Shirley's World

1980s Liverpool may not seem like a distant time or place, but some of the things that are part of Shirley's day-to-day life may be unfamiliar to us.

CHIPS AND EGG

In the first scene of the play, Shirley is preparing her husband's dinner: chips and egg.  

Chips and egg is a popular working class dish in the United Kingdom, consisting simply of chips served with fried eggs.  Heston Blumenthal, owner of the award-winning Fat Duck restaurant in Berkshire, wrote in The Guardian that, "You can't get much more British a dish than fried egg and chips."

Egg and chips is associated with the working class, and even as a shameful food to eat for the middle class. In an article on moving from the working class to the middle class, a woman recounted that "There are things I grew up with that I still love—pub life, darts, egg and chips". After Jack Charlton was in the World Cup-winning English football team in 1966, "We stopped the car for egg and chips in a transport cafe. We'd eaten nothing but the best food for weeks and I was dying for some ordinary grub." There is also a stereotype of British people ordering egg and chips while on holiday abroad.

MILK TRAY MAN

Cadbury Milk Tray is a selection of milk chocolates with various fillings produced in the United Kingdom by Cadbury UK. Launched by the Cadbury company in 1915, it is one of the longest running brands in the confectioner's portfolio.

Milk Tray was responsible for one of the most famous and iconic advertising campaigns in British television history. Running from 1968 to 2003, the chocolate was then advertised by the Milk Tray Man a rough, tough James Bond -style action man who goes through hell and high water to surreptitiously deliver a box of Milk Tray chocolates to a woman. The original strapline was All because the lady loves Milk Tray.

There were 19 adverts in the series.

Six actors played the Milk Tray Man. Actor Gary Myers, who is most recognizable as the action figure, starred in 11 of them between 1968 and 1984. James Coombes assumed the role in 1987.]Kidderminster born actor Alan Riley was officially the last Milk Tray man.

Top film directors, including Adrian Lyne directed the adverts.

The music, The Night Rider, is written by Cliff Adams, who also wrote the music for Fry's Turkish Delight advertisements. The music was performed by Alan Hawkshaw.

ADRIAN HENRI

(10 April 1932 – 20 December 2000) was a British poet and painter best remembered as the founder of poetry-rock group The Liverpool Scene and as one of three poets in the best-selling anthology The Mersey Sound, along with Brian Patten and Roger McGough. The trio of Liverpool poets came to prominence in that city's Merseybeat zeitgeist of the 1960s and 1970s. He was described by Edward Lucie-Smith in British Poetry since 1945 as the "theoretician" of the three. His characterisation of popular culture in verse helped to widen the audience for poetry among 1960s British youth. He was influenced by the French Symbolist school of poetry and surrealist art.

Shirley's daughter Millandra is an Adrian Henry fan.  Adrian Henry was a dear friend of Willy Russell, the playwright.

 MARMITE

Marmite is made from yeast extract, a by-product of beer brewing.

The British version of the product is a sticky, dark brown paste with a distinctive, powerful flavour, which is extremely salty and savoury with umami qualities. This distinctive taste is reflected in the British company's marketing slogan: "Love it or hate it." It is similar to the Australian Vegemite and Swiss Cenovis.  The vegan couple that Shirley works for eats Marmite all the time, so she calls them "The Marmite Tendency."

SCOUSER

A scouser is a slang term for a Liverpool resident or a Liverpool football fan.  Click here for more on Liverpool in the 1980s.