Now that's a milk delivery order! The USA ship's crew which ordered 23,000 pints from a Sunderland dairy
Mackem hospitality reached new heights on a cold October day in 1978.
The USS Shreveport, a giant ship which served her country for 36 years, was in Sunderland and berthed at the Corporation Quay in 1978.
Overwhelmed by Mackem hospitality
The US Marines said they were 'overwhelmed' by the hospitality shown to them by Wearsiders during their courtesy visit.
More than 3,500 Wearsiders visited the 16,000 ton vessel and we want to know if you were among them.
But the weekend became known for another UK-USA moment. Imagine the reaction when a Sunderland dairy got an order - for 23,000 pints of milk.
The same order also asked for more than 1,000 cartons of yoghurt.
A weekend to remember for the US Marines
Milk delivery man Roger Miller was the man who took the order on board and he was the creamery production manager for Associated Co-operative Creameries.
He was met on the ship by American marines Daniel Snyder, Larry Banks, Daniel Culbreth and Robert St George.
The Shreveport, which was officially classed as an amphibious transport dock, stayed in Sunderland for a weekend.
What a year 1978 was for Wearside news.
Oor Wullie had a Wearside link
Cartoonist Tom Lavery was the man who brought characters such as Oor Wullie to life. Roger the Dodger also used to get up to his weekly tricks thanks to Tom’s skill, as did the Numskulls in the Beezer.
The former Boldon shoe repair business boss turned to cartoons after the original Uncle Charlie cartoonist decided to give it up and offered the job to Tom.
“My drawing style was very similar to his, so I did this for two or three years. During that time I started doing work for children’s comics. I was offered the Broons and Oor Wullie when the artist died,” said Tom in 1978.
End of an era for Blacketts
The year of 1978 was also when Blacketts finally left the Sunderland skyline. It was set up in Sunderland in 1826 by William Blackett and finally closed in 1972 when it made 150 people redundant.
Over at Wearmouth Bridge, it looked like a brush with danger for the men up on the metalwork.
But it was just another job for the men giving it a new coat of paint.
The bridge was being re-painted in Sunderland’s colours of orange, chocolate brown and light beige in its five-yearly touch up.
The old coat of arms on the side of the bridge was also due to be repainted in its original colours as part of the work.
The pub mushroom no-one would eat
Over at the Stapylton Arms, Hawthorn, a giant puff ball which measured 23 inches across and weighed 23lb was on show.
Local farmer, Geoffrey Tate, dug it out of a muck heap which was on his land at East Batterlaw Farm.
With a circumference of 66 inches and a height of 16 inches, experts reckoned it would have fed a family of 20, but no one risked tasting the delicacy.
It’s quite a round-up of Wearside life in the 1970s but we want to hear from you.
Share your own memories of 1978 by emailing [email protected]