Dab It On for Victory

Dab it On for Victory.

 

September 7^th 1940. Lest we forget. The night the Blitz started. The sky for many days and nights was black with Hun bombers. They  started the fire storm. And London burned. The sugar in the Docklands warehouses was turned to toffee. But  our parents took it.Even lil ol’ Putney took its share. 200 hits. Both the streets we have lived in, Dryburgh and Festing have gaps where fat boy Goering’s Heiknels and Junkers did their deadly bit. As a London kid in the 40s and 50s  I played on bomb sites as the scars took time to heal.

But who saved us. The Few. The Glorious Few. Out of the sun they dived. Over the Garden of England they clashed and  smashed the Nazis’ black angels . We used to have a neighbour Squadron Leader Len Feltham DFC who was one. At his funeral his medal winked and shone.

And unlike the squaddies or the senior service the young lads who  went up into the sky to save Britain had style and dash. Scramble, chocks away, bandits at 4 o’clock. I don’t know if Rory has made it back.They  did the business and looked the part.

 With the kit and the head pieces scruffy hair  just didn’t work. So they became the Brylcreem Boys. And as we post war children made our Airfix models of Spitfires and Hurricanes we  dreamed of those  light footed lads in blue ,many who never grew old.

Later the great hair product was marketed  for the man in the street through Denis Compton who played soccer for the mighty Arsenal and cricket for England and still had change  from 6 pence after he had bought fish and chips and a cup of tea. Which was just as well since that was all he earned. For those who walked on the wilder side Brylcreem was important for the Teddy Boys and the Elvis look a likes who followed. Naturally girls were involved why else would they have used the slogan “They’ll love to put their fingers through your hair.” Previously the slogan had been “ A little d ab will doya”.

But of course with the Beatles and Stones and all kinds of other  trends Bryclreem died. Even using Beckham and Pieterson in the ads made no difference. And although the product is still big in China and India this week Unilever announced it is selling the brand.

Bless ‘em all.  

Link shows WW2 ad.