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There were no supermarkets. There were no motorways. The roads were half empty. Cars came in any colour so long as it was black. Japanese motorcycles didn't exist! You just expected bits to fall off your BSA or Triumph. I went to school on a steam train. School calculators were big metal things which crunched when you turned the handle. Teachers were allowed to hit you as much as they liked and with anything they liked. Clint Eastwood was just a kid. 'Doctor Who' was scary. The Beatles were poncey and crap. Mickey Dolenz in 'Circus Boy' was real cool. There was only one television channel. Wirelesses were humungous things with valves. The first transistor radios crackled so much it wasn't worth listening to them. I had a wind-up gramophone which played 78s and 45s. There were no mobile/cell phones - if you missed/lost someone, you were "messed". Our telephone number was "86". Toys were made of metal, not plastic. Amusement arcades were full of wooden slot machines with big ball bearings in them. Absolutely everyone smoked and everyone thought sugar was good for you. You could buy four big sugar shrimps for one 'old' penny (10 for 1p). Shoe shops had X-ray machines to photograph the shape of your feet. My dad earned £20 per week. People had ration cards (I still have mine). Kids in the coffee bars discussed Mods and Rockers. Blokes wore DAs ("duck's arse" hairstyles - 'ducktails' in the US) slicked down with Brylcream. Girls were stupid and yuk. People on television talked like they had chillis stuffed up their noses. Everyone was deferential to authority and used a low voice when they spoke of the Queen. Politicians talked down to everyone. I was confused by the Bay of Pigs and scared by the Cuban Missile Crisis. I stayed up all night to watch Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon.

And it was only a short while ago.

Today, all the oldies at work bother me because most of them are younger than I am.

Ride a motorcycle. Don't grow old.

Haha very nice Hud...