Youth Culture - Mods & Rockers 1960s - 1970s
Image by brizzle born and bred
Youth Culture - Mods - Late 1950s to Mid 1960s
Mod (from modernist) is a subculture that originated in London, England in the late 1950s and peaked in the early-to-mid 1960s.
Significant elements of the mod subculture include: fashion (often tailor-made suits); pop music, including African American soul, Jamaican ska, and British beat music and R&B; and Italian motor scooters.
The original mod scene was also associated with amphetamine-fuelled all-night dancing at clubs. From the mid-to-late 1960s onwards, the mass media often used the term mod in a wider sense to describe anything that was believed to be popular, fashionable or modern.
There was a mod revival in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s, which was followed by a mod revival in North America in the early 1980s, particularly in Southern California.
Coffee bars were attractive to youths, because in contrast to typical British pubs, which closed at about 11 pm, they were open until the early hours of the morning. Coffee bars had jukeboxes, which in some cases reserved some of the space in the machines for the students' own records. In the late 1950s, coffee bars were associated with jazz and blues, but in the early 1960s, they began playing more R&B music.
By the summer of 1966, the mod scene was in sharp decline. Dick Hebdige argues that the mod subculture lost its vitality when it became commercialised, artificial and stylised to the point that new mod clothing styles were being created "from above" by clothing companies and by TV shows like Ready Steady Go!, rather than being developed by young people customising their clothes and mixing different fashions together.
As psychedelic rock and the hippie subculture grew more popular in the United Kingdom, many people drifted away from the mod scene. Bands such as The Who and Small Faces had changed their musical styles and no longer considered themselves mods.
Another factor was that the original mods of the early 1960s were getting into the age of marriage and child-rearing, which meant that they no longer had the time or money for their youthful pastimes of club-going, record-shopping and scooter rallies.
The peacock or fashion wing of mod culture evolved into the swinging London scene and the hippie style, which favored the gentle, marijuana-infused contemplation of esoteric ideas and aesthetics, which contrasted sharply with the frenetic energy of the mod ethos.
The hard mods of the mid-to-late 1960s eventually transformed into the skinheads. Many of the hard mods lived in the same economically depressed areas of South London as West Indian immigrants, and those mods emulated the rude boy look of pork pie hats and too-short Levis jeans.
These "aspiring 'white negros'" listened to Jamaican ska and mingled with black rude boys at West Indian nightclubs like Ram Jam, A-Train and Sloopy's.
Dick Hebdige claims that the hard mods were drawn to black culture and ska music in part because the educated, middle-class hippie movement's drug-oriented and intellectual music did not have any relevance for them.
He argues that the hard mods were also attracted to ska because it was a secret, underground, non-commercialised music that was disseminated through informal channels such as house parties and clubs. The early skinheads also liked soul, rocksteady and early reggae.
The early skinheads retained basic elements of mod fashion — such as Fred Perry and Ben Sherman shirts, Sta-Prest trousers and Levi's jeans — but mixed them with working class-oriented accessories such as braces and Dr. Martens work boots.
Hebdige claims that as early as the Margate and Brighton brawls between mods and rockers, some mods were seen wearing boots and braces and sporting close cropped haircuts, which "artificially reproduces the texture and appearance of the short negro hair styles" (though this was as much for practical reasons, as long hair was a liability in industrial jobs and streetfights).
It was also a reaction to middle class hippie aesthetics.
Mods and ex-mods were also part of the early northern soul scene, a subculture based on obscure 1960s and 1970s American soul records.
Some mods evolved into, or merged with, subcultures such as individualists, stylists, and scooterboys, creating a mixture of "taste and testosterone" that was both self-confident and streetwise.
A mod revival started in the late 1970s in the United Kingdom, with thousands of mods attending scooter rallies in places like Scarborough and the Isle of Wight. This revival was partly inspired by the 1979 film Quadrophenia and by mod-influenced bands such as The Jam, Secret Affair, Purple Hearts and The Chords. Many of the mod revival bands were influenced by the energy of British punk rock and New Wave music.
The British revival was followed by a mod revival in North America in the early 1980s, particularly in Southern California, led by bands such as The Untouchables. The mod scene in Los Angeles and Orange County was partly influenced by the 2 Tone ska revival in England, and was unique in its racial diversity, with black, white, Hispanic and Asian participants.
The 1990s Britpop scene featured noticeable mod influences on bands such as Oasis, Blur, Ocean Colour Scene and The Verve.
Fashion
Jobling and Crowley called the mod subculture a "fashion-obsessed and hedonistic cult of the hyper-cool" young adults who lived in metropolitan London or the new towns of the south.
Due to the increasing affluence of post-war Britain, the youths of the early 1960s were one of the first generations that did not have to contribute their money from after-school jobs to the family finances.
As mod teens and young adults began using their disposable income to buy stylish clothes, the first youth-targeted boutique clothing stores opened in London in the Carnaby Street and Kings Road districts.
Maverick fashion designers emerged, such as Mary Quant, who was known for her increasingly short miniskirt designs, and John Stephen, who sold a line named "His Clothes", and whose clients included bands such as The Small Faces.
Two youth subcultures helped pave the way for mod fashion by breaking new ground; the beatniks, with their bohemian image of berets and black turtlenecks, and the Teddy Boys, from which mod fashion inherited its "narcissitic and fastidious [fashion] tendencies" and the immaculate dandy look.
The Teddy Boys paved the way for making male interest in fashion socially acceptable, because prior to the Teddy Boys, male interest in fashion in Britain was mostly associated with the underground homosexual subculture's flamboyant dressing style.
The Royal Air Force roundel, was a mod symbol.
Newspaper accounts from the mid-1960s focused on the mod obsession with clothes, often detailing the prices of the expensive suits worn by young mods, and seeking out extreme cases such as a young mod who claimed that he would "go without food to buy clothes".
Jobling and Crowley argue that for working class mods, the subculture's focus on fashion and music was a release from the "humdrum of daily existence" at their jobs.
Jobling and Crowley note that while the subculture had strong elements of consumerism and shopping, mods were not passive consumers; instead they were very self-conscious and critical, customising "existing styles, symbols and artefacts" such as the Union flag and the Royal Air Force roundel symbol, and putting them on their jackets in a pop art-style, and putting their personal signatures on their style.
The song "Dedicated Follower of Fashion" by The Kinks from 1966 jokes about the fashion obsession of the mod community.
Mod fashion adopted new Italian and French styles in part as a reaction to the rural and small-town rockers, who were seen as trapped in the 1950s, with their leather motorcycle clothes and American greaser look.
Male mods adopted a smooth, sophisticated look that emphasised tailor-made Italian suits (sometimes white) with narrow lapels, mohair clothes, thin ties, button-down collar shirts, wool or cashmere jumpers (crewneck or V-neck), pointed-toe leather shoes that were nicknamed winklepickers, as well as Chelsea or "Beatle" boots, Tassel Loafers,Clarks' Desert Boots even Bowling shoes, and hairstyles that imitated the look of the French Nouvelle Vague cinema actors of the era, such as Jean-Paul Belmondo.
A few male mods went against gender norms of the era by enhancing their appearance with eye shadow, eyepencil or even lipstick.
Female mods dressed androgynously, with short haircuts, men's trousers or shirts (sometimes their boyfriend's), flat shoes, and little makeup — often just pale foundation, brown eye shadow, white or pale lipstick and false eyelashes.
Female mods pushed the boundaries of parental tolerance with their miniskirts, which got progressively shorter between the early and mid-1960s.
As female mod fashion went from an underground style to a more commercialised fashion, slender models like Jean Shrimpton and Twiggy began to exemplify the high-fashion mod look. The television programme Ready Steady Go!, presented by Cathy McGowan, helped to spread awareness of mod fashions and music to a larger audience.
Fishtail Parka
The Fishtail Parka was first used by the United States Army in 1951 to help protect soldiers from the elements in the Korean War.
There are two main styles of fishtail parkas; the M-51 fishtail parka; and the M-65. The M stands for military, and the number is the year it was standardized. The name fishtail comes from the fact that the coat is longer at the back than it is at the front. This was so the coat could be tied around the upper legs, much like a Knochensack for added wind proofing as they are not, as some think, waterproof. The hood of the M-51 Fishtail Parka is integral to the jacket and folds down inside the jacket collar when not in use.
The M-65 Fishtail parka has a detachable hood. Both types feature a removable liner. Designed primarily for combat arms forces such as infantry, they are to be worn over other layers of clothing; alone, the fishtail parka is insufficient to protect against "dry cold" (as used in the US military; see FM 31-70, Cold Weather Field Manual) conditions (i.e., below 14 deg. F.).
On the other hand, the N-3B parka has more integral insulation and can be worn alone in colder temperatures than the fishtail parka. Because it has less insulation but is designed to fit loosely, it allows infantry more latitude to add or subtract layers underneath to adapt to changing weather or situational conditions than that allowed by the N-3B parka, which was designed for aircrews who typically worked under more static weather and geographic conditions.
With proper additional insulating garments in the US military inventory, one can remain warm with the fishtail parka in -60 deg. F. temperatures. The fishtail parka has been replaced in the US military by the Extended Cold Weather Clothing System (ECWCS).
In the 1960s UK, the fishtail parka became a symbol of the mod subculture. Due to their practicality, cheapness and availability from army surplus shops, the parka was seen as the ideal garment for fending off the elements when on the mod's vehicle of choice, the scooter. Its place in popular culture was assured by newspaper pictures of parka-clad mods during the Bank Holiday riots of the 1960s.
Brutus
Brutus Jeans is a British clothing company founded in 1966 by brothers Keith and Alan Freedman, who were 18 and 17 years old at the time, respectively.
The company started with one style of sweater and kept adding to the range, which eventually included shirts and jeans (for both men and women). The brand was very popular in the 1960's and 1970s with skinheads, Mod's and the football crowds. They won awards for their TV advertising, and had a hit record with one of the jingles called "Jeans On" (performed by David Dundas).
Ben Sherman
Ben Sherman is a British based clothing company, designing shirts, suits, shoes, accessories and other items that are, in common with many British brands, now made overseas, largely in the Far East. Their designs sometimes feature the Royal Air Force roundel which is often called the mod target. Some of the recent Ben Sherman shirts have unusual and complex designs, and have a Carnaby-style fit. The company makes clothing predominantly for men.
Crombie
A Crombie coat is a three-quarter length, usually wool, overcoat. It is named after the company Crombie (also known as J&J Crombie), although not all coats known as Crombies are made by that company. Starting in the late 1960s or early 1970s, Crombie-style coats were popular within the skinhead and suedehead subcultures, although very few skinheads would have been able to afford a new Crombie brand coat. Crombies were also fashionable among some mods, who saw them as a stylish item of clothing that enhanced their clean-cut image. It was an alternative to the popular fishtail parka or trenchcoat.
The Crombie company, which produces high-end wool and tweed clothing, was founded in Aberdeen, Scotland in 1805. The Grandholm Woollen Mill in Aberdeen was the A-listed factory building where Crombie's clothing was originally made, although production at that site ceased in 1990. In 2005 it was converted into a residential project by the Cala Group.
The Crombie Woollen Mill is now an Indian Restaurant called The Spice Mill. They specialise in Indian fusion cuisine and have maintained the original elements of the factory.
Scooters
Scooters were chosen over motorbikes because scooters' use of bodypanelling and concealed moving parts made them cleaner and less likely to stain an expensive suit with grease.
Scootering led to the wearing of military parkas to protect costly suits and trousers from mud and rain.
Many mods used motorscooters for transportation, usually Vespas or Lambrettas. Scooters had provided inexpensive transportation for decades before the development of the mod subculture, but the mods stood out in the way that they treated the vehicle as a fashion accessory.
Italian scooters were preferred due to their cleanlined, curving shapes and gleaming chrome. For young mods, Italian scooters were the "embodiment of continental style and a way to escape the working-class row houses of their upbringing".
They customised their scooters by painting them in "two-tone and candyflake and overaccessorized [them] with luggage racks, crash bars, and scores of mirrors and fog lights", and they often put their names on the small windscreen.
Engine side panels and front bumpers were taken to local electroplating workshops and recovered in highly reflective chrome.
Scooters were also a practical and accessible form of transportation for 1960s teens. In the early 1960s, public transport stopped relatively early in the night, and so having scooters allowed mods to stay out all night at dance clubs.
To keep their expensive suits clean and keep warm while riding, mods often wore long army parkas. For teens with low-end jobs, scooters were cheaper than cars, and they could be bought on a payment plan through newly-available Hire purchase plans.
After a law was passed requiring at least one mirror be attached to every motorcycle, mods were known to add four, ten, or as many as 30 mirrors to their scooters. The cover of The Who's album Quadrophenia, (which includes themes related to mods and rockers), depicts a young man on a Vespa GS with four mirrors attached.
After the seaside resort brawls, the media began to associate Italian scooters with the image of violent mods. When groups of mods rode their scooters together, the media began to view it as a "menacing symbol of group solidarity" that was "converted into a weapon".
With events like the November 6, 1966, "scooter charge" on Buckingham Palace, the scooter, along with the mods' short hair and suits, began to be seen as a symbol of subversion.
After the 1964 beach riots, hard mods (who later evolved into the skinheads) began riding scooters more for practical reasons. Their scooters were either unmodified or cut down, which was nicknamed a "skelly".
Lambrettas were cutdown to the bare frame, and the unibody (monocoque)-design Vespas had their body panels slimmed down or reshaped.
Mods & Rockers
The Mods and Rockers were two conflicting British youth subcultures of the early-mid 1960s. Gangs of mods and rockers fighting in 1964 sparked a moral panic about British youths, and the two groups were seen as folk devils.
The rockers adopted a macho biker gang image, wearing clothes such as black leather jackets.
The mods adopted a pose of scooter-driving sophistication, wearing suits and other cleancut outfits. By late 1966, the two subcultures had faded from public view and media attention turned to two new emerging youth subcultures — the hippies and the skinheads.
Rockers, who wore leather jackets and rode heavy motorcycles, poured scorn on the mods, who often wore suits and rode scooters. The rockers considered mods to be weedy, effeminate snobs, and mods saw rockers as out of touch, oafish and grubby.
Mod or Rocker - 'You had to be one or the other '
The Mods had designer suits, Italian scooters and The Who. Rockers had leathers, motorbikes and Elvis.
For a few years in the early 1960s, the two groups represented a sharp division in British youth culture.
Their rivalry often spilled over into violence, and the 1964 holiday weekend clashes in resort towns on the south coast terrorised local residents and outraged much of the nation.
But soon after the seaside riots of 1964, this volatile split in British teen life faded away.
Musically, there was not much common ground. Rockers listened to 1950s rock and roll, mostly by white American artists such as Elvis Presley, Gene Vincent and Eddie Cochran.
Elvis, The King of Rock & Roll
Beatles
Stones
The Jimi Hendrix Experience
Janis Joplin
The Doors
Blind Faith
Credence Clearwater Revival
Jethro Tull
Pink Floyd
Moody Blues
Deep Purple
Jefferson Airplane
Cream
Steppenwolf
Procol Harem
The Byrds
Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention
Mods generally favoured 1960s rhythm and blues, soul and ska by black American and Jamaican musicians, as well as British R&B/beat groups such as The Who, The Small Faces and The Yardbirds.
In the United Kingdom, rockers were often engaged in brawls with mods.
BBC News stories from May 1964 stated that mods and rockers were jailed after riots in seaside resort towns on the south coast of England, such as Margate, Brighton, Bournemouth and Clacton.
Were you a Mod or a Rocker? Do you have any stories from that era?
See Mod Links Below
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See My Other Youth Culture Links Below
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Mods & Rockers on Video
www.youtube.com/watch?v=zn5vYOwCTak
www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEW56xumtq4
"Toys of Christmas Past"
Image by brizzle born and bred
Did you know that toys and games have been part of childhood for thousands of years? As early as 4000 B.C. (before Christ), games became a source of entertainment. At that time, people of Babylon played a game that preceded the present day game of chess.
4000 BC - A Babylonian game, which is the ancestor of modern draughts begins to be played
3000 BC - First Game resembling modern Backgammon is played in Sumeria.
2000 BC - Stone marbles first used in Egypt.
1000 BC - Kites appear in China. Stone Yo-Yos begin to be used in Greece
600 BC - An ancestor of chess called ‘Chaturanga’ is played in India.
1759 - Roller skates are invented by Joseph Merlin.
Victorian Era - Victorian children had fewer toys than you have today. Poor Children - Poor families made their own, such as cloth-peg dolls and paper windmills. Children would save their pocket money to buy marbles, a spinning top, skipping ropes, kites or cheap wooden toys.
Rich Children had rocking horses with real horse hair manes, and dolls houses full of beautifully-carved miniature furniture. Other popular toys for rich children included china or wax dolls for the girls and clockwork train sets for the boys. Girls played with dolls and tea sets whilst boys played with toy soldiers and marbles.
During Victorian times, people became fascinated by toys that made pictures move. One of the earliest and simplest of these was the thaumatrope. This is a disc with a picture on either side that is attached to two pieces of string or a stick. When you spin the disc quickly, the two pictures appear to combine into one.
1901 - Meccano goes on sale in the UK. Invented by Frank Hornby in Liverpool, it captures the spirit of the age with a challenging construction toy. One of the century's leading toy makers and creator of Hornby train sets (1920, and see 1925) and Dinky Toys, Hornby died in 1936.
1902 - In the USA, the Teddy Bear is created by a Russian emigrants Morris MiTchtom who had seen a report of US President Teddy Roosevelt who declined to shoot a bear cub while out hunting. Clifford Berryman's celebrated newspaper cartoon captured this moment and Mitchcom launched his range of "Teddy" bears in his Brooklyn shop. German toymaker, Margarete Steiff began making jointed toy animals including bears, and they were also able to cash in on the teddy bear craze in the USA, which spread worldwide.
1903 - Edwin Binney & Harold Smith patent the first ‘Crayola’ crayons.
1908 - Plasticine goes on sale.
1909 - Kewpie Doll-devised by Rosi O’Neill patented in 1935
1910 - Daisy Air Rifles go on sale.
1914 - Tinker Toys - interlocking construction toy.
1914 - Frank Hornby manufactures ‘0 Gauge’ Clockwork model trains
1925 - The first electric ‘Hornby’ train appears..Hornby produce the first electric train sets in the world.
1928 - Mickey Mouse is created by Walt Disney. The licensed toy is born. Dolls from 1930
1929 - Duncan Yo-Yo’s are first launched in Los Angeles when Frank Duncan saw waiters from the Philippines playing with their tradit-ional Yo-Yo. It can be traced back to Ancient Greece - in the Philippines it was a weapon (like a boomerang) for hunting and war until later it became a sporting item then later a plaything. In 1930 Frank Duncan brought over demonstrators to Europe to play the music halls - and the craze took off.
1930 - Charlotte Cla in the USA starts making Micky Mouse dolls based on the first Disney cartoon first screened in 1928.
1932 - US architect, Alfred Butt begins work on what will become the board game, Scrabble. He calls it Lexico. (See 1940) In Denmark, Ole Kirk Christiansen started his Lego toy company. Lego means 'play well' in Danish. (leg godt). Later he discovered Lego in Latin means 'to put together'.
1934 - Corgi starts to manufacture toy cars and other models. In 1965 their model Aston Martin from the first James Bond film became the very first BATR Toy of the Year.
1935 - Monopoly arrives in the UK. Invented in the USA by Charles Darrow in 1933, patent filed 31st August 1935 while on sale in America. It was made under licence in the UK by Waddingtons. Darrow died in 1967.
1935 - Minibrix made by the Premo Rubber Co. using the studs and cavity device which paved the way for plastic interlocking bricks pioneered by Hilary Page in the 1940s.
1943 - Richard James, researching a suspension device develops the Slinky. It goes on sale in 1945.
1948 - Criss Cross Words invented by Alfred Butt (originally Lexico) fails to sell well and is sold to James Brunot who changes the name to Scrabble. Sales average just 8,000, but from 1953 - 55 it suddenly takes off - sales reach 4.5million sets.
1949 - Leeds-based Waddington's produces mystery board-game, Cluedo. This year (1999) it celebrated its 50th birthday.
1949 - Ole Christiansen, invents Lego bricks. Just six bricks will fit together in 102,981,500 ways !
1950 - Disney's latest release, Cinderella, spawns toy products. Meanwhile, Disney was telling the toy industry to gear up for their next full-length cartoon, Alice in Wonderland, out in 1951. Popular Toys: a wind-up Cinderella dancing doll (with Prince) and Palitoy's Archie Andrew Ventro Doll...Minibrix, 'the world's finest toys' from Dean & Son, Flying Saucer from Cascelloid, Electric Contact Quiz - 'lights up your party - mysterious, unique, amusing' - claims the makers, Spears. Other events: First Toy Fair in Harrogate. First meeting of the NATR - the toy retailers association.
1951 - best selling toys: Alice (from Alice in Wonderland film), Talking Eggs from Selcol with a crank-handle to make Humpty Dumpty squeak (6/9d) - about 32p...Muffin the Mule push-along toy by Kohnstam...Kiddicraft's 'Sensible' range of cot and pram toys designed by Hilary Page.
1951 - A Muffin The Mule push-along toy is the best seller this year.
1952 - Mr Potato Head is launched. Jack O’dell creates the first Matchbox car.
1952 - Popular toys: Crazy Ball from Louis Marx...Negro dolls from Pedigree called Mary Lou and Dixie...Flop: Loopo, a game with a ball and small hand-held loop promoted as 'the sensation of the year'...Lines Brothers, Britain's largest toymaker celebrated its 70th birthday...
1953 - A ‘Little Princess’ doll designed by Norman Hartnell is launched to celebrate the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.
1953 - Pedigree launch dolls with 'flesh-like' vinyl plastic heads with 'hair that grows out of their heads!' using a "Angela, the doll with magic flesh" - it also has 'sleeping' eyes and lashes. Another pedigree doll out this Coronation year, is Little Princess dressed by Norman Hartnell...retailers read for the first time that out-of-town shopping centres are being tried out in the USA...Dean's Rag Books are 50 years old...New Toys: Flower pot Men based on the TV series. Wembley - the football board game, Keywords (from Waddingtons) which has some similarities to Scrabble. Novelty Toys: Atom Bomber with A-bombs with automatic releases, and Slinky, the toy that slithers down steps - still a big seller to this day.
1954 - Sooty appears on TV and turns out to be an actual Chad Valley glove puppet...sales soar. The British Toy & Hobby Association hold their first Toy Fair in Brighton. New Toys: Dan Dare Rota Spinner for the beach...and at Christmas: Matchbox vehicles, Painting By Numbers. Scrabble arrives.
1955 - Scrabble sold in the UK by Spears begins to grow in popularity. Scoop from Waddingtons challenges.
1956 - New Game: Beat the Clock (Spears) based on the game on TV's Sunday Night at the Palladium...Flops: New Footy Table Soccer as recommended by Stanley Matthews, and Newcrikit , recommended by Freddie Trueman...the Corgi Model Club formed...Triang T-T Gauge trains launched...Radio comedian (and chairman of Chad Valley) Kenneth Horne is seen on TV trying out the new Rise'n'Shine shaving kit and beauty shop - the first seen on TV...and the launch of the sputnik inspires the Bleep Bleep satellite toy.
1956 - A Mr B. Francis puts small electric motors in his scale models of cars and ‘Scalectrix’ is born.
1957 - Combex brings out the Sooty toothbrush flute...and following the Disney film's release, a rash of Davy Crockett hats and toys.
1958 - New: The Hula - Hoop arrives! 20 million sold in the first year. Scalextric electric model racing first introduced...but whatever happened to Pictorama which can create 14 million different combinations of pictures? It's the 50th birthday for Plasticine...and Frisbees (invented 1957 at the Frisbee Pie Factory) compete for attention.
1959 - Barbie is created by Ruth Handler, and is named after her daughter Barbara.
1959 - Stanley Matthews endorses Frido playballs. Selling well: Matchbox's Scammel Breakdown truck, Board Games: Careers, and Wack-O (based on Jimmy Edward's TV series)
1960 - For the first time, the Brighton Toy Fair allows imported toys to be shown. The craze that swept France, Loopyloop is predicted to sweep Britain...it doesn't...Lego is seen at the Toy Fair for the first time...plastic kits dominate the market and toy market (at retail) is worth £85m through 11,000 outlets.
1961 - A mini-boom in costume dolls...Airfix launch their Betta Bilda sets at 10 shillings each (50p)...Fuzzyfelt bring out Noddy finger puppets, Scalextrics slot car racing sets, and trains are amongst this year's top sellers.
1962 - Tipped as the craze of the year, Airtoy's Spinning Satellite...it isn't. Dinky launch Ford Fairlane, Corgi offer a model Silverstone with pit stops, Chad Valley launches the Give-a-show projector...Barbie and boy friend Ken impress US market...the Pogo stick is fun again...and Dinky's First Engine is the first ever with flashing lights.
1963 - The board game, Diplomacy arrives...Matchbox offer cars with doors that open...and there is 'the greatest money spinner ever from Frido' - Disky Discs and goal posts to play '1-dimensional football'.
1964 - The latest craze: Booma Boomerang, Corgi is 30 years old and celebrates by introducing Corgi Classics...Diana Dors promotes the Trolls.
1965 - Dr Who and the Daleks on TV and toys available this Christmas...the James Bond Aston Martin Car is the big seller and will be the first ever Toy of the Year (to be announced as it will be in future in January of the following year at the NATR Dinner). Waddington's launch Spyring board game, and the Noise Abatement Society complains about the V-rroom roar maker fitted to bicycles...the Gonks arrive to challenge Trolls...Denys Fisher launch the Spirograph. Craze that never was - Nik Nok - cup and ball game.
1965 - The James Bond Aston Martin from Corgi is the most popular toys this year. A version of the toy is still on sale today.
1966 - Action Man, the first ‘Doll For Boys’ is launched and is a massive success. Toy of the year this year will be Action Man - causing a sensation as the first doll for boys...for girls there is Tiny Tears. To rival Action man, Pedigree launch Tommy Gunn. Another craze that never was: Ippy Op - ball come skipping rope...but party game, Twister is a success.
1967 - Spiro-Graph is toy of the year. Rolf Harris Stylophone (Musical toy with a strangely annoying pitch. Apparently invented by accident the Stylophone enjoys cult popularity among musicians and has been used by bands as diverse as David Bowie and Blur.
1968 - Sindy is top doll and will win Toy of the Year. Ride-a-Roo ball is launched, as are Joe 90 products, Beatles's Yellow Submarine, and the Go Car game which includes a breathalyser test as a hazard. Other new products: a multi-cube game called Instant Insanity and Glow-Globs, modelling compound that glows in the dark, and paintwheels.
1969 - Hot Wheels cars will win Toy of the Year. The Newton's Cradle (Klikkies) sells well...but Tic Tac Tosser has a shorter life.
1970 - Sindy wins Toy of the Year for a second time...the NATR launches their Toy Token scheme..."The computer is becoming such an important part of our lives that a mini-computer for kids is in the office"...Super markets begin selling toys, and Matchbox makes 900 redundant.
1971 - Space Hoppers, inflatable orange bouncers with horns for handles. Klackers, a modernised version of conkers that made a very annoying ‘Klick Klack’ sound and lead to dozens of imitations. Katie Kopycat writing doll wins Toy of the Year. The giant Lines Brothers collapses, the arrival of Space Hopper, Craze of the year Clackers or Klik Klaks – first seen on Spanish beaches. Fun Bubbles sell over 7 million in first year.
1972 - Plasticraft modelling kits win Toy of the Year.
1973 - The first Game of the Year - Invicta's Mastermind...a shortage of plastic causes problems...children's pocket money averages 9p. New dolls: Disco Girl, Chelsea Girl, Daisy. Toy guns concern when gunmen using toy guns are shot dead by police outside India House.
1973 - Mastermind, a game that had nothing to do with the TV show and everything to do with cracking the code of your opponents coloured plastic pegs.
1974 - Magna Doodle. The magnetic drawing toy which was invented in Japan by pen engineers trying to create a clean mess free chalk.
1975 - Wombles. Womblemania hit the UK and Womble toys where everywhere.
1976 - Raw Power. A handle that you added to your bike and ‘revved’ to create the sound of an engine.
1977 - Slime, a bright green PVA based blob that came in little plastic pots and ruined many a households soft furnishings! Othello, the strategy game of Black & White counters. Holly Hobbie, dolls based on the popular character. Skateboards, 1977 saw the high point of the 1970’s skate craze and featured thin ‘surfboard’ style boards.
1978 - Star Wars, after the release of the movie the previous year the toys soon followed and became one of the most successful movie licenced properties of all time, the toys dominated toy shops until the middle 1980’s when their popularity waned. Simon, the electronic game where you followed a sequence of lights and sounds before you threw it across the room in sheer frustration!
1979 - Space Lego, the humble building brick went where no man had gone before. Stop Boris, a game where you stopped Boris, a creepy spider, with a light gun.
1980 - Rubiks Cube, invented by Hungarian designer Erno Rubik over 100 million of these tricky little puzzles were sold between 1980 and 1982.
1981 - Lego Train. Lego launches their first electric ‘train set’ which featured strangely enough blue rails!
1982 - BMX Bikes, everybody went BMX crazy, BMX is short for Bicycle Motocross. ZX Spectrum, the first ‘affordable’ home gaming computer arrived in UK households.
1983 - My Little Pony, based on an Animated TV series there was an entire world of small plastic horses and accessories to collect. My Little Pony went on to become one of the most successful girls toy concepts of all time. Boys did not miss out this year as they got He Man & The Masters Of The Universe which followed the same based on animation format and became one of the most successful boys toy concepts of all time.
1984 - Care Bears. Following the successful ‘toys from an animated series’ format from the previous year the Care Bears arrived from Care-a-Lot. Shortly before Christmas Cabbage Patch Kids, created by artist Xavier Roberts also arrived and created chaos in toy shops across the land as parent competed to buy one of the sought after dolls. The Board game Trivial Pursuit was the best selling board game in 1984 and dolls based on popular Pop Stars Michael Jackson and Boy George was also big hits.
1985 - Transformers, robots in disguise. These ‘action figures’, which transformed from vehicle to robot and back, again confounded parents and delighted children. Optimus Prime was THE toy to have in 1985 and lead to huge shortages of product.
1986 - In this World Cup year the playground graze was Panini Football stickers. If you managed to complete an album you were a playground hero.
1987 - Sylvanian Families, a range of cute and cuddly animals with play-sets and vehicles. Rubiks Magic, a follow up to the Rubiks Cube.
1988 - Ghostbusters, based on the popular movie and animated series, children across the land strapped on ‘proton packs’ and set out to capture ghosts. Slimer, one of the lead characters was also a firm favourite in toy shops, along with the vehicle Ecto-1.
1989 - Another hit movie, another toy shop success. The Tim Burton movie ‘Batman’ breathed new life into an old favourite and Batmania swept the UK.
1990 - Donatello, Michelangelo, Leonardo and Raphael, the Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles arrived in toy shops and where an immediate hit. Originating in the US from a comic book the original word ‘Ninja’ in the title was replaced with ‘Hero’ in the UK for fears that it would violent connotations with parents.
1991 - Nintendo launched Game Boy in the UK.
1992 - Thunderbirds enjoyed a re-birth this year and dads of a certain age across the land re-lived there childhoods with their children. Shortages of the most popular toy, Tracey Island were so severe that Blue Peter ran an episode where the showed you how to make your own….
1993 - Power Rangers, the TV show arrived on our screens and children’s TV has not been the same since. Toys based on the show sold out immediately.
1994 - Magic Eye Pictures were all the rage and toys and puzzles featuring these pictures within pictures prompted even more people to ask ‘can you see it?’
1995 - POGS, small cardboard disks stormed into playgrounds and became a huge craze. Star Wars toys start production again after a short hiatus, 1970’s kids are now adults and collect the toys out of nostalgia but a new generation of kids also embraces the saga.
1996 - Toy Story, the animated film from Pixar was a huge hit in the cinema and toys from the movie were more than elusive. Parents went to desperate measures to secure a Buzz Lightyear doll. The rights to produce toys from the film went to a small independent Canadian toy company who simply could not cope with the demand. Why? Because all of the major toy manufacturers turned down the chance to make Toy Story merchandise, as they felt that the movie would never catch on. Corinthian figures, small figurines of football stars with oversized heads were the hot collectible and equally popular with adults and child collectors.
1997 - The year of T, Teletubbies, Tamagotchi and TY Beanie Babies are toy shop best sellers.
1998 - The humble Yo Yo returns as the craze of the year, after last being seen in the 1950’s and the 1970’s. The ProYo II is the Yo Yo of choice. Just before Christmas the interactive pet, Furby arrives in toy shops.
1999 - A board game based on the hit TV quiz show ‘Who Wants To Be A Millionaire’ is the best selling board game. Toys and games based on Pokemon the Nintendo game prove to be quite popular. The firm favourite are the trading cards hundreds of millions of which are sold, swapped and traded across the globe.
2000 - Robotic Pets and Aluminium Folding Scooters are this year crazes. They are also accompanied by another familiar face, The Thunderbirds return again and Tracey Island is another Christmas best seller.
2001 - Bob The Builder toys are big hits, Folding Scooters continue to be the must have accessory for both kids and style guru’s alike. Closely followed by Pogo Sticks which enjoyed a resurgence of interest this year.
2002 - Bratz Dolls, steal some of Barbie’s position as top fashion doll, a place she has held since she was born in 1959. Beyblades, customizable spinning tops and Micropets, miniature robotic pets are the favourite crazes
2003 - Beyblades continue to be the playground craze closely followed by Yucky Yo Balls, fluid filled stretchy balls on an elastic string. However Yucky Yo Balls are swiftly banned by the government over safety fears. This is the first time that the government has banned a toy in over 10 years.
2004 - Toy of the Year 'Terrain Twister' radio controlled vehicle.
2005 - Fisher-Price top-selling Dora's Talking House"
2006 - The overall winner of the title Toy Of The Year 2006 was awarded to the Dr Who Cyberman Voice Changer Mask. This Voice Changer is a replica Cyberhead that will give you a robotic voice. It features speech, sound effects and lights! It has 3 play buttons, one that plays Cyberman phrases, one that changes your voice into that of the Cybermen and one with Cyber weapon sound effects.
2007 - The Toy of the Year Award was given to Blanket Time Iggle Piggle Dancing Soft Toy, from the massively popular 'In The Night Garden'. Boys Toy of the year was chosen as the Ben 10 Omnitrix FX, which is like a wrist watch which transform Ben into different alien superheroes.
2008 - Toy of the Year Ben 10 Action figures 10" and 15" - Pre School Toy of the Year Kidizoom camera, Vtech - Collectable toy of the Year Go Go Crazy Bones - Construction toy of the year is Lego - Girls range toy of the year is Sylvanian families. - Boys range of the year is Ben 10, Bandai - Girls toy of the year is FurReal Biscuit my lovin' pup.
2009 - Last year the toy of the year award as voted by the Toy Retailer Association went to the Ben 10 series. The year before it went to a set of toys from In the Night Garden. The theme seems to be a toy connected to a popular children's television character and this will probably be the same pattern for the best selling toy of 2009/2010. Young children love toys that are familiar, toys that they identify with the television characters that they see. In 2008 the pre school toy of the year was again, In the Night Garden and toys such as Star Wars and toys featuring Thomas the Tank engine (pre school toys of the year in 2005) regularly win toy awards.
Toy Facts
Hasbro is the largest toy manufacturer in the world.
The 20th century saw the invention of dozens of much-loved toys as well. Still-popular board games like Tripoley, Sorry and Monopoly have been around since the 1930s, and Crayola Crayons are more than 100 years old! Twister, made by a division of Hasbro, sold more than 3 million games within a year of its release in 1966. It has sold more than 22 million since then.
Toys aren't always a hit the year, or even the decade, they're created. Unemployed architect Alfred Mosher Butts invented the game of Scrabble, which he first called "Lexiko" and later "Criss-Cross Words," in the 1930s. Entrepreneur James Brunot acquired the game in 1947, but it wasn't until 1953, when the president of Macy's — now owned by retail giant Federated Department Stores — discovered the game on vacation that things really took off. More than 100 million sets have since been sold worldwide.
The fortunes of other playthings are more cyclical. Troll dolls, which hit big during the 1960s, had all but disappeared by the 1980s until troll nostalgia ushered in a second boom in the early 1990s. As Generation Xers grow older, toys like Cabbage Patch Kids, now made by Mattel, and Koosh balls could stage a comeback as well.
And there's serious money to be had. Mr. Potato Head, made in 1952 by Hasbro's Playskool unit, was the first toy advertised on television, and it grossed more than million in its first year (that's billion in 2005 dollars). Play-doh, which was originally designed for cleaning wallpaper, made inventor Joseph McVicker a millionaire by his 27th birthday. And Mattel sells an astounding 1.5 million Barbie dolls each week — that's two dolls per second.
I saw eyesore
Image by Darkroom Daze
Derelict Battersea Power Station, London
Is this the largest abandoned derelict building in the heart of London? And although you can't see the details and extent of its dereliction in this picture, is it also the biggest eyesore in the heart of London? - especially as It occupies a landmark prime site position and is visible from so many angles? All the millions of passengers who use the trains going in and out of London Victoria terminus see this view from the W side. It can also be seen from all the people and buildings on the opposite side of the River Thames (out of sight to the L) and from all the boats going up and down on the Thames. I often overhear train passengers coming into London, who are unfamiliar with this building, asking each other, "What on earth is that thing? What a mess! Why is it in ruins?", etc etc.
(The paler rectangles across the building are reflections from inside the window of the train from which I took this photo.)
ADDITIONAL NOTES
This is actually a historic Grade II* Listed Building. The power station was shut down in 1983. Since then, somewhat scandalously, four successive would-be developers of the site and building have overstretched themselves and collapsed in the course of their efforts. By amazing coincidence, when I uploaded this image this evening, I hadn't yet looked through my regular newspaper (The Guardian) and didn't know that it had ran an article on this very same day about the collapse, just earlier today of the fourth developer, together with a history of the previous failed development efforts.
Further up to date details are given in Wikipedia including some outstanding facts like it being the "largest brick building in Europe and ... notable for its original, lavish Art Deco interior fittings and decor." When it was built it was "ranked equal with St Paul's Cathedral as a London landmark." The exterior design is by the architect Sir Giles Gilbert Scott. But its condition is now grave. Apparently, a few hours ago, money-no-object Chelsea Football Club [aka Dinamo Greedograd] have hired a developer to draw up plans for the site including a new stadium.
for COMMUTE ROUTE set:
View from the right side of the train from Herne Hill to London Victoria, just before crossing the River Thames and into Victoria.
ID: DSC_2022 - Version 2
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