Time sure does fly by.
Comic Relief is a charity founded by Richard Curtis and Lenny Henry. I surmise it came about in the years following the awareness of famine in Ethiopia. The idea was to have comedians do what musicians did the previous Christmas when their Feed The World record topped the charts.
That's an assumption on my part but the timeline fits considering Comic Relief launched in 1985 - the same year of the famous Live Aid concert.
The charity's first Red Nose Day, a telethon to bring in donations, was in 1988. One of the gimmicks for the day - other than all of the funny things done for the cause - is to have people purchase red noses to wear. The proceeds of sales went to the charity.
I recall the first Red Nose Day for one thing - the unavailability of red noses! I couldn't find one anywhere.
And I was gutted.
The fact I can still recall that should highlight how much it bothered me back then.
Over the years, the red noses have had different varieties made. For example, one year the nose had a couple of hands popping up from its side, I believe there was a sponge one (don't quote me on that!), I am also sure there was one which squeaked.
After writing the above paragraph, I checked out the Comic Relief website and found noses I had forgotten about. For example, there are some with faces on them. I cannot find a sponge nose, so maybe I've thought that one up.
Another red nose gimmick (and I use that term in a positive way!) I can remember is they had bigger noses that could be attached to the front of cars , vans or buses. They were fun to see. It was also kind of funnier to see them still on vehicles many, many years later. The people simply didn't bother to take them off.
I haven't seen one of those red noses in years. There has to be some out there, surely!?
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