100 years ago

Messrs George Britton Ltd, Clifton House, Bootham, York, were this week, by special arrangements with Messrs HJ Heinz and Co, making a special display of that firm’s well-known food specialities.

A lady representative was in attendance, and was demonstrating daily the culinary uses of the firm’s products. Samples of the goods were being given away freely so that ladies could ascertain for themselves their quality.

It was worthy of note that Messrs Heinz produced no fewer than 57 varieties of food, sauces, relishes, and condiments, and purity was guaranteed. All the tins used were made of special double coated tinplate, and the ends were crimped on to prevent the possibility of solder going inside.

 

50 years ago

Britain was giving solid support to the increasingly tough American line in the Vietnam crisis.

The view in London, following the latest United States bombing raids across the 17th Parallel, was that, so long as the North Vietnamese continued to give active military assistance to the Communist Vietcong guerrillas in the South, they could hardly expect to remain immune from the fighting which they themselves were fomenting.

The Government was continuing its secret and confidential talks with the Soviet Union for a peaceful settlement, however, British officials made it quite clear that there could be no question of calling another Geneva conference to consider Vietnam until the Vietcong operations were stopped and a genuine cease-fire could be arranged. Otherwise, it was thought that no basis for a settlement existed, and that any hastily-summoned Geneva peace talks would prove a fiasco.

 

25 years ago

One of the most notable achievements of Victorian engineering, the Forth Rail Bridge, would celebrate its centenary the following day with a re-creation of the 1890 opening ceremony by the then Prince of Wales.

The event would bring back memories for a trackman on the bridge, whose father and brother had both died working on it. The £3 million bridge, near Edinburgh, had claimed the lives of 57 construction workers during seven years of building. Some 51,000 tons of steel and 6.5 million rivets had been used, while 8,000 caps, hats and items of clothing were either blown away or dropped by workmen.

Facts and figures about the bridge were contained in an official centenary book written by author, Sheila MacKay. To mark the centenary a special bronze plaque would be unveiled – the first in a six-month long series of birthday events.