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We are pleased to say that we now have the Official 1958 Skegness Holiday Guide as published by the Skegness Urban District Council online for you to browse.

We have seven (and counting) of these vintage holiday guides, ranging from 1909 to 1971 in our collection of Skegness memorabilia, and it is our intention to share them with our visitors by uploading them to our Skegness Photo Gallery. The vintage holiday guides are a valuable source of Skegness history, being crammed with local business adverts, entertainment and photos.

As you can imagine, it’s a laborious task scanning the books in - some have a hundred pages! So we’ve just included the adverts for the larger hotels and ommited the smaller ones. But please ask if you want a look-up in the years below for a hotel or guest house which we haven’t uploaded. Ofcourse, we have scanned the main holiday information pages and pictures.

The front covers of the 1909, 1971, 1948, 1947 and 1925 holiday guides are shown below:

Please subscribe to our Skegness Photo Gallery RSS feed to be notified as soon as we add a new photo.

Hang up on phony caller

A NUMBER of Skegness women were complaining about a mystery male telephone caller in 1973, who first held their attention by saying he was conducting a survey on women’s fashions for Oldrids of Boston.
Because the firm he mentions is a reputable one, the women say they have not been averse to answering questions.

Until, that is, the questions have suddenly become personal, when the man has asked about their own sizes and fittings, particularly in respect of underwear.
The management of Oldrids assure us that they have never carried out such a survey. and say that even if they did it would not be conducted by a `cranky’ male on the telephone.
Said director Mr Bob Isaac : ” We are especially concerned because some of the women are elderly, and this man has really upset them. I; hope Skegness women will be warned, and put the phone down on this imposter.”

What’s this … Jolly Fisherman in the tropics ?

MR PETER Ibbotson, of Bromley, Kent, received an unusual New Year’s card in 1973 from Mauritius, in the Indian Ocean. It showed the familiar figure of the Skegness Jolly Fisherman skipping along a beach with a yacht on the sea, a palm tree growing in the sand and distant cliffs.

The wording was “Mauritius is SO bracing.”

The card was reproduced in Friday’s editions of “The Times ” with this comment: “It is based on a well-established publicity poster for Skegness, except that a palm tree has been added on the right for extra authenticity.
Mr Ibbotson points out that the fat sailor is certainly over-dressed for Mauritius, which may or may not be bracing but is certainly very hot. Possibly trying to lose weight.”

On Friday the Skegness Publicity Manager, Mr Cairns Boston, said perhaps Skegness ought to invite
the Mauritius publicity officer to come and sample our bracing air.
He also suggested that the new district council covering Skegness might `twin’ itself with Mauritius.

What we say… Skegness twinned with Mauritius? Yes, we can see the similarities…

The poster is our own illustration just for fun - not the one referred to in the story.

The Skegness Jolly Fisherman got the brush-off by ITV’s Richard and Judy when he applied for spruce-up by the Good Morning Make-over Team in 1999. Judging by our photo of Jolly taken around the same time, he would have been a very deseving candidate!

Let’s have a look at what the papers say…

Jolly has a bad hair day
LIFE was no so jolly for one of the region’s most popular characters today.
For the mascot of Skegness, Lincolnshire, The Jolly Fisherman, has suffered a huge snub in his bid to give himself a new lease of life.
Jolly, who will be 92 next birthday, wrote to the makers of ITV’s ‘This Morning,’ hoping to secure a makeover.
But the makeover team at Good Morning have turned him down.
They have written back to say his letter has been placed on file in case of a future vacancy, but they were unable to fulfil his request at the present time.
Distraught
Publicity manager at East Lindsey Distict Council Keith Morrison said Jolly was distraught when he received the letter.
“He has long admired Richard and Judy, especially Richard’s snappy fashions,” he said.
“Jolly had felt that a Millennium fling with fashion was in order to better show off his athletic frame,” said Mr Morrison.
“We’ll keep writing, ever hopeful.”

Our picture of the Skegness Jolly Fisherman was taken in 2002 by local press photographer, Paul Gooch.

Singer celeb and songwriter Jane McDonald is to switch on the Skegness Illuminations 2008.

The event will take place at the Skegness Clock Tower on Saturday evening, 26th July.

Miss McDonald will also be appearing at the Skegness Embassy Theatre on 27th July, 2008. Follow the link to book online.

Don’t forget that we will be bringing you press pictures and video coverage of the event, as usual, so subscribe to our RSS feed or bookmark us NOW!

Can’t wait for the Skegness Illuminations Switch On? Then take a peek at Jane singing ‘You’re My World’ on the video below…