It occurred to me recently as we approach Guy Fawkes Night / Bonfire Night, that a tradition from my childhood seems to have been eradicated altogether. No longer do you see children standing in the street clutching a home-made guy, or with the guy sitting benignly in an old pram. Back in the 1960’s myself and friends, complete with our guys, would shout ‘Penny for the guy!’ at passers-by, and if we were lucky (or looked cute enough) an avalanche of pennies would come our way.
Before the age of 7 I lived with my parents in a flat on the busy Commercial Road in the East End of London. My dad would construct the guy, and without any of us worrying about paedophiles, I would stand alone on the junction of Commercial Road and Burdett Road with the creation, and harass shoppers going about their daily business, or people rushing home from work. Because of the busy thoroughfare I would soon be overwhelmed with pennies, and would have to trudge upstairs at regular intervals to deposit my gains with Mum.
I always looked forward to the run-up to 5th November, and as I grew older we children were out on the street with our guys for weeks beforehand, totally unsupervised. These days it seems that children are confined to their rooms playing computer games, or at a supervised activity, and their childhoods are all the sadder for it.
I looked for a free photo of a guy on a bonfire (which unfortunately of course was the guy’s destiny) and could not find even one, nor I do have any photos from that time either. However, all those in the UK who are ‘of a certain age’ like me, will doubtless remember a much loved tradition that has now sadly died out.
Does anybody else remember standing in the street shouting ‘Penny for the guy!’? I assume it was a nationwide event and not just in London?
Stevie Turner 
We did this in Wales. However, we’d also go and knock on all the neighbours’ doors and say ‘Penny For The Guy.’ I always remember one neighbour shouting :”NO! NOT ON A SUNDAY!”
All the money would go towards more fireworks. The whole street would gather on the evening of Nov 5th, and light a bonfire in the same neighbour’s garden (the one that was not very well kept. Hot soup, parkin, treacle toffee would be served and we’d throw potatoes on the dying bonfire towards the end in the hope of getting some jacket potatoes.
I always remember it being very cold and it hardly ever rained on that night.
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Happy days.
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Penny for the Guy was a ubiquitous sight in Lancashire in the weeks leading up to Bonfire Night. I don’t remember doing it myself, but I can recall some pretty shoddy creations with painted footballs and balloons.
But we always had fireworks in the back garden or someone else’s back garden. I suppose people being maimed and blown up had the elf n safety crowd out stopping it all until, like a lot of things, it’s become a colossal commercial exercise.
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I wonder if maybe kids of my generation were the last ones to do this. I don’t remember my sons ever making a guy.
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I haven’t seen one for years.
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Maybe the Government banned home-made guys for our safety and I missed it? Yes I remember masks too, now you mention it.
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These days they seem to have adopted a USA tradition – ‘Trick or Treat’ a week earlier. And. of course, the shops are full of the appropriate ‘gear’, from pumpkins to face masks and witches outfits. I can remember donning a mask for the Guy Fawkes celebrations. I wonder how many youngsters know the origin of the ‘celebration’ these days?
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Like Clive, Up North, ours was a joint effort and carried about on a ‘bogey’, a home-made trolley. Different neighbourhoods would also build bonfires, starting weeks beforehand, and compete to build the highest – often there was underhand sabotage at the last minute! We made treacle toffee or cinder toffee and ate parkin. Ee, those were the days, bygum! 😉😂
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Oh-er, a ‘bogey’ in London held a whole different meaning! Sometimes I miss those days.
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Guilty as charged! It wasn’t just a London thing, though in our sleepy village the takings weren’t as good as yours 😊
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My husband remembers trudging about the streets with his guy too. I remember armfuls of pennies. Dad always made my guys, but my husband said he had to make his own!
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We used to do ours as a group, then carry it around in a wheelbarrow 😊
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