AH, 1976. A time when a man could stroll the streets of south east London and north Kent sporting platform shoes and a perm without fear of being assaulted.

Or so I'm told by senior colleagues.

Embarrassing photographs show how people looked in 1976, but what were they thinking?

Well, after delving into News Shopper's archives it's apparent there were three things on our readers' minds in 1976: darts, barbershop singing, and fat dogs.

From June to August, News Shopper held a darts competition for clubs across its patch.

More than 200 teams took part in Monday nights of throwing darts and throwing back beers.

The winners came from Green Street Green - they were literally the last men standing.

A barbershop singing craze swept Bromley in February. Men with neatly trimmed moustaches and perms gathered round a pot of Brylcreem to croon harmonies.

The Bromley Barbershop Club had 16 members - News Shopper would love to hear from them.

Perhaps the most succinct headline in News Shopper in all of 1976 was "FAT DOGS".

This article, written by animal expert Eric Bennett, provided dog owners with diet tips for their porky pooches.

On a more serious note, the recession of 1976 saw News Shopper scribe Sidney Winner challenge his readers to lift Britain out of its economic slump. The front page story on January 8 was headlined SINK OR SWIM' and Mr Winner wrote: "It's high time the public at large accepted that we have all got to put in a lot more effort to get very little in return if we are to overcome inflation and reduce unemployment."

The 12 MPs responsible for News Shopper's patch, including former Tory Prime Minister Edward Heath, all agreed with Winner's sentiments. Eventually the recession halted, but not before it had forced many a funky' man to sell his platform shoes and ditch the perm for a more affordable style.