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Growing Up In Brum - Roy Blakey Inspired.

Old Boy your post regarding the retarded boy and your grandson brought tears to my eyes, we had a boy in our street like that, but we did try and include him in our games, all the children in our small cul-de-sac played together and I was friendly with his sister who was 4 years older than me, and if he had a fit when her mother wasn't about she really knew how to cope with him, sadly as he got a bit older he was unable to walk or run about. He died quite young.
 
image.jpgTHE CAST IRON MANGLE.
Every Monday morning all around Brum.
Up early, Copper boiler filled with water and lit. After the water came to the boil it was delivered by pipe work or carried by bucket to the sink or the downstairs bath. The weeks washing was then dropped in and Carbolic soap, the washboard or dollie began to remove the dirt. Following the removal of the dirt the sink or bath was emptied of the Sud water and refilled with fresh clean water and all the washing was then rinsed.

Then out came the Mangle.
The washing was then removed from the rinse and transported to the side of the Mangle ( some times with the help from the Family Tin Bath ).
Mangles roller gap checked and then one by one the washing items were passed through the squeeze rollers by turning the hand wheel ( watch out for items with buttons on them , the rollers could destroy buttons in a wink).
After Mangling, items were hung out to dry on the garden or backyard ' Clothes Line '.
Chance had to be taken with the weather conditions. There were rainy days sometimes and on odd occasions the frost persisted all day. Giving up on these days, Mom's would eventually have to bring the washing back indoors. A typical comical occurrence on a frosty day would be for ' Dads ' trousers to be brought in totally ' stiff ' and could be stood up against one of the walls in the house.
Forced indoor drying meant that items had to be strung on the fireplace hob,the Fireguard, hung over the backs of chairs and the gas stove.
Looking back and thinking about those hardy Moms, it's worth a thought as we load our all can do, press button, automatic washing and drying machines.
Sketch : The Mangle.
 
THOSE NEW ESTATE PAVEMENTS.
( Exercise and Art for the kids ).
It would be seen on occassions, the Girls using the pavement slab staggered joints to do a sort of ' Hopscotch ' journey sequence as they made their way to school. Picking out the pavement slab patterns they would Hop, Spread, Hop, Spread, Hop, Spread continuously as they made their way to school. Plenty of giggles and laughs here.
The Boys using the same Pavement slab pattern might be seen 'Long Jump Striding '. Trying to clear as many slabs as possible between each jump stride.
Pavement slabs were ideal ( On a nice Summers day ) to sit down on and with their Chalks the kids could Draw and Colour their own bits of Art onto the slabs.
Yes, nice times.
 
Roy, when we couldn't afford chalk we would look round for a bit of slate which had fallen from the roof!!
Yes, happy days, when we were content to make-do in this way!!
rosie.
 
ESCALATION.
The Setting : The children are out in the street playing a game of ' Tig and Tag '. Tom is on ' Tag ' and is chasing to get a touch on Billy so that Billy is then on ' Tag '. They collide, Billy falls over and gets a very minor cut to his knee. Game carries on and Billie, still enjoying the game, occassionall wipes his cut knee with his nose wipe cloth.
SOMETIME LATER :
Stage (1) There's a knock on Toms house front door and Toms mother answers it. She's confronted by Billy's mother who tells her about Billy's injury and then begins to make accusations regarding how she thinks Toms behaviour has been.
Stage (2) Tom and Billy's fathers ' engage' on the same topic after they both arrive home from work.
Stage (3) The families ' fall out ' with one another.
Stage (4) Other families in the street take sides. More minor falling out.
END OF STORY.
The good news was that, in most cases, the neighbours ' fall out' got patched up and nigh on forgotten eventually but what always amused me in such stories was the fact that Billy and Tom had not had the slightest fall out in any form from begining to end whilst the ' parents fracos ' had been taking place and neither of them ever understood what the fuss was all about.
Ring any bells?
 
Thinking back, as a child, who remembers the Kaleidoscope? A three sided mirrored scope that was full of beautiful coloured pieces of paper. The most beautiful shapes and colours were interchangeable at the shake of instrument. I recall hours of looking at changing colours and shapes. Such a simple, but effective toy. Eddie.
 
I loved my kaleidoscope, the metal mirrors inside went a bit rusty and spoilt the effect, it was a bit battered as it had belonged to several cousins beforehand. There was one in the Charity shop the other day and I wanted to explain to the child who was looking at it rather puzzled, that you have to hold it to the light for it to work!
rosie.
 
You can still buy a kaleidoscope. It seems the things of yesteryear can usually be found in smaller towns and tourist areas rather than cities.
 
Perchance anyone viewing the thread hasn't experienced the random image patterns of the Kaleidoscope, here is one typical image to give some Idea of the spectacle be seen.image.jpg
 
It looks also that things have moved on a bit from the original hand held/ hold to the light versions.
Put your favourite tape on the stereo, pour yourself a glass of wine, switch off the lights, settle back on the couch, give the Kaleidoscpe a shake and enjoy.image.jpg
 
Always was one of the best times of the year for the kids. Two days of Snow and the school had closed its doors due to the weather conditions.
So, quick breaky, on with the Wellygogs, find a pair of gloves and out the front door sharpish. Meet up with the gang, have a brief Snowball fight and then on with the serios business of building the ' Snow Castle '.
Sketch : No time to hang about.image.jpg
 
I don't remember having a day off from school because of snow. In the winter of 1947 I remember trudging up the middle of the road to Aldridge Rd school through two foot of snow. I also remember spotting a sixpence in the snow which made my day - it's funny the little things one remembers.
They did let us wear our coats in class when the coke supplies for the heating ran low.
 
oldMohawk, I think you would be right regarding the schools staying open during the 1947 winter snow period.
Probably, during those winter periods of those years there was still that ' Battle on, no matter what ' attitude that had developed during the war years.
 
Hello Roy - I agree the 'battle on, no matter what' attitude you mention was common in those days. We thought it was normal to have frost on the inside of our bedroom windows, and to sit in front of open fires with our fronts burning and our backs freezing, and the ladies in the house getting mottled legs through sitting too close to the fires.
oldmohawk
 
"Find a pair of gloves"!!!!! I didin't have real gloves until I was older, one of Mother's friends from Church gave me a pair of rabbit fur ones...(still have them, shouldn't wear them!) and I had my Nan's astrakhan ones but the dog chewed them up. We made-do with old socks, or even plastic bags. Nan made mittens from old jumpers for best. I hated wellies for the red raw ring they left on chapped legs!.
My brother had a home-made toboggan with old brass curtain rail on the runners, he was good at making snowballs and snowmen, we borrowed one of Dad's pipes once, and put tiny pieces of coal in for eyes.
rosie.
 
Oldmohawk they were called corned beef legs as thats what they looked like when they had sat too close to the fire.
 
carolina said:
Oldmohawk they were called corned beef legs as thats what they looked like when they had sat too close to the fire.
Click to expand...
Hi Carolina - Thanks for reminding me I was trying to think what it used to be called !

rosie said:
"Find a pair of gloves"!!!!!
Click to expand...
Hi Rosie - I remember after long snowball fights without gloves we used to get the 'hot-aches', very painful until it wore off !
 
When I was growing up I used to make toast on an open fire with a toasting fork but sometimes dropped my toast into the ashes and then having to quickly brush the ash off before the toast got cold and was buttered. We were not allowed to throw a slice away so I got used to the taste of ash.
 
Both of them were awful mapolebaz. I remember them well. Also, the red rings around your legs when the deep snow entered your wellies and left a sore ring. aaaaah.
 
ENTER OR EXIT AT YOUR OWN PERIL.
During a prolonged cold weather period the family would gather in the only room in the house that had got a fire going THE LITTLE LIVING ROOM. Invariably anyone either entering or leaving the room ( mainly us kids ) would be firmly reminded with words that went something like " Hey, shut the door after you, you're letting the cold in, I shan't tell you again " or " What are you going out again for now ? "
Heck, it's like trying to get out of Alcatraz, I think I'll stay in.
 
Hi All,

My sister used to say "I will be glad when this fire has gone down.My legs are burning"

Old Boy
 
The things which kept us going when we were growing up in the 1940's was concentrated National Orange Juice which came in a small screw top bottle from which I use to have a little swig when Mum wasn't looking (lovely) and Cod Liver Oil and Malt thick on a spoon and you always felt it was doing you some good.
 
I remember those little screw top bottles with orange juice - what a delicious taste that was. Plus Virol which was like toffee. As we didn't get much in the way of sweets during the war, I loved my spoonful of Virol. Didn't much like the Scots Emulsion though or the cod liver oil - eek!
 
During the war, I was at a residential school, and we would be given Cod Liver Oil daily, after lunch. To make sure that we swallowed it, and could not spit it out, we were made to say 'Thank You'. On A Wednesday and Sunday afternoon, we had a Tuck Shop. If anyone had misbehaved, as punishment, they were not allowed to select a few sweets. Needless to say, everyone was well behaved on a Wednesday & Sunday. Eddie
 
OLD FASHIONED ' ODOUR ' REMOVAL SOLUTION.
I don't know how wide spread this ' technique ' was but I observed our Mom doing it on occassions.
Sometimes there was an unwanted odour that had got into the living room. This might have been brought about by various situations. Some examples that I remember were Cabbage,Onions or fish cooking smells that had drifted in from the kitchen and into the living room. Another one was the pet dog that had been out in the rain and was now lying down in front of the fire place and throwing off those ' pongy ' dog smells
MOMS SOLUTION :
She would set light to the corner of a piece of old rag and then reduce it down to a smoking smoulder. Into the living room she would come and then commence to ' waft ' it around the room.
Okay if you thought a singed cloth smell was better than the smell of cooking Cabbages or the smell of the dog drying out.
Never could make my mind up about it but one things for sure, you wouldn't be able to do it in most homes to-day, the Smoke Alarm would go berserk.
 
Hello Roy - You have reminded me of an old thread from 2009 which asked an important question about the old days. Probably could be updated !...:friendly_wink:
The Thread
 
Roy Blakey said:
OLD FASHIONED ' ODOUR ' REMOVAL SOLUTION.
I don't know how wide spread this ' technique ' was but I observed our Mom doing it on occassions.
Sometimes there was an unwanted odour that had got into the living room. This might have been brought about by various situations. Some examples that I remember were Cabbage,Onions or fish cooking smells that had drifted in from the kitchen and into the living room. Another one was the pet dog that had been out in the rain and was now lying down in front of the fire place and throwing off those ' pongy ' dog smells

Roy, you seem to have omitted one other culprit who could have been responsible for those pongy smells. I know my granddaughter always blamed the dog (with a cheeky smile)
Click to expand...
 
There might well be justification to do this wafting, though do not know if it would have worked. The stuff used in gas masks and other devices to absorb odours of other chemicals was partly (and is still sometimes) charcoal. This is wood that has been partially burnt and absorbs odours etc very easily. Possibly partially burning the rag produced the same sort of absorbent substance.
 
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