Sidney James was born Solomon Joel Cohen in South Africa on 8 May 1913. He later changed his name to Sidney Joel Cohen and then Sidney James. Sid trained and worked as a hairdresser in Johannesburg before joining the Johannesburg…

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1 9 6 4 (UK) 6 x 30 minute episodes The British seem to have a soft spot for smuggling and a sneaking admiration for the feat of outwitting the excise men. One such secret and somewhat improbable sympathiser was John…

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Lulu was born Marie McDonald McLaughlin Lawrie, the first child of a Glasgow butcher, on 3 November 1948. In 1964, at the tender age of fifteen – but with the voice of a middle-aged woman with a heavy smoking habit…

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Cilla Black was born Priscilla Maria Veronica White on 27 May 1943. Dropping out of school at 15 she went to work pounding a typewriter in a Liverpool office which she detested. She also used to have a part-time job…

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British band Silverhead arrived on the scene in the early 1970s with an attitude of “we’ve already made it” which endeared them to a small clique of dedicated fans and righteously pissed off the critics. Covered in eye shadow and…

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Singer/songwriter Jack Lee formed The Nerves with fellow San Francisco street musicians Peter Case and Paul Collins. He had moved to LA but the Sunset Strip was now a shadow of its former self, and the band were something of…

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The Gants were formed in 1963 by Sid Herring (vocals, guitar), Johnny Sanders (guitar), Vince Montgomery (bass) and Don Wood (drums) in Greenwood, Mississippi. Named after a popular brand of button-down collar shirts, The Gants released their version of the…

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His name was Prince, then it wasn’t, then it was again. One of the most fascinating artists of the Eighties, the pocket-sized legend was born Prince Rogers Nelson in Minneapolis on 7 June 1958. He was named after his father’s…

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Carry on Crook comedies! The Big Job was brought to the screen by producer Peter Rogers and director Gerald Thomas, the two architects of the highly successful Carry On series of films. George Brain (Sid James) and his gang – Booky Binns (Dick Emery),…

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Sid Gibson (Sid James) is a soap powder salesman who decides what he really needs is some TV advertising. Unfortunately, he’s absolutely broke. Sid calls upon his friend Arthur Ashton (Arthur Askey) – a make-up man for the non-commercial National…

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Director Carol Reed’s first colour film is a lively theatrical presentation all about working-class hopes and dreams. Released in 1955, A Kid For Two Farthings was filmed partially in and around London’s Petticoat Lane market together with studio footage – and yes,…

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Lancashire publican Bill Ramsbottom (Arthur Askey) inherits a saloon and some land with uranium deposits from his grandfather, Wild Bill Ramsbottom, who lived the cowboy life in Canada. Bill packs up with wife Florrie (Betty Marsden), daughter Joan (Shani Wallis)…

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The third highest-grossing film of 1956, Trapeze is set in Paris (France) at the Bouglione Circus (the film was shot on location at the Cirque d’Hiv, Paris’ famed one-ring circus) Young American acrobat Tino Orsini (Tony Curtis) persuades his father’s ex-trapeze…

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“Watch out, there’s a Humphrey about” was a slogan which first hit British televisions in 1974. The Humphrey’s (a product of Unigate designed to make us drink more milk during the mid 70s) were invisible creatures who sucked milk from…

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The main job of British movie dolly birds in the 60s and 70s was to be passive objects for the likes of Sid James or Robin Askwith to “phwooaar” all over or to scream helplessly and faint when Christopher Lee…

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Barbara Ann Deeks was born in Shoreditch, London, in 1937 – the only child of John Deeks, a costermonger, and his wife, Rose, a dressmaker. She was evacuated to Blackpool during WWII, and after completing school, her mother paid for…

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The liberated new man of the 1970s was not afraid of scents. A whole new arm of the perfume industry opened up especially to pamper him. Where his father’s options had pretty much been Old Spice or Aqua Velva (which…

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The British Cheggers-fronted TV ads, with their vox pops from cab drivers and the like (“It’s nuts, nugget (sic), milk chocolate . . . in between meals it’s faaahntastic!”) and tempting animated “comes up peanuts – slice after slice” bar…

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This healthy libation made of glucose and carbonated water – originally called “Glucozade” – originated in Newcastle where it was created by pharmacist  William Walker Hunter in 1927. The drink was acquired by the British pharmaceutical company Beecham’s in 1938…

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Angel Delight debuted in British supermarkets in 1967, promising the taste of strawberries and cream from colourful sachets of microdust. The luminous powder fell out of favour in the 1980s.

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Trading stamps originated in the United States as far back as 1896 and were sold to retailers who then issued them to their customers. The stamps were stuck in savings books and exchanged for merchandise. Retailers built customer loyalty and…

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January 02 – 22 die as hurricane winds rock Britain. 05 – The Khmer Rouge drafts a new constitution in Cambodia, renaming it Democratic Kampuchea. 05 – Former Beatles road manager Mal Evans is shot dead by Los Angeles police investigating a domestic…

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January 01 – The Maldive Islands become a republic. 01 – Arthur ‘Bomber’ Harris is knighted in the New Year Honours list. 01 – Hank Williams dies. 02 – The RAFs first supersonic fighters, 400 US-designed Sabres, arrive at RAF…

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January 02 – A New York accountant finally claims his $3 million lottery jackpot, which he won 45 years earlier. He waited until the New Year to save about $15,000 in taxes. 04 – Karni Bheel, who boasted the longest moustache…

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January 01 – Fidel Castro completes 30 years in power in Cuba. 02 – The US and Canada sign a comprehensive free trade agreement which eliminates tariffs and other barriers to trade and investment. 04 – Two US Navy jets…

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January 05 – Winston Churchill arrives in Washington for talks with Truman. 07 – General Dwight D Eisenhower says he will run for US President. 12 – The prototype Vickers Valiant, Britain’s only long-range jet for carrying the atomic bomb, crashes. 13 – The Iranian government…

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January 01 – Chinese and North Korean forces advance across the 38th Parallel and through UN lines. 01 – First episode of The Archers is broadcast nationally on the BBC Light Programme. 01 – Bill Byford (Saxon) born. 04 – Communist…

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January 01 – Radio Beijing announces that Tibet will shortly be “liberated”. 03 – Wafd Party wins Egyptian elections. 04 – Britain asks the US for a stockpile of atomic bombs. 05 – President Truman rules out military aid to…

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January 01 – Britain, Denmark and Ireland join the European Economic Community (the “Common Market”) bringing the total number of member states to nine. 01 – Baseball star Roberto Clemente is killed in a light plane crash off Puerto Rico.…

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