For all the Oldies

[topten]

for those of you who are old enough to remember, enjoy.
For the rest treat this as a history lesson!

Very surprising how time and memory has taken its toll.
Have things really changed this much in our time?

EATING IN THE UK IN THE FIFTIES consider that:

Pasta had not been invented.

Curry was a surname.

A takeaway was a mathematical problem.

A pizza was something to do with a leaning tower.

Bananas and oranges only appeared at Christmas time.

All crisps were plain; the only choice we had was whether to put the salt on or not.

A Chinese chippy was a foreign carpenter.

Rice was a milk pudding, and never, ever part of our dinner.

A Big Mac was what we wore when it was raining.

Brown bread was something only poor people ate.

Oil was for lubricating, fat was for cooking

Tea was made in a teapot using tea leaves and never green.

Coffee was Camp, and came in a bottle.

Cubed sugar was regarded as posh.

Only Heinz made beans.

Fish didn't have fingers in those days.

Eating raw fish was called poverty, not sushi.

None of us had ever heard of yoghurt.

Healthy food consisted of anything edible.

People who didn't peel potatoes were regarded as lazy.

Indian restaurants were only found in India.

Cooking outside was called camping.

Seaweed was not a recognised food.

"Kebab" was not even a word never mind a food.

Sugar enjoyed a good press in those days, and was regarded as being white gold.

Prunes were medicinal.

Surprisingly muesli was readily available, it was called cattle feed.

Pineapples came in chunks in a tin; we had only ever seen a picture of a real one.

Water came out of the tap, if someone had suggested bottling it and
charging more than petrol for it they would have become a laughing stock.

The one thing that we never ever had on our table in the fifties .. was elbows!

[Owl Lady]

OMG I do feel old (well I am!) Remember all these!!!

[Ragged Robin]

A PC was a Police Constable - or possibly a postscript. And milk came from bottles not a cardboard carton and was delivered to your doorstep.

[karmels]

And on a Friday once a month you had to go to the W,I, to change your ration books.

[Owl Lady]

This could be a long one topten!!!You got money back on the empty pop bottles. You could collect the Gollywogs off the marmalade jars and send away for a metal gollywog badge! Saturday morning children's matinee at the cinema!

[Maisiemoo]

You didn't do a monthly or even weekly shop, but shopped for fresh foods as needed.

[Owl Lady]

Basically because not many could afford the luxury of a fridge .I remember a marble slab in the pantry and a bucket of cold water for the milk bottles! God I do feel old!

[karmels]

A meat safe with fine wire mesh for the bacon and fresh meets.

[Ragged Robin]

Well, you would feel cold with a marble slab and a bucket of cold water down your panties, Owl Lady! (Sorry my turn to spot someone else's mistake! )

I think actually you mean pantry, or larder, a cold room off the kitchen, with stone or marble shelves for storing perishables, and rows of jams and pickles!

What about all the kids gathering for "five penn'th" of chips (or was it six?) and eating them out of newspaper and smothering with vinegar and (oh horrors) salt

[Owl Lady]

Well spotted RR wondered why I was feeling chilly!!Didn't do this personally but Rod did, small packet of Woodbines(cigarettes) cut into half and a straight pin at each end to share it.

[muffin]

What about ration books which only allowed you to buy a certain quantity of the staple foods.

[topten]

And sugar and flour being weighed and put in bags, and from Mrs Callaby,s one Park Drive and 2 matches for tuppence. Beer sold on draught from the off licence in a jug, happy days I think!!

[kaiserphil]

And the smell of the grocer's shop.

And the Corona lorry.

[Ragged Robin]

"Clubbing" was hitting someone with a blunt instrument and a criminal offence!

Dont remember the matchstick trick, OW (I got my bad habits a bit older!) but I remember Woodbines and "Players please", and sweets that looked like cigarettes and made us feel very sophisticated! And liquorish(? spelling) sticks and sherbet in twists of paper.

What about the "rag and bone" man who paid for old clothes or gave toys: and all the women rushing out with shovels to get the droppings from his horse for the roses

And making dens from among other things pieces of rusted corrugated iron in old bomb sites - 'elf and safety would have kittens!

[Maisiemoo]

Oh the Corona van! A special treat during the school holidays when my sister and I were allowed to choose one bottle each.
I also remember Sainsbury's when it was just a grocer's shop and the counters were round 3 sides of the shop and everything was weighed to order. Happy Days indeed and good memories.

[Ragged Robin]

Not all good, though perhaps better for children. I think my mother had one of the first washing machines - a big round thing that took up half the kitchen, but no spin or tumble dry. But my grandmother had a "boiler" (a large copper - I think) - cauldron and a "dolly" (a sort of inverted colander on a stick) which one pushed up and down on the washing - good for developing the biceps. Then sheets etc. had to be threaded through a mangle (two rollers) turned by hand by a spindle to squeeze out the water. And heavy metal irons heated on the stove. Mind I think we are now headed too far the other way with washing machines that need a degree in IT to know how to operate, let alone repair, them.

[topten]

Not all good, though perhaps better for children. I think my mother had one of the first washing machines - a big round thing that took up half the kitchen, but no spin or tumble dry. But my grandmother had a "boiler" (a large copper - I think) - cauldron and a "dolly" (a sort of inverted colander on a stick) which one pushed up and down on the washing - good for developing the biceps. Then sheets etc. had to be threaded through a mangle (two rollers) turned by hand by a spindle to squeeze out the water. And heavy metal irons heated on the stove. Mind I think we are now headed too far the other way with washing machines that need a degree in IT to know how to operate, let alone repair, them.

Mums then used to have WASH DAYS where, if you were part of a family it actually took all day to do, my mums was on a Monday. Wonder if that's why no one likes Monday ?

[Josie]

Always fish on Friday, butter patted with wooden pats then wrapped in paper. Grandad ate something called cowheel?? Cows stomach YUK, haddock cooked in milk with an egg. Home made puddings pies tarts and egg custard.
We were safe to play out till late carefree days running or on your bike,,skates or scooter not in front of a computer all day. Oh those happy memories

[Hedge-fund]

Wireless was something you listened to music on.

[topten]

I remember the first TV, an old couple down the road got the first one and all the neighbours used to go and look at this new fangled thing. I can,t swear by this but I am sure that they had half our neighbourhood in to watch the coronation. Used to take ages to warm up.

[elizabeth]

We also had social networking then too, it was called going out to play.