Do-gooding frenzy of Brownie badge envy

10:36am Tuesday 5th August 2008

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IN 1973 a controversial war raged through the pages of News Shopper. Known by historians as the Battle of the Brownies, it centered on which Brownie girl had the most badges. Young girls were frantically starting controlled fires and knitting flags to gain more badges.

It started on January 11, which began as a day like any other. Birds were singing in the trees and girls were getting ready for school. Then it happened.

News Shopper arrived and splashed across its front page was 10-year-old Bromley resident Pauline Stocker with a challenge to her fellow Brownies: beat my total of 12 badges.

This provoked an all out war, with hundreds of Brownies rising to Pauline's challenge.

Romford's Susan Baker had 13 badges and Hayes' Susan Wheeler had 14 badges, then Hornchurch's Janet Jenkins raised the stakes with her 17 badges.

The competition stormed out of control with girls dreaming up more and more ludicrous ways to gain badges, such as skydiving, rock-climbing and bare-knuckle boxing.

The mayhem stopped on February 27 when 11-year-old Hornchurch resident Carol Cornwell dealt the crushing blow - she had 26 badges. Nobody could beat her. The war was over. Peace returned.

Obviously everything else that happened in 1973 was merely a footnote to the Battle of the Brownies, but there were other news stories.

VAT was introduced across the country on April 1 and in its February 20 edition News Shopper provided its readers with a guide to how it would change prices.

Batman, Superman and Spiderman are all worthy superheroes, but on March 20, 1973, News Shopper introduced its readers to a real superhero - The Horse Catcher.

Tony Port was employed by Havering Council to catch and impound stray horses, forcing their owners to pay a fine to get their animal back.

His superhero costume consisted of a waterproof jacket, comfortable shoes and pork-chop sideburns.

After the anarchy of the Battle of the Brownies, The Horse Catcher was a sensible hero who restored a feeling of safety in the community to News Shopper's readers.

IN 1973

• The big films of the year were The Exorcist, Serpico, Last Tango in Paris and The Sting, with the latter winning the oscar for best picture.
  
  

• In music the big singles of the year were Angie by The Rolling Stones and Crocodile Rock by Elton John, while two landmark albums were released - Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon and Paul McCartney and Wings' Band on the Run. The Christmas number one was Merry Xmas Everybody by Slade.
  
  

• On television the sitcoms Open All Hours and Porridge made their debut as part of Ronnie Barker's Seven of One series. On January 14, Elvis Presley's Aloha From Hawaii - Via Satellite television special was seen around the world by more than one billion people.
  
  

• Notable births included American actor Adrien Brody, English actress Kate Beckinsale, English TV comedian Noel Fielding, Welsh footballer Ryan Giggs and English marathon runner Paula Radcliffe.
  
  

• Notable deaths included English playwright and actor Noel Coward, artist Pablo Picasso, martial arts actor Bruce Lee and former American president Lyndon B Johnson.
  
  

• 1973 Star Fact

On June 30 there was a total eclipse of the sun.