When a balaclava was an essential part of a young mans wardrobe.

[grinder]

Over coat on the bed and don't forget the oven plate wrapped in a towel. if you had a hot water tap on the sink you were either posh or a council house tenant, a mean they even had a bath room..

Another thing is that nowadays you never see ice on the inside of your bed room windows, funny that, you did back then..

I suppose being an only one helped but I never had to ware a pair of trouser with a patched backside as a kid but I knew plenty that did...

[old tup]

When I was a kid in the late 40s our nearest neighbours were the Gratton family who lived in the gravediggers house in Wardsend Cemetery,life for them was quite a bit of a struggle facility wise!.They had no gas or electric supply no running water which they had to collect from our cottage at the bottom of Liversey Street,one of the sons Geoff had to wheel a barrow with a full size shiny clean dustbin in fill it and then hump it back negotiating a steep rise on their side of the old stone bridge to their house!.They had an old fashioned earth toilet which I remember was a tad on the ripe side in the summer time,on the times I visited at nightime I thought it was great when the house was lit by oil lamps,but that was through a kids eyes it could not have been much fun for them but they just got on with it!.As time went by the house became overcrowded and they all moved out,I don,t know where they ended up but it had to be better than their life was back then,good old days,I don,t think so!.:roll:

[Kidorry]

Over coat on the bed and don't forget the oven plate wrapped in a towel. if you had a hot water tap on the sink you were either posh or a council house tenant, a mean they even had a bath room..

Another thing is that nowadays you never see ice on the inside of your bed room windows, funny that, you did back then..

I suppose being an only one helped but I never had to ware a pair of trouser with a patched backside as a kid but I knew plenty that did...

I was the youngest of 5 brothers so you can guess what I had to wear.I don`t know about anyone else but I never felt deprived or poor.I think it was because most of the families were the same.The only designer thing I had was a snake belt handed down from my brothers.I can never remember being bored or hungry,not like now with the youngsters all you hear from some of them is I`m bored.

[soft ayperth]

[/b]

 

Don`t forget the cardboard we put in the shoes to cover up the holes.It was a bugger when it rained and you stood in the school corridor with you foot on the radiator trying to dry it.When we had a potato(hole) in our socks we turned them round so that the hole was at the top,uncomfortable,but,so what.

 

Don't remember the cardboard trick, but in those days most shoes had leather soles which wore down fast. You could stick on rubber soles when holes appeared and make them last. Also, cobblers (a rare sight nowadays) would re-apply new heels, which I seem to remember were made of rubber and easy to detach and re-attach.

 

Nowadays, if the soles or heels wear out (they're all one piece), people just throw their shoes away.

[darra]

You used to be able to buy stick on soles and heels from Woolies as well bit of DIY

[Kidorry]

Can you remember the white swimming trunks you could hire from the swimming baths?They were like wearing cardboard, and when you dived in,they dived off. We also used to take a diving block,a piece of hollowed out wood filled with lead,lethal if they hit you.

[grinder]

Those snake belts were very popular in the fifty's but I remember in the late forties finding a smashing thick leather belt with a brass buckle and a row of brass studs sticking out to fasten it, in the fields at the back of our house.

When I took it home my dad told me it was a horse collar, and nicked it to hold his work trousers up.

But I got mi own back later when he walked in with an ex telegram boys bike to take him to work, but we lived on the Arbourthorn back then and he was alright going down hill to work but he had to walk back pushing it up hill, so I don't think he minded too much when I claimed it.

My first two wheeler bike and even with the seat fully lowered I could only just touch the peddles with my toes, so he put blocks of wood on them for me to reach and peddle but I still had to stand on the step to get on it.

( He must have been really desperate to get rid.)

It was great having my very own two wheeler bike, even if the only way to get off it was to find a patch of grass and fall...

Edited February 15, 2015 by grinder

[Jim Hardie]

You used to be able to buy stick on soles and heels from Woolies as well bit of DIY

 

They weren't as good as shoes though.

[soft ayperth]

Those snake belts were very popular in the fifty's but I remember in the late forties finding a smashing thick leather belt with a brass buckle and a row of brass studs sticking out to fasten it, in the fields at the back of our house.

When I took it home my dad told me it was a horse collar, and nicked it to hold his work trousers up.

But I got mi own back later when he walked in with an ex telegram boys bike to take him to work, but we lived on the Arbourthorn back then and he was alright going down hill to work but he had to walk back pushing it up hill, so I don't think he minded too much when I claimed it.

My first two wheeler bike and even with the seat fully lowered I could only just touch the peddles with my toes, so he put blocks of wood on them for me to reach and peddle but I still had to stand on the step to get on it.

( He must have been really desperate to get rid.)

It was great having my very own two wheeler bike, even if the only way to get off it was to find a patch of grass and fall...

 

Until I was about 14, I was made to wear "braces," called "suspenders" over here, as my parents insisted that belts didn't hold trousers up nearly as well. I think it's a question of fashion, because I actually think my folks were right. "Braces" do seem to do a better job - or is it my paunch that the belt has trouble navigating?

[Kidorry]

This brought a few memories back.

remember the cheese of my childhood,

And the bread that we cut with a knife,

When the children helped with the housework,

And the men went to work not the wife.

 

The cheese never needed a fridge,

And the bread was so crusty and hot

The children were seldom unhappy

And the wife was content with her lot.

 

I remember the milk from the bottle,

With the yummy cream on the top,

Our dinner came hot from the oven,

And not from the fridge; in the shop.

 

The kids were a lot more contented,

They didn't need money for kicks,

Just a game with their mates in the road,

And sometimes the Saturday flicks.

 

I remember the shop on the corner,

Where a pen'orth of sweets was sold

Do you think I'm a bit too nostalgic?

Or is it...I'm just getting old?

 

I remember the 'loo' was the lav

And the bogey man came in the night,

It wasn't the least bit funny

Going "out back" with no light.

 

The interesting items we perused

From the newspapers cut into squares,

And hung on a peg in the loo,

It took little to keep us amused.

 

The clothes were boiled in the copper

With plenty of rich foamy suds

But the ironing seemed never ending

As Mum pressed everyone's 'duds'.

 

I remember the slap on my backside,

And the taste of soap if I swore

Anorexia and diets weren't heard of

And we hadn't much choice what we wore.

 

Do you think that bruised our ego?

Or our initiative was destroyed?

We ate what was put on the table

And I think life was better enjoyed.