend Doreen, who used to be my gardening partner in Southbank Rd. School, had married and had a baby girl of six months. She had a night out with friends one Sunday and they went to Leamington. On the way back at the crossroads at Blackdown on the Stoneleigh Rd., the driver somehow lost control and crashed into a field. The car went through a cowshed roof and the driver was killed instantly with one of the passengers. Doreen hovered between life and death for about five days, but sadly, she lost her life. She was 21 and a former beauty queen. 
A terrible thing to happen and whenever I go in a car to Leamington along that road, even now after all of these years, I think of Doreen and say a prayer for her.

          We had our Christmas dinner at Mum and Dad's as usual that year and I was a week away from having my baby (or so I thought). John was on nights when baby was due on the 31st, so I went to Mum's with young John and stayed there at night. Poor Dad had to sleep downstairs! I stayed with Mum all of the next week as well, in fact for eleven whole days I was waiting and waiting but my baby was obviously so warm and comfortable, he didn't want to leave his cosy place. By the time Saturday, January 11th came around, I decided to take matters into my own hands! When we went round to Mum's and Dad's as usual on the Saturday afternoon, I popped into the chemists and bought a bottle of castor oil and some orange juice. Then poured myself a nice hot bath. I went downstairs to watch Six-Five Special, had my tea and bingo! I began to get some pains. After a while and making sure that they weren't a false alarm, John and I went home to Brackenhurst Rd, having left young John asleep at Mum's. When we got home, John called the midwife. He had already brought the bed downstairs in the back room for me. Nurse Caskie was the midwife thank goodness and she asked John to go and phone the doctor. When she found out who my doctor was, she said "Oh no! -I'll give you a number to ring". She gave John the number of Dr. Campbell in Queen Victoria Rd. He was wonderful! He still had his pyjamas on underneath his suit and he came out at 1.30AM to stitch me up and examine my new baby, Stephen Andrew. He was a healthy 8-½ lb baby. Unfortunately, he had a large bruise on the top of his head that was caused by him trying to enter the world too quickly. I was assured that he was fine and the bruise would only be temporary with no lasting ill effects. The next day I arranged to register with Doctor Campbell and when I told my Dad, he said that the Doctor had saved his life in 1945 when he was a surgeon at Gulson Rd., hospital and Dad's ulcer had burst. Now that he was in General Practice I wasted no time in getting us put onto his list. It was at this time that I was to learn just how nasty John could be. He was cooking sausages for breakfast the next morning and young John was asking him something. All at once the sausages were thrown the length of the hall! The language was blue, he was ranting and raving and poor little John was crying his eyes out. I of course was completely helpless to intervene but it isn't a very nice memory of that time. Some things are very painful to remember but if I have to tell it how it was, so be it! Later on that day, the atmosphere lightened. The two Mother's-in-Law came to visit in the afternoon ----- together! Out came the carrier bags! My Mum had made Stephen a lovely knitted shawl. John's Mum had bought a nice yellow and white fluffy pram cover. She then proceeded to present us with a Summer Pudding that she'd made. (John later said that it was reminiscent of an afterbirth! -----and when you thought about it -so it was!) Not to be outdone, my Mum fished a packet of ham sandwiches out of her bag "for your tea"! So it went on. Needless to say, the summer pudding ended up in the bin! Neither of us fancied it! We were in gales of laughter after they'd gone though at the pair of them. Dad bought Stephen's new pram. It was the latest Pedigree coach built model and cost him £18.0.0d! It was a beauty and I was so proud taking him out and about in it. We got young John a seat that clipped on to it so that I could take both of them wherever I wanted to without him getting tired.

         The first outing that I had after I had Stephen was to go to see Elvis's new film "Jailhouse Rock". Now, this was something else! Although it was in black and white as was "Love Me Tender"; it was a far better film. The music and singing were really great! I went to see it nine times altogether at the cinema and countless times since then on the television. On February 6th, 1958, another terrible tragedy occurred.  The Manchester United football team had been playing Red Star, Belgrade, in the European cup and after a stop-over in Munich, tried to take  off in bad weather and crashed, killing 24 people.  Eight members of the Busby Babes, and several journalists and fans.  Matt Busby (later 'Sir') was seriously injured and had the last rights twice.  http://www.thebusbybabes.com/victims/victims.htm Duncan Edwards lived for 15 days, and Everyone was praying for him, but he died.  It was a very sad time and felt as though the tragedy had happened to your own family. Matt Busby recovered after 3 months and went on to lead Manchester United into the European Cup, which they won in 1968 when the late great Georgie Best played for them

       In 1958 the girl's dresses had huge gathered or circular skirts that swung out and showed ones legs off when you were jiving. We got the idea that pretty net underskirts would be the ideal thing to wear under them to make them even more attractive. I borrowed Mum's sewing machine and made myself half a dozen of these underskirts in different pastel shades. It was about now, that stiletto heeled shoes came into fashion. Dad gave me some money for an Easter present and so I bought myself a pair. Father wasn't very pleased to say the least! "You'll break your ankles"! was one comment. "You'll be crippled up by the time you're 40"! was another. I didn't care! I felt so smart in them! I loved them. I used to go to the Rialto Casino on Saturday nights still dancing with my friends. John had his nights out, so he didn't mind.  I was friendly by now with a girl who lived just across the road from me. Her Mum, Sue, used to invite me over to their house in the evenings to watch the television, as we hadn't got one. This was in the days when there was a popular Western programme on almost every night. Monday night used to be "Wagon Train" with Ward Bond as the wagon-master and Robert Horton as his side-kick. (Also the heartthrob element). On Tuesdays was "Rawhide". This was the series that started Clint Eastwood on the road to fame.  Eric Fleming played the Trail Boss and Clint played "Rowdy Yates" his sidekick. "Cheyenne" was on Wednesdays, and this was my favourite. Clint Walker was the star and he was gorgeous! I had a huge crush on him. Another night "Maverick" would be on with James Garner playing the lead. This was about a Mississippi River boat gambler and was hugely popular. There was also "Gunsmoke" with Matt Dillon and "Lawman". Played by John Russell. Later on for a change from Westerns, there was a programme called "77 Sunset Strip", a show about a private detective agency in Hollywood, starring Ephraim Zimbalist Jr., Eddy Byrne his young and dishy assistant and Connie Stevens as the female interest. These were all very popular programmes. Even more so than the soap operas like "Coronation St., and Eastenders are today. Of course all the programmes we watched were in black and white. We couldn't even begin to imagine watching television in colour! 

       On March24th 1958, Elvis was signed up to join the U.S.army. Colonel Tom Parker, his very astute manager managed to milk the maximum publicity from it. He also made sure that Elvis had previously recorded enough songs to keep him in the charts for the next two years so that his adoring public wouldn't miss him. By now there were many more pop stars. Among them, Eddie Cochran, Ricky Nelson, Bobbie Rydell, The Platters and Danny and the Juniors from America and Tommy Steele, Cliff Richard, Billy Fury, Marty Wilde (father of Kim) and Mark Wynter from England. Even so the wily colonel managed to keep "his boy" fixed firmly in the youngsters hearts as the most popular singer there ever was. One day, during the Easter school holidays, a knock came on the door. When I opened it, a young girl who lived at the top of the street stood in the porch. She asked me if I would let her take Stephen for a walk. As she was a sensible girl, I agreed. She was 13 years old at the time. I met her mother later on that day and that was the beginning of a very close friendship that lasted for a few years. Olwen had three children. Tony, the eldest was about 15, then Marilyn and lastly Shirley who was only five years old. They were a lovely family and Olwen was very kind to me when I needed her. I used to go to her house for a cuppa and a chat nearly every morning. Unfortunately, I didn't see much of her after my marriage broke up and sadly she died in 1993. I often wonder what happened to the rest of the family. I used to see her son Tony quite a lot at one time (during the 70's), but I haven't seen him for a long time.

            In the summer of that year, Dad and Mum booked a caravan holiday at Milford-on-sea near Bournemouth and they invited the boys and myself to join them and Roger for a week away. John went to Blackpool for the same week. Dad borrowed David's car and drove us there. We went down the A 423 Oxford Rd. and then the A 34 through Salisbury Plain, where we stopped off at Stonehenge and through the New Forest. It was a lovely route to travel. Dad hadn't driven a car since his days in the army and you could certainly tell! He was dreadful! When we turned a corner, he would clip the curb with the front tyre most of the time! Still, we arrived in one piece, fortunately with no mishaps. I wasn't very impressed with Milford. The beach consisted of large pebbles and hardly any sand and there was no entertainment. I think that at the time there was one ice-cream kiosk on the sea front, looking very sad and lost. We did go to Bournemouth for a day and over to the Isle of Wight on a day trip to Alum Bay. While we were there, I had my most embarrassing moment! I was wearing a sundress with a wide, circular skirt and we were climbing up a cliff that had some steps cut into it. There was a pretty strong breeze blowing and suddenly my skirt blew up over my head! A man was climbing up behind me and I was wearing bright red nylon bikini pants with little frills on the bum. They were the latest style (of course!) I looked around, frantically flapping my arms trying to restore order to the recalcitrant skirt. I could swear that the man's glasses steamed up! Roger was behind him and he just laughed and laughed! All I could do was pretend it hadn't happened and carry on up the cliff! Roger never let me forget that incident! We did have a good week though. Dad almost did for us on the way back home! We got safely back to Coventry and were at some crossroads off Green Lane and instead of stopping to give the traffic on the main road right of way; Dad blithely carried on across. Such a hooting of horns you never did hear! Mum gave him an earful and asked him if he was trying to kill us all and to just remember that his grandchildren were in the back! Poor Dad was as white as a sheet. I felt quite sorry for him! Of course, if the traffic was as heavy then as it is now, we would never have made it home without a major accident but we were lucky. Don't forget there were no seatbelts then either! I don't ever recall Dad getting behind the wheel of a car again for the rest of his life

More photos of our holiday at Milford-on-Sea. N.B:- The dress I'm wearing in the right hand photograph is the one
that I was wearing when we went to Alum Bay on the Isle of Wight.
          Roger started at Bablake school in the September. He had passed the 11 plus (as the exam was called by this time), much to Dad and Mum's delight. I think it made up for the fact that I blotted my copybook a few years earlier. Their delight was to be short-lived though, as he left in the same manner as myself a couple of years later when he pinched a bike! Once again, grammar school's loss was Barker's Butts gain! David was the only one of us who never caused Mum and Dad any heartaches but he went to Barker's Butts anyway. Dave was by now getting disillusioned with his job as an apprentice farmer. The man he worked for was treating him like a glorified farm labourer, so he bought a lorry and went into business as a fruit and vegetable wholesale merchant thereby becoming a workaholic, an occupation he still enjoyed until 2003, when he eventually retired. However until then, he dealt in flowers, delivering them all around the Midlands.

            In October, another craze became popular with young people. This was the "hula hoop". It was a brightly coloured plastic hoop, about 30" in diameter that you put over your body and gyrated by swinging the hips back and forth, while keeping the hoop moving around your waist. I got quite adept at it! They held competitions at the Casino dance hall on Saturday nights to see who could keep their hoop going the longest. I never won though. The craze didn't last more than a couple of months but the hoop didn't go to waste. Wrapped with tinsel and hung with baubles and hung on the door, it made a pretty impressive Christmas decoration. I was 22 that year and John bought me one of the new Hoovermatic "twin tub" washing machines for my present. I washed everything in sight! I don't think it was off for the first two days. "Goodbye" to the copper and the mangle!

         I found out early in the New Year that I was pregnant once again. My baby was due in September and the new washing machine would certainly come into it's own.  In February, John got tickets for us to attend the rugger match at Twickenham on February 28th. He had played rugger for Keresley rugby football club since 1955 and the club had a number of tickets to allocate to members of the team and their families. The match was between England and France. We had to get the coach in Poole Meadow and it was such a beautiful warm morning that we didn't need a coat or anything. It was unbelievable weather. On the way down, we stopped off at Henley-on-Thames at a pub by the river and I had a glass of bitter in a nobbly glass and sat outside watching the swans in the sunshine. We carried on to Twickenham and had our lunch at a pub there. We then went on to one of the best rugger matches that I have ever seen. England won, of course. After the match, the coach took us into London. It was another opportunity to renew my love for the capital city! We strolled up Piccadilly and the Strand, where we discovered that a young girl who had recently had a couple of hits in the charts was appearing at the Talk of the Town. Her name was Shirley Bassey and she was a singer who was born in Tiger bay in Wales. The rest is history! We doubled back through Soho and back to Hyde Park and Mayfair. I had no coat on nor did I need one, it was so warm! I don't think that I can ever remember such a warm February day since then. It was the beginning of a beautiful spring and summer. John started school at Keresley Grange School after Easter. They were able to start school at the beginning of any term in those days. He was 4½ years old. Soon after he started, he brought a little boy home to play. His mother, June, came to bring him home after an hour or two and we became good friends. Her husband Bill was the manager of the Majestic ballroom in Primrose Hill St., by the Swanswell. This was previously the Globe cinema and I believe it is a nightclub called the Planet now. At the time, June had one of the new reel to reel tape recorders that had not long come on to the market. I used to go up in the evenings when Bill had gone to work and June would put records on. We would sing along to them and record our voices! "Karioke" is not as new as you think! We had hours of fun. Singing songs like "The Lady is a Tramp" and "Manhattan" and other standard songs. On some Sunday afternoons Bill took us in his car to the Cotswolds. He used to get complementary cinema tickets as well, as he worked for the Rank Group. We once got tickets for June and I to go to Birmingham Odeon to see the new musical film "South Pacific" with Rossano Brazzo and Mitzi Gaynor. I loved it! June was a beautiful girl. She had blonde hair and the most gorgeous brown eyes. She came from Chesterfield in Derbyshire. I decided that I wanted to be blonde, like June, so I got a bottle of hair bleach from the chemist, and I was a blonde for a couple of years. I'd already dabbled with hair colour, and had been a redhead for some time. A daughter of one of my neighbours was an apprentice hairdresser and she wanted me to be a model for her to practice on, so I used to get my hair done for nothing every week after that. She would put all kinds of different rinses on my hair. Silver, pink, champagne and lilac! Hairstyles began to be bouffant at that time. Backcombing the hair and styling it in the shape of a cottage loaf, then spraying it with hair lacquer did this. To describe the impact of "hair lacquer" I will borrow a couple of pages from my thesis that I did when I was at college in 1990 taking my City and Guilds in Fashion and Design. I had to do A History of Fashion from 1900-1990. The passage goes like this: -

         "In the late 1950's, we were able to buy a new invention known as hair lacquer. It was not by any stretch of the imagination like the hairspray that we know today but a kind of clear substance that was sprayed on to the finished coiffure by means of a "puffer" spray. When dry, one's hair had the texture and resilience of a Brillo pad-or Shredded Wheat! When the hair was brushed, it looked as though one's head had a nasty case of psoriasis or at least a severe case of dandruff! What's more---just try washing it out! With a little backcombing and spray, one could achieve body and height to the hair. With a lot of backcombing and spray---Woweee!! Heights unimagined previously were achieved. This phenomenon reached its peak in the winter of 1961/2 when a girl's hair could reach a height of 1 foot! (30cms). It was a time when a girl who was 5'6" tall could tower over her 6' tall boyfriend. This style was known as the "Beehive". At about the same time, girls began to use eyeliner. This was a thick black line painted along the eyelashes and swooped up at the corner of each eye. We thought it created a mysterious, oriental look. In retrospect though we must have resembled creatures crossed between a Yeti (with our beehives) and a panda! Picture us when it rained! "-------Think Amy Winehouse minus the tattoos and you've got it!

          We got a new Ultra television in August that year and I was able to watch my favourite programmes in my own front room. It was the latest model with a 14" screen! It seemed like being at the cinema. I was more or less prepared for the birth of my baby, due the following month. I had knitted his entire layette and we still had Stephen's cot and pram, as he was only 20 months old. He wasn't walking properly yet and was almost two before he did. I had arranged for June to look after John and Stephen for the first week and Olwen was coming in to do my housework and washing. I went into labour on the morning of Wednesday September 16th at about 6.30AM and Kevin David was born about four hours later. He weighed 7 ½ lbs. and was beautiful!

At Christmas, John was in the school concert. He hadn't said a word to us about being in it, but he had a star part. He was dressed as a doctor in a bowler hat, with a stethoscope around his neck. He had to sing "Miss Polly Had a Dolly". He did it beautifully and I was so proud of him! When he finished, he gave me a big wave and shouted "Hello Mum!" By this time, his Dad was interested in art. He sent away for a correspondence course, and gave me some money to go down to the College Book shop in the Butts to buy him some paints and an easel and he took over the little box room as a studio. He joined the Coventry Art Society and went there on Monday nights. Which was fine for a while. Mum, Dad, Roger and David came to us for their Christmas dinner that year. It was the first time that I'd cooked a Christmas dinner, and they really enjoyed it. I was quite proud of myself as we always went to their house previously for the celebration.

           Early in 1960, John decided that we would be able to afford a holiday this year. It was to be our first and last one. I wrote off to Auntie Blanche in Lowestoft and booked two weeks in June. We were taking John and Stephen, but Mum was going to have Kevin as he was a bit too young to appreciate a holiday and Mum and Dad felt that we would have more freedom to enjoy ourselves. It was certainly something to look forward to! I meanwhile, I began to do a lot of sewing. I made Stephen a duffel coat in royal blue, lined with blue and red tartan and made him some trousers to match. I made Kevin a powder blue all in one suit and quilted the lining. In the spring, I made a couple of summer dresses for my holiday. I borrowed Mum's sewing machine. My dresses were made of check gingham. This was the latest fashion, made popular by Brigit Bardot in the film "And God Created Woman", a rather daring film for the time, with an "x" certificate. This meant that you had to be 16 to be able to see it. It earned her the reputation as a "sex kitten". All the girls wanted gingham dresses and I wasn't going to miss out! I also made myself a "cheong sam" Chinese style dress made popular by the film "The World of Susie Wong".
 

           Surprising news came from Buckingham Palace. Princess Margaret was to marry in May. He was a commoner (albeit a posh one) and they had been meeting secretly for about 18 months. We all looked forward to the Royal wedding. June and I started going to the Majestic ballroom on Saturday lunchtimes at this time. Joe Loss was making a regular appearance and it was televised live, Lots of people saw us on the programme but unfortunately we were not able to see ourselves because there were no such thing as video recorders in 1960! There were new innovations though. The first stretch of the new M1 motorway had been opened in 1959. It halted at the A45, which brought traffic into Coventry and Birmingham. It was very popular with "ton-up" boys who could take their motor cycle on there and do 100 MPH.; there were no restrictions at that time. It was the first motorway to be built in England. Meanwhile, the building work in Coventry was nearing completion. The Precinct and Market Way were finished and The Belgrade Theatre had opened in 1958 and although the new Cathedral wouldn't be finished for another two years, a brand new ballroom was due to be opened later in the year. It was to be called the Locarno. In the meantime, we had our holiday to look forward to. We had booked to travel by coach to Yarmouth and by bus from there. The Bunty bus station was in Spon End just at the back of the railway arches. I can't remember how we got there. I think that perhaps we had a lift as David had a car. It was a lovely day to travel. The sun was shining and someone had a radio that was playing "Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini" to get us into the mood. When we got there. Aunt Blanche made us so welcome! John asked how much she wanted for our board and she charged us £7.10s.0d a week! (£7.50) For that, we got three meals a day and a lovely comfortable room and Aunt Blanche baby-sat for us at night so that John and I could go out! We had a wonderful fortnight! We found a pub called the Clapham where we would go nearly every night because there was a fantastic pianist there. We sang all evening! We all got lovely sun tans as the weather was so nice. When we got home, Kevin had grown so much in two weeks; I could hardly believe it!

           Mum and Dad's Silver wedding was on August 17th. They were having a party for family and friends to be held in St. Saviour's hall in Spon End, just off Barras Lane. Their anniversary was on Wednesday, but they had the party on the following Saturday evening. It was a really good night! I was rocking and rolling with my Dad to Duane Eddy playing "Because We're Young" and other hits. Dad was a wonderful dancer! One thing that I was unaware of at the time was the fact that Celia, the girl John was to leave me for the following April, was at that party! She apparently went to the same youth club as my cousin Lorna and had gone along with her! They say that ignorance is bliss! Soon after the Silver wedding, Mum and Dad received posh invitations to go to the opening of the Locarno ballroom. It was a black tie and evening dress affair, hosted by the new manager, Ronald Bloxham. I still have the tickets and the menu! Of course, the other ballrooms closed down soon afterwards, the Rialto Casino (that became a bingo hall), The Matrix and others. The Majestic changed soon afterwards as well. Bill left as manager and went to London and it changed its name to the Orchid ballroom for a while. They went to another black tie do there the following February. This time it was the Lord Mayor's ball. I think Dad and Mum were invited to these occasions because of Dad's job as chief Structural Engineer.  Sometime, during the course of David's  work, he met Jack Austin, who had a florists shop in Ford Street and a daughter named Judy, whom David started courting and subsequently got engaged to.

           Soon after this, John began going to the Locarno after attending the art society on Monday nights. I of course didn't mind because I used to go to the Casino on Saturdays with my pals. Ironically I thought we were getting on better than we had done for a long time, especially since the holiday the previous year, so it was a bombshell at Easter when he stayed out all night. We were supposed to go for tea on Easter Sunday to Mum's but he didn't turn up. Mum bought him a new shirt for Easter. When I asked him where he had been, he came straight out and told me that he had met someone else and that he was moving out. She was barely 18 years old and he said he was deeply in love with her. I was devastated! All I could think of doing was to go in the bathroom and throw all of his aftershave down the toilet! After a week of pleading and arguing, he moved out into a bed-sit. That was the end of our seven-year marriage!