Green Shield Stamps

I was aware of Lenny Henry on Tiswas, but in all honesty never thought of him as black just used to laugh at his Bellamy impression

 

Tiswas was a bit too free form for me as a youth. I can't remember watching much, other than Some Mothers Do Ave 'Em, Mary, Mungo & Midge, Mr Benn & Blue Peter. In retrospect my whole childhood was a mistake. It explains a lot.

 

I was a very nervous child, always worried midge may tip the maximum weight allowed in the lift and they would plunge to their deaths

 

I had them. Some were porcelain and some were plastic.

 

There is a really f@@ked up song in there. Half Man Half Biscuit, I have a concept.

 

As a kid the only black man I was aware of was the coal man who delivered on a Friday night

 

Illingworth was our coal man. Fascinated me as a kid because he was so ingrained with coal dust he'd become black.

 

Used to save No6 cigarette coupons , saved ten thousand once and got a standard lamp and Bronchitis

 

I think that’s the point JP, back then we were spoon fed stuff which looking back would cause more than just a little outrage. We didn’t see any connection between the images and peoples actual skin. I didn’t even realise at the time that the Robinson’s figures were black people, I thought they were just children’s characters like bill and Ben. Education has brought us a fairer and more understanding society... which I think the report the other day eluded to.

There is a small minority who have some racist views, and a large proportion of those are at the older end. These were different uneducated times. And I don’t feel embarrassed for my own young naive view of the world.

 

If memory serves me well, from my days with Mum at the Co-op on the hill from Stairfoot to Ardsley, they later introduced stamps which were worth more than just an individual stamp.

It saved the tongue drying out from licking a sheet the size of a football field, just for a weekly shop.

 

We saved the jam jar ticket things on the labels and received little figurines of them plsying musical instruments.....think we had about 6 or 7 and we loved em.....never entered into my head that they would be racist at any time.

 

The a black and White Minstrels
I remember as a kid my parents watching them on a variety show on a Saturday night.
Singing and dancing with their faces all blackened. Certainly would not be tolerated today but was top of the bill back in the 60s

 

Always wanted to save green shield stamps up for mini moke obviously no chance

 

you got 1 stamp for every 2 and 1/2 p you spent, gosh a pint was 14 p in 1972, took some collecting I reckon