Tops Various Docs

How things changed from the early days of Tops – the 1995 rules booklet is one of the last sets of rules published as the competition was well in decline at that point. Click on the image below to have a browse.

Here is another one of those Handwritten Adjudicators Reports – always very popular. This one from the local rounds in 1981 for Waterford Glass. Click below to have a browse. 1981 – Handwritten Adjudicators Report for Waterford Glass Tops

These documents are always popular – handwritten adjudication from the 1981 tops – Waterford Crystal. Click below for a read. 1981 – Tops Adjudication – Waterford Crystal

Ever wonder what the casts and crew were treated to after a national Tops of the Town final by John Player? Here you are – from 1994, the menu from the Burlington for the banquet immediately after the show. Click below for a look ! 1994 – John Player Tops Final banquet menu

Did you ever wonder what kind of rules governed the beloved ‘Tops Of The Town’? Well – here is a booklet from 1980 where you can peruse the rules of the day! 1980 – Tops Of The Town Rules Booklet

These old handwritten reports are priceless. Here is the report from the 1979 Waterford Glass Show – handwritten by Michael Twomey. Click below to have a read. 1979 – Tops Handwritten Adjudication Report

Did you ever wonder what the letter looked like telling groups details of what comes next when they got through the Tops preliminary rounds? Wonder no more – have a click below. This is 1981 and the letter to Waterford Crystal (Group leader Dando Kelly) 1981 – Tops Letter Sent to Qualifying Groups

Way way back to almost 50 years ago today and Des Keogh was the national Tops adjudicator. I have come across a number of these adjudications – and they are always interesting. This is a countrywide report. In the course of it he discusses the ACEC show, singling out the Ballyhassey Group, the Groucho Marx section and Martin Flynn for …

Loads of familiar faces here from Ray Ban, Tramore and Port and Docks. Have a look and see how many young faces you recognise! There’s quite a few! Originally from the News & Star. 1992 – Tops Press Photos

For the weekend that was in it back in 1994 the RTE Guide ran a feature for ‘Tops’. Here it is to peruse. 1994 – Tops Feature – RTE Guide

I love these old Tops Magazines – this one from 1985. The other 2 in the archive are here and here. As usual, there are loads of photos from around the country as well as Waterford and interesting articles including a Waterford section. Enjoy! 1985 – Tops Magazine

To add to our collection of handwritten original adjudications we have this Waterford Glass one from the 1981 national quarter finals. Have a read to see what the adjudicator rated this production which did not progress beyond this point! 1981 – National Quarter Finals Handwritten adjudication

No – I’m not going to reproduce a Tramore phone directory don’t worry… but … there were some great pages at the start of the directory dedicated to Tops in Tramore and a bit of history, plus loads of photos. Well worth a look. 1994 – Players Anonymous Tramore Phone Directory

I love these old bits of memorabilia – once again a hand written adjudicators report, this time for the 1980 Waterford Glass Show. Worth having and preserving! Have a look. 1980 – Waterford Glass Tops – Adjudicators Report

These are great to see – although over 40 years old you can still make out some familiar faces in these colour photos from the hey day of Tops in Waterford. See if you can spot familiar faces in there and tag them or their family! Many thanks to Joanne Walshe for giving us these from her families private collection. …

I like adding in bits of memorabilia now and again. This time it’s back to 1975 and the adjudicators report from Jack Cruise on The Foundry show. He also gives the breakdown of points for all the teams competing in the final stage of the local rounds that year. Worth a look for Tops fans. 1975 – Adjudicators Report – …

An absolute rarity today – Sean Cotter’s handwritten ACEC Tops adjudication from 43 years ago – 1974. The show was the famous ACEC final show featuring Jesus Christ Superstar. Have a read… its great to look back on! 1974 – Tops Adjudication ACEC

The 1983 edition of this magazine proved to be really popular – so I’m delighted to be able to add the 1984 edition. More of the same articles about all the Tops centres and other interesting articles. Loads of Waterford content as well and pictures from years gone by. Enjoy! As always – added to the Tops Archive. Tops Magazine …

Have a look at the national magazine published in 1983 by the national Tops organisers. There’s loads of Waterford photos from various years, pieces on Waterford Tops, articles from Tops people – and what I found most entertaining – articles by Musical Directors, Lighting Designers, Sound people, Directors, photographers – a lot of which I doubt would stand up today! …

This is quite a find – the original adjudication sheets from the Waterford Crystal tops show of 1979. The show was adjudicated on 3 separate occasions, and you can see each adjudication and marking there. Also included is the quarter-finalists of 1979 and their marking and also some rules pertaining to the Tops in 1979. Fascinating to read today! Click …