Wednesday, November 30, 2005

100 years ago

The Grand Pygmalion, Boar Lane, Bank Street and Trinity Street, Leeds, Yorkshire's Great Stores and Drapery Emporium, where every section of the stores was claimed to be alive and interesting, while offering the best of everything and at economical popular prices, had ready, and arranged for sale, the largest and most important array of Xmas and New Year cards it had ever been their privilege to show. This season's collection was simply charming. Every shade of sentiment, which could inspire the sender of a season's greeting found expression in the contents of each box. More significant cards, of unique and chaste designs, it was impossible to think of. Before ordering private cards, we were urged to make a note of their specially printed private Xmas and New Year greeting cards. The sample books of these popular cards were now ready, and they embodied every degree of artistic merit, at popular prices. All classes had been provided for, with pretty cards, from 2s 6d per dozen.

50 years ago

There was a possibility of hospital patients in York being able to listen in to special commentaries on football matches and other "central commentaries," including church services. York League of friends had been considering the possibility of such broadcasts over the hospitals' Radio Relay systems. However, it would involve many detailed arrangements and there would be a fair amount of expense. It would not be necessary to confine the commentaries to football matches. There could, for example, probably be a special gramophone session from the Radio Relay Station. When it was jokingly suggested that the hospital could not risk having patients collapsing when York City were knocked out of the F A Cup competition, Councillor R S Oloman commented, amid laughter, "Who said they were going to be knocked out?"

25 years ago

More than half North Yorkshire's secondary-school children ate cash-on-delivery meals. By the following January, 32 out of 68 senior schools were expected to have cafeteria service. All primary schools in the county would be offering convenience food from the beginning of the Spring term. Education officials felt proof of the new system was in the eating. Numbers taking school meals the previous month showed an increase of 6,000 over the June figure. A census taken the previous month proved 55.7 per cent of secondary school children were having pay-as-you-eat meals, against 40.4 per cent in conventional systems. A report from the Education Committee's special services sub-committee noted that not all head teachers were "initially enthusiastic" about the cafeteria service. But the take-up of meals in secondary schools demonstrated its success. The department hoped to cut school meals staff by more than 30 per cent with the help yourself system.

Updated: 12:43 Tuesday, November 29, 2005