As I was adding a chunk of cabbage to steam on top of the lamb stew, a flashback to the days of my youth went through my mind. With no TV to bore us back in the 60s, everyone listened to the radio, and in our house it was Springbok Radio, the likes of which have never been matched since. Who among you do not remember being glued to your transistor for Squad Cars, Men from the Ministry, Taxi and the Three Wise Men? In the afternoons, round about tea time, it was Women's World, with Elizabeth Webb calling from Oxfordshire, relating with great eloquence the things she had seen in her garden and items of interest so real that we could have been sitting in the garden with her. The magic of the spoken word in proper English, correct grammar and impeccable accent.
But to get back to the cabbage. Every day at about 3pm there was a market report on the price of vegetables at Epping Market. One can only wonder why, and think back fondly to a time when such market information was important enough to warrant a special report. Today we are bombarded every half hour with such drivel masquerading as news, that it is barely worthwhile even tuning into a radio station, and I have to confess to listening exclusively to music, as that is good for the soul.
But to get back to the cabbage. The man who read this extensive list was obviously bored out of his mind and tried to bring some humour into it, and the one thing I have never forgotten was his pronunciation of cabbage: Carrots 2c, Potatoes 20c, Cabbaaage (with a long accent on the second 'a' 3c!). I've often wondered if anyone else remembers him.
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