ToCo Tuesday

There was an undeniable feeling that come the late Sixties Spick &Span had shot its bolt as society got more permissive. It struggled to keep pace and eventually decided to give up. There was no question Ken Howard on the south coast kept it going, but the attempts to look “swinging” bordered on the risible. Herewith one example, scanned from a contact sheet. Nicola Taylor’s combination of white dolly-bird boots with patterned black stockings (which chum Marie Graham was also photographed wearing) was a culture clash if ever there was one. Added to which the hairband Nicola was sporting would appear to be keeping her hair piece (why?) in place and not wholly succeeded. The pose is awkward, with her perched half-on the narrow mantlepiece, one foot on the chair arm. Technically the image is poor, with heavy shadow present. Having said that all this amateurish clumsiness had its back street charm of which the burgeoning glossies had none.