I don't think they would believe it nowadays?

[NormanB]

My father spent all his working life at the local coal mine, we had a ton( yes not a metric tonne in those days) delivered in a loose pile to the pavement outside our house once a month as part of his wages. As most of our neighbours also worked for the NCB walking down the street was an obstacle course as deliveries were often on the same day for each road. It needed to be shovelled into a wheelbarrow moved round the back to be dumped outside the coalplace and then shovelled in there. Two open fires meant our dustbin was full of just ash and tin cans, a back boiler meant constant hot water and a range oven heated from one of the adjacent fireplaces was where mum cooked, however bedrooms were freezing in winter with ice on the inside of the windows.....no not 1870 but as late as the 1970s
"Nostalgia's OK but it's not what it used to be. EEee by gum"

Wheelbarrow - ‘you were lucky’ we used two galvanised buckets. I used to move it from roadside to coal house for a shilling for a few of my neighbours from the age of 12. This was at a time when my pocket money was 6d (half a shilling). I felt wealhy.

 

[Sachakins]

Anyone missing the noise from their US Robotics modem, as it would dial up and connect your 16kb, mono green screen computer, which was half the size of the kitchen table, and then marvelling that you could download that massive 8kb file in just 45 mins.

 

[stuckinthemud]

No, but I remember my zx spectrum taking 5 minutes to download a 12k game off tape while listening to the data transfer in case the tape hiccuped and we had to start again.

 

[Oraclebhoy]

Shops closing early on a Wednesday.

Chap selling matches and laces down the high street.

50p in the electric meter.

Butchers having saw dust on the floor.

Black and white tv with a dial that you turned to tune a channel.

Having a physical lock on the telephone dial.

Bin men coming round the back of the house to pick up the bin bags.

BBC showing government guidance programs, one was the bed time routine showing a couple putting out pipe, fire guard in front of the open fire, switching off plug sockets etc...

 

[doctor Bob]

My dad bought me a summer season ticket to the local outdoor pool in 1976 for 75p

 

[doctor Bob]

I never had a whole can of coke, I had to share it with my sister, only had it on holiday, real special treat.

 

[Doug B]

Butchers having saw dust on the floor.

I drank in a couple of pubs like that in my youth

 

[MJP]

goose grease on chests;

Well I never! I'm in South Wales and was born in Neath, where I spent my childhood with my grandparents.

Their cure for a chest cold was goose grease on a piece of Welsh flannel, placed on the chest.

And now, in all my 74 years, this is the first time that I've encountered anyone else mention this folk remedy.

Takes me back.

Martin.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Fish and chips for 1/- (5p)

 

[Cheshirechappie]

I'm not that old (cough), but the first computer I ever saw was when I was 17. We got one at school; a BBC Micro, if memory serves. Just the one, between 600 pupils. You had to book time on it by asking a teacher, who logged your slot in an exercise book.

Couple of years later, at university, technology had marched on. We had access to a mainframe computer, which we programmed by typing punch cards, and presenting the resulting stack to a (very harassed) operator. Come back next day for the printout.

Later, at work, the drawing offices had row upon row of drawing boards. There were a few computers, but they had specialist operators and mere engineers were not allowed near them. There were girly calendars all over the place, half the office smoked, and mid morning and afternoon a trolley came round with a tea urn and a selection of the greasiest pies I've ever seen, under the command of a dumpy battleaxe who took absolutely no s--- from anyone, even the Principal Engineer. We weren't strictly allowed kettles, but blind eyes were turned as long as they were not too obvious. The trolley and battleaxe were replaced by vending machines in the late 1980s, but it just wasn't the same.

 

[Jacob]

We never had gas. Still don't have gas.

My grandparents never had electricity they only had gas. I can remember the smell (quite pleasant) and the spills to light the lights from the open fire they cooked on (range)- though they had a gas cooker and fire was used just for the kettle - as modernity kicked in.

 

[heronviewer]

I remember a pub in Invergordon in 1950. Sawdust on the floor and in big spittoons on the floor. I thought it was a bit like a wild west saloon !

 

[Jacob]

I remember a pub in Invergordon in 1950. Sawdust on the floor and in big spittoons on the floor. I thought it was a bit like a wild west saloon !

I remember a pub where all the beer was from barrels behind the bar tapped into steel enamel jugs. She didn't have a till - just a biscuit tin on her lap. Went decimal and she should have had two tins but made a bit of extra profit with one tin and sleight of hand. Barley Mow, Kirk Ireton. Or was it the Knockerdown? Some time ago.

 

[Jacob]

I remember no cars on our street. You could play marbles in the middle of the road. I say "marbles" but there were also "clays" - little red balls made of clay, worth ten to one glass marble.
Come to think there was no tarmac either, it came later. There were horse drawn deliveries - Coop Bread, and electric milk floats.

 

[Jacob]

I remember when no house on our street had a telly except one. Every Sunday all the kids on the street would knock on the door at 5 pm and say "is Peter playing?" because we knew he'd be stuck to Children's Hour and we might get invited in. Muffin the Mule and the Flowerpot Men etc

 

[Sandyn]

When the family visited my granny, four kids slept in one bed, two at the top and two at the bottom, so you had two pairs of smelly feet at your head. My Granny never had electricity, so at night when it got dark, the Tilly lamp was lit. There was something very nice about the sound of it being pumped, then lit. The sound of when it was running, the colour of the light and the adults chatting as I drifted off to sleep. I remember being very cosy in bed.

We lived at a Glenlivet for a while, every night when we were went to bed, my mum would give all the kids a big spoonful of sweet sticky malt out of a big jar. No toothbrushes in those days. As I write this, I can almost smell it. It was so nice. No wonder my teeth are rotten!

 

[Jacob]

When the family visited my granny, four kids slept in one bed, two at the top and two at the bottom, so you had two pairs of smelly feet at your head. My Granny never had electricity, so at night when it got dark, the Tilly lamp was lit. There was something very nice about the sound of it being pumped, then lit. The sound of when it was running, the colour of the light and the adults chatting as I drifted off to sleep. I remember being very cosy in bed.

We lived at a Glenlivet for a while, every night when we were went to bed, my mum would give all the kids a big spoonful of sweet sticky malt out of a big jar. No toothbrushes in those days. As I write this, I can almost smell it. It was so nice. No wonder my teeth are rotten!

We had Tilley lamps too (years later when we moved into a derelict house in the middle of Wales).They were really nice, not just the hurricane lamp shape - they had long brass stems and parchment shades, soft hissing noise, cosy smell, very localised light.

 

[Oraclebhoy]

What about buying a 1/4 bottle of whisky? Haven’t see one of them in a while.
And when everyone had zippo lighters, we sold small gel capsules that had lighter fluid in it.
One more, who remembers Woodbine?

 

[AFFF]

I remember when there where only 2 channels on TV. BBC & ITV and you needed separate aerials to receive the signals. Kids TV consisted of "Children's Hour" 5 - 6pm. Blue Peter with Valerie Singleton and Christopher Trace, Animal Magic (god bless Johnnie Morris!) Tales from the River Bank, and a really weird eastern european program called the Singing Ringing Tree that used to frighten the wits out of me! ITV had How and then Magpie. Susan Stranks was my first crush. Happy days ......

 

[ian_in_the_midlands]

My lad of 10 was amazed yesterday when I told him that old cars could start by turning the engine over with a starting handle.
We had to visit YouTube before he would believe me.