My dear old Dad kept a diary. He always felt a shade guilty about it as he was a very senior civil servant and knew all kinds of secrets that he feared might one day be accidentally divulged. As it happens he need not have worried. The diary eventually came into my hands. I transcribed it into a multi-encrypted computer format, the secret routine for decryption of which exists only in my head and dies with me. Also, all the people mentioned have long since died. Only the small ‘state secrets’ would have any relevance.
However, there was one thing he had a habit of doing that might be worth passing on if only for the sake of a wry laugh. After commenting on what he saw as important matters he would often add small personal remarks on the subject matter.
For example, sometime in the 50s he was so concerned about the state of UK finances and the personal effects thereof that he wrote. “I fear many people will soon suffer. If things keep going the way they are, it will soon become impossible for the average housewife to buy her week’s groceries for less than five pounds.”
Finance was his interest so many of his other comments relate to simple home economics. Having just seen pictures of new motorcars about to arrive on the market he wrote, “I have just seen the new range of cars we are to be offered next year. The prices are near ridiculous. It won’t be long before a thousand pounds will only buy a second-hander.”
And, later in the same entry. “When I first started driving, who would have thought that petrol would someday cost over a shilling a gallon? [Less than two eurocents a litre]. We’ll be better off leaving the car in the garage.”
And how about, “I hear now that the Post Office is thinking about charging tuppence ha’penny [two and a half old pennies, about 1p of current UK money] to post an ordinary letter. I shudder to think what that will cost the Revenue alone.”
Matters of unemployment and the minimum wage had begun to be heard shortly after Hitler’s war ended. In about 1950 he wrote “If they really do raise the minimum wage to a pound a day nobody will be able to hire help in the house or the garden. There will be massive numbers of people out of work. It’s bad planning quite obviously. More a socialist dictum than common sense.”
“I’m concerned now that the boys [my brother and myself] are old enough to go to the cinema on their own. Ever since they let Clark Gable say ‘Damn’ in Gone with the Wind, it seems every film has either ‘hell’ or ‘damn’ in it.”
“Stanley Matthews [footballer] has just signed a contract for £25,000 a year just to play soccer. It wouldn’t surprise me if someday one of them will be making more than the Prime Minister.”
“My Supplies Officer tells me that they now have electric typewriters becoming available. Times are changing before our very eyes.”
“Recent rises in taxation mean that some married women are having to go out to work to make family ends meet. What next? Probably won’t be long before young couples have to hire someone to watch their kids so they can both work. The social repercussions are far more horrible than they realise. The very fabric of society will be shredded.”
“Thank goodness I won’t live to see the day when the Government takes half our income in taxes. I sometimes wonder if we are electing the best people to government. Or whether the right people are going into the high-integrity field of politics at all.”
“I used to enjoy taking Effie [our mother] for occasional weekends away but even on my salary two pounds a night for a decent hotel is out of the question.”
“If they think I’ll pay half a crown [about 15 eurocents] for a hair cut, forget it.’
“I suppose the National Health Service will have its advantages. Six pounds a day [about 10 Euros] for a hospital stay is too rich for my blood.”
And, finally, a quote that carries particular meaning for our family, “If cigarettes keep going up in price, I’m going to give up. Two shillings for twenty is ridiculous. If they go even a penny higher I’m going to stop.”
That is the most poignant entry of them all. He never did, and they killed him.
