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the bad old days
- Thread starter Astoness
- Start date
BordesleyExile
master brummie
It is particularly trajic that children had to go barefoot.
S
Stitcher
Guest
When you realise that vast numbers of people were all in the same situation, it would not seem too bad at the time. It is now when we can look back and balance what we have compared to what they had that makes it seem bad.
I watched a report from Nigeria the other day and a Nigerian said that the discovery of oil there has ruined the country socially and no one has morals any longer. His words were "we were better off when we were poor"
I watched a report from Nigeria the other day and a Nigerian said that the discovery of oil there has ruined the country socially and no one has morals any longer. His words were "we were better off when we were poor"
Jayell
master brummie
Lyn, what a wonderful, but sad photo. I wonder what became of those boys? I think you are right in that many of our ancestors were probably be in the same boat as those boys. When you look back at the census information and see how many were living in 3 rooms, with very little money coming in, it is unimaginable now.
Yes Stitcher, I would imagine that the vast majority were in this situation and they probably didn't think of it as we do now.
I am just reading a book called "Shadows of the Workhouse" which although it is a true story about the East End of London, really brings home the conditions which those children and adults, who had no choice but to enter the workhouse, had to put up with. They would try to avoid going in to the workhouse at all costs.
Yes Stitcher, I would imagine that the vast majority were in this situation and they probably didn't think of it as we do now.
I am just reading a book called "Shadows of the Workhouse" which although it is a true story about the East End of London, really brings home the conditions which those children and adults, who had no choice but to enter the workhouse, had to put up with. They would try to avoid going in to the workhouse at all costs.
Lloyd
master brummie
What a fascinating, if sad, picture that is. Study the boys' faces, there is a similarity in them that makes me think that there are brothers there - possibly the four on the left are siblings, likewise the three on the right. They have particularly sad expressions - surprising when they are being photographed - an event as rare to them as one of us appearing on TV. None of them look undernourished, either, despite their tattered clothes, dirty faces and feet. Is the one bottom left wearing wooden Clogs, by the way?
I'm not suggesting they are an early cast for 'Oliver', but suspect that real abandoned street urchins would have run a mile before being persuaded to stand for a posed shot by a photographer. I'd love to know the story behind this photograph.
I'm not suggesting they are an early cast for 'Oliver', but suspect that real abandoned street urchins would have run a mile before being persuaded to stand for a posed shot by a photographer. I'd love to know the story behind this photograph.
I keep coming back to this photo. It's a beautiful scene for all it's subject matter and zooming in on the faces one is struck by the wan look of hopelessness on them that I think would be hard for youngsters to fake. One child seems to have the mumps and all seem to be streetwise and street worn but what is the date I wonder.
lencops
gone but not forgotten
One thing stands out to me in the photo of the boys i am 79yrs and from when i started remembering approx 4yrs of age no poor children in Birmingham wore long trousers even made over long trousers were cut short, i remember some kids going barefooted but kids do that now i had my first pair of long uns when i started work at 14yrs, i don`t think they are from Brum if they are genuine. Len.
davidfowler
Exiled Brummie
Hi Lyn
Recently I've been researching my Nan's family. They came here from the East End of London and her eldest brother died at 13 of consumption in 1890. This made me research more into the living conditions and they were horrific. I can see in your pic just how most of our (my) ancestors would have looked then.
Recently I've been researching my Nan's family. They came here from the East End of London and her eldest brother died at 13 of consumption in 1890. This made me research more into the living conditions and they were horrific. I can see in your pic just how most of our (my) ancestors would have looked then.
davidfowler
Exiled Brummie
Might be my Nan's 3 brothers, they lived in Lambeth!
Graham
GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN
Lyn,
Thanks for posting that photo. I've only just seen it on the forum and it reminded me of my own youth in the 50's. Mostly we had shoes but there were no bottoms to them! We had to stuff bits of cardboard in them so that our feet were not on bare ground. Mum had the chance to get some army hob-nail boots for me but they nearly caused me to lose a leg. You can read about it here, https://www.birminghamhistory.co.uk/?article=misc/holidays/main
Graham.
Thanks for posting that photo. I've only just seen it on the forum and it reminded me of my own youth in the 50's. Mostly we had shoes but there were no bottoms to them! We had to stuff bits of cardboard in them so that our feet were not on bare ground. Mum had the chance to get some army hob-nail boots for me but they nearly caused me to lose a leg. You can read about it here, https://www.birminghamhistory.co.uk/?article=misc/holidays/main
Graham.
hi graham...i was thankfully never in that situation even though the eldest of 6 children...money of course was tight but this was in the 50s and things were not so bad...but it does bring it home to you and i could cry at looking at some of the children.....hope you had a nice brithday yesterday.....thanks for the links i will go and have a look at them
lyn
lyn
graham..ive just read about your hop picking days...brillient stuff..wish i had had the chance to do that...i was just thinking back and i remember our mom like so many others had to join clubs like blundells and the provvy like we had decent clothes and shoes...on many occasions i recall having to hide in the back room when they came to collect the payments as mom hadnt always got it.....but thats another story...at the moment i am trying to get my childhood memories sent off to carl chinn like he can publish them in a future issue...but just like your hop picking story i too could go on forever so i keep taking bits out to try to shorten it a little.....will get there in the end
take care
lyn
take care
lyn
Graham
GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN
Lyn,
Thanks for reading my hop-picking story, it was Rod that spotted it and asked me if he could add it to the main site.
Your reply reminded me of my mum and I having to hide behind the cupboard to dodge the Provy and insurance man. And seeing as I kept growing like a beanstalk mum made me go alone to Foster Bros on the Stratford Road with a Provy cheque for some pants and a jacket, one of the few times that they weren't 'hand-downs'. I was so embarrassed having to pay with a Provy cheque, the salesman looked at me as if I was a piece of s**t.
For a time in the 60's I was an insurance agent myself working for Wesleyan & General with a large 'beat' around the Bristol Road area. On my rounds I saw many hiding behind cupboards; full circle?
Graham.
Thanks for reading my hop-picking story, it was Rod that spotted it and asked me if he could add it to the main site.
Your reply reminded me of my mum and I having to hide behind the cupboard to dodge the Provy and insurance man.
And seeing as I kept growing like a beanstalk mum made me go alone to Foster Bros on the Stratford Road with a Provy cheque for some pants and a jacket, one of the few times that they weren't 'hand-downs'. I was so embarrassed having to pay with a Provy cheque, the salesman looked at me as if I was a piece of s**t.For a time in the 60's I was an insurance agent myself working for Wesleyan & General with a large 'beat' around the Bristol Road area. On my rounds I saw many hiding behind cupboards; full circle?
Graham.
lol graham...thankfully we were not one of your hiders on the bristol road...thinking back its amazing the things we and our parents did to make ends meet...nothing badly illegal as such but just little things...i have recalled some in my childhood memories to go to carl chinn so i wont say to much now but i bet we wernt the only ones....
lyn
lyn
Graham
GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN
Lyn,
I'm sure that this is not 'off topic' and I'll tell you a little anecdote from my Bristol Road days. There was one call I had to make each week on an old woman that lay all alone dying in her front room. I would call each week and the front door was never locked so after knocking I would enter. In a dark corner, there was never any light, the woman stretched out her thin bony finger towards a cupboard where her life insurance money always lay. I would pick up the money and mark her book. After a few weeks I couldn't take it anymore so I paid her insurance out of my own pocket and marked it 'paid'.
One day I was called into the head office and asked why this woman was still paying for her life insurance as she had been dead for some time! She had been found dead and the neighbours had handed her insurance book into the office. Needless to say her insurance was paid out in full, but I never stopped to think that she must have been worried that her payments were in arrears.
Graham.
I'm sure that this is not 'off topic' and I'll tell you a little anecdote from my Bristol Road days. There was one call I had to make each week on an old woman that lay all alone dying in her front room. I would call each week and the front door was never locked so after knocking I would enter. In a dark corner, there was never any light, the woman stretched out her thin bony finger towards a cupboard where her life insurance money always lay. I would pick up the money and mark her book. After a few weeks I couldn't take it anymore so I paid her insurance out of my own pocket and marked it 'paid'.
One day I was called into the head office and asked why this woman was still paying for her life insurance as she had been dead for some time! She had been found dead and the neighbours had handed her insurance book into the office. Needless to say her insurance was paid out in full, but I never stopped to think that she must have been worried that her payments were in arrears.
Graham.
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the silver fox
master brummie
No matter the era there are always rich and poor. I now view the affluence as being every bit as obscene as the poverty, and it is the same virtually everywhere; contrast the slaves with the slave owners.
There were a few pioneers who reached out to help; usually in those Dickensian days in Britain they were Christians of one hue or another. Every generation spawns poverty of one or more type and also generousity and caring too.
The cold mud on bare feet is exactly the same in Birmingham England as in Birmingham Alabama. The poor will always with us.
Ted
There were a few pioneers who reached out to help; usually in those Dickensian days in Britain they were Christians of one hue or another. Every generation spawns poverty of one or more type and also generousity and caring too.
The cold mud on bare feet is exactly the same in Birmingham England as in Birmingham Alabama. The poor will always with us.
Ted
