My glorious fleet of Matchbox minis

No child of the 1950s will ever forget how they chose to squander their pocket money – were they lucky enough actually to receive any.

- Joseph Connolly

I never did – though there were pennies and even shillings to be had from obliging aunts in return for shopping for all their essentials, such as bread, milk and Parma Violet cachous. Money also came from discarded Tizer bottles – 2d a time, which very conveniently was the cover price of the Beano.

But if you could run to real money (1/6d), then there was no contest: what you wanted was a Matchbox toy.