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Bow fire guard.

I notice in the "posh" photo of the fire grate, table, etc. the meat mincer clamped on to the table. We had one of those which we kept in an old Jacobs cracker tin. It came apart into three pieces if I remember correctly. It was a much used piece of equipment and amazingly I have seen them for sale even these days. The flat iron on the table we used in our domestic science or cookery classes at Fentham Road. There was a special flat iron heating stove to heat up 20 irons for use in the laundry section of the class. I remember in the early l950's we had two electric irons in that class and we had to put our names down on a roster to use one. We mostly washed and ironed hankerchiefs and pillow cases.
 
You can still buy mincers here Jennyann. I've got one which Ibought when the BSE meat scare was in full swing. I would mince steak rather than buy mince with goodness knows what mixed up with it. There are also lots of old ones around, but they always look a bit grotty.
 
Di, I thought they were still around and that was a smart thing to do with your meat since you don't always know what is in mince. Old habits die hard but then those mincers
worked really well.
 
I fell out with my cousin once, and put all his lead soldiers through his Moms mincer. :-\
 
Astonion,on your posting Dec 2nd you mentioned Gordon Knowles, is this the Gordon Knowles who used to live in Webster Street?? my late brother Harvey Barr had been trying to trace him down as they used to be in the navy and would meet up on their travels. Brenda
 
Reply 25 & 27, its many a time as a small boy I seen my Gran BLACK LEAD a grate like in your pics Cromwell & have the spare mantles sit on the mantle piece over that grate just in Case the gas burnt out.
It was still the same when in 1946 we went to live with my Gran in Tower Road. She also had a large brick mounted copper boiler in the kitchen which you had to light a fire under to get hot water. "O" and then there was the out side LOO, "O" those cold winter nights with the radio times cut into neat squares on the back of the door. THOSE GOOD OLD DAY?
ASTON
 
Aston, do you remember "Hot water bottles" because if ya do, ya was lucky. We use to get blue bricks off the bombed pecks and stick them in the oven the side of the fire, then before we went to bed our Ma would wrap them in a towel an stick them in the bed to warm it up, before she covered us up with old army coats, I never saw a bed sheet till I was about 12. even the beds were ex-army.
But we always black leaded the grate every week with Zebra grate polish to make it shine as it was the focal point in the house............unlike today..........the main focal point is the TV
We all wanted to sit on the Fender or Bow fronted fire guard so we had a rota............
I have watched folk today trying to light a bar-b-que and smile...........they ain't got a clue with all the junk they try to use .........firelighters and bottles of liquid to squirt on to get it going .........but you have to understand they have never lit a coal fire.........which is so easy when ya done it all ya life
I am pretty sure that in the 50' the Black Lead was called ZEBRA add. below is before my time
 
And cleared the grate out next morning before you could re-light. :crazy2:
 
Mike, I think that was the job we all dreaded...........freezing cold........till the darn fire was lit
and trying to wash our hands in cold water..........The good old days.........Rubbish
 
Cromwell said:
Mike, I think that was the job we all dreaded...........freezing cold........till the darn fire was lit
and trying to wash our hands in cold water..........The good old days.........Rubbish
Click to expand...

I agree Cromwell, I'll stick to the Central heating, and hot running water, if thats OK with you all. O0
 
We had a stone hotwater bottle, but I prefered the bridk wrapped in a towel that my aunt always used. It stayed hot for longer, and didn't burn  you like the hotwater bottle. Lovely to rest your feet on down the bottom of a freezing cold bed.  :)

Black lead polish was Zebo, Crom.
 
How could you do that to your cousin postie - you must have been a bit of a devil LOL actutally I was too -

It so happemed my cousin had a large fort - Did have lead soldiers and I am a girl - if their heads came off would hold them on with a bit of match stick- played a lot of boy games
 
At 173 Tower Road , YES CROMWELL WE ALSO HAD THE HEATED BRICK IN NEWS PAPER & WE ALWAYS KNEW WHEN IT WAS GOING TO RAIN AS THE SMOKE WOULD BLOW DOWN OUR CHIMNEY AND FILL THE LIVING ROOM, THE OTHER SIGN WAS ALL THE PAPER AND STREET TRASH WOULD COLLECT OUT SIDE THE FOOD STORE JUST BELOW OUR HOUSE.
ASTON
 
I suppose you all had a draw-tin to get the fire blazing, there used to be a chap come round with one of those basket carriages, and it was piled high with 'Draw-Tins'
 
WE USED THE BIRMINGHAM NEWS PAPER PULLED ACROSS THE FRONT OF THE FIREPLACE, IT USED TO CATCH FIRE A LOT BUT IT DID THE TRICK.
THEN DAD MADE USE A DRAW-TIN SO THAT WAS ONE FIRE HAZARD OUT OF THE WAY. :angel:
 
We never had a draw tin .....but the daily Birmingham newspaper, which set on fire a lot
when we kids lit the fire, was used in the wintertime. There were no spare newspapers in those days, We had a newspaper in the am and one in the afternoon but the paper usually was all burned up in the fireplace. We used to screw up the newspaper and then put on some firelighters that we bought at the Newtown Market. It was a pain lighting the fire
without firelighters which didn't come along until the l950's.
 
We had a draw tin, dad made it. I was left one day while mom went shopping, I was to take the draw tin down when the fire was going. I sat on my usual perch, the wooden fender seat, reading my book and set the chinmney on fire. :-[
 
Now what did ya do when the chimmney was on fire..........? our Ma made us throw salt on the fire
For what reason I dont know
 
From about 1943 my nan always used a newspaper in front of a wide coal shovel in her middle room, but that was after she had her new fireplace put in. The old one was a big cast iron job, although the house was built as late as 1908.
Peter
 
To "draw" our fire up we used the sporting buff, then all sit by the fire , with Mom forever telling us that we would  get chilblains
 
YES COOPBILL , IS THAT NAME ABREVIATION ,FROM THE OLD COO/OPERTIVE NUMBER
WHEN THE BAKER OR THE MILKMAN CALLED AND GIVE HIM YOUR NUMBER WHEN PAYING YOUR BILL
ANY WAY GETTING BACK TO THE SUBJECT , WAS PETER,S NAN POSH , CO,S WE DID,NT HAVE A SHOVEL
TO DRAW OUR FIRE , BUT WHAT I DO REMEMBER IS .
THE OLD MAN USED TO USED THE SPORTING BUFF , BUT HE ALWAYS MANAGED TO BURN ON THE GRATE
AND SCORCH INTO FLAMES , OR HE WOULD HAVE HAD THE OLD B,HAM POST MAIL TO DRAW IT UP
EVEN THAT USED TO GO IN FLAMES
HIS FAVORITE TRICK WOULD BE TO MAKE FIRE LIGHTERS WITH NEWS PAPERS ,
ROLLED UP AND KNOTTED , WHEN THE FIRE STARTED AND GOT TO GRIPS HE
ALWAYS BANKED THE BACK OF THE FIRE HIGH WITH SLACK , WHICH ALWAYS CAME WITH THE COALMAN ,
AND IT LASTED FOR HOURS ,
WHERE HAS OUR NEIBOUR A MR AND MRS POLLY BRANT AT NO 4 HAD A CAST IRON BLOCK
WHICH THEY CALLED A BRICK .
THEY WOULD MAKE A COAL BRICK WITH THERE SLACK AND CEMENT ,
THEY SAVED ALOT OF MONEY
AND EVERY TIME THE COAL MAN CAME TO THE HOUSE
THE OLD MAN WOULD WHATCH AND COUNT THE NUMBER OF BAGS HE DROPPED
IN CASE HE SHORT CHANGED HIM ,
 
Astoian. no that was my Dad's non-de -plume he used on his betting slips(hence the sporting buff) he worked all his life for the co-op. as children my brother and me used to sit by the fire and roll up bits of news paper and smoke them like woodbine's "STOP PLAYING WITH THE FIRE"!!!!
 
Di.Poppitt said:
We had a draw tin, dad made it. I was left one day while mom went shopping, I was to take the draw tin down when the fire was going. I sat on my usual perch, the wooden fender seat, reading my book and set the chinmney on fire. :-[
Click to expand...
Just made my fire tonight paper ashes and the Daily Mail to Draw it . Its a Cracker tonight with the help from the logs from our woods
 
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