What was 1975 like?
In the 23rd year of Queen Elizabeth II’s reign her Prime Minister was Harold Wilson. On the Conservative side, Ted Heath, who Wilson had beaten twice in February and October 1974 was forced from the leadership of the party after a challenge by Margaret Thatcher. The ‘big beasts’ were much in evidence in the second round of the contest, expecting Thatcher’s tilt at the crown to run out of steam, but she reaped the benefit from her performance in the first round to secure the party leadership and become the first female leader of a major UK political party. It was, as it turned out, a pivotal moment in British political history. The other, seemingly pivotal moment was the referendum on EEC membership which was overwhelmingly rubber stamped by the British public. Sadly, it wasn’t the final word on the matter.
The Troubles in Ireland were brought shockingly into focus for my ten year old self, as they were for so many children at the time. Ross McWhirter, along with brother Norris were household names as co-presenters of the BBC show Record Breakers, based on the Guinness Book of Records which they co-edited. In November, he was assassinated by the Provisional IRA, leaving the many fans of the programme deeply upset. What we didn’t know at the time, of course, were that Ross McWhirter was very involved in politics and, in particular, Irish Politics. He wanted the death penalty for terrorists, not that this was a fringe view at the time, but he also wanted the Irish Community in the UK to face compulsory registration with the police and restrictions of their daily activities, for example renting flats or booking hotel rooms. He also put up a reward of £50,000 for information leading to capture and conviction of IRA terrorists. He freely accepted that this made him a target and so it proved.
1975 saw the release of one of the most significant pieces of music in popular culture history. Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen is 50 years old as I write, but it has never lost its place as one of the crown jewels of music in that time. There are, of course, many who dislike it but its position at the pinnacle of music can’t really be argued against. Nine weeks as Number 1 in 1975/76 keeping Greg Lake’s I Believe in Father Christmas from the top spot on December 25, and another five weeks, including uniquely at the time its second appearance as the festive chart topper following Freddie Mercury’s death in 1991.
In other cultural news, The History Man by Malcolm Bradbury was published. One of the great modern novels it features a brilliant antihero in Howard Kirk the self centred sociology lecturer. It is a fantastic satire of university life that is as recognisable today as it was then, but perhaps is even more relevant as a critique of organisations in general.
Average wages in 1975 were about £54 a week, slightly less for male manual workers who were paid an average of £48 a week. However, if you were a female manual worker you were paid just £27 a week, half the National average! The Equal Pay Act of 1970 had been ignored under the previous government, and not properly enforced by the Labour government either. In an effort to ensure that this no longer happened, the Sex Discrimination Act of 1975, and the introduction of ACAS with a remit to rule on disputes between companies and workers, sought to strengthen the legal framework. The fact that we still don’t have equal pay 50 years on shows the difficulties faced by anyone trying to get fairness in the workplace.
The Illustrated London News Christmas Number 1975
The cover of this magazine is absolutely gorgeous and definitely my favourite of those I have been working with. It is ‘The Madonna and Child’ by Ambrosius Benson, painted in the 16th century and sold by Bonham’s that year. It is a cover that hints at the traditional viewpoint of the magazine as we shall see. The first article I want to concentrate on is the Bishop of London’s piece, Christmas – fact or fiction? Unsurprisingly, this piece of writing comes down firmly on the side of fact, but it is not totally dismissive of those who hold the opposite viewpoint. It is an unequivocally ecclesiastical take on the season and, in 1975, there was no requirement for someone to put the opposite view forward. The traditional and historical approach that this magazine takes is present in the marvellous four page history of Frost Fairs on the Thames. There are marvellous details from letters and diaries of the time and it is a fascinating read. It expresses sadness that the Thames has never frozen over so completely since then, although 1947 and 1963 came close. The same view is echoed nowadays as we realise that due to climate change those of us in the South of the UK are unlikely ever to have a White Christmas again as warm, wet conditions are now the rule for Winter.
I was greatly amused by the irritated tone taken by the writer of Tom, Dick or Harry. It is a masterpiece of upper class parochialism bemoaning the use of forenames instead of surnames when people address each other. They, according to the article, ‘appear very late in polite usage’, sons addressed their fathers ‘very properly as sir’ and the fact that people had forenames was something that ‘would finally appear on tombstones’! The article continues in this vein and could not possibly be taken seriously today. It reads as if it is a parody, but in this magazine, when it was first published, it was very likely to have seen readers nodding furiously in agreement!
Advertisements
The advertisements (they would never have been referred to as adverts!) in this magazine definitely require closer examination, because they illuminate the class structure of the time very effectively. Dotted throughout the magazine are advertisements for high end products such as fine arts, Jaguar XJS cars and Burberry scarves and coats. These were clear markers of the social and financial standing of the readership of The Illustrated London News, but nothing epitomises the viewpoint of the Upper Middle and Upper classes better than our first advertisement below. Philips Televisions genuinely came encased in a mock George II Serpentine cabinet to hide the fact that you had anything as ‘non-U’ as a television! It is worth remembering that this was a time when many people still refused to watch ITV because it was lowest common denominator programming for the working classes whereas the BBC was still the gold standard of world broadcasting. Philips are at pains to point out that the set inside is state of the art, even including a remote control which was very unusual at the time. (Perhaps it was there in case the butler was on holiday!!) The snobbishness on display is simply jaw dropping, but it was snobbishness shared even by those who had neither the background nor the money to gain admittance to even the middle echelons of society.
The number of advertisements for smoking and drinking is quite surprising even for the time, but they were restrained and, in terms of the alcohol particularly, skewed to the higher end of the market. Havana Cigars and high priced single malt whisky and top quality brandy was definitely the order of the day for the upper class table.
Final Reflections
This, in purely social and cultural terms is the most fascinating of the magazines I will be looking at. It captures a moment in time when the upper classes were still very much about keeping the barriers up. This magazine represented their world view in all its shades and gives us an invaluable insight into how the other half lived 50 years ago. To read it is to be taken back to drawing rooms virtually unchanged in a century. For better or for worse it is a world that has completely vanished from our lives, but which stays alive in our popular culture and our stately homes.
What positive events have taken place in your life over the past year?
- After a bit of a scare with a raised PSA level I still have good health for someone of my age. Get your prostate checked guys whatever age you are.
- I marked my birthday by handing in my resignation and embarked on a new journey in life. It hasn’t always been easy but it has been right.
- I got the chance to teach an amazing class of art students online during the summer. After two very difficult years it reminded me why I am a teacher.
- I visited Stonehenge and entered the Stone Circle. It was an amazing experience and I would recommend it to anyone.
- I visited Salzburg and went to the Christmas Market. I have always wanted to do that, but with my teaching schedule I have never previously had the opportunity. It was every bit as good as I could have imagined.
- I have used my extra time to focus on my writing in general and my blog in particular. This has enabled me to develop as a writer.
- I have increased my blog views by around 300% this year! Writing every day has given me a regular and increasing audience. The links for some of my articles are throughout this post so why not click on a few?!
- I set myself the challenge of analysing Christmas Magazines from 1896 to 2025. It’s been a real undertaking and I haven’t had many views on those posts yet, but I have no doubt it’s been well worth doing. The link is for the latest one, but look for Blogmas 2025 on my blog for the rest. They’re really good and well worth a read.
- My family are healthy and all four of my children have made progress this year in different ways. As a parent you can ask for no more than that.
- I am looking forward to what 2026 will bring in a way I can’t remember doing for any New Year in a really long time.
What was 1970 like?
The 18th year of Queen Elizabeth II’s reign featured a general election in June that neatly split the political year into two halves. For the first half of the year Harold Wilson led his Labour Government with a very thin majority. Despite this, they were able to pass the bill reducing the Age of Majority, the legal definition of adulthood in effect, from 21 to 18 for the most purposes. The election was almost impossible to predict with the Conservatives coming into 1970 with a 20 point lead in the opinion polls and Labour calling the election with an apparently healthy 5 to 8 point lead themselves. In the end, the Conservative and Unionist Party which included the Northern Irish Ulster Unionist Party at the time, won by a surprisingly comfortable 30 seats. Some tongue in cheek commentators suggested that England losing their 1970 World Cup Quarter Final to West Germany just before the election was what swung it back to the Conservatives! Even more surprisingly for anyone brought up in today’s political environment was the fact that Harold Wilson did not instantly resign, but stayed on largely unopposed to fight and win two elections in 1974.
A number of events from 1970 caught my eye because of their offbeat nature. On 31 July the Royal Navy issued its last ration of grog to all sailors. Usually, consisting of rum and water, grog was distributed to all sailors from 21 August 1740! It’s amazing to think that this tradition continued unbroken for very nearly 230 years. Glastonbury Farm held its first festival, headlined by Tyrannosaurus Rex (soon to become T Rex), with an attendance of 1500! It would become somewhat more popular over the next half century! Finally, I must mention a staple of many teenage years in the 70s and beyond which debuted on November 17, the Sun Page Three Girl, an almost perfect microcosm of the permissive society of the late 60s and the saucy postcard from the UK’s beach resorts. It made stars out of some of its topless models and gave writers free rein for innuendo for decades to come!
Musically speaking it was the end of one era and the dawn of at least two others. The Beatles released their last single and album as a group and on 31 December Paul McCartney filed a lawsuit against the rest of the band to dissolve their partnership. In February, Black Sabbath released their eponymous debut album which was the acknowledged start of the heavy metal genre. T Rex were already experimenting with what would become Glam Rock, a genre that became the predominant chart music of the first half of the 1970s.
The start of the 70s was a watershed for the UK’s younger viewers. The first colour episodes of Doctor Who were shown as Jon Pertwee took over the role and gave an iconic portrayal of the Doctor. Three programmes from the US that were to become staples of children’s viewing were all shown in the UK for the first time. Scooby Doo, Where Are You?, The Banana Splits and Dastardly and Muttley all burst onto our screens with a verve and humour unknown in their more restrained UK counterparts. That said, the UK always had the edge when it came to quality drama, and Timeslip also debuted this year.
Woman’s Realm 1970
The first thing I want to reflect on is the completely atypical cover. The woman in skiing gear on a mountain reflects the anticipation of a new decade and a new more dynamic female approach to life. For most women, this vision would have remained just that, as everyday lives carried on for most in a typically low key fashion. However, it indicated a new aspirational image that would see in the decade of the Women’s Liberation movement that pushed for women to be independent and equal participants in UK society. Remember, that in 1970, women could not open their own bank accounts or apply for credit without a male guarantor! It’s incredible to think that it was 1973 before women were allowed to be financially independent. At the time, they would have had to rely on a husband or father to buy that skiing gear. Looked at from our modern perspective they really were the dark ages! However, there is a nod to the everyday reader as they are going to have to knit the sweater themselves before they hit the slopes!
On Page 5, there is a reflection on the gospels from The Padre who talks about failure and how to deal with it. This is interesting from two perspectives. Firstly, you have the fact that it puts a religious element right at the start of the magazine, something that would be unthinkable today in our more secular times. Secondly, the acknowledgement of failure as a likelihood would be incredibly unlikely in today’s magazines where everything is seemingly rosy and life is there for the taking. Actually, if you read it, the advice is as pertinent to 2025 as it is to 1970, pointing out that very often you are just tired and that’s what leads to failure. A companion article appears later on in the magazine, entitled ‘So Depressed!’ which focuses on recognising the difference between sadness and depression and some strategies for dealing with the situation. Once again, the advice is timeless although the final paragraph betrays its origins in a different medical time by mentioning ‘… skilled care either with drugs or with electrical treatment’.
For the average woman in her own realm, she could cook Christmas Dinner courtesy of the recipes in the four page section ‘A Real Old-Fashioned Christmas’. We would still recognise Mincemeat, Puff Pastry for Mince Pies, Christmas Cake and Gingerbread. Plum Pudding, Candied Chestnuts and Spiced Pears would be less familiar, and probably only read about in old novels, while Black Bun and Drunken Prunes would be absolutely baffling! For the record, Black Bun is a Scottish cake encased in pastry, which you don’t eat and Drunken Prunes are soaked in sherry for four days, which might do it! She could knit the aforementioned jumper, girls’ dresses and a cuddly Lennie the Lion. With the time she would probably have left (!) she could also upholster a chair! This definitely reflects the ‘make do and mend’ approach required of so many families in those days. Yes, you could afford the occasional treat but only if you saved money where you could.
What interested me on flicking through the magazine was the fact that the family are referred to only in passing. Children and husband are there, but they are not necessarily the centre of these women’s lives. The different slant on the life of the average reader is quite clear when you compare it to the previous two decades. No longer do women have to clean the house, prepare the dinner and still look desirable when their hard working husband comes home!
In terms of the adverts, significantly fewer than would be the case in years to come, they were again very focused on the woman herself. It is very much a practical set of products that would enhance their lives quite easily and relatively cheaply. If all else failed and you had had enough of the cold British Winter, which actually gave us a rare White Christmas in the South of the UK, then Australia was interested in you! Assisted Passages, known to everyone else as the Ten Pound Pom scheme, are advertised with the ultimate in aspirational lifestyle style for a British woman. As you can see, they could transform themselves into bikini clad Australians smoking a cigarette on a boat with Sydney Opera House in the background!
Final Reflections
This is, perhaps more than any of the others I have read, a most fascinating time capsule. We are on the cusp of a new era for women, and it is an era that Woman’s Realm are very much at the forefront of. They tread a very fine line between what was possible at the time and what may be possible in the future. Their vision of a more independent lifestyle is at odds with a time when women wouldn’t be trusted with their own money, but change was in the air and Woman’s Realm could sense it. They seem to be saying the future is here, and it could be female.
Do you ever see wild animals?
I see wild animals all the time as the news is always about the wildest ones. Humans are wild animals, not a favoured creation. Humans are the wild animals, because they are the only ones to deliberately destroy their environment. Humans are the only species, as far as we know, who have evolved beyond the point of stability, both environmental and psychological. The most powerful don’t care about anyone else apart from themselves or anything else apart from the hoarding of more wealth than they could spend in a thousand lifetimes. The least powerful vote in those who promise to inflict as much damage as possible on the world as long as they say that they hate the other side.
The so called wild animals, a phrase that belongs in the 19th century along with savages, are actually far kinder and far less damaging than we are. Lions, Tigers and Leopards kill for food and only kill humans because humans have moved into their territory. Humans kill these magnificent creatures because they are selfish, vain and money hungry. A poacher is far more of a wild animal than the rhinoceros or elephant they are hunting. All they will do is bring down the animal, cut off their ivory and leave them to die in agony. How can you think of that and not see who the true wild animals are?
All other animal species contribute to their environment whereas human beings damage theirs. Sooner or later we will become extinct and the planet will recover without us.
What was 1967 like?
It was the 15th year of Queen Elizabeth II’s reign and her Prime Minister was Harold Wilson. There were two pieces of legislation with far reaching consequences passed in this year, both in October. Male Homosexuality was decriminalised, but only for those over 21 and only for consensual acts in private. Despite the less favourable treatment, when compared to heterosexual acts which were legal at 16, and the fact that it was still illegal in the Armed Forces, it was an incredibly brave piece of legislation for the 1960s which, despite the exaggerated prevalence of the ‘permissive society’, was still very traditional at its heart. The decriminalisation of abortion, which was a Private Members Bill introduced by David Steel, later leader of the Liberal Party, was a social and healthcare issue that was costing the lives of women forced into having illegal abortions. The fact that both pieces of legislation continue to be controversial nearly 60 years on shows the seismic effect it must have had on society at the time. One thing Harold Wilson did not get through was his application for membership of the EEC. General de Gaulle who hated the British that had, after all, given him protection during the war years once again said ‘Non’!
In the New Year’s Honours List, one name stood out, that of Alf Ramsey. Still the only England manager to lead the country to World Cup glory, he became Sir Alf Ramsey following their success the previous year. The captain, Bobby Moore, never received a knighthood but he was honoured with an OBE at the same time. Geoff Hurst, who scored a hattrick in the final had to wait 13 years before he also received an OBE while the final five were honoured for their part in the final 33 years later in 1999!
In TV one of the main events was the transmission of the first episode of Trumpton on January 3. 20 years later it was still entertaining a whole new generation of children. The models, the songs and, above all, Brian Cant’s marvellous voice made this a show that has been referred to in popular culture multiple times. On July 1 the BBC started to experiment with the new medium of colour, even though very few colour sets yet existed. News at Ten was shown for the first time on ITV on 3 July.
In music, one event stood above all others in 1967, the release of Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band by The Beatles, an album that ended up defining the 1960s for many people. After missing out on the Christmas Number 1 the previous year, the Fab Four were once again at the top of the charts on December 25 with ‘Hello, Goodbye’.
Woman’s Own Christmas Annual 1967
The first thing to notice on the cover is the quite significant price rise on the issue just two years earlier. It had risen from 3s 6d to 5s. It equates to a price rise of well over a third, and indicates, perhaps, a large increase in costs, as inflation was between 1 and 2% that year. In terms of the content, the magazine was maybe even more traditional than the 1965 version. If you look at the editorial below, the readers are strongly encouraged to get away from the trappings of the consumerist Christmas and to concentrate on the real meaning behind it. It’s interesting, and amusing, to see that the complaint of Christmas becoming too frantic was just as much in evidence in 1967 as it is in 2025. The reminder of the real meaning of Christmas is just as pertinent then as it is now. There is a feeling of Woman’s Own trying to reshape Christmas into one its older readers might recognise. This feeling is enhanced by the first main article ‘The Magic of Christmas’ which takes the reader back to simpler times and older traditions with the comfort of repetition. The author does wistfully reflect upon the fact that more people listen to the Nine Lessons and Carols on the radio than actually go to church, but she excuses them because of how busy the day is! Finally, as with the magazine two years earlier, the magazine looks towards Europe for some traditions that really reflect the season on the continent.
There is a tentative acknowledgement that children are maybe less likely to truly appreciate their gifts and that they are growing up more quickly than they used to. The Letter from Santa bemoans the younger generation and their reluctance to write thank you letters or indeed many letters at all! He suggests getting your children to write to him because they are guaranteed an answer. There is no indication that reinforcing the belief in Santa Claus himself is in any way a bad thing. In fact it is to be encouraged among the ‘doubting or … mentally had boiled child’! The benefits of keeping the wonder are extolled while the more modern concern of ‘lying’ to your child does not even come into it, an approach I wholeheartedly agree with.
However, even the most determined magazine has to accept reality in some ways. Their readership will be from diverse backgrounds with struggling manual workers at one end to the very well off, relatively speaking, professional class at the other. Hence, two articles are pitched quite clearly at the more affluent or more aspirational of their readers. First of all, there are suggestions for presents that will bring some luxury into Christmas for the pockets that can stretch to it. With prices from 25s to over £7, these would not be within the reach of many. However, even those people may find some inspiration from those ideas. If you wanted to impress your guests at a Christmas party, why not turn it into a Bistro party! Absolutely certain that nothing could impress more easily than French food, delicacies like garlic butter, three different types of soup, wine and fresh fruit! Failing that you could go Danish with Shrimp sandwiches, lots of different meats and beer! It would seem that even Woman’s Own would not go too far away from the familiar for fear of frightening the meat and two veg brigade of whatever income bracket!
Final Reflections
This is an interesting magazine in that it is fighting the potentially huge effect of societal changes by doubling down on tradition. This approach would no doubt have chimed with many around the country who were worried about the speed of change. However, these changes would not be stopped and eventually magazines like Woman’s Own would be forced to change themselves or become irrelevant. Despite the way that consumerism has altered the world of the sixties so markedly, there are still echoes of the wish to have a traditional Christmas, however we perceive that term, and return in some way to the magic of our childhood Christmases.
Next time it’s the turn of Woman’s Realm 1970.
David Pearce - Popular Culture and Personal Passions 