Tag 1970s

Cash – #SoCS Aug 13/16

freyathewriter 7 Comments

 

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“Ground floor:
Perfumery, stationery, and leather goods, wigs and haberdashery, kitchenware and food. Going up…

First floor:
Telephones, gents ready made suits, shirts, socks, ties, hats, underwear, and shoes. Going up…

Second floor:
Carpets, travel goods, and bedding, materials, soft furnishings, restaurant, and teas. Going down…“

Anyone from the UK who remembers 1970s TV programming will probably recognise these lyrics… the theme tune to ‘Are You Being Served?”!

I was born in 1970, so my memory of this comedy series, set in the fictitious department store ‘Grace Brothers’, is informed by my childish interpretation, but as I mentioned last week, it was another sitcom that was funny for children and adults alike – it was definitely family viewing in my experience!

Innuendo littered every programme, but most of it passed me by at that age. There was much talk of Mrs Slocombe’s pussy (and yes, she did have a cat, but her leg was constantly pulled by Mr Lucas, the ‘Jack the lad’ junior in menswear, who clearly interpreted it rather differently!). Mr Humphries was the gay archetype, who’s strapline was ‘I’m free!’ when asked if he could serve a customer – of course, there was another double entendre right there. Old Mr Grace, one of the eponymous ‘Grace Brothers’ was always surrounded by a bevy of barely-suitably-dressed young ladies… it was typical 1970s – and certainly not PC. But really, I think that it was a perfect sitcom, taking the mickey out of the British way of the time. And it was harmless, in my opinion.

What has this got to do with cash? Well, the theme tune begins with the sound of ringing cash registers, fading behind the song, the lyrics being what a lift attendant might say whilst shepherding customers between floors.

Ah, reminiscing is such fun!

I’ve included a YouTube video below, so anyone who doesn’t know of the series can get more of a feel for what I’ve been writing about – enjoy!

 

It’s time for Stream of Consciousness Saturday, hosted by the lovely Linda. I seem to have gone down the 1970s TV route again, inspired by this week’s prompt of ‘cash’. I really enjoyed writing and thinking about this!

Please do head on over to Linda’s place, read, enjoy and why not take part?

And… here’s the new SoCS badge – eye-catching, right?

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Ex – SoCS Aug 6/16

freyathewriter 6 Comments

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“F U N E X ?”

Those of you who are of a certain age, those of you who are British, those of you who were brought up on 1970s British comedy as a staple of the only 3 TV channels available to us back then (and sometimes, I wish it was still the case, too much choice these days!) will recognise this question, that started off a whole conversation consisting of letters and numbers only, courtesy of The Two Ronnies – Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett. And for those of you who have no idea what F U N E X means, it’s “Have you any eggs?”

As a little girl I remember laughing like a drain at some of the things The Two Ronnies got up to in their sketches. Of course, their comedy was on two levels, as some of the best comedy is, fun for children, and more risque humour for the parents. It was true family viewing.

I’ll leave a video below, so that if you want to watch the whole sketch, you can.

Ah, the 1970s… it had it’s own special flavour! Rose-tinted for me probably, because I had a great childhood. I remember playing outdoors in the garden a great deal, making up stories in my head for my Sindy doll (she was a world class gymnast in honour of Nadia Comaneci), writing (but never finishing) boarding school stories (I read so many Mallory Towers, St Clare’s and Chalet School books it probably wasn’t healthy!) and making Hallowe’en Jack o’ Lanterns with my step-dad to greet my mum from the window when she came home from her studies in the evening.

Gosh – this is a real stream of consciousness post – I hope my ramblings haven’t been too incoherent!.

Please enjoy the video of the sketch ‘Swedish Made Simple’ and find out the answer to ‘F U N E X ?”! (It’s slightly risque and of course, comedy of its time. I certainly didn’t understand at least one of the references made to a certain type of Swedish films at the beginning!).

 

It’s Saturday once more (hallelujah!), and time for the lovely Linda’s Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt. This week, she has asked us to write on ‘ex’. I’ve takena sideways approach to this – it was truly the first thing that came to mind!

Please head on over to Linda’s blog to see what other writes have been inspired by!

Good times – Writing Prompt #161 “Collage 24”

freyathewriter 6 Comments

“Sometimes your only available transportation is a leap of faith.” Margaret Shepard

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“Drink me.”

“Eat me.”

Alice stared at the buffet-laden table. The sausage rolls, the pork pies, the little triangular sandwiches with their crusts cut off, the cheese and pineapple cubes speared on cocktail sticks, the trifle, the jelly, the little clementine segments floating in their sweet, sticky juice, the bottles of cherryade and ginger beer, they grew in size, reached for the ceiling, loomed towards her menacingly. ‘No, no, invitingly’, she forced herself to think up a better word than the one that towered in her mind.

She gulped, panic turning her throat to sandpaper, gluing her tongue to the roof of her mouth. She took slow, steady breaths, just as she had been taught.

“Darling, isn’t this wonderful? All your favourite foods from ‘The Best Christmas Ever!’ Do you remember? We struggled so hard that year, what with your dad on 3 day weeks and no money to speak of, but it was the best one ever, for you. We were so happy!”

“Thanks, Mum,” Alice whispered, clenching her fists, magicking up a smile. Mum was doing her best, they were all doing their best.

She reached for a cheese and pineapple morsel, closed her eyes and took a tiny bite, the cheese clagging itself to the roof of her mouth, the pineapple tang making the back of her jaw tingle with the sweet, acidic bite she had barely thought of in years.

Suddenly, she was transported back in time to the 1970s, to laughter, to fun, to warmth and comfort, to when food was a joy and not a monster to be battled with every day.

‘One bite at a time,’ she thought, her therapist’s words echoing in her ears. ‘One bite at a time.’

 

And this time, thanks to Michael for inspiring me to take part in this prompt, hosted by Mindlovemisery’s Menagerie. The initial prompt is the quote above, this week form Margaret Shepard, and then to provide more inspiration, we have a little tableaux of beautiful images to ponder as well.

I hope you enjoy my piece and do head on over to Mindlovemisery’s Menagerie to read other contributions and… take part!