Life back in the day

[LionQueen]

Saw this today and thought you might like to see it. Can you add anything to it?

𝐄𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝟓𝟎’𝐬.
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 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!

[RightNow]

@LionQueen

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.

Pasta was around for centuries.
Origins. Although popular legend claims Marco Polo introduced pasta to Italy following his exploration of the Far East in the late 13th century, pasta can be traced back as far as the 4th century B.C. , where an Etruscan tomb showed a group of natives making what appears to be pasta.
Who invented pasta China or Italy?

While we do think of pasta as a culturally Italian food, it is likely the descendent of ancient Asian noodles. A common belief about pasta is that it was brought to Italy from China by Marco Polo during the 13th century.

Surely you Brits can’t be that far behind the times?!?

[d00d]

I think LQ’s post is about 1950s English mindset.

Pasta wasn’t sold & eaten. Then when it became a part of our lives it was called spaghetti. The pasta word has taken over in most cases.

[Bruce]

In the 50s the English were a nation of offal eaters. If you wanted meat you kept rabbits or caught pigeons and sausages contained so much bread you never knew whether to fry or butter them.

[Muddy]

We didn’t keep rabbits except as a pet certainly didn’t eat them ,we had a joint albeit small on Sundays Bacons butties were the norm and tasted pretty good back then.

[Melgal70]

Well it’s all in the past(a) now. Geddit?

[Melgal70]

What about horses? Have you ever eaten horse meat?

[Mups]

No, I have never eaten horse meat knowingly, but there you used to be a bloke selling it off a market stall when I was a kid. I never saw Mum buy any though.

[Melgal70]

Maybe you actually have though. Remember the story a few years ago about IKEA meatballs containing it? Not suggesting that you eat that Nordic stuff, but that it might have got into other products that you might have eaten.

Edit- sorry. Overlooked your word “knowingly”

[MrFraggle67]

Nicked to post on my primary forum (not a tag in sight) as the folks there will really appreciate this, brilliant.

[Tedc]

In the 50s:–

The “Birch” was still around, to be used for naughty youths.

Kids played on the road outside their houses.

Cats and Dogs were tended by the RSPCA, People were treated by Doctors, who, believe it or not, came to your house!

At the time of the Coronation, only about 5 houses had a Telly! (in our small town of about 500 houses).

There was a magnificent shop, in most towns, called Woolworths.

Married, in 1959, and our Brand New, 3 Bedroom House, in Davyhulme, Manchester, cost us 1600 pounds! (My pay, good as it was, did not reach £1000 a year until 1964!)

Don’t remember the word “cancer” so much but everyone seemed to smoke like a chimney.

However, age 70 seemed to be a good AGE to get to!

Happy Days!

[d00d]

@LionQueen

𝐂𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐂𝐚𝐦𝐩, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐚 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞.

We had one of these. The water would boil, go up a central tube, hit the glass bobble fall onto the ground coffee …

And that reminds me of the Schweppes refillable soda syphons in a wooden crate. At Christmastime.

[d00d]

@LionQueen

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

Pineapple rings, or did they come later?

[Artangel]

My mother used to cook us rabbit, the very thought of it now makes me feel sick!

[carol]

Thanks for posting that Queenie. It made me feel all nostalgic.

As a very small child I remember when milk was delivered by a man with a horse & cart & the ladies had to queue up with jugs to get them filled from a barrel on his cart.

[scot37]

@Artangel

My mother used to cook us rabbit, the very thought of it now makes me feel sick!

Rabbit was was often our meal all through the forties. If it had been shot you had to to be careful and spit out the lead shot.

[Bruce]

Nothing wrong with rabbit, chicken was only something you ate at Christmas but it is quite a different situation these days. My old man gave up keeping rabbits when chicken became more common and affordable.

You still see rabbit in the butchers here sometimes but mixo and calici have made them less popular I think. I used to shoot them occasionally at work (spotlighting) many years before Howard’s gun laws made me get rid of my rifle.

[realspeed]

Rag and bone men in carts and people rushed outside for any horse droppings
no wearing of hats for men indoors

Light progran or hmone radsio stations
Radio Luxenburg for pop music if you could tune into it

[susan_m]

I remember TV starting at 2pm for 15 mins with watch with mother. Milkman had orange juice in tiny bottles on his cart we couldn’t afford it . Bus stops were much further apart than today walking to the next stop seemed miles . Television finished at 11pm I think and the national anthem was played . We all stood in the cinema at the end for the national anthem unless we ran out before . My first record was shout by lulu and dad smashed it because I played it over and over again !
Freezing lino on the bedroom floor and cold beds .

Kids stood to attention when anyone walked into the classroom

Little bottles of warm milk in class

I quite like modern life now

[Percy_Vere]

@d00d

Then when it became a part of our lives it was called spaghetti.

And usually came in tins - the modern version. - to be heated in a saucepan and served on toast