Friday, April 30, 2004

100 years ago: The Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress of York had thoughtfully arranged to entertain the blind folk of the city at tea, and the Lord Mayor hit upon the idea of printing the invitation cards in Braille characters, each card having the name of the person invited also embossed in the raised type. The cards, which were surmounted by the city arms embossed without colour, were considered quite unique as a feature of civic hospitality.

50 years ago: York girls who went to dances at the American air force base at Holme-on-Spalding Moor may be invited to take their mothers along too, the Press reported. The hostess of the social club which was being formed there thought it might be a good idea to let mothers see how well the dances were managed. "Some mothers are not at all keen to let their daughters go to dances on Service stations," she said, "particularly parents of the type of girl we should like to see here. But after visiting a dance with their daughters I don't think any mother would raise an objection again. The girls would come by private bus and would return on it. There would be no going home by car or anything like that." The businesslike young woman from Seattle told the paper that no dances had been held at the base yet. "We haven't even got any chairs," she said, "and I shall have to get a piano. But we shall certainly be having some dances."

10 years ago: As part of the tenth anniversary celebrations for the Jorvik Viking Centre, Tony Robinson, better known as Baldrick in the classic comedy Blackadder, welcomed visitors to the festivities. He said he had always been fascinated by history and the people who made up Britain, adding that it was no longer a boring subject, saying: "There is new technology which we can use in archaeology. What once took six months to discover can now only take three days."

Updated: 11:59 Friday, April 30, 2004