Over the years I've come across a few books and journals online that I've never seen anywhere else. They all relate to Thunderbirds and or Derek Meddings in some way or another. The contents remain a mystery and I wondered if any reader has them in their bookcase?
Play School was a Kids TV show which aired during the 1960's. I remember watching it a lot as a youngster and I recall it being a sort of British Sesame Street, although I'm unsure of the time-line for the two programmes.
Play School was for smaller children and was essentially good clean fun. Lots of singing, dolls, soft toys, counting, telling the time [analog!] and the like. No fighting and violence here!
The main gimmick I recall was to do with windows: the show took us through either the round or square window at the start although I have no idea why. I know my Dad used to say through the broken window just at the right moment!
Characters on the show included many different hippified young people, rather like how they were on Magpie. The only one I remember is Brian Cant, who went on to do the similar Play Away and Fingerbobs I think.
Lots of toys appeared as staples: Big Ted, Little Ted, Gemima the doll and Humpty spring to mind. Not sure of they were available as toys in their own right or whether the production team used existing toys.
I did love Play School and it formed an important part of the vast colourful tapestry of my Sixties TV watching.
Did you watch it where you were in the world? Here's a short reminder of its simple old school magic via the modern magic of You Tube.
I know Lego is quite popular with a lot of you, I remember when my son was a youngster Christmas wouldn't have been Christmas without him getting a new Lego toy and spending part of Christmas morning putting it together.
These were some of the superb Lego creations that were on display at last year's Andercon, all built by the talented members of the Brickish Association and all built in glorious Legovision.
A large Thunderbird 2 model built by Gary Davis, and probably around the same size as one of the original studio models.
Complete with three Elevator Cars.
Thunderbird 4 built by Warren Elsmore.
A Spectrum Hovercraft from the Captain Scarlet episode,' Traitor'. This was built by Naomi Farr.
This smaller model of Terrahawk and Battletank was built by Tim Goddard.
As a bit of a post script, reader Kevin Davis recently put together this fine little 'nanoblock' model of the Space Shuttle. The bricks being a lot smaller than Lego meant an occasional bout of cramp for our Kev.
Stephen's Lack's haunting Jailed Clown painting shown earlier today triggered a distant memory of another clown, one that was part of my childhood.
It may well have been part of yours and I just hope the clown concerned didn't feel jailed. In a way he was.
I'm talking about the clown on the TV screen at the back of the Corgi Lincoln Continental, one of my favourite die-cast toys as a kid in the Sixties. Just how many different screens were there?
credit: die cast investor
Yep, funny thing clowns. They engender happiness and sadness in equal measure and Stephen's paradoxical Jailed one is not so far off the mark after all. Corgi the clown has been trapped in his Limousine for 50 years! Just can't recall how it lit up. You?
