Word: alf
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Dates: during 1940-1949
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...Alf Elliott peered out from under bushy red eyebrows and a soiled worker's cap. "It's not that we object to the machine so much," Alf said. "We're all for the machine just so it don't replace us and make us-" he groped for a 10-bob word-"and make us redundant. But the guv'nor [the boss] just put it on without consulting us and laid off those men. We can't allow that...
Arriving at Butlin's Filey Camp on the Yorkshire coast last fortnight with his wife Mary, their two children and some 400 other workers from the Midland's woolen-weaving city of Bradford, Alf Murgatroyd had little time to stand and wonder what next. Bustling all around him on the long, flat station platform was a group of bright young girls and athletic men in red blazers. Bursting with good cheer, they whisked Alf and his friends over green fields to a cluster of glass-sided buildings topped by a huge white tower bearing the word "Butlin...
Welcome. In one tiny chalet there was a double bed for Alf and Mary, a double-decker for the kids, a washstand and a bureau with a bouquet of flowers, but Alf, his Butlineer's badge pinned proudly to his breast, had little time to admire it all. Three gongs sounded and from overhead came a lady's voice, soft and refined as marshmallow: "This is Radio Butlin. Welcome, campers, it is now 12:45. In 15 minutes lunch will be served...
Almost before Alf knew it, there he was with his family in "The House of Windsor," one of four giant dining halls serving 1,500 Butlineers each. Before Alf's week was up "The House of Windsor" would have become his alma mater, his particular allegiance against the other three royal houses (York, Gloucester, Kent). "Welcome, campers, to Windsor," loomed the loudspeaker. "Now let's all get to know each other right away. Introduce yourself to the camper on each side of you. Fine. Now to the camper across the table...
Whiskers & Lipstick. Whatever self-consciousness TV induced may have had a good effect on public manners. Only one drunk was spotted by the camera. Oratory, for the most part, was less protracted than usual. Radio, said Alf Landon, had trimmed convention speeches down by two-thirds; he looked for television to cut it down another third...