Anyone who's read 'Tom Brown's Schooldays' will recall that the boys were given weak beer to drink in preference to (possibly contaminated) water.
One of the oddest things I recall from when I was a nipper was an 'outdoor' (off-licence) in Witton, run by an elderly couple. Usually the old man served, but occasionally his wife did, and whatever alcoholic beverage was bought she would advise us along the lines that 'temperance is next to Godliness'. Not that I bought booze when I was a kid (made up for it since, though) but I'd sometimes go and help my dad bring back the drinks if we had a party, or at Christmas.
Somewhere here I have my mother's 'Temperance Certificates' from when she was at primary school - Canterbury Road if I remember correctly. She hardly ever drank alcohol, and even a few sips of wine of Christmas sent her 'into a tizzy', as she'd have said.
Cheers!
G
One of the oddest things I recall from when I was a nipper was an 'outdoor' (off-licence) in Witton, run by an elderly couple. Usually the old man served, but occasionally his wife did, and whatever alcoholic beverage was bought she would advise us along the lines that 'temperance is next to Godliness'. Not that I bought booze when I was a kid (made up for it since, though) but I'd sometimes go and help my dad bring back the drinks if we had a party, or at Christmas.
Somewhere here I have my mother's 'Temperance Certificates' from when she was at primary school - Canterbury Road if I remember correctly. She hardly ever drank alcohol, and even a few sips of wine of Christmas sent her 'into a tizzy', as she'd have said.
Cheers!
G