Whit, nae Sunday Post!

How many families didn't read The Sunday Post in the 1960s?

For many years we didn't buy a copy of The Sunday Post, but read my grandfather's copy on our weekly family visits.

As children in the early 1960s it was mainly the Fun Section that we read.

This was the double spread on either side of the page. The Broons were the main feature on one side, and Oor Wullie on the other. If Gaga (grandfather) was reading the newspaper sometimes he would just remove the Fun Section for us

The Broons and Oor Wullie

The Broons were good, but wee Wee Wullie probably just shaded it.

There were also other features which I enjoyed - some jokes, puzzles and for many years, Nero and Zero, two Roman guards who were supposed to look after Caesar; there was also Nosey Parker.

This Sunday ritual with Family Favourites and Jean Metcalfe and Cliff Michelmore on the radio in the background was always a very relaxing and a key part of these Sundays mornings at our grandparents home at Durham Road, Portobello before the Sunday roast dinner was served up .

As we grew older in the late 1960s we began to alternate our Sunday visits and so like millions of others, we at 6/2 Oxgangs Avenue started to buy our own copy of The Post. 

Gradually, I progressed  from just reading the Fun Section to the sports pages and then regular columns such as The Hon Man. His adventures could be quite interesting, particularly if the editor had perhaps sent him away to live on a pound a day or to tour around the Highlands camping and of course report back weekly, in a humorous vein.

d'Artagnan and Stopwatch Racing at Stockbridge, Edinburgh, January 2004

d'Artagnan reading Oor Wullie Stockbridge,
Edinburgh, January 2004 

d'Artagnan and Stopwatch Racing were brought up on the annuals. 

Reading the sauce bottle at the dinner table, leads on to Oor Wullie; The Four Marys; Alf Tupper; Peter Pan; Robin Hood; and then Holden Cauldfield; Atticus Finch; Pip; and Anna Karenina et al.

Given the dramatic reduction in newspaper buying The Sunday Post's circulation is still relatively high, however back in the 1960s I believe it had the highest reader penetration per head of the population of any newspaper in the world.

Photies From The South-Oxgangs And Its Neighbouring Edinburgh Communities: Colinton Village Garages

It's occasionally occurred to me that perhaps an interesting linked follow on from The Stair would be to publish on the blog an occasional photo gallery, with a few comments. Similar to commencing the blog last summer it's not something which I've really thought through and getting a hold of personal photographs from individuals who lived in Oxgangs, Colinton Mains, Swanston Village etc. over the decades would be challenging. 

I don't think it should be restricted to the general period of The Stair i.e. 1958-1972, but could be from a century ago right up to today. I know that one of the followers of The Stair kindly offered to go out and take any photographs for me that I might need for The Stair as he is one hundred and seventy five miles closer to Oxgangs than me! With the changing seasons, new building developments, etc. there must be some interesting possibilities especially if one were able to intersperse these with photographs from time gone by. If any readers have any thoughts, suggestions, ideas (Perhaps I should explore putting a notice in Oxgangs Library?) or better still, photographs they might like to share, please get in touch! This could be done through the blog or by e mail-the address is: peter.hoffmann@btinternet.com

Photograph by Gordon Boyd

These two photographs would appear to have been taken over half a century ago. I vaguely recall seeing the old garage as it was as a wee boy, when I was in my grandfather's old converted Bedford van, when we bought some petrol at the old Swanson's Garage further up toward Merchiston Castle School. Now that I think of it I seem to recall he worked at the old butcher's shop that existed almost next door to Waddell's Garage at Spylaw Street.The butcher's shop was long established and on the go when we left Colinton for the Highands in 1996-despite walking past it each week and whilst walking Atticus when he was a very wee boy it never occurred to me that my grandfather had worked there-funny thing, memory! The garage still exists today and isn't too different-back in the late winter in January d'Artagnan and I enjoyed a meal with friends at the Spylaw Tavern next door. It still has a charm to it.

The second photograph (below) is interesting-selling petrol and Standard Vanguard cars on a shoe string-the site now has a large modern chemist's on it. These cars were produced between 1947 and 1963. I remember the site well when it remained unused for years. When we stayed at West Mill Road, Colinton for seven years it stood empty-I hadn't realised that it had formerly been a garage. Talking of garages, when we first moved to West Mill Road, three old Summer Wine gentlemen ran a hole in the wall garage for fun and an interest-it too had an old world charm to it.

Photograph by Gordon Boyd

Halloween - Providing a Light in the Darkness

In the general cycle of the Oxgangs year, whilst New Year; Burns Day; Easter; Church Fêtes  the School Summer Holidays; Elections; the Harvest Festival; Victoria Day and Guy Fawkes bonfires; and of course Christmas were all marked and celebrated significantly in their own way, Halloween was perhaps slightly lower key at The Stair during the decade of the 1960s.

Halloween masks were quite common, but they were the old fashioned cardboard types - plastic masks grew in popularity in later years - possibly this was because the band which you pulled around your head eventually tore the cardboard type apart making the mask redundant.

However, there was a definite move from the beginning of the 1960s toward something which was much more significant and by the latter part of the decade it was an integral part of the Oxgangs seasonal calendar.

In America, Trick or Treat, has been a significant tradition in the year from the 1930s; the UK has probably followed suit, like in many other areas of life, although, a bit like Bob Dylan and traditional folk songs, it all becomes inter-woven over the generations, with cross fertilisation.

In an earlier blog, Neep, Neeps and Apples I made mention of stealing turnips or suedes from the local farmers' fields at Hunters Tryst; Dreghorn and Swanston.

The neeps were stolen toward the end of October and Halloween to be carved out as lanterns. Stealing from the farmer could be challenging - to escape from him might involve a long run along an open road such as toward the Polo Fields and if he was on his tractor, well the turnips would be too cumbersome and heavy to hold on to as they slowed you down, so we would hide them in a ditch to collect them later.

Making lanterns from these root vegetables was the main way that Halloween was marked at The Stair; I can recall BooBoo Hanlon and Iain Hoffmann sitting atop the shed roof toiling over their lanterns - making the lanterns was hard going because the neeps were particularly tough - rock hard in the centre, unlike the more fleshy pumpkins that have become so prominent in the shops over the past twenty years - again something which we've taken from America; although they got the idea for lanterns from Scots and Irish immigrants.

Another thing in favour of pumpkins is they don't give off the same pungent smell that emanates from neep lanterns and candles!

d'Artagnan assisting his Mum!

Living in a quiet small hamlet in the Highlands, but where there are over twenty children, has meant that it has always been a major event here; indeed d'Artagnan is a dab hand at assisting his mum to make the lanterns which stand menacingly outside our kitchen door to welcome and scare the 'guisers' in equal measure.

Guising became much more prominent in the latter part of the 1960s - it was never something that I indulged in, but certainly I can recall some of the kids from The Stair and also their pals from numbers 2, 4 and 8 Oxgangs Avenue going door to door, where they picked up a few bob.

However, their costumes were nothing compared to today; occasionally some of the kids were imaginatively dressed up, particularly with some make up, but I'm afraid the standard fare was a bed-sheet and a tea-towel on the head, to pass themselves off as an Egyptian!

Halloween has a long and fascinating tradition - a mix of All Hallows Eve; a celebration of the end of the harvest; the passing of summer into winter and so on. Lanterns were important - they were left on gate-posts, in windows or door-ways, to guide folk back from the fairs and festivities; then there was Jack'O'Lantern in Somerset with allusions to the flickering lights in the marshes signifying the souls of unbaptised children

Looking back, if you'll excuse the pun, I clearly missed a trick - indeed this blog could just as easily have featured under the series (Not) Being Entrepreneurial!

But looking back, though for much of the decade it was slightly lower key, I'm glad that we followed in the long tradition of lanterns - there's something very special about providing a light in the darkness and I very much subscribe to the philosophy that it's better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.

Victor?

Victor?

The comics of the 1960s were sensationally good, both in the quality of the stories and the artwork too.

The Victor was an important comic for my brother Iain Hoffmann and me but I don't think any other boys in The Stair read it.

It was a regular purchase for us. The comic ran from 1961 to 1992, probably the longest run of the comics from that era. Indeed I know that Iain was still getting his copy when he worked at Ferranti's.

A sad demise; if it were still on the go today, we'd buy it!

There were key characters who featured regularly - Braddock VC ,a surly, but deadly Second World War pilot. Initially I didn't get in to him at all, but in later years I began to appreciate him; but both Morgyn the Mighty and The Tough of the Track had an important influence on me.

Clearly I was buying the comic regularly when Iain was seven years old and I was nine, because a Morgyn the Mighty story of the world's strongest men being relocated to a remote island to fight it out to the death remained with me making a deep impression. Today I've a complete run of that story
.

DC Thomson the publisher ran a good series (175 issues) called Classics From The Comics from March 1996 until October 2010 which reprinted many of the stories from its files.

Because I was keen for Will and Tom to experience some of the pleasures that we at The Stair had enjoyed I took out a subscription for the boys. Name-dropping - if you look carefully at Issue 149 you can see above that the Hoffmanns took an active part.

Tom Hoffmann, July 2010

Tom Hoffmann, April 2009

Tom was the biggest fan in the house and read every copy from cover to cover, several times over.

Indeed, when I asked him for the copy featuring the Hoffmanns he went straight to it - it would have taken me hours to find.

If he were ever to appear on Junior Mastermind, his specialist subject would have to be Oor Wullie, The Broons and Classics From The Comics - a bit like Oor Wullie on his bucket, he'd spend hours on the lavatory reading them.

There were some compensations from the boys reading such cartoon strips. Back in 2007 Alison and I attended the Dingwall Academy Prize-Giving and were pleasantly surprised to see that Will had won the School Essay Prize (£50) which was reprinted in the programme. In true cartoon fashion he treated five of his mates to a 'slap up feed' in Inverness.

Alf Tupper's athletic adventures were my favourite strip in the comic.

Alf was a working class man living under a railway bridge. He lived on fish n chips and took on the toffs at big athletics meetings. I loved the stories and the art work was super - the imagery of the athletics meetings greatly appealed. In a later blog I'll write in more detail on Alf Tupper and Wilson the Wonder Athlete (The Hornet) and their great influence on me.

Victor?

No, loser.

It was a very sad day when The Victor and other such comics hit the dust.

I've occasionally thought about approaching the company to buy the rights to the comic with a view to reprinting them weekly - I thought there might be a market for both today's dads and grand-dads of my generation and their sons and indeed grandsons.

Whit, nae Sunday Post!

How many families didn't read The Sunday Post in the 1960s?

For many years we didn't buy a copy of The Sunday Post, but read my grandfather's copy on our weekly family visits.

As children in the early 1960s it was mainly the Fun Section that we read.

This was the double spread on either side of the page. The Broons were the main feature on one side, and Oor Wullie on the other. If Gaga (grandfather) was reading the newspaper sometimes he would just remove the Fun Section for us

The Broons and Oor Wullie

The Broons were good, but wee Wee Wullie probably just shaded it.

There were also other features which I enjoyed - some jokes, puzzles and for many years, Nero and Zero, two Roman guards who were supposed to look after Caesar; there was also Nosey Parker.

This Sunday ritual with Family Favourites and Jean Metcalfe and Cliff Michelmore on the radio in the background was always a very relaxing and a key part of these Sundays mornings at our grandparents home at Durham Road, Portobello before the Sunday roast dinner was served up .

As we grew older in the late 1960s we began to alternate our Sunday visits and so like millions of others, we started to buy our own copy of The Post at 6/2 Oxgangs Avenue.

Gradually, I progressed  from just reading the Fun Section to the sports pages and then regular columns such as The Hon Man. His adventures could be quite interesting, particularly if the editor had perhaps sent him away to live on a pound a day or to tour around the Highlands camping and of course report back weekly, in a humorous vein.

d'Artagnan and Stopwatch Racing at Stockbridge, Edinburgh, January 2004

d'Artagnan reading Oor Wullie Stockbridge,
Edinburgh, January 2004 

d'Artagnan and Stopwatch Racing were brought up on the annuals. 

Reading the sauce bottle at the dinner table, leads on to Oor Wullie; The Four Marys; Alf Tupper; Peter Pan; Robin Hood; and then Holden Cauldfield; Atticus Finch; Pip; and Anna Karenina et al.

Given the dramatic reduction in newspaper buying The Sunday Post's circulation is still relatively high, however back in the 1960s I believe it had the highest reader penetration per head of the population of any newspaper in the world.

Pavlov's Bells

Why do we eat less ice cream and sweets today when they are much more readily available?

Photograph by Daniel Jackson

One of the daily rituals at Oxgangs Avenue was the sight, sound and smell of the regular ice cream vans which visited us. There were vans which visited on a daily basis and others which were like swallows, arriving in early summer and departing at the start of autumn.

Our favourite ice cream van in Oxgangs was Tony's who ran his business from a large, blue van. Tony wasn't his real name; it was actually Mario. Was it his own business or did Mario work for someone? Mario scored a ten for his film star looks, dark hair and flashing brown eyes-a bit like Seve Ballesteros; however that dropped to perhaps a six or a seven because when he emerged from the van he was quite tiny. I only ever saw him from outside the van from where he looked down on us below, so I was never aware of his diminutive height until years afterwards when Les Ramage told me.

Mario was a lovely guy. He had that great gift, you always felt that when he served you, that you were his favourite customer. His van always looked quite classy and clean. The ice cream was good. In addition to the ice cream I went through long phases of buying Topics, and also packets of Oddfellows. I wouldn't thank you for the latter today, quite medicinal. For many years Tony's Ice Cream Van appeared at four o'clock opposite The Stair, on the other side of the road. This was nicely timed for just after school. And then in the evening, the musical chimes could be heard around seven o'clock, but now on The Stair's side where he parked outside 4 Oxgangs Avenue. This was perfect timing for a post tea, pudding.

The other ice cream van which visited us regularly was Jola's-a most odd name. There was less of a relationship there; instead it was more of a transaction. The ice cream wasn't particularly nice; however we enjoyed the

Payne's Poppets. I naturally thought there was only one Jola‘s ice cream van. However, on one occasion at Morningside Road I thought I was seeing double-two stationary Jola's vans were parked in a line. I guess they were taking stock on board; one served Oxgangs whilst the other must have served another community.

The irregulars were Mr Bongo who served up bongos. These were hard frozen balls of ice cream covered in chocolate on the end of a stick. Paul Forbes told us a suspicious story about one of the men who operated the van.

The other more interesting van was Mr Whippy who only seemed to ply his trade in the summer months. He always kept the van’s engine running. The combination of diesel, the distinctive ice cream and the summer heat was a powerful mixture. The ice cream was good and it was magical to see the way it emerged from the tap and the expert way the vendor curled the ice cream on top of the cone.

Tara Cottage Garden, Jamestown, with ruined Free Church in background; early evening, Saturday, 22 September, 2012 (Peter Hoffmann)

Ice cream vans are a rarity nowadays-particularly here in the Highlands where I live today. Occasionally, on a quiet summer's evening, drifting across from Strathpeffer to Jamestown carried on a zephyr breeze we hear the sound of musical chimes. About six years ago when visiting Mother at Stenhouse, Edinburgh I got a lovely surprise to see Mario driving along in an ice cream van. This time the van had his own name on it; although his hair was grey, he looked as handsome as ever. Atticus and d’Artagnan were both there and were thrilled because they'd been brought up hearing about the novelty of ice cream vans.

(d'Artagnan and Atticus on Pentland Hills-next stop Lucas!, circa 2005)

(d'Artagnan and Atticus in Australia-on their way for an ice cream!, January 2006

So, today with fridges at home and more disposable income to spend on bumper packs of sweets and chocolate, why do some of us not eat confectionery quite as often? Perhaps, it's because we no longer hear the sound of Pavlovian musical chimes to draw us in.

Postscript: Mario Angelucci (‘Tony’) died peacefully on 21, May, 2008 at St Columba’s Hospice.