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Stone cladding was so much better than pebble dashing.
So much more elegant.
So much more modern.
So much more aesthetically pleasing.
Well, at least some people thought it was.
1983 - and having your house stone-cladded is becoming desirable. With the dosh floating around and the credit boom of the mid-to-late 1980s, "doin' up the 'ouse" in all sorts of ways became more and more popular. Of course, some people thought it was dead common. And when Jack and Vera Duckworth had it in Coronation Street in 1989 it was the death knell for any trendiness the trend had ever had - well, at least for tiny terraced houses.
But back in 1983, when it was all exciting and new, this particular company offered:
NEW Unique 'Country Cottage' one-piece corner stones with traditional sawn stone finish. A revolutionary building development that eliminates unsightly vulnerable edges, to give you an unbelievably perfect finish - everytime...
So, whether you're a homeowner or in the process of buying your Council house, your home will take on a charming and unique character. If you ever decide to sell, you will probably find that you have added considerably to the value of your property...
Every stone is an object of natural beauty. Mellow Cotswold golds, ruggedly handsome greys, browns and delicate pastel shades are all available...
All that and improved sound proofing, thermal insulation and a thirty year guarantee! I'm just as impressed as Jack and Vera! But then the Coronation Street district was always a bit snobby - and having Emily, Ken and Alec looking down their noses was an everyday hazard in 1989.
Fabulous 1983 ad from Readers' Digest. The Pye Tube Cube was released in late 1982. This dinky clock radio, cassette, TV combo quickly found a home in my bedroom after I bought one from my Auntie Audrey's mail order catalogue in 1983. And, of course, it wasn't the only cube making waves in the 1980s. There was Rubik's Cube - taking over the world in 1981 after its arrival in 1980. My Tube Cube was white. You can see it in the photograph of my bedroom below from 1986. It was my main telly until 1987 when I invested in a rented colour set (flatter, squarer, tube) and a rented VCR - my very first VCR! But I kept my Tube Cube until the early 1990s when I flogged it. Fond memories.
The Tube Cube was first advertised on TV on the opening programme of TV-am in 1983.
My bedroom in spring, 1986. I had originally thought this picture dated from 1985, but the Smash Hits Pop Charts recorder on the wall revealed my folly.
One of the most successful and best-remembered TV ad campaigns of the 1980s was for the breakfast cereal Shredded Wheat, featuring several screen and sports stars, and the tagline "Bet You Can't Eat Three!"
News Of The World TV columnist Nina Myskow launched into one of the ads' stars, England cricketer Ian Botham, in 1983 whilst the ad campaign was in full swing.
What, I wonder has the cricketing disaster Down Under done for the sales of Shredded Wheat, so heavily advertised by Ian Botham on telly? And yes, his bum does look as if he's stuffing down at least three at each sitting. Does a spoonful now turn to Ashes in his mouth?
Ouch, Ms M! The gentler sex? Oh, yeah... Poor old Beefy...
This fondly remembered ad from 1983 was part of the "Good Old Yellow Pages" series which also launched JR Hartley of Fly Fishing fame the same year. In this, Peter Armitage, soon to make his debut as Bill Webster, father of Kevin (Michael Le Vell) in Coronation Street, plays a nice Northern Dad who, together with his nice Northern wife, buys his son a bike for his birthday - despite having some doubts about the saddle...
There used to be a pub near where I live called The Old English Gentleman, and that title fitted JR Hartley, star of a 1983 Yellow Pages telly ad, to perfection.
We discovered Mr Hartley, played by actor Norman Lumsden, making his way around various second hand bookshops, seeking a copy of an out of print book called Fly Fishing. To no avail. His concerned daughter ("No luck, Dad?") handed him a cup of tea and the Yellow Pages when he returned home, and very soon he'd found a copy of the book.
It was then that we discovered he was the author.
It was a thoroughly delightful ad and JR Hartley became very popular indeed. In 1991, a book called Fly Fishing was published, bearing his name, and this was followed by a couple of sequels - one on golf, which Mr H took up in 1994.
Norman Lumsden had a varied and successful career - he was also an opera singer. But, from 1983 onwards, it was as JR Hartley that many fans thought of him, and lovers of good telly ads were greatly saddened by his death in 2001.
But the legend of JR Hartley lives on, and he remains one of the fondest remembered TV ad characters not only of the 1980s, but of all time!
See the ad below.
Stone cladding was so much better than pebble dashing.
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