What’s it all about Alfie? Cor Blimey mate. Stone the bleedin’ crows. Roll out the flipping barrel. Herewith I present a selection of questions I am most frequently asked, and the answers to those questions.
What is nostalgia?
The word ‘Nostalgia’ comes from a combination of two ancient Greek words: ‘nostos’ (or “homecoming”) and ‘algos’ (which means “pain”) and is a term suggesting a longing for a lost era. It springs from the heart rather than the mind and confines itself to living memory.
What is Nostalgia Central?
Nostalgia Central is the next best thing to time travel! It’s a long-running (established in 1998), independently maintained website/blog dedicated to pop culture from 1950 to 2009, with an emphasis on entertainment, lifestyle, and trends from those decades.
It functions as a reference and celebration hub for all things retro – TV shows, music, movies, fashion, technology, toys, slang and everyday life icons that defined the second half of the 20th century and the first decade of the 21st.
It’s the perfect destination for those who grew up in the late 20th century (particularly Gen X and older Millennials) as well as younger enthusiasts of retro culture or those looking to explore “vintage cool”
Who are you? Why do you do this?
My name is David. If you really want, you can find out more about me here.
I maintain Nostalgia Central because I love all these things and believe they should be preserved for all to remember, see and share.
My intention is for Nostalgia Central to be the internet’s digital attic – a lovingly curated archive of pop culture, television, movies, music, toys, food, fads, fashion, and memories of all the things that made life worth living.
Where do you find all your information and pictures?
The $64,000 dollar question! I find it everywhere – but not nearly as often or as easily as I would like.
Since I created Nostalgia Central in 1998, I have literally scoured thousands of libraries (both physical and online), book shops, newspapers, junk shops, charity shops, car boot sales, little old ladies’ attics, dark corners of dusty old garages, sheds . . . you name it.
And there is still nothing quite like the thrill of finding an old book in a dusty old charity shop containing great photographs of TV shows from, say, 1967.
How can I get in touch with Dixon of Dock Green, Batman or the members of ABBA?
This website is not associated with any studio, channel or agent. I am not famous (well, not very anyway), and I don’t actually know too many famous people, really. The stars don’t pop around to my place for cocoa once a week.
A reliable search engine will usually find the ”official” address of the star in question or their agent or manager.
Some of your facts/dates/spellings are incorrect
I’m dealing with subject matter that is decades old here, and while I try to be oh-so-accurate, it’s incredibly difficult to find information about some of these things.
If you are absolutely sure I’ve got it wrong, please do let me know. I will be more than happy to make changes and give credit where it’s due.
But please do remember that just because you read it on the internet doesn’t necessarily mean it’s true.
Some of the external links don’t work
The keyword here is “external”. The thousands of links on specific pages of Nostalgia Central all worked when I found them. Try to imagine what a job it would be to check them all every day. It would be impossible.
So, unfortunately, I cannot guarantee that every link will work every time (nor can I be responsible for the content you find when you follow the link to an external site). I’m struggling as it is to be responsible with my own stuff.
If you do find a link that is permanently dead, though, please notify me here and I’ll remove it.
VIDEO PROBLEMS
Videos at Nostalgia Central are hosted by YouTube. We spend hundreds of hours searching for interesting videos to link in our posts, but they are often subsequently removed by YouTube (usually following a copyright violation claim) or made “private” by the original poster.
Here are some of the common error messages:
“Video unavailable. This video is private”
This is because a YouTube user has marked their video(s) as “private” since we linked to it – usually in response to a copyright violation claim. That way, the user can keep the video, but we can’t see it anymore (grr!).
Video not available in my country
Some YouTube content partners choose to make their videos available only to certain countries. For instance, they may only have the licensing rights for a particular region.
On occasion, YouTube does block specific content in order to comply with local laws in countries where YouTube has launched. For instance, certain Nazi imagery is unlawful in parts of Europe.
“We’re sorry this video is no longer available”
You may receive this error message if the video uploader has removed their video, disabled its “embed” option, or if the video has been removed for violating YouTube’s Terms of Use. Sometimes, the user has had their account closed by YouTube.
Blocked videos
Warner Music Group (WMG), the Universal Music Group (UMG) and Sony Music Entertainment (SME) continuously block videos on YouTube that feature music recordings belonging to their labels or their publishing arms, citing copyright infringement. Although the majority of the blocked videos are not
Although the majority of the blocked videos are not official content of WMG, UMG or SME, they include WMG, UMG and/or SME recordings in a minor way normally covered by Fair Use.
Many of these claims to copyright violation not only affect artists who are under record labels owned or distributed by WMG, UMG and SME, but also to artists who have songs published and controlled by those companies, regardless of label.
These same multinational companies also prevent embedding of videos on blogs such as Nostalgia Central. This is so they can control the advertising you see (and the advertising revenue) when viewing the video on YouTube.