Rag and bone man

[millymcb]

And the other thing I remember is the end of shift siren going off at the factory a mile or so away - and then a few minutes later there would be loads of men on bicycles riding up our road on the way home.

Anyone would think we lived in a back to back like Coronation Street but it was actually a really nice 1930s semi

Milly

[Jellis]

Homogonised? Yes, I think that's it!  Thanks for that.

A mile away?  You were lucky 

We lived in a terraced house and there were four factories in our street.  Not all of them had the sirens but the one opposite did, if I remember.  It was all lit up at night as they had a night shift.  Mum used to dream of a house with a view.  All she could see from her bedroom window was the sign 'H Marriott and Son' 

It was the sort of street where all the housewives would scrub the front steps every week and make a mysterious 'figure of eight' as they finished it. 

Mum used a donkey stone and an old pair of dad's pants to do this job 

[Lydart]

Something pagan about that ...       ... the figure of eight, not Dads old pants !

[Jellis]

LOL; I never questioned the mysteries of Mum's houswork until I got married.

She phoned me one day, in the 1980's.  It was about 11 am and I said I was ironing.

Mum said 'what a funny time to do the ironing!' 

[SwissGill]

I remember the rag and bone man with his horse and cart. I can still hear his "Rag 'n Bones" although I didn't know what it meant at the time.

We have textile collections here in Switzerland but it states very plainly on the plastic sacks they deliver, that only wearable clothes are to be put in them. So I collect the "rags" in a large drum and have to put them in the rubbish bin sacks (payable) grudgingly....

My mother's sister (much to my mother's horror) used to give me dripping on bread with salt on it in the Winter when I visited her.

As for potted meat, I was invited to all the little girls' birthday parties from the neighbourhood as I was well known for finishing off the bridge rolls when all the others were eating sticky cakes.

[millymcb]

euugh! Potted meat.... sandwiches for school every day for years!  Not great for swapping with other people.

Milly

[Iria]

I Remember the Rag and Bone Man well..Our  Rag and Bone Man Used to Give us Windmills or Goldfish Depending On What You Gave Him.. I remember one time when i was about 12 years old Giving Him One of My Mams Best Coats and Getting a Goldfish ..I called the Goldfish Jaws that Goldfish Lived For 7 Years ..

I Call my Husband Posh because he Never seen the Rag and Bone man when he was Younger as He came From Wavertree and i came from Toxteth ..lol

Iria

[Dougalgeorge]

I remember my Lancashire/Cheshire Granny eating Yorkshire Puddings with sugar in them after her Sunday lunch.

Yuk !!

[AngelaR]

We had yorkshire pudding with golden syrup for puddings at school in Sheffield.... I'd never comes across it at home because my parents were southerners...

It was VERY nice.....