When the High Street Was King: Shopping in 1960s and 70s Britain (Part Four) - The Newsagent

 

For children growing up in the 1970s, the local newsagent could be almost as important as any other shop.

As a young boy, I had my favourite local shops — the toy and sweet shop. But the local newsagent, a shop that doubled as an emergency sweet shop, also had something else that took money from my pocket — comics. They had many to tempt me, including The Beano, The Dandy, Whizzer and Chips and Buster. If they didn’t have it, they could order it for me.

That made a kid feel important. I could order something? Only adults did that sort of thing.

One day I was in my local newsagent’s searching the shelves for a new comic that a schoolmate had told me about — a football comic called Scorcher. He let me read his copy, and I liked it.

There was one character called Billy — the story of his weekly adventures was called Billy’s Boots.

Billy was a schoolboy with big dreams, like me, of being a footballer. He was, however, a poor player until he found an old pair of football boots in his grandmother’s loft. The boots had belonged to a famous player called Charles “Dead Shot” Keen. They had magical qualities, turning Billy into a star player.

I identified with Billy because I too played football in an old pair of boots. They were a secondhand find, but the only magical quality they had was to give me blisters. I was a much better player once I got a new pair that fit.

I assumed that Scorcher would be available at my local newsagent. At least, that’s what I thought. I decided I would buy it on my next visit.

But I was out of luck. 

Did You Know…Life in 1960s/70s Britain: The 'Art' of the Comic Advert - The Age of a New Consumerism

 

I wrote yesterday about the advertisements on the back of kids’ comics back in the 1960s and 70s, specifically, X-Ray specs.

The adverts themselves were a masterpiece of salesmanship. They understood their young audience perfectly and created ads that would tempt us to part with our money.

The 1960s and 70s were the age of a new consumerism, and it started early.

As kids, we were curious, mischievous, and just about gullible enough to believe whatever the advertising industry told us. The artwork was exaggerated, and the words tempted us. The promises were outrageous but affordable, more often than not, a few shillings — and that included the postage.

The actual purchase would be made with a postal order from the post office. You would go there, queue with the adults, including the grumpy ones, and get your postal order. While there, you would pop it into an envelope with the order, put a first-class stamp on it, which back then cost about 3 pence, and post it in the letterbox outside. Just like an adult.

Job done, then you waited.

This was a world without instant reviews, YouTube and TikTok influencers telling us what to buy, watchdog programmes, or online forums. No one stood between the child and the dream. We never knew what we were really buying until it actually turned up.

It was only then that you would either be overjoyed or totally disappointed.

While catalogues like Littlewoods, Kays and Freemans showed you what you could have for Christmas months before the actual day, the comics promised something you might have by next Tuesday. Of course, that depended on the reliability of the post.

But we didn’t have to wait too long.