• Welcome to this forum . We are a worldwide group with a common interest in Birmingham and its history. While here, please follow a few simple rules. We ask that you respect other members, thank those who have helped you and please keep your contributions on-topic with the thread.

    We do hope you enjoy your visit. BHF Admin Team

why did we not die

  • Thread starter Thread starter jake
  • Start date Start date
J

jake

Guest
i think we older ones who were brought up in the fifties were less prone to ailments and i think this is why, we built up an immuity to most diseases,
today they wrap them in cotton wool and are overzelous with cleaning and hygene,

According to today's regulators and bureaucrats, those of us who were kids in the 40's, or 50's probably shouldn't have survived.

Our baby cots were covered with brightly coloured lead-based paint which was promptly chewed and licked.

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, or latches on doors or cabinets and it was fine to play with pans.

When we rode our bikes, we wore no helmets, just flip flops and fluorescent 'clackers' on our wheels.

As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags. Riding in the passenger seat was a treat.

We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle - tasted the same.

We ate dripping sandwiches, bread and butter pudding and drank fizzy pop with sugar in it, but we were never overweight because we were always outside playing.

We shared one drink with four friends, from one bottle or can and no one actually died from this.

We would spend hours building go-carts out of scraps and then went top speed down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into stinging nettles at times, we learned to solve the problem.

We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back before it got dark. No one was able to reach us all day and no one minded.

We did not have Playstations or X-Boxes, no video games at all. No 99 channels on TV, no videotape movies, no surround sound, no mobile phones, no personal computers, no Internet chat rooms. We had friends - we went outside and found them.

We played elastics and street rounders, and sometimes that ball really hurt.
We fell out of trees, got cut and broke bones and teeth, and there were no lawsuits. They were accidents. We learnt not to do the same thing again.

We had fights, punched each other hard and got black and blue - we learned to get over it.

We walked to friend's homes.

We made up games with sticks and tennis balls and ate live stuff, and although we were told it would happen, we did not have very many eyes out, nor did the live stuff live inside us forever.

We rode bikes in packs of 7 and wore our coats by only the hood.

Our actions were our own. Consequences were expected. The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke a law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law. Imagine that!

This generation has produced some of the best risk-takers and problem solvers and inventors, ever. The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas. We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned to deal with it all.

And you're one of them. Congratulations!

Maybe you'll want to pass this on to others who have had the luck to grow up as real kids, before lawyers and government regulated our lives, for our own good.
jake
 
Sadly Jake we didn't all make it but an awful lot did despite the odds being against us.

Why didn't we die? Because that background of ours made us strong, teaching us, our bodies how to survive and invent.

Graham.
 
As a Fifties child, I watched the TV series, "Survivors" and wonder how todays generation would survive?
I live in a area where I know where there are fresh water springs,where to find shelter and food, can provide electricity using a solar panel with a 12 volt battery to light a house.We have gas and wood burner methods of heating, portable cooking stove and know how to make a compost toilet.

I know also how to live with little to no money, i'm on Pension Credit!!!
 
i was born in the fifties and as a child my mother washed everything by hand, we had no microwave ovens, fridges, or any of the modern conviences of today, myself and my sister had all the childhood ailments measles, mumps etc and we survived, we had no central heating, just one coal fire in the living room, times were hard but we were happy
i dont know how my children would survive now if all these modern convieneces were lost to them, i know i would aas they say been there worn the tea shirt and thrown it away
regards annie
 
Back
Top