 In 1949 a character (Mr. Sowter) in John Dighton's play "The Happiest Days of Your Life" had been described as "soberly dressed.He wears an "Anthony Eden" hat and carries gloves".The Suez débâcle, followed by Eden's departure from public life in 1957 due to ill health, tended to hasten the drawing of a line that might have seemed inevitable before long in the era of "Angry Young Men", rock 'n' roll and Vespa motor scooters which, according to his wife Clarissa, kept Eden awake at night.