Anyone seeking evidence that the BBC is not what it once was, look no further than this report from Nationwide in 1973.
As someone who was working in accountancy at the time, several things in this report trouble me greatly.
Aside from tax and inheritance questions such as whether the correct tax was paid on interest received (cats do not have a tax allowance), and what happened to the money after the cats died: how did the beneficiaries or next-of-kin proved their right of inheritance, I have questions about the operation of the bank account.
Presumably, Quicksilver and Quince had someone write the cheques for them, possibly the lady in the film, but how did they sign them? If it was with a paw print, then how did the bank verify the signatures as genuine, rather than the paw prints of criminal cats who steal cheque books? One paw print looks much like another as far as I can tell.
And if the account required joint signatures, rather than either one, then how did the bank verify that both have actually signed, rather than just one that has put its paw mark on the cheque twice? That Quince looks a bit shifty to me.
We need assurances that the bank account was operated legally and not in false names.
Thank you so much for this clip. I hope eccentricity is still alive and kicking.
ReplyDeleteI think it's brilliant how the owner and the BBC interviewer play it completely straight with their old fashioned accents. What a fruitcake!
DeleteGlad the cats were big charitable donors in their community!
ReplyDeleteEspecially the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB).
DeleteIn the days when bonkers was. good harmless fun and not unpleasant.
ReplyDeleteThere are not many of us left, Graham.
DeleteThe Dean's dog sounds a character. What a sweet and kind old lady. Thanks for sharing Tasker.
ReplyDeleteImagine how you would be received now if you went into a bank asking to open an account for two cats. How would the cats provide proof of address or photo ID?
DeleteIt would be like that old Monty Python sketch asking for a cat license.
ReplyDeleteOh heck. I had to look it up. It's a fish licence for a pet halibut.
DeleteOh I loved watching that clip! What a simpler time it was back then when TV could film something so sweet and charming.
ReplyDeleteAs Graham says, above, completely harmless. Television seems to be filled with so many negative things now, or so-called celebrities. I would guess the cats' owner appeared in the film and then disappeared from public view. Now they would put her in her own show until everyone was fed up of her. Oh dear! Now I'm moaning. Thanks for visiting.
DeleteOh, these days are so long gone. I missed the opportunity to name my last cat Quick or Quince.
ReplyDeleteAnything beginning with Q is a good name for a cat. Well, almost anything!
DeleteSurely each cat paw-print is unique - just like a human fingerprint.
ReplyDeleteYou are clearly an expert. I only know about vicious claw marks.
DeleteI love the gentle humor of this. Thank you for this little clip. I wonder what became of Quince and Quicksilver.
ReplyDeletePS: I wandered off to Google to look up information on Quicksilver and Quince and found nothing, but you know what struck me? The owner is not identified in the clip. Just the cats.
DeleteIt was better like that, wasn't it. Nowadays it would be YouTube channel, Facebook page, monetisation and product endorsement, money, money, money.
DeleteOwner was Miss Beatrice Hill, of Keswick. If you google for Q and Q you can find a picture of a cheque for 2 quid to the RSPB signed by her and you can find some print media stories naming her as well, and giving her age as 76.
Deletemarcellous: this story has truly hooked you! Take a look at other films in the archive; there are some gems.
DeleteMeanwhile: https://www.mediastorehouse.com.au/memory-lane-prints/mirror/0100to0199-00120/animals-cats-quince-left-quicksilver-21408511.html
DeleteI bet you have ordered one.
DeleteTempted, but I am too stingy.
DeleteInternet principle #1: never pay money for something you can look at for free.
Bonkers is the word. I'd like to think that it was produced for April 1st, but no, if it is cats or dogs we can be as bonkers as we please and nobody minds.
ReplyDeleteYes, but nice bonkers. The bank manager and the Dean of Ely sound the same. The days when you could see a bank manager in person.
DeleteDo banks even have managers these days or is it all done by AI?
DeleteDo they even have branches? They got rid of it all to give us better service.
DeleteTigger would have been interested in that clip. You would have been commanded to open an account for him.
Not really bonkers but totally charming, even if in a posh Betjemanesque kind of way.
ReplyDeleteSurely your sometime-accountant misgivings can be allayed: the name on the cheque is just a title (could equally say 2nd Bradford Girl Guides), the actual account (as between the customer and the bank) would have had other details, and these would be those that would be relevant for the revenue. As between drawer and recipient of cheque, that is a matter between them (or any other negotiators of the check up to presentation). I doubt if pocket money is taxable income. Payments into the account would really have been to the interviewee, probably from herself. Cats are not legal persons - hence the ever recurrent legal chestnut about bequests to look after pets which are an established anomaly in trusts law which amazingly took up time in the compulsory trusts course I had to do for my law degree.
I am more worried about the interviewee's sister: where did the 127 saints days come from? I don't think even the 1928 prayer book has so many. Even if she was including feast days in a broader sense the number seems high. Could the sister have been a Romanist?
I liked the pedantry about St Alban's being an abbey rather than a cathedral, even if it is too good to be true. (It's been both since the nineteenth century.)
I also loved how Quicksilver's purring has been caught by the interviewee's microphone. As for Quince, you say shifty and I say definitely a dark horse. I suspect Quince is a victim of financial abuse.
Thank you for clarifying the technical legalities and other details, although it does leave me wondering whether you are even further along the autistic spectrum than I am.
DeleteWhen Rosemary used the word "bonkers" in her above comment, it set me thinking about about how bonkers differs from potty and other labels. I am moving towards thinking it relates to awareness. Bonkers has less than potty. So in that sense the owner is potty rather than bonkers because she does appear to have some awareness. As regards myself, I don't know.
As regards ourselves we never know!
DeleteNot sure about UK usage, but to me there are two slightly different usages involved. In response to the elaborately sustained joke: "that's bonkers!" but not in this case "she's bonkers" - probably for the reason you say. I wouldn't even say she's "potty."
Part of the charm of the clip is how others (including the interviewer) have gone along with the joke. In that sense it's a bit like a running gag.
[Reposted to add:]
The churchiness and conspicuous eccentricity made me think of Rose Macaulay's 1956 novel "The Towers of Trebizond."
The film is deceptively well produced. When I say at the beginning it was the BBC at its best, I meant it as a joke, but it was also very true. They had a lot of experience and expertise.
DeleteI've enjoyed this post and the comments more than many for quite a while. Bonkers or potty? I still can't stop laughing.
ReplyDeleteI can only repeat what I said in response to your previous comment, above.
DeleteYay. I bounced when she said "St Albans Abbey". I grew up in St Albans and we are very proud of our cathedral. Very proud :).
ReplyDeleteWhat a charming clip on the BBC.
The Abbey Church of St. Alban, originally a Norman abbey, raised to cathedral status in 1877. My wife's family who are from there always call it The Abbey.
DeleteThe BBC archive has lots of other interesting clips. I'm going to take a further look myself.