Were you born in the 30's

[Don Madge]

We Are The Survivors We were born before penicillin, frozen foods, contact lenses, videos, televisions, frisbees, freebies and the pill. We lived before radar, credit cards, split atoms, laser beams and ballpoint pens. Before dishwashers, tumble dryers, electric blankets, air conditioning, drip-dry clothes, and before man walked on the moon. We got married first and then lived together - how quaint can you be? We thought a Big Mac was an over sized raincoat. We existed before house-husbands, computer dating, dual careers, when a meaningful relationship meant getting along with your cousins and sheltered accommodation was where we waited for a bus. We were here before day centres, group homes and disposable nappies. We had not heard of FM radio, tape decks, electric typewriters, word processors, artificial hearts, or men wearing ear-rings. For us, time-sharing meant togetherness, a chip was a piece of wood or a fried potato, hardware meant nuts and bolts and software was not a word. 'Made in Japan' meant junk, a stud was something that fastened a collar to a shirt and going all the way meant staying on a bus until it reached the terminus. Pizzas, McDonald's and instant coffee were unheard of. Cigarette smoking was fashionable, grass was mown, coke was kept in the coal house, a joint was a piece of meat you had on Sundays and pot was something you cooked it in. Rock music was grandmother's lullaby and a gay person was the life and soul of the party. There were four grades of toilet paper - The Radio Times, Daily Despatch, Daily Herald and the local paper. A money-box was called a penny gas meter. People had a wash-tub outside the home and ate their meals inside the home. Transportable lightweight baths could be used in any room of the home. The porn scene was a pawn shop, a handkerchief was a coat sleeve. Footwear was constructed of leather, iron and wood. A disc jockey was the national hunt rider with a back injury. The recycling unit was known as the rag and bone man. An alarm was known as the knocker-up man and NHS was known as the doctor's bill (6d a week). Debt and illegitimacy were secret. McDonald only had a farm, Central heating was an oven plate or a firebrick wrapped in a blanket. A duvet was your Dad's overcoat. A kitchen unit was known as a slop stone. The Top Ten used to be the Ten Commandments. We, who were born in the 30's, must be a hardy bunch when you think of the way in which the world has changed and the adjustments we have had to make. No wonder we are so confused and there is a generation gap. But we have survived!

[michele]

Nice one Don (lol)

[John H]

Hi Don, This reminded me of the Monty Python sketch "The Four Yorkshiremen". I wasn't born until the 40s but It bought back a few memories for me, such as the firebrick wrapped in a blanket to keep your feet warm when you went to bed, the zinc bath etc. I was the youngest of four so I was always last one in. My brother and sisters said they hadn't done a wee in the water but I never believed them. Times were different then, weren't they! Happy days!! John.

[lofty]

I was born in 1960 and we had a tin bath ! we got our first television in 1966.We didn't use news paper in our outside loo,we had that horrible tracing paper.

[colin]

You appear to be at least 118years old ;-)

[howie]

[QUOTE]John H - 2006-11-20 1:53 PM Hi Don, This reminded me of the Monty Python sketch "The Four Yorkshiremen". I wasn't born until the 40s but It bought back a few memories for me, such as the firebrick wrapped in a blanket to keep your feet warm when you went to bed, the zinc bath etc. I was the youngest of four so I was always last one in. My brother and sisters said they hadn't done a wee in the water but I never believed them. Times were different then, weren't they! Happy days!! John.[/QUOTE]Happy days indeed John, although memories can be very selective. Our zinc bath was placed directly in front of a roaring coal fire so while one side of you scorched the other side froze. To get around this you merely stood up and turned around which was no problem even though the fireplace was the focal point for the whole family with even relatives and neighbours wandering in and out and not giving it a second thought. In our case, as the youngest I was always first in and i,m afraid your fears are well founded as having a wee was my calling card simply for the benifit of my sisters who followed.