Those were the days

[pendodave]

Haha. Born in the 60s, can relate to all this.
1 week hol a year, down the A2 to westgate (near margate). 4 in the back of an 1100, 2 forward, 2 back.
If I went anywhere posh at the weekend, i was wearing at least half of my school uniform.
Never went near a restaurant. Ever.
Only pasta we had was spag hoops and heinz ravioli.
We had no money. The thing was, housing was (relatively) cheap, but everything else was expensive. So life wasn't quite so precarious, as long as you had fairly basic requirements. Employment seemed more stable.
Despite everything, I wouldn't swap my childhood for anything. Being born in 64 is probably my greatest achievement in life!

 

[Voyager EMH]

Born 1960.
Can't say I recall JFK assassination on the day - too young.
Winning world cup and Aberfan - clearly.
Robert F Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jnr - very clearly.
First men on moon - inspiring.
A grandmother in permanent residence with us and two older brothers, I think I was well looked after and always occupied and entertained.
Ate everything that was put in front of me.
Loads of hand-me-down clothes. Don't recall many new clothes apart from school uniform and shoes. Hand-knitted jumpers from mum and nana.
Heartbroken when nana died when I was 13. She was the last grandparent to go. No grandparents left at 13 was very sad.

 

[RichA]

I'd forgotten about mum's hand-knitted jumpers. Oh the horror!
Bare wires held in an electrical socket with matchsticks.

 

[Hobbit]

Born 1960.
Can't say I recall JFK assassination on the day - too young.
Winning world cup and Aberfan - clearly.
Robert F Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jnr - very clearly.
First men on moon - inspiring.
A grandmother in permanent residence with us and two older brothers, I think I was well looked after and always occupied and entertained.
Ate everything that was put in front of me.
Loads of hand-me-down clothes. Don't recall many new clothes apart from school uniform and shoes. Hand-knitted jumpers from mum and nana.

Can you imagine what hand knitted swimming trunks were like?

When wet, mega heavy.

When wet, inclined to end up around your ankles.

When wet, OMG did they itch!

 

[RichA]

Can you imagine what hand knitted swimming trunks were like?

When wet, mega heavy.

When wet, inclined to end up around your ankles.

When wet, OMG did they itch!

I always assumed the Billy Connolly bit about them was apocryphal.

 

[Hobbit]

I always assumed the Billy Connolly bit about them was apocryphal.

Oh I wish it was! Traumatised I tell you, traumatised. No such thing as childLine back then. I‘m sure I should be able to claim compo.

 

[Tashyboy]

Wearing a balaclava.
Duffel coats in winter with a silver streak done the sleeve where you wiped your nose when it run.
Then a crack off your mum
Coz you had dry snot on yer coat.

 

[Tashyboy]

Picking blackberries so you had enough jam for the next 6 months.

 

[Voyager EMH]

Picking blackberries so you had enough jam for the next 6 months.

Anything stopping you from doing that right now?

 

[Tashyboy]

Am at the side of a pool. There’s no blackberries.
Joking aside it would be nice to get one afternoon free to do it

 

[Voyager EMH]

I'd forgotten about mum's hand-knitted jumpers. Oh the horror!
Bare wires held in an electrical socket with matchsticks.

Mum plugging her electric iron into the light socket in the kitchen.

You could buy the adapters for this. Into the light socket it went, then a two-round-pin plug into that.

 

[arnieboy]

Born in 1953 so many of the posts ring true with my upbringing. Coins put in the electric meter and when the guy emptied it he gave cash back to my mum. Dad used to take the sitting room door off and use it as a pasting table. My parents never ever owned a car so our one week holiday was by coach to Butlins in Bognor, such great memories except for the night we kids were in the children's theatre when it burned down. Scared the life out everyone and made national newspaper headlines.
I could be here all day with memories if I could remember them!

 

[Fade and Die]

Anything stopping you from doing that right now?

Nothing, I picked a nice punnet full this afternoon as well as some apples whilst walking the doggo, hopefully the wife will turn them into something delish… a lot of Filberts too but I’m not sure when they are ready.

 

[clubchamp98]

Shopping every day for our tea.
no fridge so we ate fresh food every day.
left overs didn’t exist , footy all day meant you eat everything put in front of you.

 

[bobmac]

Reflective armbands worn for the 10 mile* hike to school in the dark winter mornings.


*After checking with Google Earth, it's about 0.7 miles but I did only have little short legs.

 

[Mel Smooth]

My mum used to tell me she ate worms as a kid, she was that hungry - I never did ask her if she was telling the truth, god bless her. But, she was the second youngest child in the family, 4 older brothers, an older sister, and a younger sister - who would be given away to my mums aunty to be raised. Father was a coal miner, and by accounts, a drinker and violent man - he was killed in a mining accident when my mum was 4 years old - leaving his widow to raise a large family while she herself was not in great health. There'd have been no handouts or payouts back then of course. I'd imagine life was tough, and the eldest lads in the family would have been out to work to try and keep them all fed.

For me as a kid, a visit to my grandmas would often be to experience some rabbit stew, tripe, kippers, and she loved a slice of tongue in a sandwich - a legacy of her life desperately trying to make ends meet I guess.

 

[Tashyboy]

Seeing as I am coming hime
In a couple of hours. Getting on a plane and being asked “do you want smoking or none smoking seats”

 

[Hobbit]

Reflective armbands worn for the 10 mile* hike to school in the dark winter mornings.


*After checking with Google Earth, it's about 0.7 miles but I did only have little short legs.

Ditto.

I Google Earth’d the distance a few days back only to find it wasn’t even a mile for me too. Seemed to take weeks to get home. I do remember walking home in shorts in the rain, and ending up with sore legs where the hem of the shorts rubbed my thighs. I went past 2 school fields, which meant no shelter from the wind that started in the Arctic Circle.

 

[Voyager EMH]

Walking through the snow to school in the freezing cold with wellies on and plimmies in the pockets of your duffle coat to change into. But in shorts. Always shorts.

 

[IanM]

Cycling the 2.8 miles to school in all weathers as you needed to be 3 miles away to get the free bus pass.

Some days I must have sat in class in wet clothes.