Adverts from the old school magazine The Stocktonian. Photographs courtesy of Phil Rambert. 
Picture Stockton Archive
A Pictorial History of Stockton-on-Tees
Adverts from the old school magazine The Stocktonian. Photographs courtesy of Phil Rambert.
The purchase tax on the Morris Mini-Minor as shown on the above advert is just under 42% of the purchase price, which seems an awful lot. Can any of our learned contributors comment on this please.
Those were the days Jon, the Morris Mini was produced from 1959 and if you could afford a car you could afford the tax on it. We thought nothing of 12–18% interest rates on mortgages and savings not that we had much of the latter.
There was an outcry at the time of the best brains leaving this country to work abroad where income tax was much lower and people who had money banked it overseas so nothing new as it still happens.
I had a mortgage at the time which cost £13/10/0 though with grants and tax relief I only paid £11/10/0 a month plus rates of course, a Council house at the time including rates would be around £8 a month.
Each Government promised tax cuts and would take a penny off the pound then raise purchase tax to pay for it, workers got from one penny an hour to the great heights of three pence an hour rise on a yearly basis, us in the forces had to get promotion for a rise.
The war and years of hardship that came after had this country bankrupt, we seemed to accept that we had to somehow pay our way back to the good life which in time did come for some not all and did give rise to a culture of no need to work in some cases, 50 years later the Government are still trying to get rid of that culture only hitting the wrong people.
Sitting here in comfortable retirement and still paying income tax I see all the old mistakes still being made, my savings are not much use at .05% interest so people say why save yet without those savings there is a shortage of money to loan out by the banks. Mortgages as in my early years are hard to come by, at that time Council house estates were being built giving employment to many who paid taxes and bought goods, now??? Who said change happens? it seems to be the same old cycle to me.
Thanks Mr Mee, always a pleasure to read your contributions.
Re: Jon 09.09.2014. Old Stockonian advert for Morris Mini-Minor. To obtain the correct percentage rate of purchase tax charged you need to work on the gross figure. This is £350.00 plus £147.00 purchase tax added together make £497.00. Therefore £147.00 as a percentage of £497.00 is 29.58% which is the percentage rate of purchase tax charged here. During the 50s and 60s the purchase tax rate on motor cars went up and down like a yo-yo and sometimes at very short notice. Motor cars usually attracted a special rate of purchase tax applicable only to motor cars.
What about Coats and Sedgwicks?
Gargetts mens wear next to Coats & Sedgwicks also sold school uniforms, worked there in the 50s.
In the fifties, having a store bought suit that could be let down was a luxury for most boys, Alice. All the photographs of me during my time in primary school show me wearing homemade shorts, jackets and jumpers – all made from recycled adult clothing. That was quite common in the post war years. The Robinson’s advert is from 1960 at which time we were just getting round to buying childrens clothes brand new and the idea of stretching out their service was an attractive idea. My school blazer, bought from Maxwells Corner when I moved up to SGS in 1958, had the hem arond the belt line and the cuffs halfway up my arms by the time I reached the third form in 1961. 16/03/2012 11:03:03
I used to sell Sumrie suits in the menswear department at Mathias Robinson Stockton 1945-48. I folded hundreds of boys suits and kept the stock immaculate for Mr Leslie Armour, the menswear buyer and department manager. Those were the days of proper departments, not “if you can”t find it on the rail we have not got it”, you would have been dismissed for that kind of service. They were good training and I learned a lot about people as well as sales techniques. I found softly, softly paid better than high pressure sales. People came back!
I have a photograph of my brother in a suit similar to the Sumri suit in the “Robinson”s “advert. He says it scarred him for life!
Laughing a lot at the advert about letting a suit down. Can you imagine the disgust and scarcasm you would get if you even hinted that you were going to “let the hems and sleeves down” on any garment owned by todays youth. “And if you think I am wearing THAT you have another think coming” would more than likely be the response. And I am not even going to pass comment about the coal one!!
Love the flyer about COAL – a fine future in coal 🙂 Interesting to see how things change..
These adverts are from the 1959/60 magazine published December 1960 for Stockton Grammar School. I think they capture something of the time and the businesses that we all knew. Anyone wanting to know more about the school can visit the website at http://www.rambert.freeserve.co.uk