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It would be interesting to span more recent decades of " Growing up in Brum ". On this ' thread ' we see many ' posts' roughly covering some of the decades of ' Growing up ' in the 1940 - 1950s, the 1950 - 1960's and the 1960 - 1970's eras. It would be interesting I think to see some posts...

farmerdave, I had a little look round the Internet and came upon an input that referred to ' Blakeys segs '. It quoted " Some gents like them banged straight into new shoes before first wearing and some like to wait until heels are worn a bit. Either way they'll be grand. SOME GUYS ALSO HAVE...

THESE CONTRAPTIONS CAUGHT OUR ATTENTION. Period : 1940's and early 1950's. Around this period we began to see, here and there, these bicycles with an adapted strap on power assisted two stroke engine unit mounted over the front wheel. The thought of just sitting there on your old bike and not...

The " DOOR STEP ". This is the sort of ' piece ' that I believe we used to call a ' Door Step '. Photo :

A TOP PLACE TO GATHER. ( Late 1940's ). As young people we were always on the hunt for places and areas that provided the ' got it all ' experience. An area that we found, that more than fitted the bill, was Perry Barr. Our group started to centre on Perry Barr when we started to cycle from...

oldMohawk. You mentioning not using the word ' sandwich ' as kids certainly rings a bell. I definatley remember using the phrase " Can we have a piece please Mom" for requesting what was a one layer of bread with a bit of topping on it. Did you happen to run into these as well ? " Is there any '...

AN OLD BUS JOURNEY. Period around early Post war years. There was always something interesting to look at on any bus journey around the city. Sitting there on the bus it was pleasing to pass the journey time observing the city folk going about their daily activities and sometimes it was possible...

THE BOBBIE ON THE BEAT. Looking back I think there was a good relationship between the patrolling beat BOBBIE and the ' adventurous ' kids. We, as children, were taught by our parents to fully respect ' The Policeman '. I mind we children were occassionally ' pulled up ' by one of the patrolling...

THE LIVING ROOM. ( 1950's ). The one photo here depicts a reasonably typical 50's living room. Probably had just aquired the Television set and had been required to move the dining table over a bit to make space for it. The Fireguard was occassionally extra useful for Moms to dry bits of washing...

IT'S OUR HOME. I wonder, in terms of some of the ' Seniors ', if there might be a few ' memory comforters ' amongst these. THE LIVING ROOM WALL DECORATIONS. The " Ducks on the Wall " on one side and the " Blue Lady " picture hanging on the other wall. THE ROWS OF SHOES AND SLIPPERS stored...

OLD " FLASH " GOT IN FIRST. Ive been noticing on the media that another Science fiction film is on it's way to our cinemas. This one being another instalment of " Star Wars ". It brought to mind, as Pre-war kids , our first introduction to the ' space fiction film '. Our treat was the Saturday...

CONGRATULATIONS to the young pupils at Barr Beacon School, Aldridge, Walsall. It was reported in yesterdays Evening Mail that SIX of this schools pupils, aged between 11 and 12 years old, had achieved ' IQ ' test results higher than both ALBERT EINSTEIN and STEPHEN HAWKING. Ten more youngsters...

That's a great photo inclusion oldMohawk. That ' Grown ups ' worry and warning about kids playing in the street near to the ' drains ' definatey rings a bell.

A PONDER. Why is it that modern children seem to be less into communal fresh air activities than the children of past generations? I wonder if it might hinge on simple ' availability ' to kids of the past. When I think about it children of the past had every opportunity, every day , to get out...

GOT THE PENNIES BUT HADN'T GOT THE COUPONS. Period : 1940 - 1953. I recall as young children we would find ourselves now and again with this predicament. Moms had already used up the sweet coupon allowance for the week. One of the ' substitutes ' that the Moms tried to treat our taste buds to...

Another bit of old fashioned Backyard fun. The chances were that if the kids gathered in one of the Backyards and there happened to be a Broom and a long handled Mop knocking about then there was bound to be a ' Balancing ' competition about to take place. Developing skills ( Showing off ) would...

A PLACE TO COOL DOWN. This latest bit of a heat wave that we've just had brought to mind how as kids we found our own little way to adjust to it. For starters, most hot days we would go about things much the same as usual, street games and generally running about but eventually we would find...

COME AND GONE. Some characters and scenarios that have drifted into the past. ( Period : War and early Post War years ). The ' SPIV ' or the ' WIDE BOY ', the ' THE BOOKIES RUNNER ', the ' RAG- and - Bone man ', the workers ' SICK FUND ' and that ' CO - OP DIVVY NUMBER '. THE SPIV and the WIDE...

LOVELY PEOPLE. ( 1948 ish ). As a group of young men we spotted that a relatively new bus service had been introduced taking passengers between the Kingstanding Circle and Brownhills. Having already explored many of other area's in and around Brum we decided one evening to have a ride out to...

THE BACKYARD HAIRCUT. ( 1930's - 1940's or thereabouts ). The young lads definitely wouldn't welcome this monthly necessity . HAIR CUT SUNDAY. To keep things as cheap as possible Moms and Dads would go about trying to cut their young sons hair themselves. Cart a chair out to the backyard, get...