Following on from our look at Billy Graham’s 1955 address to the BWA at Highbury, Phil Wilson (Doveson2008 of Flickr) sends word of colour FILM of Highbury in the form of a British Pathe newsreel from 1956.
FOOTBALL BALL MANUFACTURE (aka FOOTBALL STORY)
Also featured are Webber Bros of South Norwood, described here as football manufacturers since 1891. (This might be a good opportunity to plug Alive and Kicking, the African social enterprise that manufactures sports balls to provide balls for children, create jobs for adults and promote health education through sport. Since 2004 A&K has produced and distributed 300,000 balls, provided 150 sustainable jobs, and targetted 40,000 children with their HIV / AIDS campaign)
Do you remember the characteristic, rather delicious, smell of the bladder in a football? I suppose that was the smell of natural rubber; certainly bike inner tubes didn’t have the smell so I assume they were made of synthetic rubber. I’m thinking of the 50s, so directing the question to you, James, may be a bit daft.
Anyhoo, Merry Christmas.
No, not at all: these things were around until I left school and I remember it well. But by then, they’d switched to the Telstar style of panelling, and, of course, no laces.
No laces? How did they tie up their boots?
Boom, tish!