Vintage Everyday

In March 1966, four months before England was set to host the World Cup, the Football Association agreed to let the solid-gold trophy be displayed at the “Sport with Stamps” rare stamp exhibition at Methodist Central Hall in Westminster.

Despite assurances of 24-hour security, the guard schedule had structural gaps. On Sunday, March 20, 1966, while a Methodist church service was taking place on the floor below, someone forced open the back doors of the building, removed the padlock from the display case, and stole the trophy. Ironically, the thieves completely ignored rare stamps worth £3 million, taking only the trophy (valued significantly lower for its physical gold).

On Sunday, March 27, exactly one week after the theft, 26-year-old Thames lighterman David Corbett stepped out of his South Norwood home in South London to take his dog, Pickles, for a walk. As Corbett was getting ready to put on the leash, Pickles wandered over to a neighbor’s parked car and began sniffing intensely at a package hidden under a laurel bush.

In the 1950s, the American railroad system was undergoing a massive shift. For decades, passengers, especially wealthy college students traveling back and forth for semesters and holidays, relied heavily on “Redcap” porters at train stations to carry, hoist, and manage their heavy trunks and suitcases.

By 1958, local railway stations near Smith College drastically cut back or entirely eliminated their Redcap services. Suddenly, young women accustomed to having their bags handled for them were forced to lug their own heavy, mid-century luggage (which lacked the convenience of modern wheels).

Mary Wickes was the first actress to play Mary Poppins on screen, debuting in the role 15 years before Julie Andrews. Long before the iconic 1964 Walt Disney musical, Wickes brought P.L. Travers’ famous nanny to life in a live, one-hour television broadcast.

On December 19, 1949, CBS aired an adaptation of Mary Poppins as an episode of the popular anthology series Studio One. Wickes starred as the titular magical nanny. She was joined by E.G. Marshall as Mr. Banks and child actor Tommy Rettig as Michael Banks. Wickes’ performance closely mirrored P.L. Travers’ original 1934 book. Her version of Mary Poppins was much pricklier, stern, and authoritative than the sweeter version later popularized by Disney.

On January 8, 1963, the Mona Lisa went on display in the United States for the first time, on loan from France. The historic 1963 tour was the result of some high-level diplomacy and a personal request from First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy to the French Minister of Cultural Affairs, André Malraux. Despite intense protests from French art experts who feared the painting would be damaged during transit, it safely crossed the Atlantic ocean aboard the ocean liner SS France, traveling in its own first-class cabin under tight security.