Swanley History Group – December 2018 meeting
Being the son of a theatrical landlady and later having a professional career with The British Broadcasting Corporation, Wilf Lower was the ideal person to present ‘Don’t Sneeze at the Microphone’ at our December meeting. With a wealth of entertaining stills, film clips and stories Wilf took us on the journey of entertainment from stage to radio and television.
One hundred and twenty years ago, whilst those who were comfortably off could enjoy the opera, classical theatre and leafy park bandstands, the majority needed to find other ways to cheer themselves up in the very tough situations in which they lived. A hall at the back of a pub where a piano was played and people did ‘party pieces’ developed into that major source of popular entertainment venue known as a music hall, showing a variety of acts such as singers, dancers, conjurors, acrobats, comics and animal acts who would do a ‘turn’ – often in several places in one evening. The phonograph and records came next, suiting artists such as singers and dance bands. Silent film was the saviour for visual acts – the dancers, actors and comedians.
In 1922 The British Broadcasting Corporation set up the first Royal Charter in the world and radio was born – which again suited some types of performers but not others. Along came ‘talkie’ films as well as BBC executive Gerald Cock - who knew the world of entertainment -and people could tune in to hear performers such as Arthur Askey, Tommy Handley and Gracie Fields. It is remarkable that comedians could find any jokes to tell under the BBC’s stewardship of formidable Lord Reith in the 1930’s. His rule book banned gags on just about anything – including innuendo, ladies’ underwear, honeymoon couples and animals!
With the advent of World War 2 all theatres initially closed, though the Windmill later opened providing ‘revues’ or tableaux of nude ladies. Servicemen used the Nuffield Centre where they could get cheap meals and this was a good place for new talent to get started - as was the ‘Garrison’ shows from military bases. Artists such as Frankie Howard, Jimmy Edwards and programmes such as The Goon Show and The Navy Lark were launched. Some, such as Bob Monkhouse, also wrote scripts for other performers – though the BBC did not approve of service humour! There was a north/south divide though - Cockney acts did not go down well up north where they had their own favourites such as ‘The Clitheroe Kid’.
Television became a reality in the mid 1930’s but there was difficulty receiving a signal for some time – early viewers would watch ‘the Potter’s Wheel’ for ages! 1950’s viewers could watch The Good Old Days, What’s My Line, Victor Sylvester and of course the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth 11. The Black and White Minstrel Show ran for 20 years. From the 1960’s variety shows were built around stars, such as Benny Hill, Dick Emery Harry Worth,
Les Dawson, Tommy Cooper, The Two Ronnies and Morecambe and Wise, who had their own catch phrases. Many of their acts shared the same structure as the traditional turns of the music hall.
Christina Tyler, Programme Organiser
Being the son of a theatrical landlady and later having a professional career with The British Broadcasting Corporation, Wilf Lower was the ideal person to present ‘Don’t Sneeze at the Microphone’ at our December meeting. With a wealth of entertaining stills, film clips and stories Wilf took us on the journey of entertainment from stage to radio and television.
One hundred and twenty years ago, whilst those who were comfortably off could enjoy the opera, classical theatre and leafy park bandstands, the majority needed to find other ways to cheer themselves up in the very tough situations in which they lived. A hall at the back of a pub where a piano was played and people did ‘party pieces’ developed into that major source of popular entertainment venue known as a music hall, showing a variety of acts such as singers, dancers, conjurors, acrobats, comics and animal acts who would do a ‘turn’ – often in several places in one evening. The phonograph and records came next, suiting artists such as singers and dance bands. Silent film was the saviour for visual acts – the dancers, actors and comedians.
In 1922 The British Broadcasting Corporation set up the first Royal Charter in the world and radio was born – which again suited some types of performers but not others. Along came ‘talkie’ films as well as BBC executive Gerald Cock - who knew the world of entertainment -and people could tune in to hear performers such as Arthur Askey, Tommy Handley and Gracie Fields. It is remarkable that comedians could find any jokes to tell under the BBC’s stewardship of formidable Lord Reith in the 1930’s. His rule book banned gags on just about anything – including innuendo, ladies’ underwear, honeymoon couples and animals!
With the advent of World War 2 all theatres initially closed, though the Windmill later opened providing ‘revues’ or tableaux of nude ladies. Servicemen used the Nuffield Centre where they could get cheap meals and this was a good place for new talent to get started - as was the ‘Garrison’ shows from military bases. Artists such as Frankie Howard, Jimmy Edwards and programmes such as The Goon Show and The Navy Lark were launched. Some, such as Bob Monkhouse, also wrote scripts for other performers – though the BBC did not approve of service humour! There was a north/south divide though - Cockney acts did not go down well up north where they had their own favourites such as ‘The Clitheroe Kid’.
Television became a reality in the mid 1930’s but there was difficulty receiving a signal for some time – early viewers would watch ‘the Potter’s Wheel’ for ages! 1950’s viewers could watch The Good Old Days, What’s My Line, Victor Sylvester and of course the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth 11. The Black and White Minstrel Show ran for 20 years. From the 1960’s variety shows were built around stars, such as Benny Hill, Dick Emery Harry Worth,
Les Dawson, Tommy Cooper, The Two Ronnies and Morecambe and Wise, who had their own catch phrases. Many of their acts shared the same structure as the traditional turns of the music hall.
Christina Tyler, Programme Organiser