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General => The Common Room => The Lighter Side => Topic started by: Treetotal on Sunday 21 February 21 16:56 GMT (UK)
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....Sundays were classed as a day of rest...you couldn't buy food of any description on Sundays. Music wasn't allowed to be played in the pubs. You couldn't do the laundry or any cleaning. Everyone wore their best clothes and went visiting relatives, or to the cemetery with a bunch of flowers, or took a trip to the seaside.
"The Railway Children" was on T.V. at teatime. Everyone had a Sunday roast: Roast beef, Yorkshire pudding, roast potatoes and two veg. Shop didn't open with the exception of small corner shops who had set opening times for Sunday trading.
How times have changed...how many times did you hear the words: "It was different in our day" and now I'm beginning to sound like my Mum :-\ ;D
What do others remember about the Sundays of the past and other changes over time?
Carol
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Day of rest, unless you were a paper boy ;D ;D, Sunday papers were twice as big and twice as heavy as weekday ones.
And after that, church parade if you were a Boy Scout, and then the dreaded Sunday school, I hated Sunday school, the same teacher as we had at normal school, and she was no less strict, that’s putting it politely,
Mike
I thought I had better add a more cheerful note, they weren’t all bad
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Remember when...
No, it wasn't like that in my family.
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Remember when...
No, it wasn't like that in my family.
Do share Erato ;D
Carol
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I remember when you could identify a brand of car by the hubcaps, and traffic moved slowly enough for a toddler to be able to recognise them. ;D
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Day of rest, unless you were a paper boy ;D ;D, Sunday papers were twice as big and twice as heavy as weekday ones.
And after that, church parade if you were a Boy Scout, and then the dreaded Sunday school, I hated Sunday school, the same teacher as we had at normal school, and she was no less strict, that’s putting it politely,
Mike
I thought I had better add a more cheerful note, they weren’t all bad
My Sunday paper round in the early Sixties paid well - I sold at the door rather than just deliver. I remember when the Sunday Times introduced their colour supplement - really added to the load.
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Oh yes...Sunday School Mike , I forgot that punishment ::) ;D
Carol
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Everyone had a Sunday roast: Roast beef, Yorkshire pudding, roast potatoes and two veg. Shop didn't open with the exception of small corner shops who had set opening times for Sunday trading.
Carol
Depended on the meat, it would be cooking, in the aga, (if Winter, then oven Summer) while we went to Church, the Minister the sent us out for Sunday School.
Back home and just the vegies to go in. Usually ate about 12ish.
Back then a weekend, was just that, it was a weekend! No shops opened at all, until years later when 7 days a week shopping came in.
Had to make sure you had enough cash on hand, for emergencies etc on the Friday.
Cheers
KHP
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We always went for a walk as a family on a Sunday afternoon. Them back home for cold meat and salad for tea. Bath night before school the next day. Often the evening was spent playing Canasta or Monopoly. Not much TV watching. We made our own entertainment.
Regards
Panda
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We were sent to Sunday school but rather haphazardly; often, my father would throw on a bathrobe over his pajamas and drop us off in front of the church then go home and drink coffee till it was time to pick us up. In the summer, we would pretend to forget it was Sunday and escape into the woods to avoid it. Once we hit 'confirmation class' [age 12] we were allowed to quit religion if we so chose. You know what I decided. If we didn't go to Sunday school, we'd have a good long breakfast and listen to a certain radio program [we didn't have a TV]. I forget what it was called but the presenter was named Robin and the theme song was the second movement of Rhapsody in Blue [which for years I thought was Rhapsody in Bloom].
If the grandparents didn't come for dinner, we often went over to visit them in the afternoon which was a bit tedious because my grandfather had a tendency to be long-winded about religion, politics or history. Worse yet, there were sometimes foreign dignitaries visiting from Africa in which case the entire conversation would take place in Umbundu and all we could do was fidget.
On the other hand, there might be outdoor chores and some of them were fun - like taking the trash to the town dump and then scavenging for anything useful. Or maybe my Dad would have to go in to work to check on something in the lab and we'd tag along. Or we might do something productive like blueberry picking.
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we were allowed to quit religion if we so chose.
I had to attend until I was 16. I also attended Bible Class Sunday evening.
Cheers
KHP
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I have my husband’s Sunday School attendance card ,he and other lads his age went until they had to do their National Service at 18 until 20.
Home from being an evacuee for 4+ years in 1944/5 when S.School morning and afternoon which I loved, stories ,simple “ Choruses “ to sing ,the two Chapel services.
A lovely Sunday lunch of roast lamb and veges from the garden.
Home made fruit pie with custard.
No work other than preparing food,pig fed likewise chickens .
No sewing and only allowed to read Bible stories,.
Back in Manchester not nearly so strict,Sunday School and chapel , a walk in the park, with Sunday School friends ,Sunday tea and when older we went to the cinema !
Lunch ( called dinner) was roast beef , and apple pie with custard.
Tea , cold beef ,what salad was in season ,stewed apples or rhubarb,with Carnation milk and eat up any bread and butter left over which I still like with fruit.
Sunday school was like a club, we had days out , got prizes for attendance ,nice books I still have mine , pic nics ,and we got to walk - well in Manchester - in the massive Whit Walks, when every church walked from their parishes to Albert Square and The Cathedral.
20’,000 Sunday School children took part.
Shops were closed and any self respecting housewife did not hang washing not even in her own backyard .
It was a quiet day, walks in the park, cemetery to visit graves with fresh flowers , children did not ‘“ play out” .
No shopping ,vast majority of shops closed anyway.
Best clothes ( just one outfit usually ,a new one each Whit week) .
Visiting relatives sometimes.
Then get your stuff ready for school .
Viktoria.
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It's interesting to read how others spent their Sundays. I wasn't forced to go to Sunday School, I went along with friends as it seemed to be expected of us when we were young and we never questioned it. We were not a religious family. My Mother was brought up in the Catholic Faith and turn her back on it when she got married. My Father was an agnostic and believed that we should be free to choose our beliefs. The turning point for me was when I read "The Origin of The Species". It's all about personal choice.
Carol
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Indeed, and there are aspects of all religions which seem less than kind to me.
However in the Christian faith ( Protestant in my case) the basis of kindness and forgiveness is what I extract from it .
Much I reject,the harshness that is sometimes there and any bigotry .
Again that is someone’s interpretation ,but not mine .
We had a topic a little while ago , and I said how was it kind and what good did it do to be harsh with for example a young unmarried mother ,it could undo nothing .
As a deterrent ?
Well help first and sermonise later if at all.
As a day of comparative rest and quiet ,observing Sunday is often needed in the fast pace of life,whether you attend a place of worship or not .
I hope you all had a nice day, however you chose to spend it ,given the present restrictions.
Viktoria.
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I went to Sunday school once and i cried because I couldn't be in the same class as my sister, neither of us ever went again.
As a child Sunday dinner was usually mutton, yorkshire pud, mash and veg followed by pudding.
The afternoons were spent listening to the Clitheroe Kid, the Navy Lark, Round the Horn, Carousel? then after tea it was Sing Something Simple.
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Apparently when I was 4 years old I asked to go to school on Sunday, so off I went to the local church for 3pm, about 200 yards along the road, I stayed till I was 16/17 and became a Sunday school teacher, about that time I won the Alice Allwork memorial prize given to a girl and boy once a year, very proud of that and I still have it
I also joined the choir, help to set up a youth club, no dancing allowed on instructions from the Vicar, then the church closed, I felt our vicar at the time had a hand in that and so when everyone else went to the sister church, I didn't, at 18 I went on my own plus one older woman to a local high church, help to set up a youth club there, so Sundays on special days was 8am communion, 11o/c service, 3pm Sunday school and 6pm service, but normally it was just 1 service and Sunday school
Also on Sunday before church I did a paper round to cover for my brother at 2 shillings
My father worked on Sundays as a groom for a local dairy so if he wasn't at home by about 2 ish we didn't have our Sunday roast till after Sunday school, oh yes, I had the job of making the custard on occasions as far as the hot milk, after dinner I think we listened to the radio
Although, like a lot of people we were considered poor I thought of them as good days or I might just have forgotten the not so good days
Louisa Maud
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No Sunday School - just Mass, and then the whole day to play out on the road. (and then homework just before bed, because I always left homework till the last minute!)
In the 1950s, pubs in Ireland didn't open on Sundays, but legally a "bona fide" traveller was entitled to refreshment at an inn. I think you had to be 3? 5? miles from home. Many roads out of Dublin had Bona Fide pubs at just the right distance from the city centre.
My parents didn't have a car, but occasionally got the loan of one - then drove up into the Dublin mountains on Sunday for a pint (my mother didn't drink, so I'm not sure what she had!)
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We had similar Sundays to many of the previous posts - a family day: no playing with friends, Sunday roast, Sunday School, family walk, tea with cold ham or tinned salmon and salady stuff, pickles, etc. followed by cake and tinned fruit. This was interspersed with various relatives popping in for a chat and cup of tea. Listening to the radio - Two Way Family Favourites, Archie Andrews,etc. When it was wet it would be reading and jigsaw puzzles, plasticine, drawing, playing with the buttons from Mum's button box............. We didn't have TV.
However, my favourite memory was of my Dad making toast in front of the fire so we could have toast and dripping for supper. He'd even made the toasting fork :D
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We also when to the park and took a picnic with us, I loved the "Snowberry Ice" Lollies that they used to sell at the kiosk in the park, especially on a hot day. The water fountain with it's bronzed cup on a chain would provide a drink for the thirsty, no-one seemed to bother about the many mouths that got there beforehand. There was an aviary too in the botanical gardens and small animals, the park-keeper kept an eye on everyone to make sure the animals weren't teased. The hygiene is completely over the top today and kids don't seem to have the same resistance as we did. ;D
Carol
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Hi all,
What an interesting thread! Brings back some memories!
I can recall as a young boy going down to the allotment to help my father dig up the required vegetables for the Sunday lunch (not too sure how much help I actually was to be honest, probably more of a hindrance! ;D) These veggies would be on the table 2 to 3 hours later depending on what time we were eating, couldn't get fresher than that! Delicious!
I also went to Sunday school, from I think about 6/7 years old until about possibly 11/12 years old, can't remember exactly unfortunately. I confess, I recall little to nothing about what we were taught at Sunday School, little or nothing has stuck! I do recall that us Sunday Schoolers would enter the Church part way through the service, that is about all I recall at this moment in time. These days I am what you might call a very relapsed Christian (C of E), don't really go to church at all to be honest, just for the occasional family event (before the lockdowns of course!)
We were allowed out into the back garden on a Sunday afternoon sometimes, but with strict instructions to keep quiet as it was a Sunday and people were resting/relaxing. Occasionally we visited or were visited by relatives. Playing board games was also a regular Sunday/weekend occurrence.
Day of rest, unless you were a paper boy ;D ;D, Sunday papers were twice as big and twice as heavy as weekday ones.
You aren't wrong there Mike!
I did a paper round (including Sunday's) from about the age of about 13/14 to when I was 17. I can remember doing the paper round, getting back home, getting ready for school, having breakfast and then scrambling to make school on time! ;D
The Sunday papers were indeed bigger and heavier. I recall doing my round in two parts, did the first half, then would go back to the shop and collect the rest of the papers and do the other half. There were some Sunday papers that were so thick, with numerous supplements etc that when the letterboxes were a little on the small side I had to post the paper through in several parts to get it through, all the while making sure I didn't tear the paper as I put it through! Delivered papers in all weathers! Mind you the tips I used to get at Christmas were great! Occasional tips at Easter as well if I remember correctly! ;D
The hygiene is completely over the top today and kids don't seem to have the same resistance as we did. ;D
I couldn't agree more, speaking personally we seemed a lot sturdier and a lot less likely to go down with something then!
Kind regards
David
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Yes David...and we teethed on the rails of a lead painted cot rail, no wonder I couldn't swim ::) ;D ;D
Carol
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My 21st birthday happened to fall on a Sunday in North Wales. At that time Gwynedd was dry on Sundays, so we celebrated with very dodgy home brew.
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Yes David...and we teethed on the rails of a lead painted cot rail, no wonder I couldn't swim ::) ;D ;D
Carol
;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
Viktoria.j
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We rode our bikes without helmets, our roller skates without knee pads, the lads had catapults and pea-shooters and conkers were allowed in the school playground!!....and nobody turned a hair!
Carol
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Walked along high walls, risked the wrath of people living in end houses as we used their house wall for wickets and goals .
Likewise swinging on gas lampposts ,with orange box ropes ,and being chased off by irate householders.
Walking on high walls like tightrope artistes ,shouting into the Undertaker’s
“ Have you got any empty boxes?”
( That WAS risky!)
Going downhill in makeshift go karts ,made from old pram wheels , you could lose teeth doing that.
Fishing for Sticklebacks in the park pond ,bringing them home in a jam jar only for the little things to die.
Playing Kings and Queens and castles among the beautifully carved stonework salvaged from Manchester’s bombed Free Trade Hall, that was stored on the red rec, ie the red shale recreation ground .
All for free, and no safety nets!
We took risks and some children did get hurt ,some even were drowned or fell from great heights etc .Most survived ,it really was character building.
Our parents did not see us from one meal to another.
Prior to that time as an evacuee our playground was a disused lead mine,
with not even a nod to safety .
I go cold when I think what we did there - gulp!-
Viktoria.
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When I was 9 I had a friend who lived a long bike ride away, or a short walk if we ran across the railway bridge. We would lie with our ear on the track to see if we could hear a train, if not. Run. I knew even then not to let Dad know we were doing that. I can’t imagine what we were thinking!
S.S. Originally we went to the C of E, until my mother died and when Dad asked the vicar if he knew of anyone who might be available to housekeep for him and us, the vicar said he wasn’t a social service! Instant removal to the Presbyterian SS. Which itself stopped when we moved and just didn’t bother anymore.
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vicar said he wasn’t a social service!
Well, he certainly didn't practice what he preached -- help your neighbour/parishioner!
Cheers
KHP
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Oooh no, he wasn’t !
How unkind .
One Vicar said to me ,after my first son was born, that new born babies cry to get rid of the devil in them!!!
I thought “ You silly —-!”
So I said , No, they are expanding their lungs ,they have been in fluid and become air breathing at their first breath ,an amazing vital occurrence ,their lungs must be fully expanded as soon as possible so the crying is both life giving and life saving.
Then thought again” You silly old$¥$$¥$$$,”
Honestly.
Viktoria.
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Strange thing for a vicar to say, would have changed churches
LM
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Well we were married there and I had been in the Youth Club and OH in the Scouts etc.Both attended Sunday School but not at the same time as he was older than I by six years, going to do National Service at 18.
So strong links to the place and that Vicar was not the most important part of it all.
Viktoria.
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I quite enjoyed Sunday School, and when I got older, chapel in the evening.
Mostly old dears, but quite a few younger, and surprisingly we all got on so very well, I remember being "presented" with her score of "the Messiah" by a lovely elderly lady who was in the choir, but she said she quavered too much to sing properly any longer, when we and other churches / chapels were going to do a joint one, think it was a sort of mark or rite of passage to have your own copy. I still have it..
And how did we all survive the playground, tall metal swing frames, with twisty, quite decorative metal "ropes" to the swings - the more daring would go right round, over the top!! The steep slide, when I looked recently at some photos, it was really very high off the ground, and precious little side to the slide! Climbing frames that seemed to be the height of a house..... quite apart from "Real" trees, the higher the better. How did we all survive?
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I think I was part of the generation where a lot of these traditions have died out.
I was a child in the 80s and 90s and religion didn't really feature in my life at all, or in the lives of most of the other children I knew. So no Sunday school for us, and I only knew one family who were involved with the Church at all.
We did play out in the street but were usually kept to one back garden. Sadly not been able to do that with for my own son as it isn't the done thing anymore. :(
We did have Sunday dinner sometimes, but not always. We just tended to eat whatever my Mum was in the mood to cook. So that is another tradition that has fallen by the wayside and one I haven't carried on in my own family. I do make a roast from time to time but not always on a Sunday. Plus we quite like spicy food so I'm more likely to make that.
My parents did buy a Sunday paper, as do my in-laws. I did from time to time when I first started living independently, but they started to drive me mad. Full of leaflets (adverts), about three pages of actual news and then all the rest of the pages are various opinion pieces and thinly disguised adverts for various products and services. Can't see the point in spending the money on it anymore, I can make my own mind up about stuff and I can't afford and don't want the lifestyle they pressure me in to. I haven't bought a paper in years. I imagine lots of people my age don't either.
I think the only things I regret is the sense of community that Church life probably gave, although some posters here appear to have been harshly treated by the Church so who knows. Also it would have been nice if my son had friends to play with at the weekend.
Other than that, I enjoy cooking very much, but I'm glad I'm not under pressure to produce a roast every weekend so I don't regret that. I do like the shops being open too so I can nip and get something if I need to.
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I used to go to Sunday School, and we used to climb trees as kids which were the height of a 5 storey building, and got snowed in for days and had power cuts lasting a few days. I grew up in the countryside and used to watch soaps like Emmerdale and Neighbours as well as remembering Crossroads and the twangy theme.
About 1995 I wanted to know who my grandparents grandparents were. I did not have a clue until about 1996. I knew who their parents names were but not their grandparents. I was pleased in 1997 when I found out my paternal grandfather's maternal grandfather was James Taylor.
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Walked the 500 yards or so to my grannies house carrying a towel and clean clothes. Had our weekly bath. Watched Sunday Night at the London Palladium then home to bed.
(We lived in a tenement with a shared toilet in the stairs.)
Malky
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We had an outside toilet which was quite scary at night, the spiders would lurk in the dark corners...I always sat with my feet off the ground ;D
I used to take a Sunday lunch round to my Grandma's house when she couldn't be persuaded to join us and would be given a slice of cake for my trouble which I ate on the way home ;D
Carol
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Ooooooo, spiders in the loo!
There was a big one in the backyard loo in Manchester ,but nothing to compare with those in the earth privy when an evacuee.
No one lingered mostly because it was dark even with a candie and cold in winter .
No crossword puzzles in the loo in those days.
You could not even see
to read the squares of newspaper threaded on string.
Viktoria.
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I once worked in a room where there were two large sinks. Frequently, students would come up and tell me there was a HUGE spider in one or the other!
As I'm scared rigid of them, I had several responses:
"If you're that worried, take it outside and let it go"
"Turn the tap on and wash it away"
"Squash it if it worries you - but clear up afterwards"
Draw it!"
As I usually managed to deliver these lines in a laconic voice, one or the other usually worked.
One time, no-one did anything. I strolled into the room next door, and asked the bloke working in there is he'd go into my room, go to that sink for some reason, and solve the problem for me, quietly.
Bless him, he did. And he never split on me to the students, either! They'd have had great fun teasing tormenting me, if they'd known what a wuss I was!
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I can relate to that Threllfall ;D
Remember when....
The postman delivered mail twice a day and if you posted a letter before 7 o'clock it arrived at lunch time.
The milkman delivered to your door, two pints of steri, and one pint of flat top and occasionally a bottle of orange juice.
All the girls wore navy blue knickers up to age of 15 years.
You could "play out" safely close to home after dark in a group.
Policeman could give you a clip around the ear if you deserved it.
The cane for misbehaving at school was the norm.
You could turn up at the surgery without an appointment and get to see a Doctor.
The only flavoured crisp were "Oxo"
The meter man came at intervals to empty the Gas/electric meter and counted it out, rolling the piles of coins in blue sugar paper.
Sugar was loose and weighed out and sold in blue sugar paper bags.
Cheese was cut from a block with a wire cheese cutter and wrapped in grease proof paper.
Those were the days when the corner shop was on every street, and people could get supplies of groceries on "Tic" until pay day ;D ;D ;D
Carol
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Carol, those were the days as they say, things will never be like that and I suspect after lockdownn things will change again
I have a small booklet here that my mother must have listed her shopping each week, probably 1937 when my mum and dad got married, I might try to list them one day to put on RC just for interests sake
Louisa Maud
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Carol - AND don't forget that the navy blue knickers had fairly long legs so they could be extended to keep you warmer :o
I haven't read all the replies, but I do remember "liberty bodices".
My grandfather and father ran the local village Post Office and Store. I remember weighing out sugar and helping to use the bacon slicer - BUT my favourite task (probably illegal) was to date-stamp all the envelopes on Saturday, ready for collection.
Using our bikes to visit local dances - I was always escorted home by either my current boyfried or one of the village lads (they always checked that I had an escort) as I lived on the outskirts of the village.
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Carol, those were the days as they say, things will never be like that and I suspect after lockdownn things will change again
I have a small booklet here that my mother must have listed her shopping each week, probably 1937 when my mum and dad got married, I might try to list them one day to put on RC just for interests sake
Louisa Maud
Oh do share Louisa Maud.....I'm sure others would enjoy seeing it too :D
Carol
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Carol - AND don't forget that the navy blue knickers had fairly long legs so they could be extended to keep you warmer :o
I haven't read all the replies, but I do remember "liberty bodices".
My grandfather and father ran the local village Post Office and Store. I remember weighing out sugar and helping to use the bacon slicer - BUT my favourite task (probably illegal) was to date-stamp all the envelopes on Saturday, ready for collection.
Using our bikes to visit local dances - I was always escorted home by either my current boyfried or one of the village lads (they always checked that I had an escort) as I lived on the outskirts of the village.
Yes and some had a pocket for your embroidered hanky made by grannies ;D
Carol
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Oooooh - yes. they did have a pocket! Unfortunately neither of my grandmothers did embroidery! Missed out again ;D
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Oooh Liberty bodices!
Thinking I was grown up ,after finding some loose suspenders in Mum’s sewing box ,I decided to sew then to my liberty bodice.
I bought some stockings with my spends .
However on putting them on ,the suspenders were rather too short ,not admitting defeat I went to my friend’s.
She wanted to know why I was walking like Groucho Marx!
Viktoria.
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Carol, those were the days as they say, things will never be like that and I suspect after lockdownn things will change again
I have a small booklet here that my mother must have listed her shopping each week, probably 1937 when my mum and dad got married, I might try to list them one day to put on RC just for interests sake
Oooh Liberty bodices!
Thinking I was grown up ,after finding some loose suspenders in Mum’s sewing box ,I decided to sew then to my liberty bodice.
I bought some stockings with my spends .
However on putting them on ,the suspenders were rather too short ,not admitting defeat I went to my friend’s.
She wanted to know why I was walking like Groucho Marx!
Viktoria.
Tea
Sugar
Butter
Marge
Lard
Cheese
Bacon
Eggs.
That was the order they were in your Ration books .
Viktoria.
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A bit short on the fruit and veg.
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Thank goodness, we still have milk delivered - 6 x500ml twice a week.
And our knickers were GREY!
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We lived ~ seven miles from the centre of Dublin.
Every Wednesday about 8.30am, 5 cows (probably bullocks?) were hunted down the road near us, on their way to the local butcher. I was terrified to go to school on Wednesdays!
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Did yours have a pocket? Heaven help you if the elastic snapped in one of the legs ;D
Carol
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A bit short on the fruit and veg.
They were the foods that were rationed Erato, fruit and veg weren't rationed but they were in short supply during WW2. People were encouraged to grow their own where possible.
Carol
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My father and most of the people in the small village had allotments as well as their gardens to grow vegetables and fruit.
Somewhere there are photos of Dad and my big sister on their way from the allotments :)
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I never had the navy blue knickers! My school uniform was green to the age of 11, then at the grammar school it was brown.
Rationing went on for years after war ended. I think probably 1951 or 1952?
FS
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1954
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Wasn't it sugar?
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A bit short on the fruit and veg.
Well we had a greengrocery shop ,closed during the war as Dad worked at Avro’s .We did not need to buy once it opened again in about 1946.
Rationing carried on for some years after the war ,indeed it was 1952 I think before sugar was de-rationed.
The things I mentioned were in the ration book every person had.
You took it with you to the grocers ‘and there was one for the butchers and little square coupons were cut out as you bought your weekly allowed amount,such as the two ounces of cheese a week the maximum per person allowed.
Other people could get vegetables fairly easily .
Onions were like gold and needed for the very bland food we had with very very little meat.
Oranges were rationed and we did not have any bananas throughout the war at all.
Such strict control but it meant everyone in the country had the same basic foodstuffs every week.It was fair.
Surprisingly, even with such meagre amounts poorer people were healthier
than in the preceding years of the Great Depression of the 1920’s and30’s .
Viktoria.
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This reminds me of my mother saying she made herself sick gorging on bananas after the war. She left England as a War Bride in Feb 1946 so wondering if they were available by then or this happened once she got to Canada.
I still have her ration book. I took it to school when we were doing something about WWII.
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This reminds me of my mother saying she made herself sick gorging on bananas after the war. She left England as a War Bride in Feb 1946 so wondering if they were available by then or this happened once she got to Canada.
I still have her ration book. I took it to school when we were doing something about WWII.
Here you are Diana -Dec 30 1945.
https://www.ft.com/content/c275b5b2-7a73-11de-8c34-00144feabdc0
Add - and this will take us all back to Pathe News
https://www.britishpathe.com/video/yes-we-have-some-bananas
;D
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My dad was born in 1936, so was nine when the war ended. He grew up in an off licence corner shop and his aunt and uncle (who brought him up) were able to get bananas when they started becoming available. Of course, they were a real rarity so the first thing he did when he got one was to dash out in to the street and casually peel and eat it, hoping to be spotted and envied. His pride took a fall though, when a couple of girls passed by and said in a loud voice "That's the second banana I've seen today."
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Our school uniform knickers were bottle green - with that pocket, of course.
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This reminds me of my mother saying she made herself sick gorging on bananas after the war. She left England as a War Bride in Feb 1946 so wondering if they were available by then or this happened once she got to Canada.
I still have her ration book. I took it to school when we were doing something about WWII.
Here you are Diana -Dec 30 1945.
https://www.ft.com/content/c275b5b2-7a73-11de-8c34-00144feabdc0
Add - and this will take us all back to Pathe News
https://www.britishpathe.com/video/yes-we-have-some-bananas
;D
Thank you, Gadget, just thought of something - I might have her old diary from that period, will have a look.
I wonder if milk was rationed? She spent the war years with her aunt and uncle, who had a dairy.
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Sweets and sugar came off ration in February 1953. Meat was the last thing to come off ration 4th. July 1954.
Bread was not rationed during the war, but owing to shortages it was rationed in 1946.
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And milk was rationed
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That has reminded me, I have my mother's diaries from 1925 when she was 15, I will have a look to see if there is anything intersting in them, she told me I could read them but I wish we had read them together before she died, the early ones , they are very interesting, she also did a small 6 week diary of when her twins were born during the war, one not expected to live, but her I am with plenty of life in me
LM
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This reminds me of my mother saying she made herself sick gorging on bananas after the war. She left England as a War Bride in Feb 1946 so wondering if they were available by then or this happened once she got to Canada.
I still have her ration book. I took it to school when we were doing something about WWII.
Here you are Diana -Dec 30 1945.
https://www.ft.com/content/c275b5b2-7a73-11de-8c34-00144feabdc0
Add - and this will take us all back to Pathe News
https://www.britishpathe.com/video/yes-we-have-some-bananas
;D
Thank you, Gadget, just thought of something - I might have her old diary from that period, will have a look.
I wonder if milk was rationed? She spent the war years with her aunt and uncle, who had a dairy.
I have my mother’s 1945 diary but no mention of bananas on the 30th or 31st.
Now that I think about it, I think it was when he got here that she gorged on bananas. Not that we grow them here :).
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In her entry for December 9, 1945 she wrote that it was their first drive in their car in six years.
As I mentioned they ran a dairy so they did have vehicles for their business.
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I was the first child in the Family to be born after the NHS was introduced. We were all born at home and my Mum used to tell us stories about the local midwife called Mrs. Edwards who delivered my older Brother and Sister, she said that when she was in labour, the midwife would sit by the fire knitting, breaking wind and Singing "Onward Christian Soldiers" ;D She charged half a crown and could be seen regularly calling at the off license on her way home with a couple of bottles of brown ale clutched to her ample busom ;D ;D
Carol
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Perhaps you know my story if the Midwife who delivered me turning up at my wedding.
She always liked to attend “ her babies’” weddings.
She turned up at the reception, walked in just as my brother in law ( best man) was going to give his speech.
He started off with —“ Well, I have heard of shotgun weddings but this is
ridiculous !”
;D
Viktoria.
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I loved watching the Railway Children, you have reminded me of them. I remember my uncle scolding my auntie who unthinkingly tidied the magazine rack while listening to the radio! No housework on a Sunday!Apparently God granted Baptist/Congregational housewives an exemption for cooking and dishes! A man's Sunday midday dinner was sacred!
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My dad, a carpenter, made our "guider", with old pram wheels, a rope to steer with, and some very high class red Lino ( with yellow roses on it) to sit on, I felt it was the local equivalent of a Rolls Royce, even had a yellow trimmed, green oval tin number plate with "7" on it. I'm 72, lived in Australia since 1958, and can still remember it so clearly!!
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I can remember cutting the squares of newspaper and punching a hole in the corner of a bunch to thread string through , so it could be tied in a loop to hang by the loo. We had a roll of toilet paper which replaced the newspaper when visitors were expected, even when quite young I knew that we pretended that was our usual standard, and, as the only girl, I was responsible for quick loo paper retrieval if unexpected visitors arrived!
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My brother was born in August 1950, I remember walking hand in hand to the ( very nearby) corner shop with the ratio book to buy our sweeties, and he asked how much a penny bar of chocolate was! Must have been at least 1952. A "yellow man" , a cushiony honeycomb like sweetie, was a ha'penny!
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A man on a tricycle came round where we lived, he rang his bell and shouted "Ice Cream" you could but a cornet or an ice-cream sandwich, small or large. The rag and bone man was also a regular visitor to the area too, a few rags could be exchanged for a colouring book, a balloon or a windmill on a stick. he would should "Rag bone, any old iron, rag bone" ;D A man selling fruit and veg on a handcart was always a favourite, he would often sell bags of damaged fruit that people bought to make fruit pies.
Carol
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We had a man with a cart selling cockles and the like, then he would have strawberries when they were in season , I also remember one section of the Kings troops on horse back would travel down the road where I lived to exercise in Hyde Park, spectacular
LM
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We didn't have a man with a cart but a man used to visit the pubs and clubs selling cockles from a basket, he sold them in cone shaped bags with a wooden fork provided and a shake of vinegar and salt if required. He was closely followed by the Salvation Army selling the "War Cry" ;D ;D
Carol
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About 1980 ish my brother went around the clubs with basket selling sea food in a basket in the Peterborough area, it wasn't his full time job but it was needed as extra income, he was very popular
LM