Bygone sounds

[Rena]

Midlander's post also reminded me of one evening at a family gathering at Christmas.  The gaiety stopped when the adults heard the approaching whistling of a doodlebug.  All faces turned towards the sound, sighs of relief when it whistled over the house and then there was sudden silence, a pause and then a 'crump'.  The adults guaged that it had flown over all the houses and would have landed in a field and that's what we discovered next morning when we joined other curious neighbours walking along the road to see if all the houses were standing.

[Greensleeves]

The cry of "Harwich shrimps" as the vendor cycled all over Ipswich selling them by the pint from a large basket.  One day my cousin, who was about 11 at the time, used her  pocket money to treat herself to a pint of shrimps.  She took them in and, looking forward to her feast,  spent a very long time carefully shelling them and placing the plump pink shrimps into a  bowl.  Finally finished, she went to the kitchen to get some vinegar.  She was only gone for a moment but when she returned, all that remained was an empty bowl - the dog had eaten every one.

[Rena]

aw greensleeves I feel for your cousin losing the treat!  Until the last couple of decades every pub I've ever frequented across the country used to have a shrimp seller come in and sell his wares to the customers on a weekend.   There was another caller in the pubs and that was the Salvation Army girl selling "War Cry".

[LoneyBones]

The clattering sound of girls typing and the 'ting' of the typewriter when you moved it to the beginning of the next line.

Carol

Did someone do this one yet?
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/803796/the_typewriter_song/
Leonie.
   yes they did.   

[LoneyBones]

The sound of the ice cream man's hand bell, before they got the little black box that played Greensleeves. 
Also the sound of the railway crossing gate bells at 7:45 AM when I was still two minutes from the station.     Late for work again. 

[Midlanders]

Can't resist writing here again, but keep it brief this time.  
VE and VJ night 1945, joyful chorus of songs with our parents and neighbours standing around a huge bonfire, middle of 'circle' down the road. (For tradesmen's horses & carts to turn round). Magic moments.

[Mark1973]

I miss the urgent sound of the old ambulance bell and the old fashioned police car siren.  I can hardly tell what's making the noise behind me these days.

Sometimes when I forget that I've put the kettle and the water's cooled I wish I still had the old fashioned whistling kettle to remind me I need a drink 

Exactly the 2 i was thinking of, what i used to call "Nee-Nah" cars and the whistle of my nans kettle

[Cell]

Air raid sirens ( I wasn't born in the war!) , but local factories ( in some  swansea areas ) in the 1970's/1980's used to use the old air raid sirens   for knocking off work- you could hear them for miles. I grew up with the sirens as a child, the noise used to scare me . I think in recent years they have stopped using the old air raid sirens as they scared so many people

[Nick29]

Air raid sirens scare me, and I wasn't born until 1948 !   There's just something about them which puts chills down my spine !