Main Performers | Bob Ripa, Keith Wilbur, Tex McLeod, Norman Long, Billie Salmon, Emily Bailey, Sylvia Snelgrove, Coram - performers, Jerry (Uncle Dick) - vocal, Sandy MacPherson - organ |
Orchestra or Band | Piccadilly Players, Ambassadors Club Bands, Jack Hylton and His Boys |
Conductors | Al Starita, Ray Starita, Rudy Starita |
Set List | 'Just A New Zealander' (Keith Wilbur), 'Gugnunc Jerry' (Jerry, Uncle Dick), 'Why Does A Bee Go Buzz, Buzz, Buzz?', Alec McGill (Norman Long) 'All Join In And Be Happy', Jack Payne, Reg Connelly |
Performance Notes | The strange name of this event comes from the Daily Mirror's 'Pip, Squeak and Wilfred' newspaper cartoon which ran from 1919-1956 drawn by Bertram Lamb and Austin Bowen Payne. The cartoon also featured in the Sunday Pictorial in the early years. It concerned the adventures of an orphaned family of animals. Pip, who assumed the "father" role, was a dog, while the "mother", Squeak, was a penguin. Wilfred was the "young son" and was a rabbit with very long ears.
In 1927, the Pip, Squeak and Wilfred club began and was named the Wilfredian League of Gugnuncs (WLOG). The club organised many competitions and events for thousands of members, especially at the British South Coast Seaside resorts. "Gugnuncs" is a combination of two baby-talk words used by Wilfred, who as a toddler-aged child cannot speak yet. Nunc being his version of Uncle. There was a WLOG member's badge in blue enamelled metal, featuring the long ears of Wilfred. Among the WLOG rules was one to never eat rabbit.
The Gugnunc parties were held between 1927-1929 at the Royal Albert Hall raising funds for childrens hospitals and charities.
The Handley Page H.P.39 biplane (1929) was nicknamed the Gugnunc.
This event was relayed live from the Hall by BBC Radio at 16:45 until 17:15. |
Related Archival Material | Programme (RAHE/1/1929/48) |