The Light Straw Domain Faded Memories Here are a selection of brand names, clever marketing ideas, images and sounds, everyday items and trivia which have made a lasting impression upon me.

It's no coincidence that this section traces some company histories and includes advertising and lyrics, because it is the clever, catchy sounds and images which tend to be the most memorable. Times change, products evolve, tastes and fashions move on and manufacturers always have to make a profit. This simple rule explains why many of the once well-known household names are no more!

 | Confectionery | Records & Lyrics | Fashion & Advertising | Advertising & Lyrics | Light Straw Trivia |

 | Faded Notes | Faded in Time | Faded Screens | Faded Stars | Cult TV |

Confectionery:

Cakes and Biscuits

	Mr Kipling makes exceedingly good cakes! Here is a current offering: 5 Chocolate Chip Cake Bars. Like most products the branding, colours and packaging has changed over the years...

Chocolates & Sweets

	Who knows the secret of the Black Magic box? Open the chocolate box to reveal more about some popular sweets of now and days gone by...

Drinks

1962  - The ring-pull tab was invented by Alcoa and was first marketed by the Pittsburgh Brewing Company of Pittsburgh, PA.

1974 - The stay-on tab invented. It was introduced by the Falls City Brewing Company of Louisville, KY.

Ring pulls today are attached to the cans to prevent them being dropped as litter. The hole in the top of the can is also a wider shape, making it easier to drink out of.

Coca-Cola

	1970 - Now Coca-Cola comes in easy open cans... The new 'ring - pull' cans were launched in the UK using the specially written lyrics of "Gimme Dat Ring" which was actually "Gimme Dat Ding" by The Pipkins featuring Tony Burrows.

"Gimme Dat Ding" by The Pipkins was written for a children's album called 'Oliver In The Overworld' and was intended to be a conversation between a metronome and a pianola. This in turn was a feature of 'Little Big Time' with Freddie Garrity. Tony Burrows also had hits with White Plains, the Brotherhood Of Man, Edison Lighthouse, and First Class.

Jubbly - Orange Drink

'Lovely Jubbly' was originally an advertising slogan for a triangular-shaped frozen orange drink which was popular in the 1950s and 60s. When John Sullivan was writing the script for 'Only Fools and Horses', he included the phrase as one of Del Boy's own.

Others say...

"I'm talking early 60's here; the price was 3d, but if you wanted a frozen Jubbly it cost 4d. A Jubbly was in a triangle shaped carton and was basically frozen orange juice, you clipped one end and sucked it like an ice lolly. A frozen Jubbly could be an afternoon's activity."

	Laurie Prior recalls... Lots of people remember the drink, but few can remember the packaging, so here is the photo of a 'Jubbly Orange Drink' in the familiar Tetrahedron carton. The orange drink was often sold frozen making a large ice lolly with no stick! The carton was a very clever design. It being so stable made it difficult to spill. The orange juice was manufactured by a firm called Tip Top. Photo by kind permission of Tetra Pak International who produced the original carton.
Calypso Jubbly Freeze Drinks
	In the 21st century, Calypso Soft Drinks, makers of the original Jubbly, have re-launched the product in a 62ml fun size, sold in packs of 10. Fun Shaped Ice Lollies without a stick:   "Real fruit juice mixed with natural mineral water to give a tasty pyramid shaped ice lolly kids love. One of our most popular products, sold through major supermarkets."

Pinkpussycat writes "Who remembers the frozen Jubbly.......and smashing it against a wall then sucking the mushy orange flavoured ice out the corner of it?"

Food

	During 2004, in the UK, the old Birds Eye logo is being phased out? www.birdseyefoods.com/ which is part of www.unilever.co.uk/

Ice Cream

"Who made the ice cream dessert called a ''Lovely' and when did they stop selling them? It was a tub of dark chocolate with a dollop of cream in the middle. I remember buying them in the late 70s, but can't remember anything else."

"Walls in the 1970s had a kind of ice cream called Neapolitan. It had posters with a smiley mustachioed Italian in a straw hat and the slogan 'its-a-lovely!'."

Ocado

	Ocado was launched in partnership with Waitrose on 23rd January 2002 as an on-line shopping service with doorstep delivery. Be more demanding with Ocado! Their delivery service may be good, but the choice of name has lead to a range of radio ads which have gone to great lengths to explain that the spelling is OCADO and not ACCARDO or any other variation.

Voice - overs have ranged from small children to Tom Baker  (or sound alike) and now 'The Singing Ocado Man', which is probably the most effective yet, albeit slightly tedious. The words, sung to the tune of the nursery rhyme 'I am the Music Man', are as follows:

I am the Ocado Man:

I am the Ocado Man, I bring groceries through your door into your kitchen.
I won't break or drop a single thing how could you ask for more?

Oca, Oca, Ocado, Ocado, Ocado
Groceries from Waitrose, Oca, Ocado

Our packers hand pick all your goods carefully, wearing gloves.
Into my van it's put not shoved, it's done with lots of love.

Oca, Oca, Ocado, Ocado, Ocado
Groceries from Waitrose, Oca, Ocado

I am the Ocado Man with one more thing to say
Type O - C- A - D - O dot com and try us out today.

Ocado operates from a state-of-the-art customer fulfillment centre which encompasses 1.2 million square feet over four floors and is located in Hatfield.

Advertising agency Heresy created Ocado's first campaign, which launched in November 2002 using the strapline: "Be more demanding.".

Heresy, established in 2001, is the Advertising and Direct Marketing arm of Chime Communications plc. "Its founding client was Ocado, the John Lewis Partnership joint venture, which the agency helped create and launch, winning Best Launch of 2002, Best Retail Campaign 2003 and Best Retail and Home Shopping Campaign 2004". Ogilvy & Mather took over as the creative agency for Ocado in March 2004. Starcom Motive won the media planning and buying assignment.

Fashion & Advertising:
Retail and Living.

The Sixties
Books:

	Never Had It So Good - A History Of Britain From Suez To The Beatles by Dominic Sandbrook explores in fascinating detail, the politics, fashion and lifestyles of the period.
	White Heat: 1964 to 1970 - A History of Britain in the Swinging Sixties by Dominic Sandbrook follows on from 'Never Had It So Good'.

The Seventies

	By the 1970s, advertising was becoming more targeted with the use of clever words, phrases and music to sell the innovative products that were emerging into the modern consumer households. Fashion and everyday basics no longer had to be plain and functional, they could be colourful and sophisticated too...

Advertising & Lyrics

Pearl & Dean

In 2003, Pearl and Dean, the greatest name in cinema advertising, marked its 50th anniversary.

Pearl and Dean was founded in 1953 by brothers, Ernie and Charles Pearl and Bob Dean to provide advertising on cinema screens.

Pearl & Dean's legendary signature tune is one of the most famous and best loved pieces of music played in British cinemas.

'Asteroid' was written Pete Moore.

www.pearlanddean.com

Commercial Breaks

www.commercialbreaksandbeats.co.uk/

Is a good place to search for music used in (mostly) more recent UK TV adverts.

www.tv-ark.org.uk/

Has lots of clips of (older) TV ads and cult programme titles.

Ronseal

"Does exactly what it says on the tin" is a catchphrase registered to the woodstain and wood-dye manufacturer, Ronseal.

Faded Notes

	Making Music Here we take a look at the Hammond Organ with Leslie speakers and drawbars, and Music Workshop Stage I as part of the Singing for Schools, and more...
	Records & Lyrics Remember when records were pressed onto 7 inches of vinyl and were played at 45 revs per minute? What about EPs and LPs? Here we look at a small selection of influential records and lyrics...
	Bobs & Bank Notes LSD was the abbreviation for £:s:d, pounds, shillings and pence; otherwise known as 'old money': the pre-decimal coinage of the UK until 1971.

Faded Screens:

1 - Technicalities of Film & TV Productions

In the 1960s, the majority of TV programmes were broadcast live, not recorded on tape, and were often interrupted by technical problems. It was not unknown for programmes to break down during mid transmission. Television receivers of the sixties were also prone to failure with faulty valves, picture tubes, etc. To reassure viewers that a break in transmission was entirely due to the studio, a common caption displayed during these periods was: "Do not adjust your set - normal service will be resumed as soon as possible." In this section we look at just some of the quirks of film and TV productions...

2 - Early Computing

	Exploring the culture which begat the Personal Computer, Accidental Empires details the early histories of Apple, Intel, Microsoft and others...

3 - Memorable Magical TV Programmes & Films

	Time Travel, Sorcerers & Magic...

All Gas & Gaiters

	All Gas & Gaiters was screened on BBC Tv between 1966 and 1971. The pilot programme was shown as a Comedy Playhouse production. The series followed the happenings in the cathedral of St. Oggs as acted out by, Derek Nimmo, Robertson Hare, William Mervyn and John Barron. John, of course, became well known for his later role of CJ in 'The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin'.

Terry Nation

			Terry Nation was the creative writer responsible for many of the cult Sci-Fi series of the 1970s... The Daleks in Doctor Who, Survivors, and Blakes 7.
Why were the series so successful? Although produced as low-budget programmes, the credibility relied up the viewer having the imagination to believe that such things were entirely plausible, if only in the future. The characters and storylines were carefully developed over the weeks to build the anticipation, hope, and fear which could not otherwise have been created in a single episode.

This old fashioned approach is perhaps lacking in the new Doctor Who, which relies upon short stories and quick action scenes to hold its audience's attention. Such is the modern world where everything happens so quickly and is taken somewhat less seriously. But then who would believe of a 1950s Police Call Box still existing in the year 2005...

Faded in Time

Adam Adamant Lives!

Gerald Harper stars as the (digitally) restored Victorian gentleman detective who was first seen on our tv screens in 1966. Created by Sydney Newman and produced by Verity Lambert. The Complete Collection includes all of series one which was originally transmitted 23/06/1966 to 25/03/1967. There is also a new 52 minute documentary 'This Man Is The One' revisiting the actors and locations which starred in this unique production. The Collection of five DVDs contains a wealth of extras, as well as a 64 page collectors' booklet.

Verity Lambert was the first producer of...

Doctor Who

	The Doctor? He's always been around, he's part of the fabric of time in the late 20th century... By the 8th July 2006 another 13 episodes had flown by. And was Catherine Tate bovvered? Well, I think she might have been... Step into the TARDIS for more.

	Torchwood first arrived on BBC3 at 21:00 hrs on 22nd October 2006 Torchwood is an anagram of Doctor Who  See www.bbc.co.uk/torchwood/ or visit Torchwood House

Faded Stars

STAR Wars
	Way back in 1977, the very first film in the Star Wars series was shown in cinemas throughout the world. In September 2004, the digitally mastered versions of the original trilogy were released on DVD: IV A New Hope V  The Empire Strikes Back VI The Return of the Jedi And with the final prequel released, the full line up is: I   The Phantom Menace II  The Attack of the Clones III Revenge of the Sith
www.starwars.com
STAR Maidens
	All men are subordinates on the planet of Medusa - for that is the planet ruled by the Star Maidens! Pre-dating even Blake's 7, this 1975 Anglo/German production stared Judy Geeson and Gareth Thomas.
Other STARS
	STRANGE REPORT (circa 1968) was an investigative/adventure series with a format similar to 'Department S', both of which were produced by the innovative ITC. Cast Anthony Quayle as Strange Kaz Garas as Gynt Anneke Wills as Evelyn Anneke Wills was a companion in Doctor Who between 1966-1967.

Light Straw Trivia

Bar Codes

The first product to have a bar code was Wrigley's gum.

Anyone for Tennis?

Yellow tennis balls were introduced at Wimbledon in 1986 for better visibility.

The last time white tennis balls were used was in the final for the mixed doubles of 1985. Miss M. Navratilova and P. McNamee played Mrs P.D. Smylie and J.B. Fitzgerald. McNamee and Navratilova won the match, 7-5, 4-6, 6-2.

Torqueing Nuts?

What is the purpose of the yellow tear-shaped pieces of plastic around the wheel nuts of buses and heavy goods vehicles?

Simon Cooper of Surepoint Ltd explains:

"These are called loose wheel nut indicators and are available under two brand names including our own, Surepoint. They are intended to ensure that any loosening of the wheel nuts of buses or HGVs is immediately noticeable.

For many years the only way to check if wheel nuts were coming loose was to walk around the vehicle checking more than 100 nuts by tapping them, or by applying a torque wrench to each nut. This created its own problem; over-tightening of the nut.

Loose or overtight wheel nuts popping off wheels were thought to be instrumental in ten unnecessary deaths a year.

In 1990, engineer Peter Brawley created the loose nut indicator so that wheels can be checked visibly. The idea has been adopted almost universally as the fastest and most accurate method of checking the wheel nuts of public service vehicles."

[Taken from 'Questions' Daily Mail, 29th November 2003]

Illuminated Steps?

Why do many escalators have a lurid green light underneath them which can be glimpsed between steps at the top or bottom?

Liz Devine in London W1 explains:

The green lights seen on escalators are called demarcation lights and simply aid passengers in clearly identifying the boundary line between the steps.

The light comes from fluorescent lamps mounted under the escalator steps at the upper and lower landings - the most dangerous sections of an escalator because these are where people get on and off.

The use of the green lights comes from the fact that the colour green, being at the middle of the colour spectrum, is particularly visible to the human eye in areas where the light source is from fluorescent bulbs or incandescent lighting.

[Taken from 'Questions' Daily Mail, 18th December 2004]

If you find any spelling mistakes on this site, this could be the reason...

The Initial Teaching Alphabet (ITA)

The Initial Teaching Alphabet (ITA) spelling system was designed by Sir James Pitman (grandson of the man who devised shorthand) to help young children learn to read more quickly.

The are 44 characters in the Initial Teaching Alphabet... It uses the 26 letters of the Roman alphabet and another 14 characters to represent sounds such as "oo" and "th". Sentences written in ITA are all in lower case. ITA was introduced into selected schools in England in 1961. Both the children (and their parents!) had to master the use of the expanded alphabet in all of their schoolwork. Of course, ITA was only was only an interim solution to reading and writing and consequently, after the age of seven, the proper alphabet had to be learnt! Many 'learning to read' books were produced in ITA and a popular series was 'The Downing Readers".

The Downing Readers, by John Downing. Initial Teaching Publishing Co. Ltd, London

Titles:

• paul

• sally

• hulloe and good-bie

• up the tree

• cum heer jet

• paul's bird taebl

• zip and hiz car

• the nue hors

• get up zip

• goe-ing to scool

www.itafoundation.org/

International Standard Paper Sizes

A0 1189 x 841 mm

A1 841 x 594 mm

A2 594 x 420 mm

A3 420 x 297 mm

A4 297 x 210 mm

A5 210 x 148 mm

A6 148 x 105 mm

http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~mgk25/iso-paper.html

UK Mains Wiring

	Prior to 1970, mains flexes (eg plug top wiring) used the colours red, black and green, which was also used from the fuseboard to the socket outlets. Upcoming harmonisation will require that for new installations, the wiring from the fuseboard will (finally) match the brown, blue, green and yellow colours which were first introduced 35 years ago!
	The colours of the live and neutral wires in electrical cables are changing from red and black to brown and blue. This is the same as the wires in flexible leads in portable appliances. You can continue to use cables in the old colours of red and black until 31st March 2006. After that, all new wiring must be in the new colours.
New from 1st Jan 2005, Building Control on new work.... www.odpm.gov.uk/electricalsafety	From 1st January 2005, people carrying out electrical work in homes and gardens in England and Wales will have to follow the new safety rules in the Building Regulations. If you are doing major work, like adding new circuits to your home or garden, you will have to tell your local authority building control department or get the work carried out by a qualified electrician who will take care of the new rules for you.

Children's Books of the 1960s & 70s

The Project Club

The Project Club was a spin off from the Milk Marketing Board, who in the 1970s encouraged us to drink more milk with slogans such as 'Drinka Pinta Milka Day'! Project Club books with activities to keep enquiring minds busy could be obtained by ordering extra pints of milk and by joining the Club. Later, the books were available in the shops. The book featured here is 084 Exploring London. Visit The Dairy Council

Edward Ardizzone

	"Once upon a time there was a small boy called Johnny. He was very clever at making things and he spent all his spare time hammering and banging and sawing up pieces of wood." Edward Ardizzone was a well known illustrator of 20th century children's books.

Toys

	Junior Engineer was a plastic construction kit very similar to Meccano. Lincoln International - Hours of construction fun!

www.diecast.plus.com/ All your favourite Dinky and Matchbox toys.

Chinese New Year

Of the Dog 29th Jan 2006
Of the Pig 18th Feb 2007 [Pigs are most compatible with Rabbit, Sheep]
Of the Rat 7th Feb 2008

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