Popular Nostalgia

Popular Nostalgia from the 1960s. Memories of events and items from popular culture recorded in words and pictures on the internet. Share, remember and get wonderfully sentimental…

Do you remember the Luminous Spooks, a set of ‘glow-in-the-dark’ ghostly figures given away with Quaker Sugar Puffs breakfast cereal in the UK in 1965? There were eight of them to collect and they could be mounted in a ‘Super 3-D Haunted Manor’ (as a comic advert put it) constructed from the cereal packet. The [...]

Pussy Galore was the most famous name of a Bond Girl. Played by Honor Blackman, the superbad female pilot appeared in Goldfinger (1964). Although the book is more forthright about Pussy’s sexuality, the film still hints at her being a lesbian: “I am immune to your charms”. This provides a unique challenge for Bond, who [...]

On 27th January 1969, the London School of Economics was closed because students forcibly dismantled steel security gates in protest at the appointment of Walter Adams – a prominent figure from aparteid Rhodesia. The governors had put up steel gates for security, but a group of students said it made them feel as though they [...]

Look at these old fashioned sweets online. Nipits were around after the war. Now their is an old classic. The choice of sweets is great and some great memories to be had. From kola cubes to buttered brazils. This post was submitted by Glen Neilson.

The Yogi Bear cartoons were on in the early 90′s and whilst I remember them, I don’t remember much. Yogi, and his best friend Boo Boo, lived in Jellystone National Park stealing “pic-a-nic baskets” off holiday makers. The original cartoons were around in the 1950′s and every decade thereafter. Park Ranger Smith would occassionally arrive [...]

The CBS executives hated this feature when they saw it because it had readings from the Bible, jazz and children’s voices, but it was a hit. Linus recites a reading from the Gospel of Luke (whilst carrying his blanket) under a spotlight and we all know what we forgot over the last two weeks: Charlie [...]

“Two Little Boys” is a song written by Theodore Morse and Edward Madden in 1902 about the experiences of two men in the US Civil War. In 1969 it was revived by good old Rolf Harris, who hobbled his way through the notes and made it all sound like there was a punch line coming [...]

Nat King Cole recorded The Christmas Song for the first time in 1946 with his group The Nat King Cole Trio. The record company re-recorded it with a string section, and Cole recorded it again in 1953 with Nelson Riddle. Capitol Records released it in December of 1960. It stayed on the chart for a [...]

Teddy Boys’s style was a reaction against the austerity of the post-war years. A new generation attempted to scandalise their parents with wasteful fashions that were far too camp for working class sensibilities. Velvet collars on long jackets harked back to Edwardian style (which was only 40 years previous). Edward was shortened to Ted – [...]

Friday nights at 6pm were where everyone knew – “The Weekend Starts Here”. The BBC’s flagship youth programme opened to the tune of The Sufaris’ track: “Wipe Out,” which was later replaced by Manfred Mann’s “5-4-3-2-1″ and finally Them’s “Baby Please Don’t Go”. Cathy McGowan cemented her place at th forefront of Mod fashion after [...]

Released in 1966, “Reach Out I’ll Be There” epitomised the Tamla Motown era. Sung by Levi Stubbs, Renaldo Benson, Lawrence Peyton and Abdul Faki, the song took the US and UK by storm. They were shown round Britain by Beatles manager Brian Epstein. In Stubbs obituary, The Independent says: “The unusual arrangement with its use [...]

During my childhood, during the 1950′s and early 60′s, life was dominated by coal. The village had its own pit, where my dad worked. Pits were everywhere. Our house was very close to a farm, but this farm was different in that it specialised in market garden produce – vegetables mainly, but even flowers when [...]

He’s way meaner than Postman Pat but “Number One” and the Welsh deliveryman share a love of cats. Ernst Stavro Blofeld, was the inspiration for Austin Powers’ character, Dr. Evil. He appeared in early Bond films as just a pair of hands, a white Persian cat and a voice. His face was provided by Donald [...]

Q was wonderful – fulfilling the dreams of every man and boy. Cars with machine guns, oil slicks, bulletproof windscreens, smoke screens and, most importantly, ejector seats. Watches with ziplines, compasses, plastic explosive detonators, magnets and more. Anything you could dream of was somewhere in the depths of Vauxhall Bridge being worked on by Q [...]

Goldfinger is memorable for several things: the girl painted in gold, the remote control golf ball, Oddjob who throws his hat and decapitates a statue, a chase involving an Aston Martin DB5, Bond being strapped to a table left to the mercy of an industrial laser and, of course, the infamously named, Pussy Galore.