14th September 1967

Guernsey holidaymakers head home itching

Guernsey holidaymakers were arriving home in mid-September 1967 to discover they were carrying a few souvenirs that they would rather have left behind.

“Among all its undoubted attractions, the island has an irritating menace… FLEAS,” reported the Daily Mirror on 20 September. In fact, the problem was getting so serious that it was at risk of putting people off visiting, and island authorities were building a delousing unit in an effort to rescue the tourist industry. It was at least the third year in a row that holidaymakers had been afflicted by the itch, with the paper reporting that there had been 67 complaints in 1965, 118 in 1966 and, in the first half of the 1967 holiday season, a further 60.

The Daily Mirror’s report quoted ‘a health officer’ who said that “the trouble is… the Guernseyman accepts fleas as normal. It’s not to say that he doesn’t wash – it’s more that he hasn’t always got the proper facilities.”
More than a third of Guernsey homes has no hot water at the time of the previous census, and almost half were said to have inadequate sanitary facilities.

 

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Other events that occured in September

Channel Television took to the air 1st
A Guernseyman cycled to Herm 2nd
Brecqhou was put up for sale 3rd
Renoir arrived on Guernsey to paint 4th
Ship sinks in St Sampson harbour 5th
The melon king died… long live the melon king 6th
Coronavirus returns to Guernsey 7th
HD Ferries makes its last crossing
6th Battalion of the Royal Irish Regiment fought at the Somme 8th
Guernsey number plate sold for £240,000 9th
Guernsey hosted the second Island Games 10th
Major Guernsey employer Tektronix went public 11th
Guernsey was struck by a hurricane 12th
Schoolboys and teacher went missing off Sark 13th
Guernsey holidaymakers head home itching 14th
The title Baron de Saumarez was created 15th
Missing girl, Jetta, was found on Guernsey 16th
Archaeologists found a porpoise grave 17th
An Islander aircraft crashed in Guernsey 18th
Guernsey commando Hubert Nicolle died 19th
Guernsey and Jersey considered merging 20th
Occupation resister Winifred Green was deported 21st
The Devil’s Rock had its opening night 22nd
The Duke of Connaught visited Guernsey 23rd
Former bailiff Daniel de Lisle Brock died 24th
Occupation president Ambrose Sherwill died 25th
Trudy, Guernsey’s biggest ever import, was installed 26th
“Let em starve,” said Churchill 27th
A Guernsey planning dispute headed to Europe 28th
Herm tenant Major Peter Wood died 29th
Spotlight was broadcast for the first time 30th