What was happening 50 years ago?
HOW many readers can recall the festive season of 50 years ago? And just what was happening as the Christmas of 1967 moved into New Year?
It had been the year of The Beatles’ Sgt Pepper’s album which is judged to have ushered in the so-called ‘summer of love’ with its hippies flower power, long hair, beads, and ‘happenings’.
But if, over in San Francisco, people were wearing “flowers in their hair”, everyday life on Tyneside had gone on pretty much as normal.
Transport links in the region were improved dramatically when the Tyne Tunnel was opened by the Queen, and the new Scotswood Bridge over the River Tyne was another step forward.
Meanwhile, Newcastle Civic Centre was nearing completion.
Famous visitors to the North East had included everyone from rock star Jimi Hendrix, to civil rights activist Martin Luther King, to Hollywood actress Jayne Mansfield who somehow found herself doing cabaret dates in Newcastle and South Shields.
Meanwhile, as we left Christmas behind and approached the New Year, what was happening? ■■IN THE POP CHARTS:
Surprise, surprise, it was The Beatles who sat at number one with Hello Goodbye. Gene Pitney was also riding high with Something’s Gotten Hold Of My Heart, as were The Monkees with Daydream Believer, and The Scaffold with Thank U Very Much. ■■ON THE TELLY:
New Year’s Eve fell on a Sunday 50 years ago. Highlights on BBC1 that day included Billy Smart’s Circus, Songs of Praise, The Julie Andrews Show, while the feature film was The Sheriff of Fractured Jaw, starring Kenneth More and Jayne Mansfield. TV coverage went on until 1am when the evening’s final programme Suddenly It’s 1968, featuring the likes of Jimmy Logan, Roy Hudd and North East singer Alan Price, drew to a close. ■■AT THE CINEMA:
For those going to the flicks this week in 1967, on offer for North East film-lovers was the Disney animation classic The Jungle Book, the World War II yarn The Dirty Dozen, and the tale of the ill-fated 1930s US gangster couple, Bonnie and Clyde. ■■IN THE LOCAL NEWS:
Here in the region, we were reporting on the boom in bingo which was sweeping the towns of Tyneside.
Over in Gateshead, the Essoldo Cinema on the corner of High Street and Sunderland Road showed its last film before closure – Al Capone, starring Rod Steiger. The 62-year-old building was demolished soon after.
The youngsters of 1967 would have been enjoying the newly-launched Etch-a-Sketch and KerPlunk, as well as the naval warfare game, Battleships. ■■PRICES:
This was a time when the average UK house price was around £3,800, a new MK II Ford Cortina would knock you back £740, and filling it would cost you 5s 2d (27p) a gallon. During
the festive season, drinkers would have paid around two shillings (10p) for a point of beer. ■■SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY:
The year had seen the unveiling of the very first cashpoint machine, by Barclays Bank, in London; the first North Sea gas was pumped ashore; and the world’s first heart transplant was performed in South Africa. ■■DEATHS:
Those we lost in 1967 included Hollywood stars Vivien Leigh, Spencer Tracy, and Jayne Mansfield. ■■NEWCASTLE UNITED:
Wyn Davies and Bobby Moncur were the big names for the Toon 50 years ago. The festive programme saw United beat Sunderland 2-1 at St James’ Park on Boxing Day in front of a crowd of nearly 60,000. Four days later, the reverse fixture at Roker Park saw a dramatic 3-3 draw with Ollie Burton converting two penalties.