The idea for the Oldie was cooked up 25 years ago by its founding editor, Richard Ingrams, and his much-lamented successor, the late Alexander Chancellor. Their aim was to create a free-thinking, funny magazine, a light-hearted alternative to a press obsessed with youth and celebrity. The Oldie is ageless and timeless, free of retirement advice, crammed with rejuvenating wit, intelligence and delight. With over 100 pages in every issue, The Oldie is packed with funny cartoons and free-thinking and intelligent articles covering a wide range of topics – from gardening and books to travel, arts, entertainment, and so much more.
The Oldie
Among this month's contributors
The Old Un's Notes
NOT MANY DEAD • Important stories you may have missed
GREAT BORES OF TODAY – SMART WATCHES
Je t'aime, Brigitte! • When I was a boy at the Lycée Français de Londres, I had two pin-ups: Bardot and Joan of Arc
My positive case for negative thinking • Prepare for the worst – and you'll never be let down
OLDEN LIFE
MODERN LIFE
A lovable rogue is born • Forty years ago, Ian La Frenais encouraged Ian McShane to play Lovejoy – after a night on the tiles with Ava Gardner
Supermac's first flight • Mark Bryant salutes cartoonist Vicky, who lampooned Harold Macmillan as a superhero
I do, I do, I do… …and I don't • Amelia Milne's office romance led to marriage… … while Charlotte Metcalf swears she will never walk up the aisle
The Nazi tapestry heist • The Bayeux Tapestry is coming to London. In 1941, Himmler tried - and catastrophically failed - to steal it for his German castle.
Are you U or non-U? • Seventy years after Nancy Mitford's bestseller, class distinction lingers on
Treat old age like a job • Nanette Newman, 91, has all the right qualifications for employment as an oldie
Don't let the tie die! • Male oldies, take note – ties take years off you and hide the dreaded wattle
Let's all fill the sycamore gap – and plant trees
We worship our boring, useless, lazy cat
The art of being honest to bad painters
When oldies become meanies • After 71, people become stingier, a new study says. Mary Kenny, who's morphed from spendthrift to tightwad, agrees
Oh no! Mother's a peeping Tom • The dream hobby for a housebound invalid? Doing a Cleethorpes version of Rear Window
Don't read? Then teach English
John Lennon
Vacani & Ballantine - fifties dancing queens
Wildly divine gannets
Lady Amabel Lindsay (1935-2025)
Your mind - use it or lose it • Crosswords and art can prevent dementia, a new study says
Happy 250th birthday, America! • Independence parties can be tricky - two Presidents died on the 50th anniversary
READERS' LETTERS • The Oldie, 23-31 Great Titchfield Street, London, W1W 7PA letters@theoldie.co.uk To sign up for our e-newsletter, go to www.theoldie.co.uk
Commonplace Corner
BANT
Lord of the slums
Gorgeous George
Sicilian defence
Second Georgian age
Pedants revolt
Splitsville, USA
Trillion-dollar laundrette
FILM
THEATRE
TELEVISION
RADIO
MUSIC
GOLDEN OLDIES
EXHIBITIONS
GARDENING
KITCHEN GARDEN
COOKERY
RESTAURANTS
DRINK
SPORT
MOTORING
Message to the BBC: make iPlayer pay
Don't bank on bank shares
Who pays for dinner? • Modern etiquette is a minefield. Gone are the days when the man always paid - but splitting the bill can be monstrous.
Redpoll
Learning la lingua • Keen to speak Italian - and to keep dementia at...