Raiding the family archives...
I have mostly been looking at an old photo this weekend. A very, very long, very rolled up old photo. It’s one of those school photos taken on one of those special school picture-taking cameras. It’s 8 inches deep by about 20 miles long……

I’m trying to find a couple of people on this school photo – and I know they are there. But it’s like trying to find a needle in a haystack or do a ‘Where’s Wally’ book. If I do find them then this tatty, 50 year old photograph will be worth quite a bit.

It’s really interesting to look at this picture. Everyone is white. There seems to be a lot of kids there that look like ‘Plug’ out of the Beano. Designer spex are an alien concept – it appears there were two sorts of glasses worn in 1955, National Health jobs or milk bottle bottoms….

There are 3 types of kids on the pic’. 1) Swots and creeps. 2) Honest Johns. 3) Wide-boy embryonic teddy boys. There are some great coiffured hairstyles, piled up using Brylcreem, the styling lard of the day. Dee-Ayz, quiffs and dodgy geezer styles abound…..

It’s a really fascinating social document. But I’m more interested in realising cash at the moment… And these two people, I just cannot find them amongst the myriad of greasy, spotty, testosterone laden yoofs of post war England.

So, who am I looking for on the photo?

Good question, glad you asked it.

The photograph was taken in 1955, in the grounds of the then premier grammar school in Liverpool. ‘The Institute’. The photo was given to me by my Dad many years ago. His brother went there and was in the same class as Paul McCartney. Well I’ve found my Uncle in his teddy boy regalia, but as for the legendary Beatle? I’m really struggling. I know he’s there, along with his younger band member, George Harrison, my Uncle pointed them out when we were looking at the photo many years ago. Unfortunately, at the time I was into Cream, Canned Heat, Zepp (still am) and American Blues – so I showed little interest…..

Funny what the promise of cold hard cash will do…..