trips down the river thames,.

[Johned]

You've got it crabbyob; they never uttered a word but were absolutely hilarious!  That night I recall, there was also a character doing amazing things with large sheets of newspaper (not tabloid size). Constructing long ladders and so forth.  Many years later seem to remember W, K and B appearing on "Tonight" with Cliff Michelmore.  Dunno if West End queues are similarly entertained whilst patiently waiting in this day and age.  At nearly the end of their "act" two of the Met's finest turned up and they hastily gathered up their few props and with one hand clutching their Fez and the other modestly holding down their nightshirts, they beat a hasty retreat.  Happy days, where are they now?  The world is such a different place or did every generation say the same?

[crabbyob]

the thing is Johned that previous generations entertainment lasted several generations, but modern times requires constant entertainment, constantly updated,
stars in our days lasted a lifetime, but today they shine brightly briefly, become zillionaires then their gone.... eeh whatever happened to George Formby... turned out nice again

[zoony]

He was born blind you know Crabby..A sneezing fit when a few days old cured it. A caul apparently. QI no?

[em]

Caul.Thank you for that word,Zoony.Fascinating.

[Johned]

I can't tolerate Saturday night TV crabbyob so left 'er indoors and daughter to it and went for an aimless drive, it being a pleasant evening.  Passed through our town centre.  Back in the fifties two cinemas and on a Saturday night the queues would be so long you would be lucky to gain admission. Now the best of the former cinemas only opened in 1938 is a nightclub and hardly a soul on the streets except for those in the pubs.  What do folk do of an evening nowadays?  George Formby is mentioned in this thread and it reminded me of an interview with his two sisters on TV many years ago.  These quaint old ladies were reminiscing about their home life and whilst agreeing George was the nicest chap on two legs, they said "Our mam spoiled him rotten!"  He had spotted a new Alvis sports car advertised in the paper over the tea table evidently and "our mam" told George he was not having one.  His sisters said sure enough come Friday teatime there it stood outside their home.  They were well off folk, their father George Snr was formerly a comedian but I think he had a pickle factory or summat.  George Jnr always had an eye for a pretty girl but his wife Beryl kept him in order and usually succeeded in having the latest object of George's innocent affections removed from the cast of whatever show they were in.  One endearing thing that always got me about George was when he was entertaining the BEF in France in 1940.  Seats were erected in a marquee and George upset the officers by filling the front row with private soldiers and when gunfire could be heard in the distance, he enquired what it was all about?  It's the Jerries!  Someone commented and quick as a flash George retorted "Well if they are coming in, they are paying!"

[crabbyob]

Zoony, from my dim and distant past i remember an old saying, "any child born with a caul will never die at sea"...lol... i have no idea why

[Yellowbird]

I remember our first river cruise we took our boys on a river cruise boat for a week. The engine stalled, another boat user offered to help us start, Ron pushed with the boat hook and promptly went head first in, it was rather deep, I had knitted bobble hats for them all and his hat floated up from the depths before him. The boys thought it was hilarious to see Daddy soaking wet emerging from the icy depths, they didnt see the danger, We made goods friends with the other couple and spent a great week