Frank Ifield in Panto - Dec 26 & 27 1974

As I post this at the end of 2020, it serves as a cruel reminder of what we're missing this year. Namely the Christmas panto. In 1974 we were treated to Jack And The Beanstalk starring comedian Ken Goodwin and yodelling Australian Frank Ifield. What I thought of it goes unrecorded here, my only note being an apology that I'd had to use an orange pen to colour his face in. A career as a theatre reviewer was definitely lower on my list than a career as a designer who colours things badly then finds excuses for it.

Some legendary TV on at the time, including On The Town (which we watched only a couple of weeks ago), MASH (which the Socks did a song about only last month) and Wait Till Your Father Gets Home (about which I was reminiscing very recently). And this must, I assume, be the first time I'd seen Help! It was definitely the first time, and possibly the last, I tried drawing The Beatles.

Kev F Sutherland, as well as writing and drawing for The Beano, Marvel, Doctor Who et al, runs Comic Art Masterclasses in schools, libraries & art centres. email for details. Facebook, Twitter. Promo video here. 

The Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre will be touring near you sometime. Catch up with them on Facebook for the latest. 

The Christmas Dayth - Dec 25 1974

The first Christmas captured by my Picture Diary (which began life towards the end of term in June 1974) concentrates on illustrating the goodies I've received. Which include the legendary Goodies Files, a book that crops up regularly in second hand bookshops at pocket money prices. Does no-one realise the sheer quality of that book? With its cutout pages, overlaps and folds, and of course top notch comedy writing and pictures it is rivalled only by another pressie I got that year, The Brand New Monty Python Papperbok.

I had in fact been bought the Papperbox the previous Christmas (well, the hardback Bok version) by Mum who then took a lot through it and decided I was too young for it. She wasn't wrong. There are gags in this book that I wasn't going to understand for a few years yet. 

That trouser belt was one I treasured and wore for the next five years, into my student days. It may still exist somewhere, it was a solid piece of brass was that buckle. That Giles book may well have been the foundation stone of my collection, which now included all but half a dozen very early books. To be honest, some could use replacing with less tatty versions. I wonder if I'll remember that in time for next year's Christmas presents?

Kev F Sutherland, as well as writing and drawing for The Beano, Marvel, Doctor Who et al, runs Comic Art Masterclasses in schools, libraries & art centres. email for details. Facebook, Twitter. Promo video here. 

The Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre will be touring near you sometime. Catch up with them on Facebook for the latest. 

"Post Christmas Ghost Town" - Dec 26 & 27 1975

Market Harborough was, according to my diary on December 27th 1975, a "post-Christmas ghost town". Boy did I have no idea what the whole country would look like 45 years later (I'm writing this at the end of 2020, where ghost towns have been a familiar sight for a few months now).

The rest of post-Christmas 1975 looks much like it does today. Somewhere they'll be showing The Railway Children, Tom Thumb, and Dad's Army, and folks will be reminiscing about the time they saw Genesis Of The Daleks. In my case, it was at the bottom of page right.

Kev F Sutherland, as well as writing and drawing for The Beano, Marvel, Doctor Who et al, runs Comic Art Masterclasses in schools, libraries & art centres. email for details. Facebook, Twitter. Promo video here. 

The Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre will be touring near you sometime. Catch up with them on Facebook for the latest. 

Make A Daft Noise - Dec 24 & 25 1975

 

A fold out spread for Christmas Day 1975, no less. How else to show off all those presents? Annuals galore, and what a lot of them. Not only the ones I had pictures of, but another three not shown, plus The Goodies Book Of Records, and the fantastic Happy Days book by Denis Gifford, that I still consult to this day.

The orange ball depicted on Dec 25 is my desk calendar, something I'd forgotten till now. You'd push a button and the date would flip over. The things we did back in the days before smart phones.

Quite the classic time for TV and pop music, with shows like the Porridge, Morecambe & Wise, and Some Mothers Do Ave Em Christmas Specials that still get shown on TV to this day, and brand new singles including my Records For The Day In Dulce Jubilo and Make A Daft Noise For Christmas.

Kev F Sutherland, as well as writing and drawing for The Beano, Marvel, Doctor Who et al, runs Comic Art Masterclasses in schools, libraries & art centres. email for details. Facebook, Twitter. Promo video here. 

The Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre will be touring near you sometime. Catch up with them on Facebook for the latest.