One of the delights of an old newspaper is the adverts, especially the prices. In a November 1963 edition of the Daily Mirror, these are stated precisely. Maltesers are 3d, 7d or 1s, while a 1oz tin of Ogden’s Aintree Mixture tobacco is 5s in all shops and outlets. At that time, manufacturers were able to dictate the retail price, even though some retailers were keen to discount the price and so benefit the consumer.
Since the 1960s there has been considerable legislation to protect consumer interests. The Retail Prices Act of 1964 largely discontinued this longstanding practice of price fixing. Thereafter, advertised prices were “recommended” and by shopping around, the items could usually be bought for less.
These days, sales occur virtually all year round. In the 1950s and 60s, these were mostly confined to the “January sales”. Some shoppers would queue all night outside certain stores to secure the bargains, some of which were sold at prices almost too good to be true. Legislation now requires retailers to give details of where and for how long such a product had been sold at its former price.
The early 1970s posed new challenges to shoppers, with the introduction of decimal currency, the metrification of units and Value Added Tax (VAT). One virtue of decimal currency was it largely killed off the use of the guinea in pricing. Even though the guinea had long since disappeared as a unit of currency, sales prices were often further “lowered” by quoting them in guineas rather than pounds. In fact, 39 guineas amounted to £40 19s.
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Denne historien er fra August 2023-utgaven av Best of British.
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THE FEW ON SCREEN
Steven Taylor looks at the Battle of Britain across film and TV
Table Service
Rachel Toy looks at the history of Ridgway Homemaker tableware
Hever Forever
Claire Saul studies the newly refurbished Boleyn Apartment at Hever Castle & Gardens - a castle fit for a queen
Shining a Light
Tony O’Neil tunes into the history of the last manned lightvessel
The Man With the Goldeneye
Film stills photographer Keith Hamshere describes how he came to enter the world of James Bond
THE ORIGINAL GOLDEN BALLS
lan Wheeler looks back on 70 years of Tiger comic and Roy of the Rovers, and chats to the man who edited and oversaw both titles
To Play the Queen
Chris Hallam looks back on the life of one of the UK’s best known lookalikes
POOLING RESOURCES
Martin Handley looks at what life was like after the Vernons Girls
POSTCARD FROM= SUSSEX
Bob Barton indulges in pleasure piers and fairground delights, as well as fulfilling a long-held ambition to visit the home of Rudyard Kipling
Oh, Miss Jones
Chris Hallam looks back at the origins and legacy of Rising Damp, ITV's most successful sitcom