British 1960s Nostalgia Trivia Quiz

Answer: London telephone directories

Anyone living in London would be familiar with the four heavy tomes, A-D, E-K, L-R and S-Z in that colour order. Before British Telecommunications, the telephone company, was split off from the Post Office, they were also in all red phone boxes and post offices in a rack where you lifted the book up on a bracket and put it down when finished reading. London now only issues a book for your own borough and is the size of a small booklet, which is very disappointing by comparison.

The directories had been the same format for many years but being born in 1960 that is what I associate them with. Hardback editions were also available for heavy users.

Answer: The Football League

Accrington Stanley lost their football league status in 1962, collapsing altogether before a new team were created in 1970. They rejoined the league in 2006 after being promoted from The Conference. Aldershot also lost their league status in 1992, being the first team since Accrington to fold.

They also reformed a new team, renamed Aldershot Town, in the same year, which gained re-entry to the league in 2008 following success in The Conference, winning with a record 101 points. So the additional gain was the word 'Town', not present in the team's original name when in the league.

Answer: John Collier

The TV adverts, 'John Collier, John Collier, the window to watch' was a 60s staple, which succeeded until the High Street menswear store was sold to Burtons in 1985 who discontinued the name. It was originally called 'The Fifty Shilling Tailor' since its founding in Leeds in 1907, until the new name came along in 1958 when bought by a company called UDS.

Answer: Walter's

Walter's Potato Puffs were probably closest in shape to Wotsits - wormlike tubes a couple of inches long but paler in colour as made from cooked potato. They also bore an uncanny resemblance to the polystyrene packing chips, which came in both potato puff and crisp shapes, which I for one certainly put in a bowl and offered to visitors on more than one occasion. And yes, a few did try them. Walter's packaging was red and white while Burtons changed it to blue and yellow.

Answer: London

All the names refer to the pre-1967 London dialling codes, using the first three letters plus four numbers (using a shared dial with each number corresponding to a series of letters), before London switched to all-figure dialling, freeing up many more combinations, as they could not find words to make more from the first three letters originally. Two are poets, Pope and Dryden, Alexander Pope lending his name to his home town of Twickenham for its Popesgrove exchange, while Flaxman may have referred to John Flaxman, an English sculptor who has a gallery at London University. Dryden belonged in Kenton, while Flaxman was in Chelsea. Anyone so minded to can read them all here, especially if they used them at the time and forgotten them. http://www.rhaworth.myby.co.uk/phreak/tenp_01.htm

Answer: Wallace Heaton

Wallace Heaton began as a pharmacist's in London's New Bond Street in 1917, and moved into photography, becoming one of the country's top stores. They were bought by Dixons in 1967, who converted them all into Dixon's stores, although the New Bond Street branch kept the original name for some time after.

Answer: Rowntree's Fruit Gums

Every now and then our familiar 'one type' packs of sweets would try something new, and like the new officer in Star Trek, we always knew however good they were they wouldn't last very long. Although occasional exceptions, such as mint Opal Fruits gaining their own brand as Pacers, nearly all other variations, however good, and in some cases better than the originals according to some, vanished as fast as they arrived, and only appearing in quizzes and nostalgia sites since.

Answer: Duncan's

Walnut Whips are certainly not all the same, and each new company either varies the selection or leaves certain elements out. The Duncan's whips were superior as always had a second walnut at the base, so after the one on the top was gone there was another waiting at the end. Variations included milk, plain, coffee and maple.

They were originally made in Edinburgh in 1910, being bought up by Rowntree's in 1947 but at the time retained the Duncan's name on Walnut whips well into the 60s and possibly beyond. Rowntrees have become now part of Nestle.

Other firms also make them including Marks and Spencer.

Answer: Idris

Idris was named after Thomas Howell Williams, who loved his home mountain, Cader Idris, in Wales so much he made it his surname. He began the business in Camden Town, London, in 1873, and was taken over by Britvic in 1987. The Idris lemon was the long lived trademark which seemed to greet you in nearly every small independent grocer's shop in the 60s as you entered, and no doubt for many years earlier.

The advertising jingle for the lemonade and other soft drinks at the time was 'I drink Idris when I's dry'.

They moved out of retail production and became restricted to pub sales after being bought up by Britvic, but are rarely if ever seen in the 2000s.

Answer: Black and white

One of my favourites, the black and white packs with red name usually sat next to the others in a box on the newsagent's counter, with cough candy, butterscotch, pear drop and humbug among others replacing the usual fruit flavours of regular Spangles.

Other versions such as mint were also tried, but Regular and Old English were the only two to run the entire time until they vanished altogether in 1984 with a short revival in 1995. Spangles also had a mystery flavour in some packs with a question mark on, which I usually identified as pineapple whenever I got one.