104 thoughts on “ALL OUR YESTERDAYS”

  2. Blimey, tris, what an interesting selection this week!

    Pic 9: was that the same Willy’s that went on to design the Jeep?

    Pic 12: an Isetta bubble car! Messerschmidt also got in on the act.

    Pic 14: Clark Gable

    Pic 16: Katharine Hepburn

    I’m looking forward to learning about the others.

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      1. It is an organ; the wooden boxes on either side are speaker cabinets (Leslie) with rotating vanes for variable-speed tremolo. It’s quite an early one; quite deep and with separate legs rather than a solid side. It’s a Hammond that getting grief from Keith Emerson in the video.

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        1. Derek, I always thought that the distinguishing feature of organ keyboards was they had more black keys than white ones.

          Obviously a misconception.

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          1. The keys are in the same layout as a piano’s, but some organs have keys in different colours; black, grey and white being moved around, for example. Some 1960s Vox (I think) organs do this.

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    2. Glad you liked them, DonDon.

      I dunno about Willy’s, but I found this on the Jeep. I suspect that indeed it was.

      There’s some quite weird ones this week… We’ll see who knows what about them!

      It’s always interesting.

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      2. That Willys Coupe from 1916 is a strange one.
        The driver sits on the left hand side in the centre of the car, between the passengers.
        The passengers sit on the right, facing, with the front passenger looking back, almost like they were on a railway coach or a horse-drawn carriage.
        I’ve never seen a car with reversed seats on the road but in the early days of research into road safety, companies like Volvo and Mercedes came to the conclusion that it was safer in an accident to be facing backward.
        Injuries to the neck and legs were much reduced, especially in the days when seatbelts were not commonly used.
        Maybe Willys had something there that no one else saw.
        Practical difficulties prevented the adoption of this arrangement, not least being that the driver still had to look forward – a great help when driving…

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        2. That’s a bit of a throwback to veteran cars; there’s a body style called “vis-a-vis” which is based on the layout of an open carriage – except that the driver sits at the back.

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  3. Pic 9 – as donDon suggests it was indeed the same Willys that made the Jeep (GP = General Purpose (vehicle).
    Pic 4 – Petula Clark, I think, in the film ‘Goodbye, Mr. Chips’
    Pic 20 – King Zog I of Albania (first & only) – I remember being fascinated when I leanrt, as a youngster, that there was a King Zog – sounded like somebody from Flash Gordon 🚀

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    1. Apparently King Zog departed Albania on a train accompanied by the contents of the central bank and a number of old masters. It is alleged he paid the bills in his London hotel (the Ritz) in gold bullion.

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    3. Willys did indeed make the Jeep for the US Army in WW2. Sometime after the war Ford took over the Willys brand and attempted to market a luxury saloon built on to the Jeep chassis. The result was one of the great marketing disasters of all time and the Ford Willys flopped badly in the USA. Ford’s solution was to relocate the entire project to unsuspecting South American countries in succession. I heard that it was made and sold in Argentina with no great success until it was completely wiped out by the manufacture of VW cars there: VW Beetles were cheaper, more reliable, vastly more fuel efficient, so Ford Willys moved the entire operation to Brasil where I had the use of one for a couple of weeks. I suspect that it had been made in Mexico too at some point.

      They were appalling to drive: the Jeep chassis was designed for all-terrain use, so it yawed violently in corners, making steering a lottery. Worse still, it had a leather bench seat for driver and passenger, so you could find yourself sliding away from the steering wheel and pedals on right-hand corners, which was pretty unnerving. On top of that, it was hugely fuel-inefficient. Ford Willys’ fate in Brasil was identical to Argentina: VW set up a factory making the Beetle and Ford Willys packed up and went somewhere else. I got shot of the one my employers had let me use and got a highly reliable Beetle instead. Many years later I was interviewed for a prospective job in Ecuador and it was mentioned that I’d get a Ford Willys as part of my package. I didn’t take the job (the car was only one reason for turning it down) but it turned out that it was being made in Ecuador at that time. Possibly, somewhere in Africa or Central America, there’s still a Ford Willys plant churning out the world’s most successful and longest-running flop!

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      1. What a great story, Coinneach.

        It seems even to my very non-technical mind, a mad idea to used a jeep chassis for a luxury car… and why, of all people, Ford, would do that, is quite amazing.

        I looked on line to see if Willys are still churning out cars in Benin or somewhere… but it seems not.

        This article has some amazing looking cars though…

        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willys

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  4. Oops, forgot – Pic 1 – Joan Sanderson, mostly remembered for roles in ‘Yes, Sir’ & ‘Fawlty Towers’.
    Pic 10 – Schlitz beer made Milwaukee famous and gave rise to the song. ‘What made Milwaukee famous made a loser out of me’. Sung by many but a hit in 1968 by Jerry Lee Lewis.

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          1. Yes Andi, “Mable” is the surprising misprint on the album cover. That’s Maybelle Carter, one of the three members of the famous “Carter Family”……A.P Carter, Sara Carter, and Maybelle…….who were recording stars with Victor Records from 1927 to 1943. (Maybelle with guitar in this picture.)

            Then during WWII, Maybelle and her three daughters…….Helen, June, and Anita…..formed an act called “Mother Maybelle and the Carter Sisters.” They later joined the Grand Ole Opry at WSM radio in Nashville.

            In 1968, June Carter married Johnny Cash, and Mother Maybelle and the girls joined Cash…..by then, once again calling themselves the “Carter Family.”

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            1. About the original Carter family……

              The “Bristol Sessions” are sometimes called the Big Bang of country music.

              https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bristol_sessions

              The Carters traveled to Bristol in a Model T Ford and cut six sides on 1 August and 2 August, 1927 (essentially their Victor Talking Machine audition recordings), the first being “Bury Me Under the Weeping Willow,” released on records by Victor on 20 January 1928. Sara sang lead in a higher register than many of the later recordings, AP can be heard coming in on the bass, and Maybelle’s unique self-taught finger picking guitar style (later called the “Carter scratch”) can be clearly heard, but is somewhat muffled from the less than ideal makeshift recording studio on the second floor of the old shirt factory in Bristol.

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              1. Conan……Yes, that was it. Considering how famous Mother Maybelle Carter was in her time, it’s surprising to see such a misprint on an album title. Even an album of reissues on a minor record label.

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                  1. Tris……Yes, it really surprised me. I also looked over some of the YouTube comments, and none that I saw mentioned it.

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          1. Ah, well, I never thought to ask about buses… I mean, hello!!!

            “Hi, Mr Lewis. Love your work (well, a bit anyway, although your choice of brides is a bit dodgy) but tell me, do know know much about buses… or even what they are?”

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    2. The show’s title was “Please Sir!” andi. The exclamation mark is integral, it’s not my emphasis.

      The Fawlty Towers appearance was a one-off. Another one-off that sticks in my mind was in Michael Palin’s Ripping Yarns series; she played the protagonist’s mother in “Roger of the Raj”.

      She was a very highly regarded theatre performer, she didn’t really do much film or television.

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  5. No 11. The first ever Glastonbury festival in 1970. My husband is from a village nearby and he used to go when it just started up.
    According to Wiki, the Kinks didn’t go in the end but were replaced by T-Rex.
    Also, according to Wiki, Michael Eavis donates loads of money to charity, he also banned plastic bottles a good few years ago, providing water kiosks for festival goers, plus lots of other environmental good stuff. So not the bad guy I thought he was.

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    1. 17. Close, it was Alexandra, who was her mother in law. 🙂

      And you’re not having so much luck this week… because it is Banff.

      🙂

      Munguin says you get the consolation prize for trying. You get to take him for a meal at the Tour D’Or in Paris. Bring a gold credit card!

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  9. Morning Dave, it’s just missing the realism of added sh!t, p!ss, vom!t and l!tter 😦
    Not sure why No. 7 is there, it’s an LNB (low noise block) from a single feed satellite dish, still seen hanging off buildings today.

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  10. 17 – Princess May of Teck. She was betrothed to heir to succeed Edward V11 then he died and then was betrothed to the second heir. Gives the impression she hadn’t a choice.

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    1. Aye Marcia, Mary was famously wasp-waisted and used corsets that had to be pulled in with strong-backs and a chain block.
      Here she is wearing one of her old outfits she used when going to the steamie…

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      1. I immediately thought of Alexandra. But I didn’t check it out.
        She apparently had the same understated taste in jewelry that Mary had. 😉

        I think I read that when Edward died, she invited one of his favorite mistresses to the palace to pay her respects.

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        1. Well, they pass on the jewels so it’s possible they are the same ones. Hard to tell, they have so many of them.

          Personally, I’ve never seen the point of all this glittery stuff, but their simple minds seem to think it is important.

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            1. Dear Queen Alexandra,

              Please can I have a lot of money,

              Kind regards,

              Munguin.

              In that respect, I reckon, she had nothing in common with her great granddaughter, Lizzy, who appears to be as tight as a drum.

              I see about the scar. She also had a limp… Get this, from Wiki:

              She hid a small scar on her neck, which was probably the result of a childhood operation,[89] by wearing choker necklaces and high necklines, setting fashions which were adopted for fifty years.[90] Alexandra’s effect on fashion was so profound that society ladies even copied her limping gait, after her serious illness in 1867 left her with a stiff leg.[91] This came to be known as the “Alexandra limp”.[92][93] She used predominantly the London fashion houses; her favourite was Redfern’s, but she shopped occasionally at Doucet and Fromont of Paris.[87]

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              1. LOL…….Munguin has the right idea. No need to ask for a specific sum, simply ask for a lot!

                Presumably there’s a different attitude at the palace these days regarding personal checks to people who need some money. 😉

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                1. Yes. They are all incoming. Airmiles and his ex-wife are expensive to keep and the Middleton woman must go through 5 dresses a day… not to mention tartan accessories when ever Scotland is mentioned.

                  Then there’s all the medals and awards the blokes have to get polished by the serfs. That doesn’t come cheap… the polish I mean. Serfs apparently work very cheaply for royals because of the privilege of serving them!!! Yes, they walk among us!

                  I wish Alexandra were still around!

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    2. I don’t remember it, I was too wee (maybe slept through it?) but I don’t think it was a coincidence that six months later we were moved out of our room and kitchen tenement and it was demolished soon after!

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      2. My memory of that night was of the neighbour’s gate opening and closing all night long. Milk bottles put out for the next day were heard rolling down the street then smashing.

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        1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1968_Scotland_storm

          This bit is interesting… apparently it didn’t affect London. There was a storm there with a lot of damage 20 years later, and it was all we heard about for days.

          “There was little national press coverage of the storm, despite it affecting most of northern England, Northern Ireland and Scotland. An interest-free loan of £500,000 was given by the Labour Government to the affected areas.[1][2] Singer Frankie Vaughan began to raise funds for the victims of the storm by holding a special concert at Alhambra Theatre in Glasgow.[13]”

          Bravo to Franke Vaughan!

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          1. Brings back memories. I was on duty the Sunday evening, and certainly the wind was strong, but we had no idea what was about to happen. Went home, Glasgow west end, and slept through it. Didn’t even realise next day until I bought a newspaper. It was only when I reported for duty, did I find out they had been trying to contact me, but of course, my phone line was down. Didn’t get off duty until 4am the next morning, the only good thing was that it was the quietest shift I had known. At least half the city was in darkness, and I think the people were in shock.

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    3. Another school day for me there.

      One thing that came out of it that should shame the government was that Glasgow had the worst slums in Europe in 1968.

      Great British Values, eh?

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  12. no 2. – Bedford SB
    “The Bedford SB was a front-engined bus and coach chassis built by Bedford Vehicles in the United Kingdom.
    It was launched at the 1950 Commercial Motor Show as the replacement for the Bedford OB (much featured on AoY).
    It was the first Bedford vehicle to have a “forward control” design, with the driver’s seat located at the right of the engine and the front axle underneath. It initially used a four-speed synchromesh gearbox.
    It could be fitted with Bedford’s own petrol or diesel engine, with the Perkins R6 and Leyland O.350 and O.370 engines also being offered. Wheelbase length was originally 17ft 2in (5.23 m), but from 1955 an 18ft (5.49 m) option was offered.
    Bodywork was provided by a wide range of UK builders, including Duple, Plaxton, Harrington, Willowbrook and Marshall. ”
    This one features Duple Super-Vega bodywork

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    1. Another * in your jotter, Roddy.
      I knew it was an SB, and that’s it…
      Pic3 is interesting for the cars alone.
      A red Healey 3000 (or possibly a Healey 100) on the left, a Bedford CA minibus with chrome eye-lid bezels on the lights and a Wolseley Hornet to the right.
      The Hornet was a variant of the mini with better appointments and a much increased price.
      Although the mini sold in huge numbers in the 1960s it never made money for BMC – around £4 profit each -and other models were introduced to bump up the price.
      The CA Bedford would have started out as a panel van and been converted to a minibus, probably after a hard commercial life.
      This was quite a common conversion and kits complete with glass & seals, seats, etc. could be bought, but as the van was sold without Purchase Tax originally, when it was fitted with windows it would have to be registered as a passenger vehicle and a bill would duly arrive from the authorities.
      PT would now have to be paid – not applicable to commercials – usually a couple of hundred quid if memory serves…

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      1. If at first you don’t succeed…..
        (tbh I prefer ‘heavy’ buses to lightweights like the Bedford, you’re best bet would be an obscure foreigner, altho’ with my peerless ‘you-know-what’s’ most identifications are fairly easy…😊

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  13. No 12. I went for a hurl in a bubble car once and it was a memorable experience. Imagine sitting on a very noisy small chair with a pane of glass in front of you and doing 30mph. It was great fun. No reverse gear though.

    Interesting AOY this week with all the answers as usual but the big question for me is, what is no7. It could be a light and it looks like there are hinged covers for the button (if that’s what it is) and it’s robustly made and enamelled which would suggest some sort of industrial application. It could of course be none of the above. Will all be revealed at some point thus putting me out of my misery?

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    1. I am surprised if no-one recognised No7.
      It is a satellite receiver LNB.
      The lumpy bit that collects the signal from the dish and converts it down for the receiver to handle.

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    2. The Isettas were surprisingly roomy inside for their exterior dimensions and doing 30mph felt like 100. Other cars towered above you at junctions – like enormous Minis and monstrous Escorts – and you felt vulnerable with no crash protection.
      No reverse gear?
      Just get out and lift the back up and turn the car round… no weight in them.
      That’s what the passenger was for – try that with a Range Rover.
      The advert here in Pic12 is a masterclass in hyperbole – thrill packed: sensational: excitement: sport car: powerhouse: rocket: kicks: never needs repairs (but there’s a complete spare parts service!).
      No Trade Descriptions Act then…

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  16. I have a distinct memory of an episode in Steptoe & Son where the father/son team of rag-and-bone men come across an old newspaper which sported the headline “King Zog Flees”.

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  17. The Isetta picture brings back happy memories of meeting, early 60’s, one Ian Taylor, nationalist but of the subsequently notorious 1320 Club, some of whom ended up in jail. For some reason I found myself as his contact for arrangements for some projected meeting and was ferried around Dundee in his Isetta. The mechanisms for the door were wondrous to behold, less so the towering bulk of double deck buses in front and behind at traffic lights, especially timing hill starts at some of Dundee’s more precipitous junctions.

    I liked the picture of King Zog with his cap at “a jaunty angle” as Harry Enfield would say. Cap at jaunty angle was also a trademark of WW1 Admiral Beatty. As it happens, I have noticed in the last few days, Beatty appeared in photos with his cap slanted either to the left or the right. I now have the world’s most pointless research project – a definitive study of the relative frequency of Beatty’s cap being worn to one side or the other, with implications for naval strategy pre- and post- Jutland.
    Not sure of the Caley or MacBraynes steamer – my best guess would be Locheil.

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    1. Ha ha ha… will you be delivering a paper on it the angles of Admiral Beatty’s’ hat?

      I’d heard of Zog, of course, but I’d never seen a picture of him. Quite a handsome man, compared say, to our royals, who to a man are pug ugly.

      I’m trying to imagine being on one of these wee things stuck between a bus and a lorry with another bus at the side….

      Ouch.

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      1. Had checked. The examples I have are not reversed images.

        Since Jutland has generated more print than any other British military engagement (and even American civil war battles and skirmishes), would be a new source of dispute.😉

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        1. To pursue another rather bizarre link, those who remember Michael Crawford/Frank Spenser from “Some Mothers….” may be interested to know that Frank’s shtick about “Every day and in every way…” comes from the 1920’s slogan of one Dr Coué of Nancy, who specialised in treating wealthy neurotics, including Beatty’s wife Ethel. It became a bit of a joke, long before Frank Spenser.
          Oh, the joy of irrelevant trivialities.

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  18. Pic 8. I think Cloetta is a chocolate brand from Sweden. A few years ago I saw the Cloetta Plopp bars for sale in a local pound shop. I bought them for the name alone, but they were actually quite good and more luxurious than the usual austere foodstuffs from Scandanavia.

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  19. No.5 is one of six sister-ships built post-war for the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company.

    Difficult to discern the name but it appears to be one word so she’s either the Tynwald, Snaefell or Manxman – the others were the King Orry, Mona’s Queen and Mona’s Isle.

    Built to replace war losses and worn out tonnage they carried thousands of holidaymakers to the Isle of Man in the post-war boom when a Manx holiday was considered a cut above the usual Rothesay or Millport!

    The IOMSP was very conservative and they were something of an anachronism in the developing age of the car ferry being among the last steam turbine powered traditional “Packet” ships built.

    They were a familiar sight at Ardrossan up to 1982 when the Manxman was the last to be withdrawn from service.

    They would occasionally be seen at Rothesay when they operated excursions from Belfast in between runs to Douglas, the “Irish Crowd” was regarded by the Rothesay shopkeepers as even lower than the Glasgow Punters and I have vivid memories as a wee boy on Rothesay Pier of the antics of the hordes of drunken punters rushing to board as the master repeatedly blew the ship’s whistle – far louder than the ordinary Clyde boats!

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    1. Brilliant.The name looks like it may just be one word.

      I had a mate whose mum ran a boarding house in Douglas.

      I’ve only been once, but I loved the island. I’d love to go back one day.

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