THE BEATLES WEREN'T THE ONLY GREAT THING ABOUT MERSEYSIDE'S GREATEST DECADE
The 1960s has been voted the best decade in the history of Merseyside, and with the rise of the Beatles it's obvious why.
Recently we asked our readers which decade in Merseyside's history was the best and the decade got hundreds more votes than the next runners up. It would be easy to say this is down to the influence of the Beatles, with Beatlemania of the 1960s, but that's not the whole story of the decade.
Many Merseysiders remember the 1960s for a whole range of other things, and there was plenty of reasons in those ten years to be happy to be alive in the city. Here we take a look at a few of them though if you have any more to add tell us in the comments.
Everton and Liverpool lift the League Title twice, and the Big Freeze
Everton FC kicked off the decade by winning the 1962-1963 English Football League. Manager Harry Catterick led the side containing legends like Roy Vernon and Brian Labone to the sixth league title in the club's history.
The win came despite the Big Freeze in winter, that blanketed Merseyside in snow for months on end. From December 22, 1962 to February 12, 1963, neither Anfield nor Goodison hosted a single league game, with FA Cup ties only continuing thanks to a monumental effort to clear pitches with heavy machinery.
The following season, Liverpool FC were successful in clinching the title, lifting the 1963-1964 League Trophy after a stellar season from Roger Hunt, the club's record goalscorer until he was overtaken by Ian Rush. Manager Bill Shankly led the team to their first title since the 1946-1947 season.
Both the Reds and the Blues would lift the title one more time before the decade was over - Liverpool in the 1965-1966 season and Everton in the 1969-1970 season. Each would also lift win the FA Cup, in 1965 for Liverpool and the following year for their city rivals.
Merseyside was also on on the international stage during the 60s, with players from Everton and Liverpool in the 1966 World Cup final winning team that brought home England's only ever World Cup trophy.
Fashion, shopping and haircuts
With the decade of counterculture came a wave of fashion that many would argue has not been matched in influence since. The mini skirt is only one of many lasting icons of the decade when fashion began to be 'dictated by the young', appearing towards the end of the decade along with thigh-high boots, pinafore dresses and hot pants.
Speaking in 2014, Freida Mckitrick who modelled for the ECHO in the 60s, said: “I must have been about 18 and I was working in sales, in the clubs section, at the time. They wanted a blonde and a brunette for the photoshoot and I was the blonde.
"We were lent clothes for the day from a posh shop at the bottom of Bold Street called Lucinda Byre, from Lewis’s and from a little independent shop."
Freida said she used to buy her mini skirts and other clothes from the Biba catalogue, as well as from Mary Quant. She said: “I remember going for my interview at the ECHO and you had to get dressed up so I went to Henderson’s to buy a mini skirt suit.
"I got married in the same suit a few years later.”
Bright colours 'were in' and Liverpool's street became more vibrant than they had ever been before. Shops stocking such items were massive in the city, among them Lewis's and Henderson's.
It wasn't just women's fashion that had a makeover in the decade, and many men will remember their clothes bought from places like Horne Brothers, which sold must-have fashion - everything from Bri-Nylon check shirts and Dunlop weathercoats to Crackerjac Jackets - to the men and boys of Liverpool.
Everything at Horne Brothers was exclusive, and either tailored by their own craftsman or made specifically for the store. They also had a salon downstairs that offered the 'best haircuts' in Liverpool.
The Beatles even turned up once to have their mops cut by hairdresser Jim Cannon, who ran a salon in the shop.
This isn't an exhaustive list of everything great about the 1960s that wasn't the Beatles. Tell us what your favourite things about the Sixties was in the comments below.
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2023-08-14T11:50:13Z dg43tfdfdgfd