1.
BBC
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The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. It is headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, the BBC is the worlds oldest national broadcasting organisation and the largest broadcaster in the world by number of employees. It employs over 20,950 staff in total,16,672 of whom are in public sector broadcasting, the total number of staff is 35,402 when part-time, flexible, and fixed contract staff are included. The BBC is established under a Royal Charter and operates under its Agreement with the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport. The fee is set by the British Government, agreed by Parliament, and used to fund the BBCs radio, TV, britains first live public broadcast from the Marconi factory in Chelmsford took place in June 1920. It was sponsored by the Daily Mails Lord Northcliffe and featured the famous Australian Soprano Dame Nellie Melba, the Melba broadcast caught the peoples imagination and marked a turning point in the British publics attitude to radio. However, this public enthusiasm was not shared in official circles where such broadcasts were held to interfere with important military and civil communications. By late 1920, pressure from these quarters and uneasiness among the staff of the licensing authority, the General Post Office, was sufficient to lead to a ban on further Chelmsford broadcasts. But by 1922, the GPO had received nearly 100 broadcast licence requests, John Reith, a Scottish Calvinist, was appointed its General Manager in December 1922 a few weeks after the company made its first official broadcast. The company was to be financed by a royalty on the sale of BBC wireless receiving sets from approved manufacturers, to this day, the BBC aims to follow the Reithian directive to inform, educate and entertain. The financial arrangements soon proved inadequate, set sales were disappointing as amateurs made their own receivers and listeners bought rival unlicensed sets. By mid-1923, discussions between the GPO and the BBC had become deadlocked and the Postmaster-General commissioned a review of broadcasting by the Sykes Committee and this was to be followed by a simple 10 shillings licence fee with no royalty once the wireless manufactures protection expired. The BBCs broadcasting monopoly was made explicit for the duration of its current broadcast licence, the BBC was also banned from presenting news bulletins before 19.00, and required to source all news from external wire services. Mid-1925 found the future of broadcasting under further consideration, this time by the Crawford committee, by now the BBC under Reiths leadership had forged a consensus favouring a continuation of the unified broadcasting service, but more money was still required to finance rapid expansion. Wireless manufacturers were anxious to exit the loss making consortium with Reith keen that the BBC be seen as a service rather than a commercial enterprise. The recommendations of the Crawford Committee were published in March the following year and were still under consideration by the GPO when the 1926 general strike broke out in May. The strike temporarily interrupted newspaper production and with restrictions on news bulletins waived the BBC suddenly became the source of news for the duration of the crisis. The crisis placed the BBC in a delicate position, the Government was divided on how to handle the BBC but ended up trusting Reith, whose opposition to the strike mirrored the PMs own
2.
Swing (seat)
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The seat of a swing may be suspended from chains or ropes. Once a swing is in motion, it continues to oscillate like a pendulum until external interference or drag brings it to a halt, Swing sets are very popular with children. On playgrounds, several swings are often suspended from the metal or wooden frame, known as a swing set. Such swings come in a variety of sizes and shapes, for infants and toddlers, swings with leg holes support the child in an upright position while a parent or sibling pushes the child to get a swinging motion. Some swing sets include play items other than swings, such as a ladder or sliding pole. For older children, swings are sometimes made of a flexible canvas seat, of rubberized ventilated tire tread, of plastic, a common backyard sight is a wooden plank suspended on both sides by ropes from a tree branch. Tire swings are a form of swing made from a whole tire and these are often simply a new or used tire hanging from a tree on a rope. On commercially-developed playground swing sets, oversized new tires are often reinforced with a metal bar to improve safety and are hung on chains from metal or wooden beams. They may hang vertically or hang flat, suspended from three or more points on one side, the flat version can hold three or more children. Pumping is achieved by using one or two of the three chains attached to the swing, and two children can pump in turn, tire swings can also be used in spinners, where the occupants use their feet to propel the tire. Natural swings may be created by lianas in a wild forest like Aokigahara forest near Mount Fuji. Rope swings are swings created by tying one end of a length of rope to a branch, bridge. A knot or loop is put on the other end to prevent fraying. Rope swings are often situated so that those swinging on them can let go and land in deep enough to cushion the fall. The incorporation of a board such as a skateboard in which the rider stands is called swing boarding. It is made safer by the use of an attached board, porch swing is a swinging, conventionally painted wood, bench-like seat intended primarily for adults. The swings suspension chains are permanently mounted to the ceiling. Porch swings are an alternative to using rocking chairs or gliders outdoors, canopy swing is similar to a porch swing, but it is hung on a separate frame and is usually portable
3.
Marionette
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A marionette is a puppet controlled from above using wires or strings depending on regional variations. A marionettes puppeteer is called a marionettist, Marionettes are operated with the puppeteer hidden or revealed to an audience by using a vertical or horizontal control bar in different forms of theatres or entertainment venues. They have also used in films and on television. The attachment of the strings varies according to its character or purpose, in French, marionette means little Mary. One of the first figures to be made into a marionette was the Virgin Mary, Puppetry is an ancient form of performance. Some historians claim that they predate actors in theatre, there is evidence that they were used in Egypt as early as 2000 BC when string-operated figures of wood were manipulated to perform the action of kneading bread, and other string-controlled objects. Wire-controlled, articulated puppets made of clay and ivory have been found in Egyptian tombs, Marionette puppetry was used to display rituals and ceremonies using these string-operated figurines back in ancient times and is used today. Puppetry was practiced in Ancient Greece and the oldest written records of puppetry can be found in the works of Herodotus and Xenophon, archimedes is known to have worked with marionettes. Platos work also references to puppetry. The Iliad and the Odyssey were presented using puppetry, the roots of European puppetry probably extend back to the Greek plays with puppets played to the common people in the 5th century BC. By the 3rd century BC these plays would appear in the Theatre of Dionysus at the Acropolis, in ancient Greece and Rome clay and ivory dolls, dated from around 500 BC, were found in childrens tombs. These dolls had articulated arms and legs, some of which had a rod extending up from the tops of their heads. This rod was used to manipulate the doll from above, exactly as is today in Sicilian puppetry. A few of these dolls had strings in place of the rods, some researchers believe these ancient figures were mere toys and not puppets due to their small size. The Indian word sutradhara, from sutra, refers to the show-manager of theatrical performances, the sides of donkey carts are decorated with intricate, painted scenes from the Frankish romantic poems, such as The Song of Roland. These same tales are enacted in puppet theatres featuring hand-made marionettes of wood. A great place to see this marionette art is the theatres of Palermo. In the 18th century, operas were composed for marionettes
4.
Teddy bear
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A teddy bear is a soft toy in the form of a bear. Developed apparently simultaneously by toymakers Morris Michtom in the U. S, since the creation of the first teddy bears which sought to imitate the form of real bear cubs, teddies have greatly varied in form, style and material. They have become collectors items, with older and rarer teddies appearing at public auctions, Teddy bears are among the most popular gifts for children and are often given to adults to signify love, congratulations, or sympathy. The name teddy bear comes from former United States President Theodore Roosevelt, the name originated from an incident on a bear hunting trip in Mississippi in November 1902, to which Roosevelt was invited by Mississippi Governor Andrew H. Longino. There were several other hunters competing, and most of them had killed an animal. A suite of Roosevelts attendants, led by Holt Collier, cornered, clubbed and they called Roosevelt to the site and suggested that he should shoot it. Morris Michtom saw the drawing of Roosevelt and was inspired to create a teddy bear and he created a tiny soft bear cub and put it in the shop window with a sign Teddys bear, after sending a bear to Roosevelt and receiving permission to use his name. The toys were a success and Michtom founded the Ideal Novelty. At the same time in Germany, the Steiff firm, unaware of Michtoms bear, Steiff exhibited the toy at the Leipzig Toy Fair in March 1903, where it was seen by Hermann Berg, a buyer for George Borgfeldt & Company in New York. He ordered 3000 to be sent to the United States, however, the story is disputed - Gunther Pfieffer notes that it was only recorded in 1953 and says it is more likely that the 55 PB was not sufficiently durable to survive until the present day. Although Steiff and Michtom were both making teddy bears at around the time, neither would have known of the others creation due to poor transatlantic communication. Early teddy bears were made to look like bears, with extended snouts. Modern teddy bears tend to have eyes and foreheads and smaller noses. Teddy bears are manufactured to represent different species of bear, such as polar bears and grizzly bears. Commercially made, mass-produced teddy bears are made as toys for children. These bears either have safety joints for attaching arms, legs and they must have securely fastened eyes that do not pose a choking hazard for small children. These plush bears must meet a standard of construction in order to be marketed to children in the United States. There are also companies, like Steiff, that sell handmade collectible bears that can be purchased in stores or over the Internet, the majority of teddy bears are manufactured in countries such as China and Indonesia
5.
Rag doll
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A rag doll is a childrens toy. It is a figure, a doll traditionally home-made from spare scraps of material. They are one of the most ancient childrens toys in existence, Amish dolls are a type of traditional American rag dolls which originated as childrens toys among the Old Order Amish people. The best-known type have no facial features, today, many rag dolls are commercially produced to simulate the features of the original home-made dolls, such as simple features, soft cloth bodies, and patchwork clothing. The character of Sally from the Tim Burton film The Nightmare Before Christmas is also a rag doll, stuffed toy Lalaloopsy Modern Rag dolls
6.
National Science and Media Museum
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The National Science and Media Museum, located in Bradford, West Yorkshire, is part of the national Science Museum Group. The museum has seven floors of galleries with permanent exhibitions focusing on photography, television, animation, videogaming, the Internet and it also hosts temporary exhibitions and maintains a collection of 3.5 million pieces in its research facility. In September 2011 the museum was voted the best indoor attraction in Yorkshire by the public, in March 2016 a 7.5 million pound five year investment plan in the museum was revealed by the Science Museum Group. In March 2017 its name was changed from National Media Museum to National Science, entrance is free with the exception of cinema screens. The museum is open 10 am until 6 pm everyday and this new development created a new glass-fronted atrium, which houses a new cafe and shop. Most of the items on display in the gallery are taken from the collection of 35,000 objects. Life Online – Life Online is the worlds first gallery dedicated to exploring the social, technological and cultural impact of the Internet, trace the history of the Internet, uncover how it has changed peoples lives and track the latest trends. BFI Mediatheque – This allows people to access the British Film Institute collection of film and it replaced TV Heaven, a unique viewing facility where visitors could access an archive of more than 1000 programmes covering sixty years of British television history. TV Heaven closed in 2013 after 20 years, but 50 titles are still available, Animation – The Animation Gallery explores the history of animation and animated images, with an emphasis on animation produced in Britain. Includes how animators bring drawings and objects to life, games Lounge – Playable classic games in their original arcade or console formats, the history of video gaming, the story behind this global phenomenon. The museum incorporates the first permanent UK installation of an IMAX cinema, in 1999, IMAX upgraded the system and began releasing IMAX 3D presentations. This cinema is one of three public cinemas in the world permanently equipped to display original 3-strip 35 mm Cinerama prints. In 2008, the presented the only true recorded public screening of Danny Boyles 2002 film Alien Love Triangle. The Cubby Broccoli Cinema, contains 106 seats and is used for a variety of film shows, Insight is a facility where members of the public can view parts of the collections which are not on general display. Subjects include broadcast television using the TV studio on its top floor, the EIMC degree show is held in the Pictureville Cinema. It also contains original toys from the BBC series Playschool – the first programme on BBC2, the collections are accessible to the public through its Insight study centre. The collection of the Royal Photographic Society was transferred to the Museum on behalf of the nation in 2003. In June 2010 it was announced that the Ray and Diana Harryhausen Foundation had agreed to deposit the animators complete collection of some 20,000 pieces with the National Media Museum
7.
Guinness World Records
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The book itself holds a world record, as the best-selling copyrighted book of all time. As of the 2017 edition, it is now in its 63rd year of publication, the international franchise has extended beyond print to include television series and museums. On 10 November 1951, Sir Hugh Beaver, then the director of the Guinness Breweries, went on a shooting party in the North Slob, by the River Slaney in County Wexford. After missing a shot at a golden plover, he involved in an argument over which was the fastest game bird in Europe. That evening at Castlebridge House, he realised that it was impossible to confirm in reference books whether or not the golden plover was Europes fastest game bird. Beaver knew that there must be numerous other questions debated nightly in pubs throughout Ireland and abroad and he realised then that a book supplying the answers to this sort of question might prove successful. Beavers idea became reality when Guinness employee Christopher Chataway recommended University friends Norris and Ross McWhirter, the twin brothers were commissioned to compile what became The Guinness Book of Records in August 1954. A thousand copies were printed and given away, after the founding of The Guinness Book of Records at 107 Fleet Street, the first 198-page edition was bound on 27 August 1955 and went to the top of the British best seller lists by Christmas. The following year, it launched in the US, and sold 70,000 copies, since then, Guinness World Records has become a household name and the global leader in world records. Because the book became a hit, many further editions were printed, eventually settling into a pattern of one revision a year, published in September/October. The McWhirters continued to compile it for many years, Ross McWhirter was assassinated by the Provisional Irish Republican Army in 1975. Following Ross assassination, the feature in the show where questions about records posed by children were answered was called Norris on the Spot, Guinness Superlatives Limited was formed in 1954 to publish the first book. Sterling Publishing owned the rights to the Guinness book in the US for decades, and, under their management, the group was owned by Guinness PLC and subsequently Diageo until 2001, when it was purchased by Gullane Entertainment. Gullane was itself purchased by HIT Entertainment in 2002, with offices in New York City and Tokyo, Guinness World Records global headquarters remain in London, while its museum attractions are based at Ripley headquarters in Orlando, Florida, US. Recent editions have focused on record feats by person competitors, many records also relate to the youngest person who achieved something, such as the youngest person to visit all nations of the world, being Maurizio Giuliano. Each edition contains a selection of the records from the Guinness database, as well as new records. The majority of records are no longer listed in the book or on the website. For those unable to wait the 4–6 weeks for a reply, the Guinness Book of Records is the worlds most sold copyrighted book, earning it an entry within its own pages
8.
BBC One
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BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom, Isle of Man and Channel Islands. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service and it was renamed BBC TV in 1960, using this name until the launch of sister channel BBC2 in 1964, whereupon the BBC TV channel became known as BBC1, with the current spelling adopted in 1997. The channels annual budget for 2012–13 is £1.14 billion, the channel is funded by the television licence fee together with the BBCs other domestic television stations, and therefore shows uninterrupted programming without commercial advertising. It is currently the most watched channel in the United Kingdom, ahead of its traditional rival for ratings leadership. As of June 2013 the channel controller for BBC One is Charlotte Moore, the BBC began its own regular television programming from the basement of Broadcasting House, London, on 22 August 1932. BBC Television returned on 7 June 1946 at 15,00, Jasmine Bligh, one of the original announcers, made the first announcement, saying, Good afternoon everybody. Do you remember me, Jasmine Bligh, the Mickey Mouse cartoon of 1939 was repeated twenty minutes later. The competition quickly forced the channel to change its identity and priorities following a reduction in its audience. The 1962 Pilkington Report on the future of broadcasting noticed this, and it therefore decided that Britains third television station should be awarded to the BBC. The station, renamed BBC TV in 1960, became BBC1 when BBC2 was launched on 20 April 1964 transmitting an incompatible 625-line image on UHF. The only way to all channels was to use a complex dual-standard 405- and 625-line, VHF and UHF, receiver. Old 405-line-only sets became obsolete in 1985, when transmission in the standard ended, although standards converters have become available for enthusiasts who collect, BBC1 was based at the purpose-built BBC Television Centre at White City, London between 1960 and 2013. In the weeks leading up to 15 November 1969, BBC1 unofficially transmitted the occasional programme in its new colour system, to test it. At midnight on 15 November, simultaneously with ITV and two years after BBC2, BBC1 officially began 625-line PAL colour programming on UHF with a broadcast of a concert by Petula Clark, colour transmissions could be received on monochrome 625-line sets until the end of analogue broadcasting. In terms of share, the most successful period for BBC1 was under Bryan Cowgill between 1973 and 1977, when the channel achieved an average audience share of 45%. On 30 December 1980, the BBC announced their intention to introduce a new breakfast television service to compete with TV-am. On 17 January 1983, the first edition of Breakfast Time was shown on BBC One, becoming the first UK wide breakfast television service and continued to lead in the rating until 1984. The first major overhaul was to axe the deeply unpopular Sixty Minutes current affairs programme and its replacement was the BBC Six OClock News, a straight new programme in a bid to shore up its failing early evening slot
9.
Clangers
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Clangers is a British stop-motion animated childrens television series of short stories about a family of murine creatures who live on, and inside, a small moon like planet. They speak only in whistles, and eat green soup supplied by the Soup Dragon, the programmes were originally broadcast on BBC1 between 1969 and 1972, followed by the first of three special episodes that was broadcast in 1974. The series was made by Smallfilms, the set up by Oliver Postgate. Firmin designed the characters, and his wife knitted and dressed the Clangers, the music, often part of the story, was by Vernon Elliott. A new series, narrated by Monty Python actor Michael Palin, two short specials were broadcast before then. The Clangers originated in a series of books which developed from another Smallfilms production. Publishers Kay and Ward created a series of books from Noggin the Nog episodes, in the 1967 story Noggin and the Moonmouse, a new horse-trough was put up in the middle of the town in the North-Lands. A spacecraft hurtled down and splashed into it, the top unscrewed, and out came a largish, mouse-like character in a duffel coat, who wanted fuel for his spacecraft. He showed Nooka and the children that what he needed was vinegar, so, they filled up the tanks in this little spherical ship, which then took off in a dreadful cloud smelling of vinegar and soap-flakes, covering the town with bubbles. In 1969, the BBC asked Smallfilms to produce a new series for colour television, Postgate concluded that because space exploration was particularly topical, the new series should be set in space. He adapted the Moonmouse from the story, removing its tail because it kept getting into the soup. The Clangers looked similar to mice, anteaters and, from their pink colour, the Clangers was described by Postgate as a family set in space. In each episode, there would be some problem to solve, something invented or discovered, Music Trees, with note-shaped fruit, grew on the planets surface, and music would often be an integral feature in the simple but amusing plots. In the Fishing episode, one of the Cheese Trees provided a cylindrical five-line staff for notes taken from the Music Trees, the first episode was broadcast on BBC1 on 16 November 1969, and a further 26 episodes were made. The last of these was broadcast on 10 November 1972, the final programme, however, was a four-minute election special, broadcast on 10 October 1974. This was not shown at the slot during childrens programmes. Oliver Postgate said in a 2005 interview that he wasnt sure whether this still existed. In fact the episode is available from the British Film Institute
10.
Paul Atterbury
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Paul Rowley Atterbury, FRSA is a British antiques expert, probably best known for his many appearances since 1979 on the BBC TV programme Antiques Roadshow. He specialises in the art, architecture, design and decorative arts of the 19th and 20th centuries and he was educated at Westminster School and the University of East Anglia. Originally training as a designer he later went on to work for Sotheby Publications. He became an advisor for Royal Doulton and was the editor of Connoisseur magazine from 1980 to 1981. Since 1981 Atterbury has been a writer, lecturer, broadcaster. He most frequently curates for the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, his exhibitions there including Pugin, a Gothic Passion and Inventing New Britain, Atterbury has written or edited over thirty books, mostly on ceramics. He is also known for his writing, and has also written books on railways. He has published books of old postcards showing Eype and West Bay, until 2003, Atterbury was also chairman of the Little Angel Theatre puppet theatre in Islington, north London. He also tours the country with his stage show Have You Had it Long Madam. with fellow Antiques Roadshow expert Hilary Kay and he is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. Atterbury is the owner of the only remaining Teddy puppet from the television series Andy Pandy, that is not kept as part of a museum collection, Atterbury lives in Weymouth in Dorset with his second wife, Chrissie, who he married in 2002. New Haven, Yale University Press 2001, Victorians at Home, ISBN18517732902002, Poole Pottery, Carter and Co. and Their Successors 1873–2002. Richard Dennis ISBN 0-903685-86-82006, Branch Line Britain, A Nostalgic Journey Celebrating a Golden Age, newton Abbot, David & Charles ISBN 0-7153-2416-02007, Along Lost Lines. Newton Abbot, David & Charles ISBN 0-7153-2568-X2007, Victorian House Style Handbook, newton Abbot, David & Charles ISBN 0-7153-2705-42008, Tickets Please, A Nostalgic Journey Through Railway Station Life. Newton Abbot, David & Charles ISBN 0-7153-2876-X2008, Moorcroft, richard Dennis ISBN 0-9553741-0-32009, All Change. Automobile Association ISBN 0-7495-5785-0 Paul Atterbury at the Internet Movie Database Atterbury on Easy Speak Atterbury on Chateaucoye. com Atterbury on PBS. org
