MorecambeAndWise
Put him down mummy, he's taken
Essex entrepreneur Tony Appleton and his late business partner Les Cooper pulled off the publicity coup of the century.
They brought comedy megastars Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise to Essex three times in the 70s.
Tony, 75, who was then a carpet retailer, and his great friend and furniture store owner Les, opened adjacent shops in 1971, in the then brand-new High Chelmer shopping centre, as well as there venture in Brentwood.
The photographs here are taken from the two occasions Morecambe and Wise came to Market Road, Chelmsford.
On their first visit in 1971 Eric wore a sports jacket and light coloured slacks, and when they returned the following year - to be greeted by the Essex Chronicle's Mrs Chelmsford - Eric wore a pin stripe suit with extra wide lapels.
Tony and Les were themselves a great double act for more than 45 years until Les died two years ago.
They even upstaged the two comedy idols by picking them up in a horse-drawn open carriage to parade through the streets before adoring crowds.
The opening attracted all the TV stations and the clip is often shown on archive programmes 40 years later.
A giant colour photograph in the Essex Chronicle showed Eric's classic pose pointing to Ernie's alleged hairpiece as a lady pretended to pour champagne over it.
Tony chuckled: "We were young businessmen with lots of cheek and we just wrote to the boys' agent and they agreed to come!
"We arranged for them to meet us at the Army and Navy pub, which was still going strong then.
They came by chauffeur-driven Rolls, but we got an open carriage and pair.
"It caused a sensation in the town. Market Road where our shops were side by side was swamped with thousands of people, all exchanging banter with Eric and Ernie.
"Les and I were astounded at how down to earth and informal these two comedians at the top of their fame were. We chatted with them as if we had been friends for years."
Tony recalls the "opening" fee was £1,000, shared between Les and himself, equivalent to more than £10,000 today.
"It was the best £500 I ever spent because, for the next two years, everyone we met and pretty well everyone who came into the shops talked about the day Morecambe and Wise hit town, and we sold lots of merchandise off of it.
"Eric and Ernie returned to Chelmsford in 1972 to officialy open my furnishing store, near my carpet shop, and a little later when Les bought Wilsons Store at Brentwood and we launched in there together.
By then we two and those two megastars really were old friends," he added.
Tony has since become a superstar in his own right as Lord of the Manor of Great Baddow, a toastmaster and town crier for towns across England, as well as the proprietor of a small care home in Baddow.
www.thisistotalessex.co.uk/Sunshine-brought-comedy-icons/...
Put him down mummy, he's taken
Essex entrepreneur Tony Appleton and his late business partner Les Cooper pulled off the publicity coup of the century.
They brought comedy megastars Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise to Essex three times in the 70s.
Tony, 75, who was then a carpet retailer, and his great friend and furniture store owner Les, opened adjacent shops in 1971, in the then brand-new High Chelmer shopping centre, as well as there venture in Brentwood.
The photographs here are taken from the two occasions Morecambe and Wise came to Market Road, Chelmsford.
On their first visit in 1971 Eric wore a sports jacket and light coloured slacks, and when they returned the following year - to be greeted by the Essex Chronicle's Mrs Chelmsford - Eric wore a pin stripe suit with extra wide lapels.
Tony and Les were themselves a great double act for more than 45 years until Les died two years ago.
They even upstaged the two comedy idols by picking them up in a horse-drawn open carriage to parade through the streets before adoring crowds.
The opening attracted all the TV stations and the clip is often shown on archive programmes 40 years later.
A giant colour photograph in the Essex Chronicle showed Eric's classic pose pointing to Ernie's alleged hairpiece as a lady pretended to pour champagne over it.
Tony chuckled: "We were young businessmen with lots of cheek and we just wrote to the boys' agent and they agreed to come!
"We arranged for them to meet us at the Army and Navy pub, which was still going strong then.
They came by chauffeur-driven Rolls, but we got an open carriage and pair.
"It caused a sensation in the town. Market Road where our shops were side by side was swamped with thousands of people, all exchanging banter with Eric and Ernie.
"Les and I were astounded at how down to earth and informal these two comedians at the top of their fame were. We chatted with them as if we had been friends for years."
Tony recalls the "opening" fee was £1,000, shared between Les and himself, equivalent to more than £10,000 today.
"It was the best £500 I ever spent because, for the next two years, everyone we met and pretty well everyone who came into the shops talked about the day Morecambe and Wise hit town, and we sold lots of merchandise off of it.
"Eric and Ernie returned to Chelmsford in 1972 to officialy open my furnishing store, near my carpet shop, and a little later when Les bought Wilsons Store at Brentwood and we launched in there together.
By then we two and those two megastars really were old friends," he added.
Tony has since become a superstar in his own right as Lord of the Manor of Great Baddow, a toastmaster and town crier for towns across England, as well as the proprietor of a small care home in Baddow.
www.thisistotalessex.co.uk/Sunshine-brought-comedy-icons/...