General Chat

The house we lived in only had one room, no kitchen, the fireplace was a range on which you heated water and cooked. No inside toilet and like Sue In Leeds we had a good 30 foot dash.

We did not have electricity so the radio was one of those crystal receiver things and lights were by gas mantles, we had no running water inside the house, the tap was outside, no bedrooms as what you had were three alcoves of the one room with curtains and the alcoves were where you slept, there were 5 of us, my grand father, my mother, my father, my brother and myself.

You washed your hands and face in a basin on a wash stand and when you had a bath it was in a galvanised bath tub that sat in the middle of the floor, when it was not being used it hung on a nail on the wall outside.

Most of the men in the village kept whippets or greyhounds and hare coursing was a favourite past time, the women kept hens, and we grew all our own vegetables - so you never went hungry ;-)

Back in our days we got fish and chips in Newspaper not Polystyrene.

We had to walk over 10 yards for our toilet so if you were bursting to go you had to run like hell just in case someone got there before you.

No cars for going shopping in had to drag bags of food home from shops..

We also had polite shop assistants not mouthy ones like that assistant sounded.

OK Bobtanian
I've been caught out - almost giving my age away. But those wretched baskets ripped my nylons as well, but it was easier as only one leg was ruined not a whole pair as with tights.

Didn't those baskets ever scratch your knees?

Tights???? Not in MY day they werent,
the only people that wore tights were Ballet dancers........

In MY day ladies wore REAL stockings with seams, and held up with suspender belts.

And the only women that wore trousers might have been Clippies
( lady Bus conductors)

Now it is trolleys being pushed by people on mobile phones ;-)

Remember those old shopping bags we took everywhere - invariably snagging our tights!

Wasn't it lovely when the plastic carrier was invented - probably by someone young at the time!

I still have a last - three sizes on it, man/woman/child - use it as a door stop. Also a flat iron. No one mentioned Blakies - hammed into heels of shoes.

The pig man came and collected swill. Stale bread???? bread and butter pudding/baby rusks.

AnnCardiff :-D :-D :-D

my Dad had a last and repaired all our shoes

PigletsPal - yes various versions have been doing the rounds for several years, but thought I would post it as just as a bit of fun to invoke a few bygone memories ;-)

tilet recycling was interesting - in the summer when we had eaten a lot of tomatoes, the seeds of those we had eaten germinated in the garden and hey ho - lots of tomato plants!!! :-D

we first had electricity when I was in the grammar school - up until then it was gas light downstairs and candles upstairs

no bathroom, tin bath, one cold tap drawing water from a spring across the road - when we had a hot summer and the spring got low we had to go over to the spring to collect water

I can vaguely remember that when we lived in in the miners rows in Glencraig we had an outside loo which was shared with our immediate neighbours.

It my memory is not playing tricks, it was constructed from corrugated iron sheets with a wooden door and on the inside of the door was torn up newspapers on a nail, the men of the families took turns at emptying it every week into a hole they had dug - as you say AnnCardiff that is what is called recycling.

Hmm why am I imagining the smell of Jeyes Fluid while I type :-D :-D :-D

They may have been hard times but they were good times ;-)

I wonder how much tonnage we do not recycle compared to 50 years ago. Also, countries that have also become wealthier over that period and have increased wrapping and packaging like USA, Canada, Australia etc.

Think it might be quite a shock how dark our shade of "green" has become. And where is it all dumped :-S

Must have been quite a few people with print on their bum :-D :-D :-D :-D

George :-)

This story has now been doing the rounds for about 5 years!!!!!

......and shoes went to the cobblers, unless they had a Phillips stick a sole...j

Back in our day the young cashier would have got a clip round the ear for not respecting her elders ;-)

And our toilet was in the garden closet with newspaper squares too Ann.

We also had no electricity until I was 5 and only one cold tap in the kitchen until I was 8 *shudders and wonders how the heck Mum managed 3 under 5's in that tiny farm cottage*

I think that old lady has a memory problem - back in the day we lways took a shopping bag with us - grocery shops did not hand out free bags - it was unthinkable not to have a shopping bag

Most things were recycled - pop bottles back to the shop, milk bottles back to the milkman

Even our toilet was recycled - every so often my Dad had to dig a big hole in the garden to empty it - now that is what I call recycling!!

Newspaper was cut into squares and hung on a nail in the toilet

:-D :-D

We have just stopped weekly bin collections. Now that sounds ok, but I am in the Rhondda. It is all tight terraces of houses so no chance of having bins - all the non-recyclable goes in black bin bags that burst open pretty easily. No back gardens often to put black bin bags either!!!

And that lady would have to pay at least 5p a bag in Wales. Farm Foods charge 55p for a good bag, and their 5p ones are hopeless. Morrisons 12p for a decent one, Asda best value at 6p - really good ones. Not been to Sainsbury in Ponty, but can imagine a security guard there prevents you from entering if you do not have your bags for life with you.

We are supposed to take our bags with us when we shop. But like loyalty cards and coupons, women take them, men don't :-( :-(