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Gone out of fashion

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oldMohawk said:
Unfortunately not Lyn, it would be somewhere in southern England with the U.S, army parked up waiting for D day.
I had previously posted the pic in the D Day thread
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The BBC would probably use that photo to show that the roads have 'always' been full of traffic! They do like re-writing history.

My memories of skipping include girls being given fancy wooden-handled, ball bearing mounted (why?) ropes soon discarded in favour of cheap plastic washing line 'because it was faster'.

As previously noted mass street play by children is a rarity, in part because children are held captive in the home and only let out with siblings rather than being free to wander 'all day'.
 
Great Photo there. Wife and I only talking about skipping in the road and all the clever things some kids seem to do. Certainly could not do it today
 
Firecans as a 'street game' definitely gone out of fashion ... ;)
oldMohawk said:
Firecans ...
Every September in the 1940's the 'firecan season' started. We would find tin cans and pierce lots of holes in them and fix long wire loops to our cans so they could be swung overhead. Small sticks and pieces of coal were put in the cans and set alight. The cans were then vigorously swung over and over and the rush of air got a real good blaze going as we tried to make our cans glow hotter than anyone else. Occasionally a wire loop would break with the can flying off and everyone would have to dodge the mass of hot coals scattered everywhere. I don't remember any of our parents stopping us but there were no shiny cars parked in our road in those days. The season only lasted about a week, we probably got tired of hot coals dropping on us. Thinking back it all seems daft - maybe it was the war affecting us !
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Morturn said:
The modern days kids and a few adults use wirewool now.
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Reminds me of early days learning my craft in an electronics training workshop. An asbestos mat (it was a long time ago, they are out of fashion now) used for soldering practice on the bench, with a ball of wire wool on top. Charge a big capacitor up and then dip the terminals into the wool. Impressive spark and a glowing ball of wire wool.
Thinks, :imp: I have a ball of wire wool in the shed, and a concrete floor. And a capacitor. Hmmmm. Julie might be impressed. Or she might confiscate the capacitor.
Andrew.
 
Sitting on my patio yesterday, I was noticing the chestnut tree that hangs over one of my fences. There are lots of "conkers" on it and I couldn't help thinking about the fact that conker season for us kids in Aston meant going down the Bristol Rd to collect them. I have no idea if there were any closer by, but that was the way it was.
Dave A
 
"Proper" prams have gone out of fashion. I don't like these modern ones which are just carseats on a wheeled frame. the babies don't seem to have room to wriggle about and stretch. I had a second-hand pram but it was nice, in Summer there was a lovely canopy which I re-covered and there was a basket underneath for shopping. We had a wooden playpen too.
rosie.
 
Ok if shops are near, but not for going on bus. Someone came on the bus I as on the other day with one if the smaller versions and it was a pain to all concerned.
 
I used to walk everywhere then Mike (Can't anymore!).
The grandchildren had those buggies that look like deckchairs, easly folded, they are out of fashion too.
rosie.
 
adap2it said:
Sitting on my patio yesterday, I was noticing the chestnut tree that hangs over one of my fences. There are lots of "conkers" on it and I couldn't help thinking about the fact that conker season for us kids in Aston meant going down the Bristol Rd to collect them. I have no idea if there were any closer by, but that was the way it was.
Dave A
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We used to go to Handsworth Park, however the keepers frowned when we threw stuff at the trees to knock them down.
 
rosie said:
"Proper" prams have gone out of fashion. I don't like these modern ones which are just carseats on a wheeled frame. the babies don't seem to have room to wriggle about and stretch. I had a second-hand pram but it was nice, in Summer there was a lovely canopy which I re-covered and there was a basket underneath for shopping. We had a wooden playpen too.
rosie.
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Rosie, back in the day every everyone walked and did not have cars. We also did not have that plastic that are used today. My pram was a Pedigree (I think) brand I recall it being passed throughout our family.
 
mw0njm. said:
i loved the secret compartment in the bottom. and when the prams were no longer usable, off with the wheels and and onto a gowie
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The 'secret' compartment cover could be left out allowing older children to sit up in the pram. The hood supports could be used to string a row of coloured objects on a piece of elastic. Mothers were able to face and talk to the child while walking, (nowadays talking to the back of the child's head while chatting on the mobile!). The pram could sit in the corner of a room while the mother was ironing or baking with the child and mother able to see each other, the springing of the pram meant that it could be easily bounced to calm a fretting baby, useful if mum's hands were wet or dirty. The size of the pram kept the mothers off the buses and got them walking, no bare midriffed 'elephants' in those days! The expression 'tossing toys out of the pram' makes sense when considering the capacity of one of these machines compared to modern 'buggies'.
 
Two prams of the type which have gone out of fashion show in the old photo and other items but it was 70 years ago ... :)
oldMohawk said:
In the 1950s a mother and daughter push their prams across Wordsworth Rd at the junction with Coventry Rd.
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Today the buildings on the left still exist although somewhat changed.
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oldMohawk said:
Two prams of the type which have gone out of fashion show in the old photo and other items but it was 70 years ago ... :)
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The little girl's pram is clearly modelled on a full-size pram, the adults looks like an in-between pram/push chair, the push chair, like most modern buggies, putting the child in a sitting position. (I suspect that the back of the larger pram can be swung down).
My sister had a high-quality toy push chair that might have been made by Pedigree or at least under licence to them. I got great pleasure by folding the hood and handle down and pretending it was a train. The pavements by us were in a 2/3/2 slab pattern, giving three crack lines along the length, dividing the pavement into four tracks, the outer 'slow' lines and the inner 'fast' lines. Simpler times when one had to use one's imagination!
 
I was allowed to go to the chip shop on my own with my toy pram and bring them back in the bottom compartment, wrapped in newspaper to keep hot. The newspaper wrapping went out of fashion because it's not hygenic but I can't imagine letting a child do that nowadays either!
rosie.
 
Looks like it might have been a classy pram when first bought ...but these days not fashionable for scrap collecting!
oldMohawk said:
I saw a 'scrap man' today in his white van, not a bit like this 'scrap man' from the 1970's. Just thinking, 1970 seems like only yesterday to me !
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oldMohawk said:
Looks like it might have been a classy pram when first bought ...but these days not fashionable for scrap collecting!
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oldMohawk, we watch Time Team just about every night, we have the entire series on Amazon Prime so the 70's in the scheme of things is yesterday :cool: . My son in law who was born in Texas and quite into history sent me something about a mine in Cheshire that was recently (I think) found quite complete that was 200 years old! The night before we had watched something on TT from 1,500 BC. These comments are not intended to detract from anything.
 
oldMohawk said:
Looks like it might have been a classy pram when first bought ...but these days not fashionable for scrap collecting!
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Nowadays the major supermarkets in Birmingham will 'sell' the budding scrap metal dealer a collecting trolley for only £1!
Meanwhile the established scrap metal dealers are subjected to ever more controls or are forced to move premises to make way for new developments.
I must say the free doorstep scrap metal collection service in Birmingham is excellent, often stuff removed within the hour and not even requiring a phone call!
 
Over here, we sometimes have what I would translate as rubbish exchange days. Households will clear out the bigger items that they no longer consider fashionable in their houses, and leave a pile accessible by the gate. People drive about with trailers picking up 'stuff' from the piles, obviously just what they have been looking for. At the end of the day, the official rubbish collection service comes round with suitable vehicles and clears up. Looking at some of the stuff, it would have already been well out of fashion when I was a nipper in Brum. The equivalent of the 'Burco' boiler, old rocking chairs, chairs and settees with flowery covers and knobbly wooden legs, very ornate wardrobes, corroded tin baths, commodes (as in English, not French).

Totally off topic. 3 days of 42 deg C forecast here from today.

Andrew.
 
Brummie a long time ago said:
Over here, we sometimes have what I would translate as rubbish exchange days. Households will clear out the bigger items that they no longer consider fashionable in their houses, and leave a pile accessible by the gate. People drive about with trailers picking up 'stuff' from the piles, obviously just what they have been looking for. At the end of the day, the official rubbish collection service comes round with suitable vehicles and clears up. Looking at some of the stuff, it would have already been well out of fashion when I was a nipper in Brum. The equivalent of the 'Burco' boiler, old rocking chairs, chairs and settees with flowery covers and knobbly wooden legs, very ornate wardrobes, corroded tin baths, commodes (as in English, not French).

Totally off topic. 3 days of 42 deg C forecast here from today.

Andrew.
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Andrew, we have something similar, community garage sales where those in the same community sell their junk and flee markets where vendors sell the stuff they have picked up. Totally agree with your analysis, however we have a Neighbour that has a store called Classey Cat where all she sells is used consignment old furniture. I might add she does VERY well, even though I think it was outdated 40 to 50 years ago!
 
Over at 'Ghost Signs' mention has been made of 'Barbers Tea'. Has anyone else noticed how our traditional Barber's pole, (as in hair cutter), has been quietly changed over the years?

The story that I was told as a child was that barbers used to engage in the odd bit of surgery and their white and red pole represented clean and bloodied bandages. Look around now and for the most part the modern version is red, white and blue!

Who stole that bit of our history and why?
 
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