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Birmingham in 1950s

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I remember that purple lotion [permanganate of potash] I think was the namefor it,during the war I caught impertigo on my head I had my head shaved & my mother used to bathe the scabs off with hot salt water,dry the scalp then put the dreaded purple lotion on,I wasn't allowed to go to school or mix with other kids as it was contagious & it took weeks to clear up & as you say it's just a couple of tablets & it's gone.
Best wishes
 
I thought permanganate of potash was used for smelly feet. We had some in a tin but it was in dry form.
 
That's it Carolina. I remember it being prescribed in the 1950's mostly for impetigo. This is from the Wikipedia account about impetigo:
Impetigo, used primarily before the advent of antibiotics, but still useful to persons who may be allergic to penicillin, as it cleans the open sores and prevents spread of the contagion. I'm severely allergic to penicillin. Thank goodness they have other drugs they can use if needed!
 
Gentian violet is not the same as potassium permanganate, though both are used medically for somewhat similar purposes, and both have a purple solution. Gentian violet is a dye which stays purple on application, a fact I can vouch for havng had it used on me when I had severe sunburn in Ghana some years ago. Potassium permanganate has a purple solution, but after application its action as an antiseptic gives a brown colouration to the skin.
 
The 1950's was the BEST decade EVER.
1950 I was still at school until December 1952, got my first job Jan.1953, National Service came along and by 1960 I was married with a family.
With all that happened during the '50's, Rationing N/S, job to job very easily (You could walk out of one job, straight into another, no trouble)
I would love to do it all again, if the old bones would let me.:cower:
 
We watched the last episode of Call the Midwife last night. Brought a tear to me eye it did. That was the end of the 50's. The kitchen in Nonatus house is like mine. The sliding glass and wooden doors. Very practical. I rememebered the old cookers as well with the wiggly iron bits on the top.
In the previous episode the characters were dismayed when the non-discloure of the Dr's past which may have prevented them being considered 'fit' parents. When they came to to adopt the little baby in the final episode I felt sorry for the children left behind and the unseen baby's natural mother. Even the family history right back to my adoptive great grandparents was checked when I was chosen. There was two of 'us babies' and mum would have taken us both if they had let her. But I do relate to the prams and the furnishings the wayof life and the clothes from that period. You don't see any nuns around any more, not here at any rate.
 
The 1950's was the BEST decade EVER.
1950 I was still at school until December 1952, got my first job Jan.1953, National Service came along and by 1960 I was married with a family.
With all that happened during the '50's, Rationing N/S, job to job very easily (You could walk out of one job, straight into another, no trouble)
I would love to do it all again, if the old bones would let me.:cower:

I totally agree, the 50`s was a great decade. My first wage was £2.4shillings & tuppence, & with one of those lovely 10 bob notes in hand you could have a good drink & finish the night off with a curry. Like you say, jobs were easy to find back then, & when i realised my mates were earning £11 a week for factory work, i jacked in my job as a wages clerk & got a job at Roberts? rubber factory in Witton & on piece work you could make good money. Oh happy days (mostly)
 
My Missus always watches the "Call the midwife", sissy stuff, I remember the convent though near to 5 ways, in the 1950's, ("sisters of the holy Clare"), I think, you would always see two or three with those huge Whimples walking up towards King Edward V Grammer school, and there would be queues of people outside the convent at certain times waiting for food parcels I think.
 
Didn't find it sissyish at all, Paul. Made myself watch the labour throes even though it's not real, very good imitation though. They lived in such poor conditions with limited equipment and little expectations. I think I am lucky have made it in to this world. I don't know where our nuns came from there hasn't been a convent here for years.
 
Are the sisters of 'Holy Clare' the same as the sisters of 'Poor Clare'? The Poor Clare convent at Temple Balsall closed a couple of years ago. Not enough ladies becoming nuns apparently.
Batmadviv
 
Saw the Poor Clares on TV years ago. They were a very frugal order some took vows of silence and I remember they like playing football,. Little Sisters of the Poor has come to mind but I don't know why. There used to be St Josephs convent school in Kenilworth but it closed. They started off by selling the gardens to build houses on to keep it going. My friend went there. The nuns I remember seeing in a shopping area in Coventry in the 60's wore grey skirts sjust below their knees, flesh coloured stocking National Health glasses and showed a bit of hair. I think the wimples were navy pale with a white nit underneath. The only place I saw nuns regularly was in Dublin when the Pope visited.
 
I went to "Our Lady of St Rose", Gregory Avenue, Weoley Castle, facing the old Raven Pub, and I was taught by Nuns for 3 years.
 
My in law was taught by nuns she loved them but others who had nun teachers here in the catholic schools said they were sadistic. I met a nice nun on a bus in Dublin. After eeing the pope it was hysteria and the nuns got shoved off the bus, literally so I told this nice young nun too oush to get on. She wouldn't so I elbowed this old granny who was jabbing me in the ribs and I let the nun get on. Then we saw the pope again the same day. My reward.
 
Some very interesting posts but not sure the recent ones fit the thread title so folks if we can keep it on course I and my colleagues will be very happy Administrators. Don't want to be a killjoy but some may be deserving of a thread all of their own.

BernardR
 
This article written by Roy Jenkins MP for Stechford appeared in the Sphere in August 1952. It gives us a snapshot of the City on the brink of major development. Not all the pages are available, possibly the last two are missing from the archives, but it makes interesting reading. I like the drawings by Claude Muncaster. Viv.
 

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