Sir Alec Douglas Home

1903-1995

Formerly 14th Earl of Home (renounced his peerage before the October 1964 General Election). MP since 1931. In 1937-9 served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Neville Chamberlain.
British Prime Minister in 1963-1964 (OTL), and in 1969-1973 (Strangers' world). Close friend of Ernest, Duke of Edinburgh. Main driving force behind the Special Research Bureau.
Cricket player, president of the Marylebone Cricket Club from 1977.

Après Toi - Eurovision Winner, 1972

"Après toi" (French for "After you") was the winning song of the Eurovision Song Contest 1972 performed in French by Vicky Leandros representing Luxembourg.

The song was performed seventeenth on the night (following Belgium's Serge & Christine Ghisoland with "À la folie ou pas du tout" and preceding the Netherlands' Sandra & Andres with "Als het om de liefde gaat"). By the close of voting, it had received 128 points, placing it first in a field of 18.

The song was released in Britain in an English translation, "Come What May", also sung by Vicky Leandros, it reached no. 2 in the charts.

(Info: Wiki)

"Après toi" is mentioned in Strangers' Journey as a 'summer anthem played here, there and everywhere just like Mungo Jerry's "In the Summertime" two years before'.

Humbers

For decades Humber was the favorite mount of British Army, special services and government agencies. No wonder that Special Research Bureau has chosen this car. More precisely, different cars: agent Dora drives a compact Humber Sceptre (above) while big brass travels in spacious Super Snipes (shown below) or luxury Imperials. Mark Toma was taken from Heathrow airport to Charing Cross hotel in a 'big Humber' - model not specified.

Typewriters. Why?

There are at least two mentions of typewriters in our project: a Rheinmetall supposedly used at the Military Counter-Intelligence HQ and Mark's own device, no name given.
Well, the military could of course use a Rheinmetall shown in the previous post, but most probably they would emloy another German wonder nicknamed 'the Mercedes-Benz of typewriters' - Olympia SG1:
Being an Anglophile, Mark Toma could easily buy an Imperial portable just for the label. But he could also go with the crowd purchasing the most popular portable of its time - Olivetti Lettera 22:

Typewriters

British Imperial Good Companion portable, 1961

German Rheinmetall Standart Gs, 1960

Seventies Hairstyle Gallery

See more here

Real London. 1972

Mark's camera

April 13, 1972. Mark Toma buys an Icarex SLR with a wide angle lens (presumably 35/3.4 Skoparex) from Panorama shop. Icarex is a trade mark of Zeiss Ikon. In OTL this camera was a German response to budget-priced Japanese SLRs. In the Strangers' world it has much larger share of the market. Given the Arrested Development Factor its looks are too modern - so probably Mark's Icarex looked like 1963 prototype (branded Voigtlaender):

Btw, real Icarex was discontinued in 1971.

Malcolm McLaren - Jazz is Paris

Джазовых клубов в пределах досягаемости оказалось не меньше двадцати, десять из них работали ежевечерне, в пяти обещали играть «великую классику». Я выбрал тот, который громкими словами не злоупотреблял, а сулил всего-навсего «стандарты и мелодии прошлых лет». И не прогадал: в уютном зале играли французы, играли старый-престарый свинг и немолодой бибоп, без проблесков гениальности, но так, что хотелось слушать еще и еще. Увы, музыка стихла, когда я как раз собрался заказать третий бокал коньяка.

Real 1972. Men's wear

Via april-mo @ Flickr

Borgward. Why?

Borgward is a German automobile, produced in Bremen between 1929 and 1961.
One of the models, Isabella TS Coupe, is a real beauty:
But gracious Isabella is not the point.
Lieutenant Rudolf Kovacs of Military Counter-Intelligence, Southern District, Mark's colleague pro tempore, drives an 'old-fashioned Borgward' to the final stage of investigation.
Car shown here is probably too old-fashioned even for the Strangers' 1972. So Rudolf's official mount might look like 1959 Borgward P100:

Jeans, Memphis... Why?

Well, Jeans Story in the Strangers' world is quite different from OTL. Indigo-colored cotton cloth (denim) has conquered Europe in early Fifties. The mastermind behind its success is Yves Saint Laurent, who displayed his 'classe ouvrière' collection at the Paris Fashion Week, spring 1952. Despite their obvious working-class connection, jeans for years were a part of Haute couture and only in the Sixties finally found their way into the middle-class wardrobe. Both Eva and Mark wear jeans on various occasions.

Memphis is one of the oldest cigarette brands in Europe. First imported to Austro-Hungary from Egypt, Memphis cigarettes were produced locally after the Great War - not only in Austria but also in other parts of Central Europe. Not a de luxe brand any more but still a strong and tasty Oriental blend. Mark's favorite.
Btw, original Memphis has nothing to do with Memphis, Tennessee. It is named after the ancient capital of Lower Egypt.

Photo by joacigpacks, on Flickr