How Did We Manage Without A Fridge??

[old tup]

Way back in the mists of time when I was an infant Tup we didn,t have the luxury of a fridge,how did we ever manage?.Its a thing everyone takes for granted nowadays,I remember my mother getting milk from a man delivering it direct from a churn into a jug daily.We had a food safe down the cellar,the coldest place in the cottage,we reared animals for the pot rabbits,chickens,geese and pigs.One of my chores as a kid was salting pork joints on a big marble table,the salt I remember well it was very course and if you had any nicks or cuts on your hands it gave you some gee up alright!.It was visits to the shops a lot more times than nowadays you bought food fresh and used it straight away,there was no supermarkets every streetcorner had a shop of some kind.I remember the Maypole at Hillsborough corner,butter in giant round pieces which was cut off and patted into shape and wrapped in greaseproof paper,sugar loose put into bags.Next door was a fishmonger,with a row of rabbits hung up for sale ,I,ve forgotten the name.Down Owlerton Green my ma,s favourite kallin shop Sybil Wilmots for bread and milk.There was no sell by dates those days and we all survived and nowt was wasted,does any old timers remember these times??.

[Littlepink]

We kept milk on the cellar head which was at the top of the cellar steps and kept meat on the cold stone slab that was on a pedestal in the cellar but we hardly used that as we couldn't afford meat very often. There wasn't really much else we needed to keep in a fridge as it wasn't available .

[Littlepink]

Oh and I remember standing looking at the rabbits hanging in the butchers window with blood ripping from their nose and the butcher gave me sheep eyeballs to play with as I sat in my pram

[joinerisme]

We used to put the milk bottle in a dish of water with an earthenware pot covering it.It helped it to last longer without turning.Thundery weather would turn the milk.

[Cyclone]

I still have a cold slab in my cellar, don't use it though.

[scousemouse]

We had a concrete slab in the pantry, kept it cool.. I can remember the milkman coming round and my mum going out to get the milk in a big tin jug! Mind you I am very old!!!!1

[hillsbro]

...Next door was a fishmonger,with a row of rabbits hung up for sale ,I,ve forgotten the name...

In the 1930s and 1940s it was Buckley's; later it was taken over by Harley Mann who had a fishmonger's shop with an adjoining fish & chip shop at Malin Bridge. J.H. Mann is still going strong in Hillsborough, though no longer owned by the family.

[OwlsChick]

Way back in the mists of time when I was an infant Tup we didn,t have the luxury of a fridge,how did we ever manage?.Its a thing everyone takes for granted nowadays,I remember my mother getting milk from a man delivering it direct from a churn into a jug daily.We had a food safe down the cellar,the coldest place in the cottage,we reared animals for the pot rabbits,chickens,geese and pigs.One of my chores as a kid was salting pork joints on a big marble table,the salt I remember well it was very course and if you had any nicks or cuts on your hands it gave you some gee up alright!.It was visits to the shops a lot more times than nowadays you bought food fresh and used it straight away,there was no supermarkets every streetcorner had a shop of some kind.I remember the Maypole at Hillsborough corner,butter in giant round pieces which was cut off and patted into shape and wrapped in greaseproof paper,sugar loose put into bags.Next door was a fishmonger,with a row of rabbits hung up for sale ,I,ve forgotten the name.Down Owlerton Green my ma,s favourite kallin shop Sybil Wilmots for bread and milk.There was no sell by dates those days and we all survived and nowt was wasted,does any old timers remember these times??.

 

I remember as a kid the xmas turkey,after lunch went on the stone slab in the pantry for a week! It was placed under a t-towel and you helped yourself to a chunk before going to call for your mate walking down the road munching..Also recall my first job was in a local co-op and the only thing with a date on was yogurts.Can never remember food poisoning been rife though but we did eat fresh then.These days mums have to work all hours plus no local shops left,butchers,fruit shops,wet fish shops ect so its off to asda and the like...sad really..

[jonjo2]

Plenty of spices in the food, eg chinese, indian etc

[chrishall]

Chicken for xmas, seems strange now that it used to be such a luxury.