Sunday, 25 February 2024

Frustration


 Frustration is a board game in which players compete to be the first to send four pieces all the way around a board. It is based on a traditional game called "Frustration" played on a wooden board with indentations for marble playing pieces and rules similar to Parcheesi. Pieces are moved according to the roll of a die using a contained device called a "Pop-O-Matic".

Players may move pieces out of their home onto their designated start space only when the die lands on 6. Getting a 6 at any point in the game also allows the player to take another turn, even if the player cannot move any of their pieces (as they cannot land on any of their own pieces). They also may move a new piece out even if they have another piece currently in play, and can also do the same if another player's piece is occupying their "start" space, but cannot do so when one of their own pieces is occupying their "start" space.

Pieces move clockwise around the track. Players can send opponents' pieces back to the start by landing on them. Teaming is not allowed in the game. Pieces are protected from capture after arriving in the final four slots of the finish area. Unlike more complex race games such as Parcheesi, counters cannot be maneuvered to block opponents' moves.

Pop-o-Matic die container

The most notable feature of Trouble is the "Pop-O-Matic" die container. This device is a clear plastic hemisphere containing the die, placed over a flexible sheet. Players, roll the die by pressing down quickly on the bubble, which flexes the sheet and causes the die to tumble upon its rebound. The Pop-O-Matic container produces a popping sound when it is used, and prevents the die from being lost (and players from cheating by improper rolling). It allows for quick die rolls, and players' turns can be performed in rapid succession. 



Friday, 23 February 2024

The Co-operative Dividend Book & Stamps

 


The Co-operative Society revolutionised food retailing with the dividend, often known as 'divi', and the 'divi number', it became a part of British life.

The dividend was a financial reward to customer based on each customer's level of trade with the Co-operative. The distribution of profits on the basis of turnover rather than capital invested is a fundamental difference between a Co-operative and most private sector enterprises.

Customer sales would be recorded in ledgers in the society's stores, at the end of the collection period a proportional payment would be made to the customer.

As the societies grew, the number of customer increased and the method of using ledgers became cumbersome. As a solution the Co-operative issued stamps to customer for qualifying transactions. Customers collected the stamps on a savings card, when the card was complete the customer would use it as payment for goods or deposit into their share account.

The dividend stamps were introduced nationally 1969.

Wednesday, 21 February 2024

Cadbury Chocolate Dispenser


 
Nearly every child must have owned one of these as a child, it is a timeless classic & is still in production to this day.

It was a chocolate dispenser that doubled up as a money box. By putting in a coin you got a mini block of Dairy Milk in return & when you ran out of chocolate you could buy a whole new packet to replace them but most parents never bothered.

Monday, 19 February 2024

Stylophone



The Stylophone is a miniature analog electronic keyboard musical instrument played with a stylus. Invented in 1967 by Brian Jarvis, it entered production in 1968, manufactured by Dubreq.

Some three million Stylophones were sold, mostly as children's toys, but they were occasionally used by professional musicians such as John Lennon, Kraftwerk and David Bowie.

The Stylophone consists of a metal keyboard made of printed circuit board and is played by touching it with a stylus. Each note on the keyboard is connected to a voltage-controlled oscillator via a different-value resistor, and touching the stylus to the keyboard thus closes a circuit. The only other controls are a power switch and a vibrato control on the front panel beside the keyboard, and a tuning potentiometer on the rear.

The Stylophone was available in standard, bass and treble variants, but the standard version was the most common. There was also a larger version called the 350S with more notes on the keyboard, various voices, a wah-wah effect that was controlled by moving the hand over a photosensor and two styluses.

In the mid-1970s, a new model appeared that featured simulated wood on the speaker panel and a volume control. However, production of the Stylophone ceased in 1975.

Entertainer Rolf Harris served for several years as the Stylophone's advertising spokesman in the United Kingdom and appeared on many "play-along" records sold by the manufacturer.[

Saturday, 17 February 2024

Golden Nuggets - Cereal

 




Golden Nuggets were introduced in the 1970s in the United Kingdom and the United States, manufactured by Nabisco. They were then withdrawn from the UK market in the late 1970s.

However, they were brought back to the UK in 1999 with a £1 million advertising campaign, perhaps in response to demand from people who had enjoyed them in the 1970s and now had their own children.[citation needed]

The packaging features various cartoon characters (drawn by Gary Dunn): Klondike Pete (a gold prospector who mines Golden Nuggets), his mule Pardner, his enemies - two claim-jumpers named Plum Loco Louie and Boot Hill Bob (jointly "The Breakfast Bandits") - and a Golden Nuggets Bee.[2] The Klondike Pete character was also used in the 1970s to market the US version of the cereal, Klondike Pete's Crunchy Nuggets.[3][4] The box also sometimes features puzzles suited to the 7–12-year-old range.[citation needed] The cereal is marketed with the slogan "They taste Yeee-Haa!"[5] (Previously "They're honey-crunchin' good!").

Thursday, 15 February 2024

Signet Ring


The history of signet or seal rings is lengthy and illustrious, dating back to 1400 BC when ancient signet rings were first worn by the Mesopotamian and ancient Egyptian civilisations. Throughout history, antique and vintage signet rings were often decorative and beautiful, however they were also highly functional items which played an important administrative role within society. By pressing the signet ring into hot wax or soft clay, a distinctive impression would be left that then functioned as an official seal or ‘signature'.

In ancient Egypt, pharaohs and nobles used distinctive antique signet rings made of hardstone or a blue pottery called faience. In the Middle Ages, antique signet rings were used by wealthy, powerful individuals to sign and seal their letters, proving that they were indeed authentic documents whilst preventing forgeries and tampering.

Thanks to a growing merchant class, antique signet rings became a form of branding during the Renaissance. As European merchants took to the Silk Road and began transporting goods overseas, they used signet rings to stamp seals on their shipments, making it easier to identify goods on arrival.


Tuesday, 13 February 2024

The School Desk


The School Desk where every child spent many.many hours. They were usually covered in graffiti, doddles, love messages, gossip, and the bottom was encrusted with chewing gum. They were commonly made out of hard maple and were very durable.






 

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