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Memories : Essence Of The 50s And 60s

sistersue61

master brummie
Whilst in moms loft - again lol - we came across her old Alfa sewing macine, still working except the light . It's classed as "portable" but weighs a ton although it is in its own case.
Sue
 
my old mom had one of those victorian handle jobs and she made all the girls dress's and shirts for me (she was trained as a seamstress) as a girl, and they were brilliant, many who had very little did this and mom always refered to the war and rationing so making your own was kind of an institution, she did this for others but never charged a penny.
paul
 
My late wife used to work for a bloke named Peter Flint, he had a shop that sold Alfa Machines. It was in Cov Rd at first but then moved into Muntz St.

Barrie.
 
Sue - I imagine that sewing machines are one household item which has not been superseded by electronic gadgetry, that they are still much as they were and that people still sew.

Chris
 
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Thanks ChrisM.
Paul, mom and nan used to make all my dresses when I was small and my school uniform dresses as the shop ones were always too long for me!! Mom still sews and knits now, but is using a newer machine that she was given by Micks nan just before she died. It was a newer machine than moms, as nan went to dressmaking classes when she retired, although she had always made her own clothes anyway.
I can remember mom making a long skirt and blouse for me to go to the 5th form dance - the 70's equivalent of todays proms and all my friends wanting one with the matching dolly bag too!
Sadly, I haven'tgot mam and nans talent, I can knit and sew passably but haven't got the flair for it that they had. Some of that because I always had them round to do it for me I guess, though I have just taken knitting up again.
Sue
 
unlike you sue my dear old mom has passed on now, but as a boy I can still see and hear her late at night,on the old sewing machine the clackerty clack sound she would not stop till she had made what ever she was working on. sorry I am little late in replying but your reply was not passed on to me. paul
 
Remember the days when we had no fridges or freezers? The pantry contained the bare essentials - a bottle of opened sterilized milk, a bottle of camp coffee, a pack of Brookbond leaf tea (collecting the stamps off the packet and the picture cards inside) a bag of sugar, salt, pepper, a pack of bachelors dried peas, a bag of rice and maybe the remains of a bag of Woolworth's assorted broken biscuits?

Shopping was a daily ritual and was carried home in sturdy bags in readiness for the evening meal, we walked everywhere and took a bus only if essential,and we communicated by stopping for neighbourly chats along the way. Urgent announcements were made by unexpected arrivals at the front door and sometimes by post, well after the event. There was always a constatnt stream of essential callers:

The Dustman - who actually collected what little rubbish we had from the front door - mainly a few tins and coal ash - sometimes hot and still smouldering
The Post Man - he delivered essential correspondence only - no flyers or advertising
The Pop Man - Corona and Alpine
The Davenports Man - beer at home - my Nan always gave me a sip too
The Baker - called at the door with a basket under his arm, usually containing seasonal extras - hot cross buns at easter, chocolate yule logs at Xmas
Milk Man - in later years also delivered potatoes
Insurance Man - always seemed to call at inconvenient times on payday evenings taking money and handing back various receipted books for policies on most family members
Gas Man - emptying the pay meter and handing back welcome refunds - never understood how mom and dad always over payed?
Electric Man - ditto
Coal Man - Carrying loads of hessian sacks up the path and dropping the contents in the 'Coal Ole. His arrival was imminent when the Coal ole contents were reduced to slack or the bits that wouldn't burn which my Nan called bits of 'BAT'
Rent Man - we never had one of these but knew many familys that did - he was always invited into the 'Posh room' that was never used!
Laundry Man - My Nan had the co-op laundry service. Sheets returned in immaculate brown paper parcels tied with pink string. As a kid the the tangled string was a source of hours of amusement untying the tangles and knots
Bleach Man - My Nan had 'Swan' bleach delivered. Big green port bottles with cork stoppers - was this local to the Sheldon are only. This was placed on a high up shelf in the outhouse with big bars of sunlight soap.
Window Cleaner - Used a ladder not like today with a pad on a pole!
Co-Op Mobile Grocery Van - always there for emergencies
Rag and Bone Man - always shouted old iron and announced his arrival by blowing a bugle. Would then pester my mom for an old jumper just for a balloon on a stick. Did they ever give out goldfish?
The Knife grinder man -
Gypsies - usually calling to sell lucky charms which my Nan bought to help with the odds on doing Vernons and Littlewod pools - so I guess we had a pools man to!
In later years we also had a man from Secure Homes who collected budget payments towards future bills

I vaguely remember an Onion man on a bike - or did I imagine this one?

And last but not least, the paper boy delivering the Birmingham Evening Mail, and Play Hour Comic and the Beezer

And the odd thing is I seem to remember that someone was always in when they called and my Nan always gave her callers some small change at Xmas which she called their 'Christmas Box'

One final point - the Co-op divi number was always written on the wall of the back door so there was no excuse to forget it when the baker, milk man and laundry man called!
 
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Hi Mbenne. Not heard of bleach deliveries before. Like you say, could've been local. Strange you should mention the 'Christmas Box'. Don't think many people do that these days. We always did for the Coalman, the Dustman, the Baker and the Milkman. Don't know how much was given to each though. Whatever it was, it was a gesture of appreciation. Can't say I'd want to get up at the hours of a milkman in those days, in all weathers too driving a cold, open-sided milk float. Viv.
 
Hi Vivienne - re bleach as we lived in Sheldon and it was Swan bleach I wondered if it was derived from the place of manufacture or bottling ie. the Swan, Yardley? The label on the bottle wasn't something that looked mass produced and bore the picture of a Swan on it. Maybe it was just a connection between a bleaching agent and the white down of a Swan and the location?
 
Frozen windows on the inside.
The Champions.
The sound of milk bottles being carried.
Shared national pride when England won the world cup.
Butter in a bucket of water on really hot summer days.
The man who lay on broken glass in the Bull Ring and passed his cap round for money.
Bag of crisps with the little blue bag of salt.
Father Christmas at Lewis's.
The Magic Robot.
Jublees and Lucky Bags
The Outdoor
World Cup Willy
Bubble Cars
Those orange stick things, trafficators that cars had before indicator lights .
330px-Armstrong_Siddeley_Sapphire_Winker.jpg

Gran turning the kitchen into a sauna when she boiled the christmas pudding for hours.
The smell of tripe cooking (now I really wish I hadn't remembered that).
Jumping Jack fireworks
Christmas food shopping in the Co-op in Birmingham...the crowds, oh the humanity...I want to go home mom!
The smell of gas at the dentist.
The sugar cube vaccine against polio.
Mrs Dale's Diary
That boy in school with the snotty nose who was nicknamed 'Candles'.
National Health wire glasses that kids wore with one lens covered up with a plaster.
Factory sirens
Those coconut mats with millions of needles that teachers made you gambol on.
The cane!
Tin bath on a saturday night.
Men wearing suits in pubs.
Bus conductors
"Penny for the Guy, mister?"...me on Aston Road North begging.
 
The Post Man - he delivered essential correspondence only - no flyers or advertising. And we had 2 deliveries a day!
No you didn't imagine the onion seller - he used to come to us when we lived in Knowle the last time being about 1980. Not sure if he was French or not but he wore a striped T-shirt and beret and spoke with a french accent!
We also had our groceries delivered - from Walter W White whose shop was in Olton Hollow approximately opposite what is now a Texaco Petrol Station. He used to come for the order on a Monday morning and bring the goods in the afternoon. (Lived in Olton then).
There was also a company called Empsons which delivered tea but we didn't use them for long.
 
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These smells are certain to transport me back to that time :


School
Back to school after summer and the smell of new paint - lingered for weeks on end
School dinners - usually cabbage on the air
Leather satchels
Wax crayons

Buses
Damp and smokey upper deck of buses on a wet day
Smell of mothballs on clothing especially on the bus

The Street
Smoking coal fires on a winter's night - both indoor and out !
Privet on a warm day
Creosoted fences on a warm day
Air dried laundry, nice and fresh

Food
Ovaltine after a session at the swimming baths
Liver and bacon for tea - still have this, but not many young people do
Fragrant sage and onion cooking, meant Sunday lunch
Grocery shops smelling of raw bacon and cheese
Lemonade and ice cream

Health and beauty
Smell of gas mask at the dentists
Mum's face powder
Ellerman's Embrocation



Viv.
 
The essence of my 1950s
I was young and fit, had fun, first holidays without parents. Left school one Friday and walked straight into a job on the Monday.

I picture a lovely sunny day in 1954 with three of us going to Southampton in an open top Triumph Roadster which had 3 front seats and two 'dickey' seats in the boot. We drove across Salisbury Plains listening to Guy Mitchell singing 'with a whoop and a holler and a dime and a dollar' ... no cares, no worries …
Sunday Jazz nights at the Dudley Hippodrome, Ted Heath with Lita Rosa and Dennis Lotus - Johnny Dankworth and Cleo Laine, - Ronny Scott - and lots more which many would not have heard of these days.

Sunday mornings were a bit of a drag with Billy Cotton and Family Favourites on the radio but afternoons came and off to town with a large crowd at the Gaumont Cinema.
Frankie Laine at the Theatre Royal, he was fabulous, and Frank Sinatra at the Birmingham Hippodrome when his career was a bit down.

Four or five nights a week ice skating ... :)

When I got home very late at night, I just walked in the unlocked back door, we only had one key.

Most young men had to do two years National Service, and that interrupted my 1950s but it was mostly good, the comradeship etc as we coped with service life.

It was not all good, I remember..
Terrible damaging floods in Lynmouth.
Devastating floods from the North Sea on the east coast.
First Hydrogen bomb test in 1952 ... some papers said it might 'ignite' the atmosphere..
Standing in a long queue after work in town for a Polio Jab ...panic very worried at the time … I knew someone who died from it.
A barber at Lewis's told me I was going bald and I needed 'electro treatment' … today I can prove he was wrong!
Suez Crisis … I was in the RAF at the time but it was all over in a week.
Serious radioactive leak into atmosphere at Seascale Nuclear Power Station.
Asian Flu Pandemic 1957 ... 30,000 deaths in UK ... no panic I can't remember being worried.

At the end of the 1950's the Prime Minister of the time said 'We had never had it so good'.
 
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I remember all those too Viv except Ellerman's Embrocation.
Also the smell of germolene , pink in a tin. Bubble and squeak and breast of lamb that my Gran always seemed to be cooking.
Old fashioned roses always take me back in time too. I used to try and make perfume with them!
And my lovely Dad's jacket smelling of beer and ciggies when he came back from the pub for his sunday lunch!



Viv.[/QUOTE]
 
I remember all those too Viv except Ellerman's Embrocation.
Also the smell of germolene , pink in a tin. Bubble and squeak and breast of lamb that my Gran always seemed to be cooking.
Old fashioned roses always take me back in time too. I used to try and make perfume with them!
And my lovely Dad's jacket smelling of beer and ciggies when he came back from the pub for his sunday lunch!



Viv.
[/QUOTE]
My Mother cooked me Breast of lamb once a week with boiled potatoes cabbage and onion sauce, still my favourite but my Wife, also my Sister at the time, hated it. Cheap meal in the sixties but not nowadays.
 
Oh you were posh with your onion sauce! Just breast of lamb, potatoes and cabbage for me. I always thought it smelt nicer than it tasted but I enjoyed it anyway. You liked it or lumped it in those days, didn't you? No room for fussy eaters :D
 
There were a few memorable health related issues...Purple faces because of impetigo. The taste of Scott's Emulsion...The smell of Suleo the head lice treatment.
Dave A
 
The Post Man - he delivered essential correspondence only - no flyers or advertising. And we had 2 deliveries a day!

First and second post, yes. And around Christmas they used to happen at odd times of day, more than twice?

There was a horrible thick pink medicine, but I don't know what it was.
 
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