|
Introduction....
The text and photos of old programmes are a
wonderful source of memories and history. However, in scurrying
through the articles, agendas and explanations, we tend to
overlook a rich vein of information.... the adverts that helped to
finance the publications!
Some months back, Ian Johnson brought this home to
me when he emailed scans from the Whitstable Carnival programme of
1957. It gave me a chance to take a nostalgic trip around
Whitstable's commercial centres in the immediate aftermath of
World War II and to recall just how much life has changed in 50
years. It was all there...the less sophisticated world, the
down-to-earth attitudes and the less discerning customer.
It was a lighthearted breeze.... so, I hope no-one
will be offended.....
The Whitstable
World of Advertising - Fifties Style
Let's start.... by thinking about cars. At Masons Garage in
the mid-fifties, a cool £538 (plus an extra £270-7s-0d for
number plates, registration and tax) would get you one of
these.....
What do you mean, you don't want one. Read
the small print! That description is irresistible ....
Yes, kids.... the "sleek new A55"
was indeed the two-tone tank pictured in the full
advert. But, don't knock it... all cars were tanks in those days but this one
was a two-tone tank with a "panoramic rear window" and a
"big boot". What is more, the "two-pedal
manumatic gear change" was about to became the automatic
gearbox of today. Purchase Tax added a further £270 and seven
shillings. That's VAT to you youngsters... but at a rate close to
50%.
Of course, marketing techniques weren't quite as
sophisticated in the 1950s.... which might explain why Masons
Garage failed to mention its address! It might also
explain the catchy sophisticated approach adopted by the Bartlett
and Bisson dairy.....
I've always understood that marketing jingles
should be to the point. So, how about "Buy Our Milk"! There you go....
short, simple and easily remembered. Who needs Satchi and Satchi?
As you can see, Bartlett and Bisson had quite an
empire. Apart from the dairy farms at Bartletts Corner (Church
Street) and Brooklands (South Street), they owned three shops - in
the High Street (now a pet shop), in Tankerton Road (now the
Yantze Chinese Restaurant) and Canterbury Road (now an art shop).
All three had a similar attractive fascia.... with windows divided
into small panels above a ceramic tiled wall.
Of course, if you couldn't afford an A55... or a
bottle of milk, you
could always sit at home.... safe in the knowledge that for just 2s
6d (12½p) you could secure the full protection of the Ratepayer and
Residents Association for an entire year....
You could even make "sitting at home"
more enjoyable by buying a Murphy V310 from Gaywoods for a mere £72-19s-6d.....
Yes, I know you can now get a colour one from
Tesco for less..... but 1950s tellies were more expensive because
they had to convert colour to "black and white" in readiness
for BBC2 of the new millennium. They also came with an aerial the
size of Jodrell Bank and a vertical hold that kept dropping
things.
Of course, the cheap way to access a telly was to
let your neighbours pay £75 to Gaywoods.... and then move into
their house every Friday night to catch the Army Game. Many did.
TV was about to decimate the trade of many
communal entertainments and the biggest industry to suffer would
be cinema. Mind you, cinemas were already doing a pretty good job
of decimating themselves.... with programmes like this....
It was "the zippiest musical for years".
Remember it? Me neither! So, in the early 1960s, the Regal
auditorium became the town's first supermarket (Fine Fare - now
Somerfield) and the balcony spawned the town's first Chinese
restaurant (The Jasmine Tree).
Mind you, we had a choice in those days and, down at the
Oxford, things were really coming to the boil during carnival week
of 1957....
Not surprisingly, the Oxford became a bingo hall. The Gunfight of OK
Corral had that kind of effect. One minute, Doc Holiday was
searching for a couple of grisly gun slingers and, the next, he
was looking for two fat ladies. Where did the time go and why did
"zippy" lose its appeal? Whatever the answer, we don't do "zippy"
anymore... but we do re-do "cinemas".... at the multi-screen in Ashford.
Of course, at the end of the fifties, we were on the
edge of the Rock 'n Roll years and some businesses were actually
expanding to meet the demands of ever more affluent
youngsters......
The Valente's Ice Cream parlour at Tankerton
already catered for teenagers and the carnival advert announced a
historic event in 1957.... the opening of another Expresso
Coffee & Soda Bar in the High Street. This would soon
gurgle its way into the lives of many local motorbike
enthusiasts.... and fans of Elvis, jeans with "turn
ups", drainpipe trousers, blue suede shoes and sunglasses.
The Fonz had arrived in Whitstable. In
Oxford Street, Aubrey Pearce was making ready by stocking up with
Jantzen swimsuits..... and Kilspindie Windcheaters....
Come on girls... admit it.... you simply couldn't
resist a man in Jantzens on Tankerton prom.... which is why this guy is looking
out for you and carrying a frying pan to fight you off.
He was fit and not the sort to have sand kicked in
his face. The secret may have been the Victory Oils prepared by
Gilman & Clarke's down
in Harbour Street....
"Remember the oils and forget the
pain" it says! I never tried it.... so I am not
sure whether it cured pain or caused amnesia.
Meanwhile, Smiths bakery was experimenting with
something called Turog Bread and Cheadles were oiling the wheels
of a relatively new National Health Act....
By the 1980s, Turog bread had faded into the mists
of time, the wheels had fallen off the NHS.... and BUPA had
arrived with the white sliced. Just as well really.... because
"turog" is an anagram of "grout" and I am not
sure that I wholly trusted typesetters of the '50s.
Of course, not all ads were entirely
commercial.....
Oxford Street Boys would only allow kids to ride to school if they attended classes and passed the
cycling proficiency
test. I gave it a whirl..... but it couldn't have been at that "All
Are Welcome" course.... because I was expelled.
Apparently, my bike was too small. Being a
resourceful kid, I returned on my brother's bike and was expelled
again. Apparently, I was too small.... because my
legs didn't extend all the way to the ground. Fortunately, no-one
spotted that my legs didn't even extend all the way to the
pedals... but it was embarrassing nonetheless.
Mind you, I'm not sure that the classes would have
helped much anyway.... because that guy in the suit is about to
turn right across an unbroken white line.... taking his little
shadow with him. Any minute now, there is going to be a need for
Victory Oil and the NHS.... as a result of an A55 approaching from
the direction of Masons Garage.... whichever direction that might
be.
Elsewhere, all was well with the world. Ida
Watkins was supplying the Up to Date young ladies of
Tankerton to ensure that they kept pace with the Up to Date
young gentlemen of Whitstable and their Kilspindies.
Meanwhile, Griffeys were grappling with the latest techniques in
distemper.....
..... a product that would lead to increased sales
of stabilising solution during the 1970s!
Forty years of decoration seems about right to me.
That was long enough to do the lounge. Now, how about the
kitchen and bedroom? Sadly, after 90 years of decorating, Griffeys'
doors have closed for the last time.... leaving me with three
quarters of a bedroom undistempered.
Amongst the other shops that have disappeared since
those halcyon days of the 1950s, one has special significance for
me because my old mum worked there back in the 1930s....
Davey's was quite a business and it extended
across three sites. Two of these locations can be seen in this old
photo of the Sea Scouts It was taken during a parade in the
High Street and kindly forwarded to us by Jock Harnett.....
The drapers was located alongside the current day
Somerfield supermarket in the building on the right of the photo.
It is now Whites of Kent.
The gents outfitters was next door and you can
just see the name above the window display. This building became a
solicitors office when the outfitters moved to larger premises in
Harbour Street (opposite V C Jones chip shop). The new premises
eventually closed too and I think it is now a charity shop.
Daveys furnishers occupied the site of the old
Palais Deluxe theatre at the corner of Harbour and Victoria
Streets. It was later sold to Fields Furnishings and is now a
small shopping mall.
In 1957, the town still retained remnants of its
1930s holiday trade and the Whitstable Urban District Council used
the carnival programme to advertise its guide.....
I certainly recall Whitstable being called Kent's
Garden By the Sea. Such terminology disappeared when the
town hit tough times and the garden became a wilderness. By the time
locals awoke to replant the seeds of old, "someone from elsewhere"
had built a mews on our vegetable patch and replaced spring onions
from the nursery in Harwich Street with erecta viridises from
the garden centre at B&Q.
Other terminology changed
too.... with "profusely
illustrated" guides becoming "packed with picture"
brochures some time around the 1970s when Judith
Chalmers discovered Benidorm. The language of Shakespeare was
dissolving.... with the bard's "Farewell, my dearest
sister, fare the well" (Anthony and Cleopatra) becoming
another historical tragedy from the banks of the Nile in the form of "See you later,
alligator".
In those days, the town's holiday industry
supported a range of hotels. This included the Marine Hotel which
was used for the Carnival Dance...
Other hotels were the....
... and the....
 
The recent progress of these premises reflects the
many changes that have impacted on the town over the last
50 years. In fact, the buildings became barometers that
charted the fall and rise of Whitstable as a tourist destination.
As the holiday trade went into hibernation, the Cafe Royal Hotel became a seafront pub
but, in
the new millennium, it has developed as one of the town's most
popular seafront pub/restaurants under the less grand title of The
Royal. The Hotel Continental also become a pub (called the Harbour
Lights) but, with the influx of visitors in recent times, it
has reverted to its original name and function.
The Tankerton Hotel wasn't quite so lucky. It too
became a pub and a popular centre for local jazz music. Sadly, it
is now an apartment block.... perhaps reflecting the fact that
some new visitors have chosen to stay awhile in Kent's Garden By
the Sea.
There aren't too many Austin A55s around nowadays.
It's all BMWs.... Mercs.... "people carriers" that don't
carry passengers.... and "off the road" vehicles
that only venture off the road long enough to park in the driveway.
Shame!
|
