So to close out our joyful week of Eurovision excitement we have Sandie Shaw, who was actually born Sandra Ann Goodrich in Dagenham in February 1947.
Her claim to Eurovision fame was being the first winner for the United Kingdom, in 1967, with Puppet on a String. This is possibly why in many pictures, like our one, you will see her posing with a doll, in rather a case of mistaken identity as "Poupee" is strictly French for doll, not puppet. The French for puppet is "Fantoche" though this is also a derivative from the Italian "Fantoccio"
However she was a known star already, and had her first number one in 1964, with a song that is usually called "Always Something There to Remind Me", though in actuality it was called "There`s Always Something There to Remind Me", and it had already been a hit, for Dionne Warwick, and for Lou Johnson. It also had impeccable breeding, as it was created by Burt Bacharach and Hal David.
This card is often cited as being by Monty Gum, but thanks to reader Andrew Walters we now know that this was not issued by them - but instead by Maple Leaf Gum, or Maple Leaf Chewing Gum, also of the Netherlands. We also learned from another reader that in fact Maple Leaf opened the earliest chewing gum factory in Holland, founded in 1948 in Amsterdam.
I was also told that Maple Leaf issued another set of very interesting car related items, these being miniature number plates from across the World. I did not know of these when I mentioned number plates before but I will add the information in. These were also made out of metal, just like a number plate, but they were really tiny, just under three inches by one inch.
Looking under Maple Leaf in our reference books still draws a blank for our set of stars and cars, but this is another trail to chase. Strangely, it often appears in internet auctions, as "Cars", ignoring the fact that there are pop stars on the back, or maybe on the front, since surely the colour side is the "A" side as it were. However we think this may be because they recognise the car but do not believe the star will be as interesting to buyers. And the date comes from the cars date, all of which seem to be from 1966.
Now we have started a list, so if anyone can fill in the blanks please do.
3. Wayne Fontana and the Mindbenders - Buick Skylark Hardtop 1966
4. Moody Blues - Ford Mustang Coupe 1966
7. Sandie Shaw - Alfa Romeo 1966
11. Dave Clark Five - Plymouth Barracuda 1966
14. The Supremes - Oldsmobile Cutlass Berline 1966
16. P.J. Proby - Pontiac Tempest Cabriolet 1966
26. The Beatles - Alfa Romeo Giulia TZ 1966
32. The Animals - Chevrolet Caprice Custom Sedan 1966
37. Liesbeth List - Volvo P1800 1966
39. Peter and Gordon - Ford Mustang `Fastback` 1966