Impressive! And he is definitely gay in our sense of the word. Although (as far as I know) straight, I think the model for Mister Master may be Val Doonican who had precisely this kind of folksy show.
The gayness of Mister Master is also hinted at I think by the other man who comes along at the end, Claude Cardon. "Claude" is almost the classic "sissy" name--and "sissy" was the term for movie gays.
Other thing to note: that in 1964 the school leaving age was 15 so when the 11 yr olds start planning their future, and worry about the need to earn their own living, it's not a moment too soon. Terrifying.
As an aside: the career book genre thrives exactly in that period, when lower middle class children were leaving school at fifteen and sixteen. When the leaving age rose, the books disappeared.
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Date: 2008-08-28 05:10 pm (UTC)Impressive! And he is definitely gay in our sense of the word. Although (as far as I know) straight, I think the model for Mister Master may be Val Doonican who had precisely this kind of folksy show.
The gayness of Mister Master is also hinted at I think by the other man who comes along at the end, Claude Cardon. "Claude" is almost the classic "sissy" name--and "sissy" was the term for movie gays.
Other thing to note: that in 1964 the school leaving age was 15 so when the 11 yr olds start planning their future, and worry about the need to earn their own living, it's not a moment too soon. Terrifying.
As an aside: the career book genre thrives exactly in that period, when lower middle class children were leaving school at fifteen and sixteen. When the leaving age rose, the books disappeared.