Many kids were brought up on Janet and John
You could say the old-fashioned way, but was it the best way
Innocence really did exist in these days.

Janet and John Books

Mabel O’Donnell and Rona Munro from New Zealand, and published by Row Peterson. Originally there wer known as Alice for Janet and Gerry for John.

Then James Nisbet bought the rights to them and republished the stories as Janet and John in the UK. Janet and John were portrayed as average English children, living a typical middle-class life, and the books consisted of stories that progressively incorporated key words needed in the development of reading skills.

These books were fully adopted by schools and became a major source for reading in the 1960′s for school children.

In the early seventies, Janet and John’s straightforward and simple world was seen as being outdated and the books fell out of favour and were soon surpassed by the ladybird books of Peter and Jane.

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Camberwick Green Toothpaste

Camberwick Green Toothpaste, now how wrong is that!?
After having Trumpton, Chigley and Camberwick Green they decided it was time for a Toothpaste for kids.
These soft plastic tube depicting Captain Snort from Pippin Fort or Dr Mopp were full of strawberry or orange flavoured toothpaste. Gordon Murray’s peerless creation defined the genre in so many areas, not least in its spin-off merchandising.

Camberwick Green Toothpaste

The world was innocent and sweet back then, a world in which no job was too small for the emergency services and in which a four-year-old could happily lose himself, emerging only occasionally to demand tie-in toothpaste. I never had a filling until I was 12. That’s how good Camberwick Green toothpaste was.

Camberwick Green History:

Camberwick Green (1966) begat Trumpton (1967), which in turn begat Chigley (1969) – the body of work that cultural historians now refer to as “the Trumptonshire trilogy”. Camberwick Green was rural, Trumpton was urban, and Chigley was neither one thing nor the other and may possibly have been a series too far. I think Brian Cant’s voice it some ways gave a security that it was just so right to watch and trust it. In the UK millions of us kids earliest television memory was being asked by Brian Cant to guess the contents of a box, a musical box, wound up and ready to play. It was often Mrs Honeyman from the chemist’s. On a good lunchtime, though, it would be Mickey Murphy, the baker, or the bizarrely bearded Dr Mopp – or, better still, Windy Miller, whose windmill made a noise like someone carefully breaking a cello, and whose unparalleled ability to emerge from his front door without getting decapitated by the sails remains one of the greatest feats of timing that British television has ever seen.
Everybody in Trumptonshire had a job which involved doing something, and, accordingly, the programmes set the standard for blue-collar children’s television, to the point where successors in this area were destined to scramble for crumbs under the Trumptonshire table. Peter Hazel, the Green’s postman, pips Postman Pat by 15 years. Mr Clutterbuck predicts Bob the Builder. Fireman Sam was but a dim twinkle in the eyes of Captain Flack.

Seen these days, of course, it can look slow. Indeed, viewed beside the hyperactive Lazytown, the average episode of Camberwick Green could well have been directed by Ingmar Bergman. Whole minutes seem to go by while someone is merely gathering the wherewithal to nod.

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1964 was a leap year that saw Martin Luther King, Jr receives the Nobel Peace Prize, James Bond released his third outing with Goldfinger along with all the merchandise and comedian Harry Hill was born in 1964.

The Summer Olympics were held in Tokyo, Japan. Meanwhile Roald Dahl was busy writing Charlie and the Chocolate Factory in 1964

If you were learning to read at school you may remember the Peter and Jane Books. They became known as a series in the Key Word Readers set and helped many youngsters get to grips with words such as Ball, Dog and Cat

1964 News

This was the year of where the president signed the Civil Rights act of 1964. In the UK the death sentence was abolished. Meanwhile Nelson Mandela is sentenced to life in prison.

Boxer Cassius Clay who later changes his name to Muhammad Ali, becomes World Heavyweight Champion.

1964 Toys and Games

With Goldfinger movie this year came the merchandise and gadgets for every toy box, The popular choice was the Corgi 261. It was the James Bond Aston Martin DB5. If you try and find one today then look to pay around £60 that’s about $100. The Gold ones go for more than the silver version.

Dennis the Menace or actually Dennis the Pickle started off as a daily syndicated newspaper comic strip originally created, written and illustrated by Hank Ketcham. This comic strip made it onto kids bookshelfs with TV annuals for the next few years.

It was also the year when you learnt how many things in the home were metal. Let me explain by saying it was the year Wham-O’s 1964 monster piece was released. Known as the Monster Magnet, which fused the power of the monster with the power of magnetic energy.

1964 Movies

This was the year Nicolas Cage and Bridget Fonda were born. If you went to the flicks in this leap year you would of been getting your pop corn before seeing Mary Poppins,  or Clint Eastwood in A Fistful of Dollars.

Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb was another big movie starring Peter Sellers. This Comedy was about an insane general, who starts a process to nuclear holocaust that a war room of politicians and generals frantically try to stop.

1964 Music

The Beatles took the world and America by storm and Beatlemania went into overdrive as they released a series of number one hits including “I want to hold your hand” , “All my Loving” .

1964 is part of the 52 Weeks of Years series

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A 1963 Holiday took place around the country by driving around in your Volkswagen camper van. The Beatles couldnt seem to do anything wrong as everything went to number one.

You probably started your day off before school in 1963 with either Cocoa Puffs,Cocoa Krispies or  Capn’ Crunch cereal

Hergé’s Adventures of Tintin first became an animated cartoon in 1963, and while the series was extremely popular in France and Belgium, it hardly aired at all in the U.S meanwhile Inspector Clouseau was introduced in 1963′s The Pink Panther.

1963 Fashion

It was cool to drink Double Diamond in 1963 if you didn’t believe the Schweppes TV Adverts

1963 News

Who could forget the news headlines of 1963? The year JFK was assassinated and Martin Luther King Jr. Makes His famous “I Have a Dream” speech.

1963 Toys and Games

The G.I. Joe story began in 1963 when a marketing man approached the Hasbro toy company with the idea of creating a poseable soldier

1963 Music

While the Beatles were releasing new singles, new girl Cilla Black re-released an old Beatles song as her first single, helping to start her long singing career.

1963 Television and Cinema

The first DR Who was broadcast in 1963 by the BBC. The show was restrained by the BBC’s low-budget purse strings, the special effects didn’t drop anyone’s jaw. But no matter how underwhelming the show’s look, no matter who was playing the doctor, the eerie title music, the unique narratives and those patented cliffhanger endings drew sci-fi fans for years.

The big movies of the year had to be The Great Escape. But the all round cast of stars were involved in a chase accross America looking for lost treasure. Its a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World hit the cinemas at the end of 1963 and was a 3 hour movie that hit the box office.

Other movies included Jason and the Argonauts Taking over four months to animate the famous “swordsmen vs. skeleton” climax scene, but proving worth every second.

1963 is part of the 52 Weeks of Years

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So what do you remember in 1962? The year Marilyn Monroe was found dead. You probably had better site than the ever popular Mr Magoo, while The Flintstones and Dino lunch box was in charge of your school lunch

Many children were also engrossed in reading about the adventures of the Famous Five. As Enid Blyton led them on their journeys which were in effect based in Dorset, Five Have a Mystery to Solve and Five Are Together Again were published.

1962 Fashion

With the Space Age well and truly on track, you may remember the Paper dresses. They were based on what NASA had created, paper clothing for its astronauts: the disposable duds made sense miles up in the atmosphere.

1962 Toys and Games

Girls may remember the Tammy. The plastic Tammy swept onto the doll scene in 1962, she was twelve inches tall, fully jointed, the proud owner of slightly side-glancing eyes. A competition for the ever popular Barbie.

For the boys they could start there very own Grand Prix. Waddingtons Formula 1 Board Game was released this year and it must be said had a very realistic game play

1962 News

Andy Warhol Exhibits His Campbell’s Soup Can, in the same year a death occurred while someone tried crossing the Berlin Wall. 1962 was also known for the Cuban Missile Crisis.

1962 Music

Mellow music from Pat Boone amy of been on the radio this year but Frank Sinatra was still churning out 5 or 6 singles a year. Hear were the top songs on 62

1962 Movies and TV

The public left cinemas petrified that they would fall into the power of an aggressive plant when they got home after watching the adapted from the novel by John Wyndham - The Day of the Triffids

It was also the year The Andy Williams Show had a family perform each week. Only a few years later would they reach huge popularity. In 1962 you would of known them as a  singing barbershop-quartet family with gospel tunes , today we know them as The Osmonds

How can we forget that 1962 was the start of an amazing 007 francise. The Ian Flemmings James Bond was on the silver screen with Sean Connery. He  firmly established himself as the one true Bond with Dr. No this year.

Almost forgot Lawrence of Arabia and To Kill a Mockingbird were both popular movies in 1962

1962 part of the 52 Weeks of Years

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Did you ever have the John Bull printing outfit ? If you did there were several various versions. They were separated by number, so the John Bull printing outfit no 18 was different to the #30. Generally the larger the number the larger the amount of rubber letters. So if you has #6 you knew that either your parents were poor or they had no confidence that your young business mind wasn’t going to make you the next Donald Trump or Alan Sugar!

John Bull printing outfit used by Del

A boxed John Bull printing outfit set went for auction for just 5 pounds last week, so you can still pick them up for a bargain. We also saw the John Bull printing outfit #18 used on Rock and Chips by Del Boy. Fortunately Perry who runs the Only Fools and Horses Appreciation Society now has the very set safe in his collection of props.

There was a pair of tweezers for handling the fiddly letters, it was easy losing some of the letters as they fell on the floor and bounced away. The letters were in reverse, of course, as the thing worked on the letterpress principle, so you could easily mix the S or 2 with a Z So the skill for all junior printers were to make sure the letters were the right way up before print.

If you owned the John Bull printing set, you were guaranteed to lose a few letters, no matter how careful you were. It was the custom to arrange the letters of your full name and then to stamp everything in site within the first 24 hours of getting the set.

The reason John Bull made a printing set may puzzle some as they were more renowned for rubber tires and puncture outfits in the 1950s and 1960s. I can only imagine the connection is due to the rubber connection. Rubber letters and rubber tires. If anyone actually knows the answer do let us know.

Additionally the ink tins were always dried up before long and at that point the novelty of the set was almost disappearing. The tweezers were made of pliable tin and ended up being used to extract future splinters.

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1961 was a year that saw congress approve the Peace Corps as a permanent federal agency within the State Department, and Kennedy signed the legislation on September 22. If you were going to school you may well of had a Pets and Pals metal lunchbox with matching steel thermos from King Seeley. Crossing the road became a lot safer once a squirrel named Tufty came a long. Created by the UK National Road Safety Committee to raise children’s awareness of traffic on the roads while adults drove a the popular Hillman Super Minx or the original Daf 750.

1961 Fashion

Dr. William Scholl an orthopedic specialist created a wooden clog in 1961 which we today know as Dr. Scholl’s Exercise Sandals. For the ladies 1961 Dolcis High Shoe was coming into the high street window as the must have shoe.

1961 Songs included

This was the year The Hollies started up.

1961 Toys and Games

The Yo-Yo becomes the newest craze and is the largest selling toy. The Wham-O Company introduced Slip ‘N Slide, while other kids were playing Mr. Machine learning tool. With a few twists of the key on his back, Mr. Machine took off, his clear body letting kids watch his insides churning. Gears spun around, arms and legs swung, his mouth opened and closed, and a bell on his belly rung. Another popular toy in 1961 was the Fisher Price Vintage Chatter Telephone. Of course this is become popular again since being relabeled as the Toy Story Phone

1961 Movies and TV

The original The Parent Trap was released in this year as well as Babes in Toyland and Breakfasts At Tiffany’s. Your TV schedules included On Your Mark in ths year as well as The Avengers and The Dick Tracy Show. Another TV classic show you may remember was Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea. It was a science fiction film produced and directed by Irwin Allen, released in 1961 by 20th Century Fox. Lets not forget how cool Steve McQueen was back in this year.

1961 News

At this time the Berlin Wall was built to separate East from West. while the Soviets launch the first man into space. Coca Cola introduces Sprite to complete against 7-Up.  Another race is under way.

1961 part of the 52 Weeks of Years

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You may of been driving around in a 1960 Humber Hawk Series II while lower budgets enjoyed the 1960 Austin Mini Seven rather than the  Aston Martin DB5.

Most bored kids had hobbies that nearly always included stamp collecting or postcard collecting. You may of been into gardening. If so then the 1960s UK Ladybird Indoor Gardening Book was essential for any green fingers

Here are some other memories we enjoyed in the year of 1960, feel free to add your memories at the foot of the page.

1960 Fashion

This was the year Dr. Martens set off and eventually made a big name for itself in the fashion world. Did you prefer a 1960 Russell & Bromley Green bag as your fashion accessory for a night at the dance hall?

1960 Toys

Toys such as Hornby trains were in ever boys bedroom along with meccanno and other lovable games and toys. Also making it popular in the year of 1960 was the Johnny Eagle gun. Some may remember counting with Hi-Ho! Cherry-O, or Spudsie the Hot Potato. You could also be entertained with the Fun Phone, anyone remember that? Other hits were the plastic-bodied robot called Mr. Machine. For those that couldnt drive a mini they could scale down to Scalextric Triang They released a 1960′s Mini Racing set that kept boys and dads entertained.

1960 Music

If you wanted to hear the hits, then tuning in to the Pirate Radio Luxembourg on 208 Medium Wave was a must. True the signal would fade on and off, but you did get a great radio station with all the hits.

1960 Tv shows

This was the year you may of watched Maverick with Beau Maverick (1960-61) Gentleman Jack Darby Richard Long Doc Holliday (1960-62) . Other shows included Let’s Have Fun. Though in the USA one show that caught everyone’s attention was the first televised presidential debates.

Anyone remember The 1960 Children’s Film Foundation program called Hunted in Holland? A lad goes to stay with his Dutch pen pal and accidentally falls foul of a tourist guide on his way across. This guide is one of a gang smuggling stolen diamonds into Holland; a bracelet is hidden in his walking stick and they discover this. It was repeated a few times thereafter, but made great TV in that year.

1960 News

One main event making the news in 1960 was the Olympics. The 1960 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event held from August 25 to September 11, 1960 in Rome, Italy. During 1960 Brazil’s Capital Moves to Brand New City and Lasers were Invented

1960 Movies

One of the biggest releases this year was Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho

1960 part of the 52 Weeks of Years

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Yes we are starting our 52 Weeks of Years very soon and we want you to be part of it. So what is 52 Weeks of Years? Starting from 1960 we will take a year each week and look at the fashion, the games, the popular culture, what was cool was was awesome during that particular year.

Each week we will move on to the following year and gradually move closer and closer to 2012. So starting with 1960 we will no doubt cover your favorite year some time this year. Was it 1976 – that was mine we had the first commercial flight by Concorde and the driest summer in the UK? Maybe you were loving 1982 when Michael Jackson releases the ‘Thriller’ album. 1969 when they walked on the moon was that your year?

How can you help out in 52 Weeks of Years

We want you to also write us an article of the year you loved. Why was it a special year, what do you remember about it. Yes we want authors for each year to provide articles that help us all relive the memories.

What to do? Just fill out the form below, even before we get to the year as we will gradually add the articles in order. So get writing about your favorite year below and see if others share your amazing memories

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The Muppet Show had it start somewhere – actually the The Muppet Show Pilot was in 1975 on ABC.

In the days when Kermit wasn’t a green from comparing the show. But all the usual gang are there to be seen. The Muppet Show pilot was quite different than the show itself ended up being. In this case, the original didn’t feature Kermit as the host.

Jim Henson along with the gang give us a glimpse of things to come. Most remained including glimpses of Miss Piggy, Sam the Eagle and Rowlf the Dog though compare Nigel is replaced by Kermit the frog.

Although the Muppet Show Pilot arrived in 1975  the show itself got the go ahead and premiered on 5 September 1976. 5 series were produced until 15 March 1981, lasting 120 episodes.

My favorite character was Gonzo the Great, he is a stunt performer. The Muppet Show’s resident oddball. Gonzo was a parody of Evel Knievel.

The Muppet Show Pilot included:

• Nigel, Sam, and Floyd in the Conference Room:
• Mount Rushmore presidents sketch
• A Wrestling Match
• The famous Swedish Chef
• Statler and Waldorf sit in their den and talk.
• Two Heaps, tarantula like monsters talking in gibberish.
• Return to Beneath the Planet of the Pigs with Miss Piggy

Looking at the Muppet Show Pilot you will see some differences such as the production. Some characters were abandoned and others created. We’ve mentioned Kermit is only briefly seen and the show is instead hosted by a Muppet named Nigel. However, there are many characters that remain almost the same from the original pilot to the first season run, such as the Swedish Chef, Sam the Eagle, Statler and Waldorf and Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem.
So what are your memories of the Muppet show?

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