Hello,
does anyone know when the 'antics' strated at the TT, i.e. wet t-shirts, burnouts etc?
I cant imagine they go all the way back to 1907.

Dunno, but I do remember my first TT in 1986 and there was definately a wet shirt competition in The Palace Lido that year.
Russ

My TT experiences go back only 40 years to 1967, my first TT.
I don't remember people doing Burn-Outs then.
Most ordinary bikes used on the roads probably didn't produce enough power :roll:
Also, with Tyres at over 7 quid each and petrol at over 5 bob a gallon, not many could be that extravagant with such precious commodities. :oops:

I won't comment about Miss Wet T-Shirt Competitions for fear of incriminating myself. :shock:

In the mid-60s when I first went, there were far more 'oil-outs' than 'burn-outs' - that is when the conrod of a 60s Brit-twin decides to come out of the crankcase and sniff the Douglas ozone.
Wet t-shirts were confined to sloppy drinkers in crowded pubs, sadly all male. It all started to change when the EU banned the birch!! :wink:

in 1907 there were probably loads of burnouts, given those early forms of carburettor. but wet t-shirt? naaah. it was a miss wet linen boddice competition.
ade!

I think the miss wet t shirts etc started in the early 80s at the Lido , long since gone unfortunately .
Can remember walking along the prom one evening in the early 80s maybe around 84 , before all the organised stunts etc after being to the pub & the police had to shut the prom from Broadway to Bushys ( which was Zhivagos then ) because there where guys going up & down on the back wheel , doing burnouts etc , all illegal of course , but great fun , agreat crowd of people gathered & this went on for ages .
A testament to the lpocal polices tolerance here when no one was arrested .
I can also remember when DJing at Bushys in 90 / 91 , when the bar was still in the buliding & people started to crowd the pavements outside originally .
That was when Gary Rothwell used to appear out of the side streets in Douglas come do a burn out till he blew his tyre , then dissapear into the night like some superhero .
personally i thought it was all better when it was unorganised & sporadic , you just did not know what to expect next .
Think the entertainment down there has become very stale , but suppose it is hard to think of other things to keep the hordes happy .
Shaun

Excuse me isnt the TT about racing motorcycles around the mountain circuit and if that bores the hordes well i think its sad, last time i went to the TT 5 yrs years ago these so-called fans said to me' why do you go and watch practice every evening' well the mind boggles but i suppose everyone is different, and also good luck to all at the MGP and safe racing.

Pykey the races are only ine during day light hours , what are 30,000 people supposed to do at night , there is not a race meeting anywhere that does not have some sort of entertainment .
And yes i go to every race & every practice , but it is nice to be entertained after .

I agree shaun and of course if the entertaiment can be ladies with wet or no tops all the better
3 days and counting
Russ

If I remember it was wet pinafores/blouses in 1947 and a burn-out was what the proprietor of the hotel did to her oven once a week...

However I can claim to have been on the judging panel in 1986 to see certain things what me Mum warned me about.....

I've not been the same since, and I did some of the spraying !!

It is all part of the TT Festival, bike babes, groups in the MAIN venues etc.

The only occasions I couldn't accept was the groups on the sea front with all the associated mess and noise.

Suzie Quattro, and the time period when she was part of our celebrations, was the best and we need to recreate those great days.

And suggest/find a new venue which could give us the same social get-together evenings and nights as we had in the TEXAS BAR in the long gone Douglas Bay Hotel..

Oh Boy, what great memories !!!

Hi Russ , i agree ldies with wet tops is a nice idea . lets hope we dont get many wet tops over the next fortnight , if you know what i mean .

Hi Gang i can remember going to the Lido in the mid 70,s watching the Miss Wet T-Shirt contests and then taking part in the TT Questions Quiz with Peter Kneale asking the questions great fun was had by all. Then a few guys carrying on doing burn outs and Wheelies outside the Queens on Queens prom those where the days long before i started to race though...
all the best Irish Ago....

The good old days eh, I remember them well. As a mere youth my first few trips ('75 on) to the island were aboard the midnight boat from L'Pool on the Friday of practice week. Me and a few mates, the same gang that camp every year in Kirkmichael nowadays by the way, with a plastic bag of butties and a can of pop each to see the TT races. 5 am promenading in Douglas to oggle the bikes parked whilst their owners slept off their hangovers was always a treat, we had mopeds at the time. In '77 we finally had "real" bikes and could finally partake in all the fun. I can't remember any wet t shirts in those days but a few wheelies, intentional or otherwise were often witnessed. Now Ian, if you can bring back those good old days can you bring back the full colour to me barnet! alf

Now then i think there are better people than me to reply to the good OLD days Ian Huntly for a start but i suppose time doesnt stand still an the fans want after racing entertainment apart from Ivy Benson and her all women band? dont get me wrong we were all young once but after tea it was a game of pitch and putt and bowls behind the Bowling Green pub but reading the TT Special with a Aussie White in Yates was heaven and our B&b locked his doors at midnight, i personally cant wait for Ian Huntleys new book but i could write a book alone on B&B'S on the Iom.

Thanx Pykey.....Ivy Benson, WOW that takes me back ....Everytime I see "Some Like it Hot" I think of Ivy and her band of virtuosos (And she kept them that way with chastity belts I believe !)

Also I remember standing in the Palace Ballroom with a four-pint can of beer with Mick Chatterton watching the Miss T-Shirt competition, and dancing, yes dancing, round our handbags with the local Manx totty.

The old Nobles Hospital Nurses Home...now there's a story.....X-certificate if ever there was one! I can't possibly put THAT in my book...

The TTFAN book continues to grow daily so it may come out in as many parts as the Encyclopaedia Manxanica...so watch this space. I really am draining the ageing brain for all the stories I can remember. Only the best will be published.

In our day we didn't need organised evening entertainment, we made our own, for instance, ask my mate Dougie Randall about the night of the Curry or the midnight lap with no lights, with Joey Dunlop behind in his car!!!

So many of the old haunts have gone now and that is why I suggested the replacement fot the Dougie Bay...We didn't have to drink ourselves senseless or smoke or be naughty....We had super evenings in Ramsey, Port Erin and down at the cafe at the Calf of Man end.. The Bridge pub was a good meeting point on the quayside but you can't hear yourself think there when they have a group in..The Railway was good and even better when Radio TT broadcast from there but they need to go back there instead of sitting inside a huge Arai helmet on the prom !! Please note, Mr Williams !

We had no problem getting into our B&B after midnight, after such fun as skinny-dipping opposite the Castle Mona or taking over the Port Jack chippy, we actually bribed the owner to hand over the keys to one of our party who would be responsible for them on pain of death if they were mis-used or lost...Ask my mate Dougie Randall !!


I hope my book when it is on the shelves will bring some good and happy memories to all of you, for I note the variable number of years you have all devoted to the TT so there will surely be something for you all...It should be out fairly soon ...Amulree, please I still need help !!

And now to the Manx...People think I do not acknowledge the Manx because of my love of the TT...That isn't true, I have actually entered a number of riders in the Manx and was glad to see them progress from the Manx to the TT..

Hope you all have a great and safe Manx, I'm hoping to get over if things pan out.

Skinny dipping Ian yes me the lads dared me and guess what? sorry X certificate also but the water was warm with the white wines we consumed, and in the rush to go in the water i lost my timex and another day i had broke my denture and had to sit in a deckchair all morning untill they were repaired( not ken spray) hoping nobody would want to chat great times eh?

Who among you can remember the rowing boats in Douglas Bay, when you could hire one for an hour and row out to the Tower of Refuge ??

When did they disappear and WHY ??

I remember a party of us rowing out, then the tide changing and it took all our energy to get back to shore after almost reaching Liverpool (not quite !)

Last night I sat still for 55 minutes, something of a record, and watched a video called IOM50, which I borrowed from the library.
It was about life in the Isle of Man, particularly leisure time in the early 1950s, including quite a bit about the TT. All home movie stuff. Brilliant... anyone else seen it... it came out in the early 90s I think.

That sounds really interestnng , Helen.
I wonder if its still available?

MV

Answering my own question!

http://www.lexiconbookshop.co.im/pages/v...neral.html

MV