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.
Once there was a time to set aside childish things, to shut them away in the box of memory and get on with life’s journey. But our childish things are no longer easily set aside.
What is Nostalgia Central?
Nostalgia Central is the next best thing to time travel! It’s a massive website (over 20,000 pages) offering a trip through the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s and 1990s via TV, Music, Movies, Pop Culture and Social History.
Broadly speaking, it covers anything between 1950 and 1999. The content primarily deals with the USA, UK, and Australia, but you’ll find something from everywhere here.
Who are you? Why do you do this?
I maintain this site because I love all these things and believe they should be preserved for all to see and share – it’s my hobby and a fascination of mine, and the way I see it – it needed to be done.
Someone had to take all of the things that made life worth living and put them all in one place; TV, movies, toys, food, fashion, and music. And more importantly, the memories.
That’s really what I’m doing here – sparking memories, and bringing them to life.
What is the Nostalgia Central Facebook page?
As the name suggests, it is a page I have set up on Facebook to provide a place for my visitors and friends to swap nostalgia-related information, ask questions, debate, share photographs and videos, look for rare and sought after objects, and generally have fun.
It is completely free to join and you can do so here.
Why are some of the links not active yet?
Because Nostalgia Central is my hobby and I don’t receive any payment for my time and involvement. It is a labour of love and, unfortunately, I have a real life – and real jobs – to be getting on with . . . and this site is a BIG job.
The site is usually updated on a daily basis with new content added all the time, but if there is something you simply must see or your head will explode, drop me a line.
How can I get in touch with Hughie Green 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.
PS: Hughie Green is dead. You’ll need to hold a séance.
I need some help with my school work . . .
Now, this is just plain lazy. I finished school a few decades ago and I’m sorry but I’m not going to do your homework for you.
Much of the information you are seeking is probably here at Nostalgia Central and the Search Engine in the top right corner of each page is a good place to start.
If that doesn’t help, get thee to Google*
*Legal Note: Other search engines are available.
Some of the external links don’t work
The key word here is “external”. The thousands of links on specific pages of Nostalgia Central all worked when I found them. Try and imagine what a job it would be to check them all every day. It would be impossible.
The thousands of links on specific pages of Nostalgia Central all worked when I found them. Try and 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 get rid of it.
VIDEO PROBLEMS
Videos at Nostalgia Central are hosted by YouTube. Videos on YouTube are streamed through Adobe Flash player. If you’re having trouble playing videos, I suggest you install the latest version of the Flash player.
“An error occurred. Please try again later”
This is usually a simple connection issue. Reloading the page (Hit F5 to refresh the page) usually resolves this error.
Why does the video keep stopping and starting?
If a video doesn’t play continuously, it may be due to your connection speed. You’ll need a broadband connection of at least 500Kbps for the best viewing experience.
If your video playback speed is slow or inconsistent, you can try pausing the video until the entire stream is cached and then playing the video.
Occasionally, an incomplete copy of a video can get stuck in your cache and never fully load. You can re-attempt to play the video by clearing your browser’s cache.
If this doesn’t solve your issue, it could be that the YouTube servers are experiencing very high traffic. If this is the case, you can try again in a few minutes.
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.
You either have JavaScript turned off or an old version of Macromedia’s Flash Player. Get the latest Flash player
If you’re receiving this error message when trying to play a video, it means that you either have JavaScript turned off in your browser, or you need to install the latest version of the Adobe Flash player.
Find out how to enable JavaScript here.
Please report any problematic videos here.
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 sites such as Nostalgia Central. This is so they can control the advertising you see when viewing the video at YouTube.
