The past is a different country. They do things differently there.

[LizzieW]

I remember that awful winter.  We lived in the Peak District of Derbyshire and had one baby.  I used to suffer with bronchitis and someone told me to take a teaspoon of olive oil every night. That was in the days when you had to buy it from the chemist.  To remind me I used to keep it by the side of my bed.  Believe it or not, it was so cold the olive oil froze.

No central heating in those days, how we kept the baby warm I don't know.  Lots of lanaircell blankets.  Fortunately, we lived in a middle terraced house and could feel the warmth from one side's fire in our living room.  That was the only warm place in the house.  The snow stayed with us until after Easter.

Liz

[Gadget]

and I remember the ice on the inside of the windows as well. Poor Mum used to go around every morning mopping up the frozen condensation and complaining how her nets were rotting with the water.

Net curtains - always hated them - still do - but there were nets and nets - a real status symbol, like that white stuff around the door steps 

[LizzieW]

And coming home from school, when winters were always cold and having to bring in washing that was frozen solid on the line.  Once it was brought in, and it thawed it was as wet as when it went out.

Liz

[JAP]

Plus ca change ...

I remember pegging out clothes on the line in northern NSW in the 1960s - yes, they froze solid.

And before that having the same experience not much earlier in Cambridge England.  And I also remember in Cambridge when it actually snowed, that only the very main roads were kept open - by tip trucks which gathered up snow and took it and dumped it in the Cam.

Very different 10 years later in Iowa - snow ploughs, dryers, etc ...

Before that, in Melbourne Australia, I remember days long before all the mod cons we now take for granted ...

Primitive?

But do you ever go camping ...

I suspect that we can still survive - as we did, and as our parents and our grandparents and so on did ...

If we had to, we would ...

JAP

[ozlady]

Indie, I'd forgotten abou the rag and bone man! Our local bloke would give a goldfish for a bundle of rags. I had a fish from him (I called it Sammy) which lived for about 3 years. One night he jumped out of his bowl and we found him frozen solid in a little block of ice. Believe it or not, Mum thawed him out and he was as right as rain!
   We had a "range" for several years that Mum used to blacklead every morning until it shone. Good job she can't see my oven!!
   Wall's ice cream van came around every Sunday afternoon. There was also the faggots and peas man, the fish and chip man and best of all..... the cockles man with his horse and cart. Cockles were bought by the pint. Mum said that just after she was married, she bought some cockles and try as she might she couldn't open them. Then Nana told her the secret..... boiling water!!!

[indiapaleale]

Ohhh...Ozlady - you are right...he did give away goldfish...

But we could never have one......in fact we could never have any pets because father was allergic to animals.......even fish evidently!

Walls Ice Cream was wonderful......we used to buy it from Robinson's Sweet Shop on Washwood Heath Rd. But then  Walls came out with sausages and I just couldn't fancy the sausages with the ice cream!

Of course now, at my age, I am happy to eat ice cream with anything........including sausages!   

Indi......reliving her Brummie yuf

[LizzieW]

he faggots and peas man,

We're having faggots tonight, but not from the faggots and peas man.  These are freshly made by a local butcher.

Liz

[Lydart]

I think Walls  as a company started makng ice cream as a way of using up the surplus pig fat from its sausage factory !   (Or is that one of those urban myths ?) 

[ankerdine]

I remember trying to buy sweets in the 50s without any ration book. I didn't understand when the sweetshop owner at the Fox and Goose sent me away crying.

Does anyone remember the Co-op deliveries of bread and milk. I think that they were from trailers pulled by horses and we used to go and collect the xxxx!