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Occupations That Have Faded Away

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Occupations i remember from my childhood

the coal man who used to come once a week with a sack of coal and put it in the coal house for my mom.
the bin men who used to carry the metal bins on their backs to the wagon.
snugs in pubs my dad spent many a happy time in them.
out doors me and my sister used to take the empty bottles back and get to keep the return money.
dinner ladies who used to walk round the play ground my mom was one of those and i became a dinner lady when my kids were small.
the milkman and the hum of the electric float my milkman has a noisy truck that turns up at 4am.
the rag and bone man we get the tat man now and his bloody noisy horn.
the old boys in the city centre shouting for the evening mail they used to frighten me.
the sally army and their brass band who used to walk down our main road every sunday afternoon playing you dont see that happen anymore
the nit nurse god she used to hurt and yes they still get TB jabs at school

I could go on all night but i wont for fear or boring you all but ive had fun trying to remember my childhood
 
The coal man has gone
The bine man chucks the bin anywhere like 12 doors down and lears at you when you come to collect it. Regardles it has the house number painted on it. SNugs have disappeared but the Town Wall Tavern here still ha the Donkey Box.
Remember pub singers.
We have to buy milk from the shop in plastic.
I think they might still shout Teeleegreeeph. We used to shout it and run ( and I worked there!)
The rag and bone man still blows a wacky hooter but on a lorry.
No Sally Army in the streets, they might offend somebody!
 
I recognize everything that has been said , and I to, would love to return to that safe and understandable world which has now sadly gone, and will never return. We now live in a world that I do not understand, where everything I was taught to be important and sacred is now derided and scorned. Like, manners, respect, hard-work, love of Queen and Country, good neighbourliness, live and let live, all these I learnt whilst growing up in the old city of Birmingham. No this new world is a complete mystery to me.
paul.
 
agree with you both nico and paul...progress i accept but dont have to like it and such a lot of the old ways of life and values are sadly missing...

lyn
 
I try to change with the times although I feel I am standing still and watching the world change. I try to make it fit me. Sometimes it does.I won't give in to it either.
My friends think I am a dinasaur with gadgets and things but at least it makes people laugh.
So I just make the best of it. My mate wrote a book, I know the title is too long and no one has published it so far but its called, Everything Changes but Nothing changes. I know what he means. I think. (I am in it too). We just got helped out of a ditch by 2 nice farmers. TOne my age one young. They were happy with the hearty handshake I gave the. I was happy to be out of the ditch us and the car in one piece.
 
paul stacey said:
I recognize everything that has been said , and I to, would love to return to that safe and understandable world which has now sadly gone, and will never return. We now live in a world that I do not understand, where everything I was taught to be important and sacred is now derided and scorned. Like, manners, respect, hard-work, love of Queen and Country, good neighbourliness, live and let live, all these I learnt whilst growing up in the old city of Birmingham. No this new world is a complete mystery to me.
paul.
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paul your a man on my wave lenth
i too struggle with this new fandangled modern world where everything moves at the speed of light and anything that has just came out is so yesterday five minuites ago
i too was bought up to use my manners respect my elders and never judge anybody untill youve walk a mile in their shoes
but unfortunealty in this modern day all these old fashioned values have gone out the window
however some of these modern day inventions are wonderfull like the internet im still confused.com with everything else that goes on around me and do wish that the past i know and love would come back but i know it wont.
Im still looking for a time machine if i do i will let you know :fat:
 
I was in 2 Tardises Tardi? One in Monmouth where Nelson was with lady Hamilton, and the Casino, of the Casino family, Casino Park, Dublin, little on the outide big on the inside. Don't know how they do it. I hear the Jewellers Arms is one too by the sound of all of you that meet in it.
 
I suppose all generations go through this "feeling lost" senario, my dad 'God bless him", ex- Birmingham copper thought the world had ended with the rise of the Teddy boy. I just feel that we have lost so much of what was our Englishness, and so very quickly that it has left a whole generation stunned somewhat. Don't miss understand me I am in favour of some change, it just feels that the haphazard and uncaring nature of some of that change in the past 10 years is so hard to cope with.
paul
 
They had us as voluntary ones when the newspaper I worked for used to employ its own drivers (now they are ad hoc) we had to go out with the van drivers when the snow was very deep, regardless of your own job, it was somtimes quite dangerous, so they could deliver all the editions. The payroll drivers were got rid off about 10 years ago. In return some of them would accompany me when taking the night safe to the bank. This also proved dangerous when someone got mugged. I never see delivery drivers with any mates around here. I remember builders' mates and plumber's mate.
 
caggyken said:
HI ALL
When i left school in 1950,many of the boys left
to be DRIVERS MATES. Does this still happen???
KEN
Click to expand...
Don't suppose there's much need nowadays with tail lifts, hi abs, containers, pallets and no roping and sheeting, besides who would pay for two men's wages.
 
nickcc101 said:
Pretty sure you're right Bernie, my memory fades with age and all the photos I've seen appeared black.
Click to expand...

A ex BCT buses now preserved........... The top the BCT blue, which I wrongly thought was "Cobalt blue" on the superbly finished 2548 a Guy Arab 1V from the early 1950s, the lower photo has to the right the pre war Daimler COG5, 1107 in BCT livery parked next to a more modern rear engined Daimler Fleetline in the lighter WMPTE blue.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/48235702@N06/7962830752/in/photostream

https://www.flickr.com/photos/48235702@N06/7962819628/in/photostream/
 
Not occupations that have faded away but have changed over the years.
The traffic lights were out at Chester road, Castle Vale on Saturday and it made me recall the times my policeman Dad went on 'point duty',
directing traffic in his white gloves.
 
Does anyone remember the man who used to come around sharpening knives and scissors? He always had a little cart which he pushed around the streets which had a seat attached to it. I saw a sharpening man a few weeks ago in a village close to us.
 
hi guys
there is one important trade i think is disapearing and that is the rade of stone masons whom do the inscriptions on our graves
its a proffession that the young are not going into ; lso the actual grave diggers themselves is all done by mechanical diggers
there is an art to the sign writers of stone masons i have been told now you can by card board coffins what ever next ;
so t might be the case we will all been taken apart for our parts and the flesh burnt ;
best wishes astonian;;
 
I few years ago I was talking to a funeral director in birmingham and they told me that nowadays most gravestones are carved by machine, and usually the only time a human gets to do one is if something has to be added to one already in the ground.
 
Nico said:
I remember they had a push button on the stairwell to ring the bell. Our buses were maroon with the Coventry Crest on the side, what colour were yours? The X68 I think still runs from Cov to Brum. The bus drivers made sure there route was legible on the front and the route number and it corresponded with the number on the back. Now they couldn't care less. I think they still wind them manually though and the buses have gone back to upholstered seats. The windows slid open. Now they shut with a bang and everyone has a heart attach. I can't remember when I last got a bus I walk a lot now or take the car.
If they took the corner sharp the shopping under the stairs and prams fell off. I used to will it as a kid. I lie=ked to sit over the wheel at the or the long seat at the front facing backwards, or upstairs at the front.
Their uniforms were smart and lasted forever I still have grandad's busman's badge and a photo of him in his uniform. The drivers wore a smart cap. Some clippies wore skirts. The ticket machines looked heavy on their long leather straps. I liked the way they wound the handle to punch the ticket and put the price on. I think it was nine old pence to town and four pence for me. The tickets were small and pink. My gran (dad's mum) used to try and not pay her fare if grandad (mum's dad) was driving but they still made her pay.
Nan told me at the bus club they had a parrot which swore badly. There were 2 clubs, one in the bus station where they had a cuppa (Pool Meadow) and another one.
Grandad had to give up as he injured his leg jumping down from the cab outside, he also went out at 4 or 5 in the morning, he cycled to the bus garage. He took a tot of rum on cold mornings.
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Over the last couple of years I have been involved with the Black Country Living museum's Transport Group mainly working with a small team restoring GEA 174 en ex West Bromwich Daimler but thats another story. The reason for this post is that usually at weekends in the summer the trolleybuses are usually in operation and I do both driving or conducting when either the regulars are not available or when they fancy a break. Trolley bus driving is nothing like driving a Diesel powered vehicle but for now thats another story but I well remember being asked to do an afternoon acting as conductor on the back of the Walsall trolleybus. I should point out that the rides are free we dont take fares but for obvious safety reasons someone has to supervise the loading and unloading and in addition ensuring there are no standing passengers and that everyone is seated before giving the two bells. After an afteroon of running up and down stairs counting empty seats I was quite exhausted and I like to think I am reasonably fit! It was only through doing this that I gave any thought to the tiring job this must have been. Remember I was only doing half the job and half the time!!

As for jumping out of cabs I think this is an art that has to be practised until eventual perfection is obtained, not unlike the training a gymnast has to undertake or perhaps even a ballet dancer, getting in I think it easier as you can see where you are going but getting out is different its a case of hanging on the both grab handles with one foot on the cab step plate then hanging there trying to find either the step which will be to the left of the wheel arch or, if like out trolleybuses they have a step ring on the wheel then either or both can be used but as I said its a practised art and one I have let to accomplish with a grace and dexterity.
 
Hi Bill,
I had the great pleasure of travelling on Walsall 862 at Dudley back in May, the trip had been in some doubt as a crew wasn't available but myself and my friend hung around for as long as we possibly could in the hopes of a trolleybus appearing with me even considering offering my services as conductor if it made the run possible!! Anyway it was worth the wait and was the highlight of my holiday...

Simon
 
We went on the trolleybus at the Black Country Museum. Owen was fascinated by it and would quite happily have been the conductor - he thought it was fun going up and down stairs but at 11 he is the right age to do it lol!
Sue
 
I eemember singing this song at school
Good King wenceslas looked out, in a Mini Minor
Bumped in ti a trolley bus and landed up in China

Sent Bill a personal message

and I went to the Black Country Museum when they 1st opened and we went on the tram, it was very nostalgic for my parents.
We couldn't persuade Nan to come, she was recently widowed then, The Bottle and Glass was where her dad used to go and the chapel was her chapel. She did like what she called chapel 'imms, like Will your Anchor Hold and To god be the Glort and Salvationist hymns. Mind you she als made funny remarks about ladies anatomy that stood out like chapel 'at pegs. And grandad used to make a joke that he was going to the chapel wheere they ad 'ondles on theere preeyer books!
 
Really pleased you enjoyed the ride, there are usually volunteers to man the buses at weekends when they run during the summer but occasionally there is no one available because of holidays ect. Its not been a good year in some respects as the Walsall 862 and Wolverhampton 433 have had problems with their braking systems 862 lost its electric (rheostatic brakes) and had to recieve attention and 433 was out for some time as it had the opposite problem ie its electric brakes were fine but it main hydraulic system with is part hydraulic and part nitrogen filled needed a top up and we had to wait until Mr Price from Wythall was available. At least with the winter approaching we can get everything fully sorted and additionally we are hoping that ex West Brom 174 will be finished, fingers crossed. Below is a link to how she looked last week......

https://www.flickr.com/photos/48235702@N06/8120204716/in/photostream
 
Nico said:
I eemember singing this song at school
Good King wenceslas looked out, in a Mini Minor
Bumped in ti a trolley bus and landed up in China

Sent Bill a personal message

and I went to the Black Country Museum when they 1st opened and we went on the tram, it was very nostalgic for my parents.
We couldn't persuade Nan to come, she was recently widowed then, The Bottle and Glass was where her dad used to go and the chapel was her chapel. She did like what she called chapel 'imms, like Will your Anchor Hold and To god be the Glort and Salvationist hymns. Mind you she als made funny remarks about ladies anatomy that stood out like chapel 'at pegs. And grandad used to make a joke that he was going to the chapel wheere they ad 'ondles on theere preeyer books!
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Hi Nico, thanks for your message, I can just remember the Bottle and Glass when it was still at Wordsley but it was not in use, I know a few of those Hyms you refer to my dad was keen on them I believe quite a few were written by a chap called Sankey but don't quote me on that, they all seemed to be the sort of Hymn you could have a good sing to and they must have rang out from many a Black Country Chapel on Sundays Passed and hopefully still do.
 
sistersue61 said:
We went on the trolleybus at the Black Country Museum. Owen was fascinated by it and would quite happily have been the conductor - he thought it was fun going up and down stairs but at 11 he is the right age to do it lol!
Sue
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Hi Sue, its ok untill the novelty wears off !!
 
Bill Parker said:
Hi Nico, thanks for your message, I can just remember the Bottle and Glass when it was still at Wordsley but it was not in use, I know a few of those Hyms you refer to my dad was keen on them I believe quite a few were written by a chap called Sankey but don't quote me on that, they all seemed to be the sort of Hymn you could have a good sing to and they must have rang out from many a Black Country Chapel on Sundays Passed and hopefully still do.
Click to expand...
Ah. Maybe it is Wordsley church my mum attended as a little girl. She told me she wore her best clothes and had to change in and out of them 3 times on Sunday. For Morning Prayers, Sunday School and Evensong. They were High C of E Nan insisted on the high bit as they swung insence and had midnight mass on Christmas Eve and called in everybody's house on the way home and were sozzled by the time they got home. The church had high pews she couldn't see over they had there own pew, her grandad used to fall asleep during the sermon. Granny gave the vicar a picture to hang in the church called the Light of the World I think it was? as she was peeved when the vicar put it in his own house.
Nan also liked Eternal Father String to Save, Count your Blessings, Take my Life and Let it Be. Blessed Assurance. Nice hymns.
 
I recall the cart coming round to sharpen your tool and scissors etc I think they were called Matturuse or something like that, wish they still came round always needing something sharpened, there doesn't seem to be anywhere local to take things
 
In our old carving sets we had a long round thing like a poker, the fork had a loose flap of metal to bear the weight of your finger, I know the long thing has a name, for sharpening the carving knives. Maybe you could sharpen scissors on them. Grandad used to sharpen knives on the step. I last saw one in the local production of Oliver, Knives ta grind!
We had a knife sharpener in our kitchen screwed to the table. It was metal and was I think like metal rows of upright loose discs side by side. You put your knife where they met and pulled. I loved doing it.
Nan said they sold milk by the jug in the street so if you were poor you could have a tiny jug. The milk lady used to give her a big jug for the price of a small one as she knew nan was hard up and had my mum. She often found some butter or a cabbage from an unknown person on her doorstep. When the coal was delivered it was tipped in to the street and you were allowed a certain time to get it in to your property so nan would be lugging it in a wheel barrow. If you didn't you got a fine. Nan's aunt used to paint her coal incase it was pinched. Or she would paint a washable line on the coal cellar wall to see if the coal went below the line.
I wonder do they stil have piano tuners? Mum said the best ones were blind.
 
Think it was called a steel, we still have a silver handled carving set that my Aunt left us but we have never used it, packed away in the loft somewhere.
 
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