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IT is a generally held belief that we are all a product of our childhoods, writes Paul Moore.
Churches take this a step further arguing that if they can have influence over the early lives of children then that child will be committed to that religion for life. It is certainly the case that most people in Ireland, especially men, are products of the way in which their mothers dealt with them.
Like many males I had an ambivalent relationship with mother. In many ways she was fiercely disciplinarian yet in other ways she was strangely modern and far-sighted.
She seemed to know that the 60s (and yes I am that old) was a period of cultural transformation and she needed to make sure I was confronted by as much of it as possible. From memory she had three ways of doing this.
Firstly, she made me watch, every week, a programme called the Wednesday Play where new writers were showcased. It was there that I first rencountered the great working-class film maker Ken Loach and his now iconic film Cathy Come Home.
Secondly, she insisted I watched Top of the Pops. While TOTP may now be somewhat dated in the 60s it was the place to hear (and see) the most talked about talent. For my part I still believe my life was changed by seeing Joe Cocker perform With a Little Help From My Friends.
Lastly, and this is I think the most important, she bought me a comic each and every day, except Sunday of course when we had to read the Bible. Each day brought an engagement with a range of well-known and loved characters and I have often thought I ended up working in the creative industries sector because of this daily interaction with imagination as a child.
So I was pleasantly surprised to hear that the UK Royal Mint has just released a commemorative coin celebrating seventy-five years of mischief in the form of Dennis the Menace who apparently first appeared on the pages of the Beano on 17th March, 1951 which was at that point the four hundred and fifty-second issue of the comic.
The Royal Mint Director of Commemorative Coin Rebecca Morgan said: “There’s something wonderfully fitting about this legendary mischief-maker finally making his mark on a collectible 50p and I’m sure Dennis himself would see it as his greatest prank yet. This coin captures everything we love about him, that unmistakable mischievous grin, his furry pal Gnasher by his side and that irresistible spirit of rebellion that has made him a favourite across generations. We’re incredibly proud to bring Dennis to life in this way, and we know this coin will be treasured by Beano fans young and old.”
The surprise was two-fold, initially that the Royal Mint also has a sense of mischief but, more importantly, that The Beano is still going strong. I had simply assumed it had gone the way of The Dandy and other cherished weekly reading fodder of my youth.
It also underlines the importance to our lives, at all ages, of popular culture.
As if to underline the the importance of popular culture this week saw the release of data on the most popular artists in the Belfast area as part of a UK wide survey. It revealed that K Pop was most popular with Lady Gaga second and Eminem third.
Taylor Swift emerged next with Ed Sheerin thankfully a good bit down the list. These rankings are based on number of plays so I am fairly certain they would be different for Omagh and district. Who knows, our own Dennis the Menace, Hugo Duncan, might even make an appearance.
