Yesterday I was caught rummaging around in a junk shop when I should have been doing my Christmas shopping. Lo and behold, I found a stash of mid 1950's John Bull magazines underneath a pile of obscure Victorian song sheets. Imagine my joy when I opened the December 7th 1957 issue and saw this advertisement for Dinky Toys. Or perhaps you can't. I suppose you have to be as grizzled as I am to know what all this was about, but Dinky Toys were the creme de la creme in diecast model vehicles. Forget Corgi Toys with plastic windows, forget Spot-On with its obsessively correct detail, these were the ones. Bronze green telephone service vans, deep blue BOAC coaches, yellow and green Austin taxis and one I still lust after- the Morris J van delivering Capstan cigarettes. Seen here flowing colourfully around Eros, they were the staple of my Santa Claus lists, and many a Christmas morning breakfast was spent manoeuvering the latest addition to my collection around the pork pies and mustard pots. And for the fetishists amongst you, there was simply nothing like the first whiff of new paint as you rolled the new toy back out of its bright yellow box. Merry Christmas everybody.
Yes, and I'll be going to Melton Mowbray tomorrow to buy a few Dickins and Morris examples. And a Colston Bassett Stilton. Should have them tucked away by the time Santa comes.
just to let you know - I've bin out for a pre christmas drinky and eaten the biggest pork pie you've ever seen - ex Culpins - bloody fantastic and sturdy enough to prop your car up ......... whoops, have a good one.....
Now then. Info for everybody. Dickinson & Morris, (of the Ye Olde Porke Pie Shoppe in Melton) made a big fuss a few years back about Melton pies only being able to bear the name if made in Melton. The EU agreed. Imagine my horror to discover that most of D&M's output is now made in Leicester by, wait for it, GINSTERS. You're a lucky man, Diplo, to have secured a Culpins.
I am a designer, writer and photographer who spends all his time looking at England, particularly buildings and the countryside. But I have a leaning towards the slightly odd and neglected, the unsung elements that make England such an interesting place to live in. I am the author and photographer of over 25 books, in particular Unmitigated England (Adelphi 2006), More from Unmitigated England (Adelphi 2007), Cross Country (Wiley 2011), The Cigarette Papers (Frances Lincoln 2012), Preposterous Erections (Frances Lincoln 2012) and English Allsorts (Adelphi 2015)
"Open this book with reverence. It is a hymn to England". Clive Aslet
Preposterous Erections
"Enchanting...delightful". The Bookseller "Cheekily named" We Love This Book
The Cigarette Papers
"Unexpectedly pleasing and engrossing...beautifully illustrated". The Bookseller
Cross Country
"Until the happy advent of Peter Ashley's Cross Country it has, ironically, been foreigners who have been best at celebrating Englishness". Christina Hardyment / The Independent
More from Unmitigated England
"Give this book to someone you know- if not everyone you know." Simon Heffer, Country Life. "When it comes to spotting the small but telling details of Englishness, Peter Ashley has no equal." Michael Prodger, Sunday Telegraph
5 comments:
What? You used to eat pork pies for breakfast? That explains a lot.
Yes, and I'll be going to Melton Mowbray tomorrow to buy a few Dickins and Morris examples. And a Colston Bassett Stilton. Should have them tucked away by the time Santa comes.
just to let you know - I've bin out for a pre christmas drinky and eaten the biggest pork pie you've ever seen - ex Culpins - bloody fantastic and sturdy enough to prop your car up ......... whoops, have a good one.....
Now then. Info for everybody. Dickinson & Morris, (of the Ye Olde Porke Pie Shoppe in Melton) made a big fuss a few years back about Melton pies only being able to bear the name if made in Melton. The EU agreed. Imagine my horror to discover that most of D&M's output is now made in Leicester by, wait for it, GINSTERS. You're a lucky man, Diplo, to have secured a Culpins.
roll on the sausage, sort of thing
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