London cafeterias 50's - 60's

[@Koganman123]

Thanks for this. We have lost something somewhere. Thank heavens for films like this being posted on U tube. My father owned a transport cafe in the 1960s, not quite the same thing - but similar. The thing thats not obvious is just how few places there were to eat out back then

[@ambertjeblue]

No it's definitely real. I was there, 1961 til 1970. Recognise so mush that is now gone. Lovely to see, even if only a few fleeting images. Of what I saw, La Roca was on the West side of Soho square. The white haired man doing star charts was Ernest, and he always sat in the As you like it. Coffeebar in later years of the 60's. I lived above the 2 II's for a while. Aaah memories.

[@dinocarlucci2105]

ambertjeblue Would love to listen to your memories of soho

[@claudiojunior9618]

I envy you, I only arrived in London in 1984.

[@Isleofskye]

@@claudiojunior9618 Welcome! I moved from the heart of "my" London on the 9th May 1983 to the very edge just 10 miles away and I miss her EVERY day, 39 years later, my friend though I am very near and yet so far :)

[@ifn_media]

Stock pot finally went

[@Dustydreams930]

What a wonderful little film. I love the dark haired actress earning £6 a week to keep "the wolf from my door." Bless her. I hope she got her break and had a very happy life.

[@Dustydreams930]

RichJW ha, was it you? I’d always thought it might have been Mary Miller, who died recently.

[@angelareading2669]

Great nostalgia here for me, a crowd of us girls used to go to 'The Macabre' and my friend Wendy Richard RIP always played 'Only the Lonely' on the juke box. Those were the days. I had a dance or two at 'The Two Eyes' as well.

[@lini200]

me too

[@dinocarlucci2105]

Angela Reading Tell us more. Love old Compton st

[@martm216]

Lovely! 🙂

[@vikramadoddamani]

Sounds like you had a really good time, old lady.

[@Isleofskye]

No , not that Wendy Richard. Wendy Richard who used to go to Wykeham Primary School @ Neasden and lived in Ashcombe Park,Neasden near The Tescos...

[@lilac2haze]

I came to London 1960 and loved every minute of that time , I was working in the theatre and I am very grateful that my youth was spent in that era .Now it is not a nice place ,filthy streets and even filthier people .

[@jamara3330]

I am not that old but miss the days when there was no rubbish on the street, my neighbours neatly disposed of it.

[@misst.e.a.187]

Including Iron Foot Jack, whose trousers are quite filthy down the front

[@jamara3330]

@TheBrabon1 That is not the issue.

[@Isleofskye]

Good points and I have seen your comments elsewhere but did ANYONE ,seriously, think we would not all choose to live and socialise, preferably, among the people that share the same look,culture and in some cases,Religion, as us. At School,College or Work you have no alternative but it's blatantly obvious that when walking down any High Street in London that Asians will be with Asians,Black people with other Black people,Jewish people with other Jews and Chinese with their own...

[@sonnydelight5737]

Need to bring in a LOT more Africans, that will help things. Diversity is your strength. Didn't you get the memo?

[@djangorheinhardt]

The guy on guitar at about 3.18,is Joe Moretti(I think).He was a session guitarist in England during the 60,s and a bit later.He played the searing lead guitar on "Shakin all over" by Johnny Kidd and the Pirates.He later emigrated to South Africa,became a leading session player there and died in 2003.You can tell by the little clip of his playing he had great "chops" and graced many records with his stunning playing.

[@voiskumbeaver3285]

That could be him. There's a great clip somewhere on YT of him playing with Gene Vincent in Italy 1960, nailing Cliff Gallup's original solos.

[@davidsmith6661]

This shows that people were able in those days to have a good time, enjoy themselves with friends without the need to get drunk and collapse in an intoxicated stupor in the gutter, rolling around in a puddle of vomit. How times have changed.

[@zen1281]

and without looking to or fiddling with their mobiles

[@oki__]

Sounds like more of a personal problem. Get out more and drink less.

[@alisonlee3314]

I'm 53.... Just missed all this. What has London become 😢

[@peterrichardson8115]

I was born and bred in London lived there until 60s, now live out in the country, and if I never saw London again it would be too soon hate the place or rather hate what it has become.

[@unknownfrvr6767]

Ok

[@brummytoo]

I used to work in Lyons Teashop in London

[@stephanblack4558]

Big deal.

[@daveholt2962]

@@stephanblack4558 That's what all benefit scroungers say.

[@user-ky6vw5up9m]

Lyons was first business to use a computer in the 1950s.

[@debbiegainesart]

Tea? Did you say tea? ;-)

[@MohammedAli-zh8kf]

nowhere somewhere really

[@staypress]

such wonderful innocent times that my parents lived through great music hair and fashion wow now look what I have to live with scummy shit people crap music boom boom etc and absolutely not worth it Please give me a time machine Thanks for posting you made my day

[@chrishulse5305]

It's great to see this period of time in colour.

Yes, back then it was all black and white.

[@rbsv85650]

I was in the USAF and stationed at Bushy Park RAF Station in Teddington Middlesex from 1955 to 1960. We would go to the West End several times a week. Some of our favorites were Sabrina Bar, Heaven & Hell ‘The Macabre’ and a few others I can’t remember. I married my English Bride in 1959 and we are still hanging in there. Great time and great memories.

[@daphne4983]

Bushy Park....lol

[@jeffmorse645]

Congrats! Hope you two had a big family of Anglo-American kids. 😉

[@farouqomaro598]

I remember my wife and I having a full English breakfast in London back in 2000. That was unforgetful. Really good breakfast.

[@Wordman67]

I can't believe the look of this newsreel--that fantastic color! This is a beautiful print, the color seems as vibrant as it must have been when this was first shown.

[@williamtaylor874]

i wish we could turn the clock back to the good times !

[@autumn5852]

William Taylor lol, why not make today and tomorrow and the day after that, good times? ~ you don’t have to live in the past or rely on certain conditions to enjoy life/have good times, in fact, you don’t need much at all really, it’s all in the mind ☺️

[@sallyangelworks9047]

@@autumn5852 No, it is getting downhill.

[@autumn5852]

Sally Angelworks I know what you mean Sally, things have changed and I definitely miss the way things were and I have had to have a word with myself a couple of times, because it’s ok to miss the good things from our past now and again but living in the past, in the present, doesn’t bring anybody any joy. I’m autistic so change is a huge huge deal to me, but I know that things do change and if I don’t accept that, I’ll never be happy and that’s an even bigger shame than any change that could take place 😢 none of us should be unhappy long term and nothing outside of us can make us happy, so yeah, things outside of us, that we have little control over, do change but we control the inside and if we were happy ‘back then’ we can be just as happy now and we can create new good old days for tomorrow, to look back on 😆 that’s a lot of today’s, tomorrow’s and yesterday’s but I’m sure you get what I’m saying ☺️ wishing you a lovey evening wherever you are 💕

[@agadoin]

Neikka That’s a great attitude to have.

[@autumn5852]

Mark Phillips thanks Mark, I certainly have to work on it at times ~ sometimes I can just give myself a little shake, so to speak, and at other times I have to really work on it but I’ve got some really great tried and tested tools that I use, to keep me on the straight and narrow, so to speak, and I’m learning to be kinder to myself and accept that we all fall off the wagon now and again (😄 I’m doing great with the sayings today 😆) and this way I’m learning to be kinder and less fearful of others and the world ☺️. Have a great day 💕

[@Marzyart]

Everyone is dressed very nicely

[@pmacc3557]

Oh London where art thou...

[@MariaLopez-hc2nm]

Gone..to the dogs

[@daveholt2962]

The British gave their country away a long time ago.

[@isaackatz-bronstein8745]

@@daveholt2962 Yeah, yeah, should we start with the countries you took away ?? You only see one way!

[@isaackatz-bronstein8745]

@Cockney Nutjob Where native Australians, Americans, New Zelanders asked??? At least you have white Prime Ministers and white people on top of every institution, not the case of the aboriginals you almost exterminated and stole. You such as fake.

[@andigold9977]

No screaming toddlers running around in 1950s cafes!

[@robharding1957]

Andrea Gould That,s another reason for liking this Country all those years ago." For one " there was at least much more respect and discipline as well as consideration for your fellow human being. Much of modern life is built on selfishness and obsessions with bloody smart phones.

[@robharding1957]

robert harding Technology is fine with me, but when you cannot walk anywhere with out people talking on their smart phones asking their friends what they are having for their tea some even riding their bikes (some on the pavement) while texting ! that,s when technology is being overused and the human race have lost the plot completely.Can we not have normal life back ? even if its pre -mobile bloody phone days.

[@ursulasmith6402]

+robert harding i agree

[@robharding1957]

+Andrea Gould I know ! they arrived in the 60's, lol.

[@marklittler784]

Probably waiting for the sixties baby boom!

[@johnniescarlett]

This is wonderful! More please. The opening music and credits bring back great childhood memories of going to the pictures in the UK - trying to see the screen through a fug of cigarette smoke!! Soho looks great, full of real characters and lovely old classic cars. Isn't the first waitress the actress Rosemary Leach? She later went on to be Ronnie Corbett's Wife in the sitcom "No, That's Me Over Here" in the late sixties.

[@jasonburns4071]

Love the 'shades.' What a wonderful time to be alive!

[@localdriver]

I went to the 'Macabre' coffee bar (the one with the skeletons, and with coffins for tables) one lunch time in 1961 and the place was completely dead. (haha). Nice film.

[@securityrobot]

You should’ve gone to the Pub for a stiff drink instead,

[@cooldaddy2877]

Maybe thats why they only had a skeleton staff!

[@FaerieCrone]

You're right. People can hate me all they want to for saying it but it is the sole reason why I left the UK and won't go back. I don't recognise it anymore.

[@Fitzroyfallz]

Amoriah that's what people said in the 50s too. The world is constantly changing, and never standing still. And that's an exciting thing!

[@kennyluciano4913]

me too, left 19 years ago for malta

[@VooDooMaGicMan81]

@@Fitzroyfallz Depends whether or not the changes are engineered or organic. And more importantly, whether or not they are improvements for the existing local inhabitants.

[@MARKETMAN6789]

These powerful money monopolies want customers to make even more profits and are not bothered where they get them from and how it affects Joe public and their quality of life

[@lettyguerra371]

@ , you're too right!

[@laurallama73]

Oh wow! That old jukebox is so cool! ❤️😎

[@kenowens9021]

Wow, no cell phones, no computers, no iPads, just people looking and talking to........each other.

[@kaizuko991]

What did you type this on

[@mrmeathead2107]

Where have all the Pie @ Mash shops gone.

[@heli-crewhgs5285]

Mr Meathead They have all been replaced by Muslim halal fried chicken shops, betting shops and charity shops.

[@wasaent]

Heli-Crew HGS As an ardent admirer of Pie and Mash living in South London, I have to agree. I don’t have anything against the chicken shops being halal, but not only are they incredibly unhealthy, virtually all of them are just so incredibly generic/characterless. The handful Pie and Mash shops that survive (most over a century old), on the other hand, Cooke’s, Arment’s, Manze’s...Each of them tastes distinctive-and unlike fried chicken, they are proper meals. Losing any of them, then, is losing an intricate part of London’s existence as a whole. We’ve lost so many such places along the way, and that’s part of the reason why a lot of people don’t feel they belong to this town anymore, I guess.

[@jamara3330]

Never mind pies. Fish and chips are difficult to get and I do not even have a Chinese takeaway anywhere near me.

[@Funeeman]

To the wall i suspect.

[@lonsdalebelt9645]

manzes tower bridge

[@claudiojunior9618]

I am welling up tears of joy and nostalgia. I'd give everything I own to go back to those days.

[@misterkefir]

THIS. WAS. AWESOME! More, please.

[@jeremyhoke8186]

I traveled through Europe two summers in a row with a rail pass. So glad I got to see so many great cities before the world went crazy.

[@robharding1957]

when you look at the uk 50 years ago and now you realise we have been sold down the river,,literally.

[@planetgilbo]

In what sense is that 'literally' true?

[@robharding1957]

Nick Gilbert We have been lied to by the Politicians.WE were conned when we changes over to decimal currency from pounds shillings and pence-we have been systematically fleeced over the decades by both Labour and Tory led governments. Our industries have been decimated - especially our fishing industry which was completely sold down the river by the agricultural and fisheries policies . We have been led into war on a blatant lie by corrupt leaders, l could go on but that should suffice.would you not say that was true ?

[@ralphaaa80]

Literally.I think you need a dictionary

[@markjames5537]

robert harding No.You don't know the meaning of literally

[@robharding1957]

Martames 74 Well to be quite honest ! l need a few things, and an Oxford dictionary would come in handy.

[@CarolCreates]

Love the accents. Don’t hear them anymore.

[@peterturley1331]

The World that I loved and cherished. How I hate this World of today.

[@clemrumley9691]

OH how i remember the stockpot.. a great little restaurant for a cheap meal

[@petersmith6458]

You could drive into soho and park outside the shop. And so many 'familiar' faces.

[@timcolledge3732]

Brilliant film!! Love the commentary, background music. Great that so many of these films have survived.

[@spiritwalker1988]

Great London sixties !! I like this vídeo !

[@iseegoodandbad6758]

Nice natural fashions and make up!!

[@nostromoau]

Two films….and an episode of 'look at life' with the ads in between…great value for a night out.

[@lini200]

I LOVED THE CAFES OFF OXFORD STREET AND MET MY FIRST LOVE THERE WHO SANG A SPANISH SONG CABARETERA. WE DANCED AND LOVED EACH OTHER. A WONDERFUL MEMORY WHERE HAS IT GONE.....

[@martm216]

I love these old films.

[@PindarMOD]

I was born in the wrong time. The 50s & 60s look far more interesting than now.

[@EricLehner]

The biggest critics of the 1950s and 60s are the people WHO DID NOT LIVE AT THE TIME. For most of the rest of us, we remember the time fondly

[@thekurdishgirl6538]

l love being born in 2004 and a 21st century citezen

[@jamara3330]

I miss the only type of coffee we used to get served in England, the frothy stuff.

[@sunkat76]

Mellow Birds?

[@xelakram]

You can still get frothy coffee. Try ordering a cappuccino! :-)

[@jamara3330]

@@xelakram A cappuccino is frothy but different.

[@xelakram]

@@jamara3330 What kind of frothy coffee are you talking about, then? Nescafé made with frothy hot milk? 😉 If so, I can assure you that a cappuccino is far better. 😉

[@sto59]

At 5:51 Ernest Britten Page (1913-1966) was a well known character in Soho Cafés of the 50s and 60s.

[@user-mv5bu2kk8b]

Ah. I so miss the Stockpot!

[@simondavis2457]

What is the guy doing on the pole at 6:39 ??

[@cezarac1775]

simon davis Oh my...hadn’t noticed that! It’s hilarious! :-))

[@DaBriars]

He is a glass blower a skill used in handmade crystal etc

[@adscri]

Had forgotten the ‘Look at Life’ shorts when you went to see a film.

[@mikeyh1111]

Used to go to The Macabre in wardour st in the 60s,wonder if its still there,doubt it.

[@vertxxgg]

peopl was civilised 50 yars ago..

[@XXXEspio]

no, the vast majority, the working class, were the same fucking pigs they are today.

[@autosusadoshn6509]

70 years ago

[@historygeek7779]

Matty Jones what so the native population are not allowed to live by themselves?

[@historygeek7779]

sanjay j ahh no

[@handsoffmycactus2958]

People* were* civilised 50 years* ago....

[@dromeintersps3359]

4:33 Rizzo ???of film Grease 1976

[@michaelmcdonnell8017]

Waitress on £6 a week! You would be lucky to get a cup of coffee for that today!!

[@martm216]

£6 wasn't a bad wage in the late fifties or early sixties. My first week's pay in September 1969 was £5. The boss paid me from the petty-cash box!

[@Idontcommentonvideos]

Still amazes me that people don't understand inflation

[@MrJstorm4]

@@Idontcommentonvideos that still sounds ludicrously low, the minimum wage in the us was somewhere between .75 in 1950 and 1.25 in 1963.

[@timmotion6494]

Yes, £6 a week was alright, wworking in a shop. I did the sales at Austin Reeds in Regent Street and took home £10 a week - though if you were living in Kensington or Knightsbridge your rent for a crummy basement room would take half that. There were very few 'incidental' expenses like parking meters and buses were very cheap.

[@timmotion6494]

@@MrJstorm4 That was the hourly wage yes? So £10 a 5 day week = 5 shillings an hour..... I don't know what the exchange rate was then (1958

[@Funrival]

The Basil Street Stockpot (which is the one here) closed several years ago.

[@squonkharold9251]

Still run an old style Coffee Shop (Earls Covent Garden) son of Italians we are hanging in there against the corporate bastards .

[@zakamoriarty]

That's Stephen Fry enjoying a cup at 7.19 there!!

[@user-ky6vw5up9m]

The London that my parents knew in their twenties.

[@nickdryad]

The Casbah was the coffee bar that got the Beatles started. Yay Coffee! Bach even wrote a coffee cantata and remember the Coffee house in Black Adder Ink and Incapability.

[@djangorheinhardt]

Further to my post below 're,Joe Moretti,he is playing his Grimshawe guitar which are collectors items today.Joe Brown had one for a while.

[@AGMundy]

Interesting look back at those times. One laughs of course at some of the silly pretensions, such as those wearing sunglasses indoors, no doubt losing their cool when stumbling over the furniture as they get up and leave. The skull ashtray was delightfully ironic.

[@luckystar9205]

It’s really interesting people r quite well mannered and well dressed.

[@vsatrader]

I really regret that the iconic Troubadour coffee house in Earls court was not in this video. Started in the early 50s and still there, I spent the 90s there every day.

[@claudiojunior9618]

Jesus, you must be 110.

[@vsatrader]

@@claudiojunior9618 I was in my 30s in the 90s, and who is Jesus? I don't know anyone with that name

[@LeaveMyGun]

does anyone have a time machine they can borrow?

[@jharris947]

They lend...You borrow.

[@bloomoggi]

HOw many of these places still exist in London?

How many of those independent coffee bars still exist?

[@jamara3330]

None. Even the individual shops I visited in the 80s and 90s in London are now chains.

[@clemrumley2748]

ah memories... Have eaten so many times at the Stockpot in Panton Street... sad that it closed down about five years ago

[@snowyowel7961]

Wow England full of English people ♥ 😁

[@dozz87]

Spotted the racist...

[@Bob-Horse]

Couldn’t agree more Snowy, but I see the usual stale and ignorant expected comments coming out of the woodwork.

[@dozz87]

Alice Rabbit I’m anti no-one, which is kinda the point

[@mythinktube]

@@dozz87 If you call a person "racist" for simply wanting England to be full of English people then you are anti-white. You wouldn't call me racist for wanting Nigera to be full of Nigerians or China to be overwhelmingly ethnically Chinese. So why do you attack white people for wanting to remain a majority in their own homelands? Because.. you are anti-white.

[@frithst]

​@@mythinktube dozz87 is obviously not anti-white. How did you get your head so twisted up that you thought that? Dear me. Life is not that long - don't waste it being hateful.

[@anthonybaroni3285]

Did anyone notice the Cliff Richard poster at 2:03?? Very cool.

[@changoloboperro]

when smoke was healty

[@marcse7en]

Idiot! Smoke has NEVER been healthy! My grandfather died a long and slow painful death due to lung cancer! Does THAT sound "Healthy" ??? Smoking Ban = Common Sense!

[@samsontowwers377]

@@marcse7en Chill out, girl! He´s just joking.

[@timmotion6494]

Oh halcyon days and nights! I did the washing up (no machines; just a huge bath of greasy water into which would spill the piles of cups and saucers, filled with cigarette ends and bits of food) in the Stockpot Basil Street Knightsbridge for a while in 1957. 15 shillings a night and a plate of spagetti. That meant I could pay the rent - £4 a week for a grimey basement. Interesting crowd of artists, painters, pin-striped bounders, Express gossip columnists (William Hickey), 'dolly birds', toffs and a terrifying French manageress. I met my first girlfriend there!

[@karent-s7639]

I imagine you must be in your eighties now, Tim. So glad you posted about your time at the Stockpot. I can't help wondering if all the cigarette smoking in those cafes got to you - it seems other-worldly now. (I'm not being censorious; in fact I'm in my sixties & used to smoke). Anyway, thanks for sharing your memories & I wish you the best.

[@timmotion6494]

@@karent-s7639 Thank you Karen. Yes indeed! It's sad when your old friends start disappearing. But I remember those days like it were yesterday. I smoked as did most others but not too deeply, and never got into drugs. I stopped smoking at 40! We used to go to Sullivan and Powell in Burlington Arcade and have 'tastings' of different brands of tobacco - Turkish, Balkan Sobranie and Russian. You could create your own blend and choose the paper colour. The owner was 75 and smoked every day, always saying how well he felt! Then there were the Charity Balls, another story!

[@knitware]

Not a single fatty anywhere!

[@marklittler784]

wonder if the number of fatty's is proportional to the number of cars on the road, takeaways in the area or parents , car running their kids to school?

[@version736ha2]

Coffee and jiving

[@version736ha2]

@Compliment Thief fatties didn't really start appearing literally everywhere until the 90s, when the fast food explosion really happened

[@mclovin8739]

@Compliment Thief why you such a prick towards people?

[@tomservo5007]

@@version736ha2 can confirm, I was one of 3 'big' kids in the entire school, in the mid 80s ... picked on to no end for being different ... I visit a school today , and my god, the vast majority have similar or more mass as my old self.

[@CarlOss-vj6cu]

Great footage, and super droll. Thanks for the post.

[@crapple009]

"Would you like some coffee with your cigarettes?"

[@autumn5852]

crapple009 haha I noticed that too ~ that was back in the day when you could enjoy your smoke with a coffee instead of being outed to stand outside, although in many countries you can still enjoy your coffee with a smoke 💨 I always feels it’s such a shame I gave up smoking when I go to those places 😂

[@sallyangelworks9047]

@@autumn5852 Smoking bans ruined it.

[@autumn5852]

Sally Angelworks tell me about it 😫 to be fair though, I do feel better for not smoking though, I just need to find another nifty weight loss technique ~ smoking was great for that 😆

[@zaydleicester7731]

Yes please That'll be a tuppance hapenny

[@mukhumor]

Thats what I thought. High on caffeine and nicotine.

[@sashapasha2746]

wow. a real time travelling documentary

[@MsPeperonata]

"They reckoned a cup of coffee costing tuppence to tuppence ha'penny to make could be sold from ninepence to one-and-six." A similar ratio of cost to sale price could probably apply today in the likes of Caffe Nero, if I could be bothered to work it out!

[@sober14999]

I used to go to the Stockpot on the king's road in the early 70s. It was there for years even in the early 2000s and the decor hadn't changed, you could always get a cheap meal. The only cafe from that time that still exists is the Troubadour on Brompton road.

[@paulgrinsill7785]

Its not just London, you can say the same about most towns and cities in the whole country

[@flamencoprof]

If I recall that theme music at the end correctly, this was one of the "Look At Life" series, which were shown in picture theatres before the main feature, here in NZ when I was a lad in the late 50's/early 60's. Even then at a young age, I could detect and was repelled a bit by the patronising tone. Young people like me reacted against that crap by dropping out and becoming Hippies. So they say.

[@janknuckey]

Ah yes...happy days! Before this country completely went to shit ...

[@SKY-jv9ue]

What happened, sweetie?

[@SoloTravelerOffTheBeatenPath]

@@SKY-jv9ue Forced mass immigration happened. London is no longer British.

[@clockworkdave9850]

Ikr..:(

[@WeeShooey]

I think it’s a tragedy what’s happened to London, I watch with mixed emotions at these films. I’m from Glasgow and we are going the exact same way.

[@johnalex7078]

@@SKY-jv9ue You must be a real thick leftie to ask such a stupid question.

[@annab5961]

I’m an Aussie.. our coffee is pretty good here .. especially in Melbourne.

[@maddyg3208]

It reminds me of the Lygon Street, Acland Street and Brunswick Street cafe scene in the 80s

[@phmwu7368]

Beautiful well-mannered people with tattoos and actually interacting & talking to each other instead of looking at little disruptive technology screens, Only thing that was worse... smoking !

[@autumn5852]

Ph MWU haha like you’re doing now 😂😂😂 I know I’m doing it, tapping away at a screen but I also go out and be well mannered and interact with people when I go to coffee shops, which I do most days - ain’t nobody sitting around looking at screens when I’m around, unless I’m not in a chatty mood of course ☺️

[@phmwu7368]

@@autumn5852 A senior checking the internet twice a week in the Library, I never owned a smart phone and am far from today's youth with smart phones using more electricity per year than a large fridge !!!

[@autumn5852]

Ph MWU you’ve got the right idea ~ I think I might follow your example ~ I’ve been glued to my phone for a while now and I don’t like it. I don’t use it when I’m out but it’s getting too much when I’m at home. It’s been helpful while I’ve been unwell, but now I’m getting back on my feet I think it might have to go ~ it’s too easy to pick it up and check KZbin etc. I very much like the idea of having to go to the library to access the internet. This could be a plan and I love libraries, it’s one of my favourite places to go to anyway and before I got the internet back on at home, I was going there to use their computers/access the internet, maybe I’ll go back to doing that when my internet contract comes to an end 👍🏽👌🏽✌🏼it sounds much more peaceful and I would very much like not having to pay so many bills! 🌟

[@autumn5852]

StealthyMonk a cigarette with your coffee was definitely enjoyable mind but I’m also glad they don’t allow it now either ~ now that I’ve finally stopped 😆

[@livannal.t.9068]

there's coffee in LONDON?!??!!? and here i was thinking they only drink tea 😂🤣

[@chanctonbury63]

G`hod I used to hate these things...You go off to the cinema to see Waterloo or Jungle Book or whatever never quite sure whether the start time was for the main event or the preamble, and youd have to sit through 2 or 3 of these telling you about all the bloody obvious things you saw everyday! Its only now that they really come into their own. Now they are a fabulous social history record. Thank God they bothered to make them!

[@bumgardenerkreme1044]

Waterloo - now thats a movie ! I bet it was awesome on the big screen.

[@thebennt6130]

chanctonbury63 I agree, this is a great film for a bit of nostalgia, but there are many things about our modern day lives that we do not take unto account. Unless they inherited wealth most of the younger people in these films would be going home to live with their parents, especially the girls. Others will be living in bedsits with shared bathrooms and sometimes the toilets were outside and even the most luxurious would probably not meet standards viewed as acceptable today. Most of the food was very bland and whilst the quality of tea being served was excellent, most of us had yet to taste a decent cup of coffee.

[@michaelkenny8540]

At 2:02 their is a poster for 'New Discovery' Cliff Richard and a sign saying 'Tuesday 19th May'. This makes it 1959-a couple of months after Cliff became famous in late 1958. May 19 was on a Tuesday in 1959. The next time May 19th was a Tuesday was 1964 and that is far too late for Cliff!

[@ricadus]

Great to see the views of London streets without roadmarkings.

[@1948DESMOND]

what sort of cine cameras did Look at life use in those days? were they those big lumbersome cameras or what?

[@tomkent4656]

Portable Arriflexes, Newman Sinclairs and Cameflexes. If it was sync sound, then blimped Arris usually, but they were big cameras.

35mm. Big stuff.

[@ladyfoxwf1075]

Ugh can we go back and change the transition from then to now. If the present and past worked together; imagine what kind of future we could produce!

[@harekrishna165]

I wish I were Born in that Era.... No Mobile, No Fu*kin social Media, People interacting with each Other...

[@bigboxbobby2]

These lovely films were always ruined to my mind by the stupid commentaries but great to see this footage though. Thanks for posting.

[@Artyom1247]

Too many people living in the past, wearing rose tinted shades.

[@talesfromtinpanalley-thedo6198]

What no Gioconda, Denmark St ?

[@dinocarlucci2105]

Tales From Tin Pan Alley - The Documentary Used to go in giaconda mid sixties still pass where it used to be. Recording studios regent sounds close by

[@talesfromtinpanalley-thedo6198]

Some Giaconda Tales in our upcoming docu on TPA at the youtube page for our trailer

[@Cabronosidad]

"A square in the wrong hole is just not dug..."

[@robertbrice2108]

Good to see the 2'I's coffee bar, where The Shadows got their start.

[@Isleofskye]

Did they also serve food there as I'm Hank Marvin right now...

[@worldartsuk]

what a fantastic look back in time, and we thought the coffee revolution started with Starbucks....

[@theprophet20]

Most footage from that era is in black and white but the high definition and colour of this make it almost feel like one is actually there!

[@user-kg6rw2ty9v]

Why not BRING BACK Coffee ☕️ and Tea ☕️ houses. Get rid of the stinking American Starbucks!!! If one person opens it in an area where sadly the good old shops have been shut down ( BHS, by the Greedy Phillip Green).. then others will follow. Don’t forget to include the good old English scones and clotted cream. It’ll be a nice place for the social gathering.. Hopefully they’ll respect each other as well. Good luck in advance for starting it. My prayers are with you 🙏🏼

[@adespade119]

We could crowdfund it.

[@helcat316]

We have local coffee houses not Starbucks and they are full of middle class toffs... Boring! Unfortunately this is the past never to be seen again

[@dianelunn-parsons7340]

That is why we visit the restaurants in a couple of local garden centres. Also Manchester, Bolton, Altrincham and Warrington have many independent cafes. We patronize the Morrisons' eatery nearby sometimes too. My Mum reminisces fondly about milk bars. I don't know quite what teenagers would make of them - might be a positive reaction if there was the internet and music. There are few places young people can congregate now.

[@maddyg3208]

It's not hard to open a cafe, there just needs to be a point of difference, it's a huge market

[@maddyg3208]

@@helcat316 "Middle class toffs". Toffs have obviously gone down in the world, I thought toffs were upper class.

[@JevaisaNY]

I wish I could step into this film.

[@Isleofskye]

Yes but Henry observe the difference in manners and politeness! Thats why the only crime back then was confined to a few gangs ( Krays etc). I guarantee you that your Mum or Granma would not be mugged in the street. People had standards back then!

[@midmodgal]

@pot2peein There's no half & half (yummy cream) even in Starbucks, so the coffee still tastes like warm milk. How about that Tiki bar in the opening shot? Wow!

[@dhdavidholloway]

No parking meters even in the centre of London. Park wherever you like

[@Buzzer365]

2i's at 2:44. Tommy Steele, or was it his brother Colin?

[@nostromoau]

+Buzzer365 I thought it was him too.

[@daniellos333]

Everyone looks so damn healthy.

[@bighands69]

They ate a lot less, were more active and much more happy.

[@vickramgoswami2297]

They ate real food 🍱

[@gavinreid5387]

I think Starbucks should do Rock n Roll dance events.

[@rbsv85650]

I was in the USAF and stationed at Bushy Park RAF Station in Teddington Middlesex from 1955 to 1960. We would go to the West End several times a week. Some of our favorites were Sabrina Bar, Heaven & Hell ‘The Macabre’ and a few others I can’t remember. I married my English Bride in 1959 and we are still hanging in there. Great time and great memories.

[@jasonantigua6825]

Lovely story

[@version736ha2]

I have worked a lot in Teddington over the years, it's still a nice place

[@michaelairley2015]

Are you still alive?

[@johnalex7078]

@Ian McNally I'm afraid it is way too late. The damage is so bad it is totally irreversible now. The blame lies with Blair.

[@CBJAMPA]

rbsv85650 - 😊 lovely!