Topic: How old am I, and dont me rude.

[Borlotti]

How old am I?
Twin tub washing machine, mangle in back garden.
Baby Burco for boiling nappies.
Drying washing in the kitchen with the pull up wooden airer on cords.
Saving stamps bought at infant/junior school once a  week with pocket money or money from Dad.
TV (if you had one) had to get out of chair to change channels.  No day time TV. No catch up TV.
Bone stew on Monday with lamb bone and pearl barley. Going home for dinner from school at primary school.
Cold meat Tuesday, maybe shepherds pie, joint made to last all week.
Rice pudding, sago, semolina, tapioca (not out of a tin) all week. With jam.
Bubble and squeak (made with left over potatoes and vegs.)
Corned beef hash (with onions and OXO)
Big Yorkshire pudding half saved for pudding with jam.
Left over pastry made into jam tarts with home made jam and custard.
Bread and butter pudding, made from stale bread.
Helping Mum shell peas.
Always took a shopping basket .
Fountain pens.
Xmas day and boxing day holidays from work, not a whole week off.
Candles (for power cuts, not decoration).
No National lottery or scratch cards.
No dummies (but a lot of thumb sucking).
No microwaves.
Real loaves of bread, if you wouldn’t eat dinner, bread and margarine available, no-one starved one meal cooked for all.
Broken biscuits (sold cheap) if you were hungry.
No alcohol apart from Xmas, then Babycham.
No meals out, maybe once year for special occasions.
No pay day loans, but boss would give you an advance sometimes.
Cinema once a week, which was cheap and no sweets or drinks, but ice cream served in interval by usherettes.
Xmas stocking, always orange at bottom and a few sweets.
Animals, cats and dogs, mainly fed on left overs, cats only went to the vet when ill, apart from the injections as kittens.
No expensive Xmas presents for animals, and certainly no clothes for animals, they have a fur coat already.

[Wizpod.]

A very young 67 year old ?

[Deb P]

Basing my answer on my own memories I'd guess 56?

[Paulines7]

About the same age as me, I would think......... and then I cheated and looked on your profile.  You are a year older than me! 

[johhnyco15]

a good humoured level headed person so who cares how old you are 

just keep doing it

[lezelle]

Hi Ya, I reckon 10 years older than me. A lot of the things I remember, I didn't like Bread pudding so went without same if you didn't like dinner, I still like hash, bubble and pot mess, washing was dried in front room in front of open coal fire, waking up to ice on the inside of windows, My gran had outside loo, only cold water in kitchen no hot, a bath was tin in front of fire once a week, I still use a fountain pen, cinema once a month with a jam jar and 6pence, threepenny bits got 12 blackjacks. Helping grandad on allotment, perhaps that is where I got the bug, Yorkie pud with jam (home made of course and we still make our own now with the fruit from lottie mmmmm, My wife says they should rise but if I make them they are flat and just right for butter or jam. Sunday tea was occasionally salmon sandwich's and are still a favourite of mine now. I remember when my father complained as the price of petrol went up to 5 shillings a gallon, credit cards and debit cards huh! if you wanted cash go to the bank and cash a cheque, funny I still use cheques now and won't go internet banking as I can't bring my self to trust them. As regards shopping bags it's gone full circle as we take reuseable bags now so as not to be charged for them, sweets and a lot of other stuff served up in brown paper bags. Oh well some say good times but even people have changed now  buts that is another subject. No iPod's, computers or such, use a phone box, put your tuppence in and press button A to speak and B for refund. I tell my grandaughter about that and she looks at me as if I am senile, she could be right I suppose, no comments LOL. Nice one Borlotti brought back memories some good and some not so good.

[Palustris]

Well I can remember those things and I am 71. Being able to play in the street with few cars is one abiding memory. Horse drawn milk floats another.

[lezelle]

Hi Ya, you reminded me of more Palustris when you mention the horses as the rag and bone man as well as milk came round and my grandad would get a bucket and shovel to collect their manure for his roses. I remember the M1 motorway opening and going for a ride down it, you could count the cars on one hand. I wonder how many do things the old way still like I prefer. I had to contact a colleague on the computer the other day and it was back and forth like a conversation and I thought no way and picked up the phone, so much easier. perhaps it's time to move and leave the youngsters to it but they upped the retirement age so what can you do. Keep smiling

[woodypecks]

About 60?   Did you have a record player or a cassette tape recorder ?   

[Poppy Mole]

About my age I would guess 72/3 , all of these i remember well including outside toilets no running water (just a pump in the shed), or electricity, ice on the inside of the windows in the morning, and the steam roller mending the road, but we survived all that & are probably healthier for it today.
Happy New Year - keep breathing!

[Tee Gee]

Glad to see all you youngsters remembering the past I wonder if the youngsters of today will remember their youth? and if so what sort of things will they remember, perhaps their first mobile phone, X-box, texting & tweeting.

One of my memories was my Dad's army lorry which stood outside our house in daylight hours and went out at night to transport ammunition and bombs etc. I was king of the street because of this. Plus there was his BSA motor bike.

Then of course there was the blackout when every night you had to put up a blind that let out no light, if there was you would get a knock on the door from the warden telling you to seal it up.

As I was brought up in a mining area there were our after dark raids on the railway sidings collecting spilled coal.

But most of all we were outdoors as many hours as we could. It was not unusual to go out after breakfast (bread & jam and a cup of tea) until tea time and our parents never worried about us. We walked to school in rain hail or shine!

I remember 1947 walking to school and the snow was up to my waist and yes the school teachers were there too, a little snow or ice on the road didn't stop them.

If you were punished in school you never told your parents simply because you would get that customary non sympathetic reply.....you must have done something wrong to be punished often followed by another clout.

aH!! those were the days

Miss my Sunday night bath in front of the fire.

[pumkinlover]

I remember all of these. Especially my total delight at a tape recorder for Christmas in early 70's

[Beersmith]

Good puzzle.

Given that rationing continued for several years after the war ended, I reckon you'd have given that a mention had it applies to you as a child. So probably born after 1945. Twin tub washing machines started to get popular in the late fifties, and really boomed in the early sixties. So probably born before 1955. I too can remember national savings stamps while at primary school, and my earliest encounter with TV was in 1958. There was only one in our whole street, and it was some years later before we had one of our own.

All in all, I guess you were born in 1952 and are now about 64 maybe 65, or perhaps a bit younger.

I hope you don't think this insulting. It was interesting to reflect on how things have changed.
Many things for the better, some for the worse.

Cheers

Beersmith

[Digeroo]

Twin Tub washing machine?  I had one when I was first married and I am younger than you.
As a child we had a boiler with an metal thing to agitate the washing.  We had to stand there and agitate the handle.

Spam and pork luncheon meat.

The milk man with a horse.  He cursed when it went, because he could not whistle for the electric one to move up the street, the horse knew where to stop, said he had to walk twice the distance.

Liver on Wednesdays.

No electric fridge, milk in a clay box outside the back door, you had to keep the box wet.

Going to school by train.

Cardboard bus tickets with a device which went ping when they put a hole in the ticket to show it had been used.  Bus conductors: they had a pale green stripe down the side of their trousers and there were all sorts of rumours about how they got there.

Playing in the street,  Cars - not many of those.  No cars parked on the street and certainly none on the pavement.

[laurieuk]

Ica remember all these things plus a few more. I was in Sunday school hen war was declared my brother told the teacher that it was a practise and they let us go home but o the way the police  put us I in an air raid shelter until the all clear sounded. It really did snow in those days but we went to school having to walk as the buses stopped, Food was NEVER wasted if you did not eat it first time it was heated up next time, but life was good and times seemed better.

[Redalder]

I can remember all those things and sweet rationing as well - I would guess 70 ish about the same as me!  I bet you remember winter 1963 when we had to walk to school down a lane above but above the fence posts which were below snow level.

[ACE]

1963 lovely snow, I was home on xmas leave from the navy and had a message not to try and get back until I was sure I could get back, I waited until march. That  got me into trouble and was sent straight up on the artic patrol for 3 months. The longest winter I have ever had. But Borlotti must be an ancient old bird, not far from a telegram I reckon  ;)

[daveyboi]

I would guess late 60's to early 70's .

Strangely enough I was discussing a similar topic with a friend and we both worked in bakeries around the 60's and the things that have come and gone. For example some of the specialist breads we used to make such as Bermaline, Vitbe, Slimcea, Procea and milk bread.

Then we get into all the other things that have shown progress during the intervening years. Some of the crazy adverts like for smash for example.

However one thing that still sticks in my memory is when about 8 years old going to my grandfather's allotment and him digging up the rhubarb plant cutting it into 3 pieces with a spade and replanting it. Maybe that is what started my interest in growing plants.

My father was a pharmacist and I remember him hand making making pills which I now realise were most likely herbal remedies.  Also mixing up bath salts in the tin bath and filling bottles with methylated spirits from ten gallon drums without a funnel. It is very rare to see the big glass bottles of coloured water in the window that used to signify a pharmacy these days.

[Paulines7]

However one thing that still sticks in my memory is when about 8 years old going to my grandfather's allotment and him digging up the rhubarb plant cutting it into 3 pieces with a spade and replanting it. Maybe that is what started my interest in growing plants.

It was my grandfather who inspired me and started my interest in gardening.  He had several acres of land in Kent, with many fruit trees including huge cherry trees that lined the drive.  I was only five or six when he died but the memory of him and his garden will always be with me.  He grew every type of soft fruit too and I learnt the names of them all.  There were strawberries, raspberries, loganberries, gooseberries and red, black and white currants.   

The plants I remember and loved most from my grandfather's garden, were Sweet Williams.  A lot of them had froghopper spit enclosing the small nymphs and I used to take them off using a twig.  I have grown Sweet Williams in my own gardens over the years and when they bloom, all those lovely memories come flooding back.

[Borlotti]

Well l have just made custard from custard powder, although must admit have used tinned custard in the past.Bought sponge xmas igloo cake from morrisons, reduced to 9p from £10, too much icing, which i cut off had a couple of slices and rest nearly went out for birds, but with plenty of sherry and custard, and mixed fruit, rasperries mainly from allotment and cream, lovely. My son cant believe the fish and reduced meals i have in the freezer, but i a  not overdrawn and he is .l am 73, and remember the winter of 1963 as we found a stray dog, frozen under our van at 11pm new years eve, called him jan, took him to police station but was never claimed, had him for 14 years.he must have got lost in the snow in a nearby park. I can remember never having any money in january but we managed somehow. Used to wash the childrens white school shirt and blouse out at night and iron in the morning, think they only had 2 and uniform was expensive then. Daughter in law has at least 5 of school dresses, blouses etc. Better go and lurk 2morrow night in morrisons and follow the man with the reduced yellow stickers.