Post by Les on Apr 9, 2016 20:23:10 GMT
from peter Capon
I can never remember life without the wireless (radio), it was a family ritual that every night at quarter to seven we had to sit quietly while dad tuned into the Archers. We knew better than making noise or frivolity, it really was more than out lives were worth. Dad would sit leaning forward onto his knees and totally immerse himself in the programme.
I still picture him with a smile on his face and giggling every time that Walter Gabriel started his OOs and Arghs.
Is it a figment of my imagination or did they do away with Walter, and then, because of public outcry return the same man as his twin brother. Maybe thats where Dallas got the idea from.
Sundays wouldn’t have been the same without, now was it called Around the horn ? Where would we have been without Workers Playtime coming from some God forsaken place that I had never heard of. What did these people do for jobs apart from sitting around listening to variety shows every lunchtime?
The funniest thing on reflection was listening to Peter Brough and Archie Andrews. Now where on earth did they get the idea of a ventriloquist having his own programme on the Wireless. I do remember seeing Peter Brough appearing years later on TV and he was the worst ventriloquist that I have ever seen. Doesn’t it show what innocents we all were.
What about Tv; it was many years later that that turned up in our house in the guise of a huge wooden box with a very, very small screen on the front. If my memory serves me correctly it was twice as deep as it was high. Still this turned up when I was about seven or eight, and we were the lucky ones.
Whatever happened to Kim the boxer dog, was he put down? What about Four Feather Falls? And whatever happened to Mr. Turnip and Muffin the Mule. Will someone please tell me the name of the lady who play the zither and was it her who fronted the Mule.
Now Andy Pandy that was a programme, I can remember two weeds waving about and the flower in the middle saying weeeeed, weeeed. What about the Flower Pot Men, probably getting confused now, it was such a long time ago.
At some stage in the TV’s life my father acquired a huge magnifying glass that hung over the TV screen on straps to enlarge the image. The trouble was if you didn’t sit directly in front of the screen everything was distorted. Of course this was all in glorious black and white, I'm sure the contrast was not working. Strange but even when we had the TV we still went through the Archers ritual.
Do you remember the interludes, they lasted longer than the programmes in most cases. That goldfish made me feel quite seasick.
Do you remember the Cisco Kid and Pancho. Well these days if two fellas had such an intimate relationship they would be known as gays. All that business about Oh Pancho and Oh Cisco.
What about the Range Rider, it started with him leaning over from a riding position and looking under the neck of the horse while firing his gun at full gallop. My goodness he was clever, every time I tried that on my push bike I fell off.
What about "Life with the Lyons". Well they certainly didn't live on the same planet, but then the Americans were so much wealthier than us English the poor relations.
Does the name Johnny Slater mean anything to you the man who stood by a chestnut barrow telling stories. Would have been better on the wireless in my mind.
What about the really rude bit at the end of the evening that we were never allowed to see; You know Close down at eleven o'clock.
Another thing I remember was swopping for a crystal radio set, what a strange thing it was, although it looked like a small radio I had to connect it to the springs on the bottom of my bed as an aerial to make it work and then turn a handle, I suppose to give it some life. Life is a bit easier now with MP3 players.