MandyAndy Posted July 21, 2010 Share Posted July 21, 2010 Don't usually read these, but loved this so thought I would share it. Sorry to all those who have seen it before. CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL WHO WERE BORN IN THE 1930's 1940's, 50's, 60's and early 70's ! First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they carried us and lived in houses made of asbestos. They took aspirin, ate blue cheese, raw egg products, loads of bacon and processed meat, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes or cervical cancer. Then after that trauma, our baby cots were covered with bright coloured lead-based paints. We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets or shoes, not to mention, the risks we took hitchhiking. As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags. We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle. Take away food was limited to fish and chips, no pizza shops, McDonalds , KFC, Subway or Nandos. Even though all the shops closed at 6.00pm and didn't open at the weekends, somehow we didn't starve to death! We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE actually died from this. We could collect old drink bottles and cash them in at the corner store and buy Toffees, Gobstoppers, Bubble Gum and some bangers to blow up frogs with. We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and drank soft drinks with sugar in them, but we weren't overweight because....... WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING!! We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on. No one was able to reach us all day. And we were O.K. We would spend hours building our go-carts out of old prams and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. We built tree houses and dens and played in river beds with matchbox cars. We did not have Playstations, Nintendo Wii , X-boxes, no video games at all, no 999 channels on SKY , no video/dvd films, no mobile phones, no personal computers, no Internet or Internet chat rooms..........WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them! We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents. Only girls had pierced ears! We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever. You could only buy Easter Eggs and Hot Cross Buns at Easter time... We were given air guns and catapults for our 10th birthdays, We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just yelled for them! Mum didn't have to go to work to help dad make ends meet! RUGBY and CRICKET had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!! Getting into the team was based on MERIT Our teachers used to hit us with belts or canes and gym shoes and bulliesalways ruled the playground at school. The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law! Our parents didn't invent stupid names for their kids like 'Kiora' and 'Blade' and 'Ridge' and 'Vanilla' We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned HOW TO DEAL WITH IT ALL ! And YOU are one of them!CONGRATULATIONS! You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up as kids, before the lawyers and the government regulated our lives for our own good. And while you are at it, forward it to your kids so they will know how brave their parents were. ________________________________________ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kelly58 Posted July 21, 2010 Share Posted July 21, 2010 Fantastic just about sums up the first 15 years of my life you forgot the bit about starting work just after your 15th birthday and living in fear of doing something wrong, and losing your job . Respect was shown and respect was given in return Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
art338 Posted July 22, 2010 Share Posted July 22, 2010 and we was too In the 20's we smoked dead leaves in scooped out acorns using straw for the stem. We learned about sex from our neighbour’s dog and the farmer’s horse. Warm milk came straight from the cow into a jug and down our throats without stopping. Apples were stored in the attic during winter Each time we ate the pet rabbit we had to choose another In the hot weather food would turn rancid Weevils in the flour and maggots on the meat Our bread and cheese was eating hawthorn shoots Any salad would consist of dandelion and plantain leaves All our water came from the garden well where often a dead frog floated. Elderberries and Blackberries made our wine and our puddings The bucket toilet was emptied after dark in the garden, upon which vegetables grew to perfection. There were no street lights. At school we had slates and wrote with chalk Girls were silly and boys were proper. No one had a garage, the bicycle were kept in the coal shed. Mobile heating was a paraffin stove, our reading light was an oil lamp. A hot brick in a blanket kept us warm in bed in the winter The upstairs toilet was a chamber pot under the bed The bath was tin, stood on the floor, water was heated in the copper. House insulation was unheard of, potatoe sacks were used against drafts. Thick ice ¼ inch formed on our bedroom windows as the moisture ran down To see out we breathed hot air on a smal patch till the ice melted We never had holidays Father spent all his spare time down the allotment and Mother took in washing art Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malc d Posted July 22, 2010 Share Posted July 22, 2010 Sounds like Art had it easy. :-( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leon Posted July 22, 2010 Share Posted July 22, 2010 it was a simpler time, a better time when men were men and use to do fistycuffs, lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
howie Posted July 22, 2010 Share Posted July 22, 2010 Diphtheria, scarlet fever, tuberculosis, polio, rickets, nits, hob nailed boots that were either to tight and crippled you for life or to big, packed out with newspaper and chaffed your ankles raw, and that outhouse where you gave the front panel a good kicking first to frighten off the rats. Yep, fings ain't wot they used to be. 8-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duffers Posted July 22, 2010 Share Posted July 22, 2010 leon - 2010-07-22 9:35 AM it was a simpler time, a better time when men were men and use to do fistycuffs, lol I thought it was that when men were men the sheep were nervous :-> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
net-traveller Posted July 23, 2010 Share Posted July 23, 2010 duffers - 2010-07-22 6:39 PM leon - 2010-07-22 9:35 AM it was a simpler time, a better time when men were men and use to do fistycuffs, lol I thought it was that when men were men the sheep were nervous :-> Except for Australia where the sheep wear trainers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
art338 Posted July 26, 2010 Share Posted July 26, 2010 Leather football boots that were almost to stiff to walk in and the toe cap was so solid to be like steel caps, they regularly gave me black toe nails. When the leather ball was wet it weighed a ton, and when heading try and miss the laced up area for it would indent a depression in your scull and you suffered a headache for the rest of the weekend. art Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Syd Posted July 26, 2010 Share Posted July 26, 2010 Ah yes I remember the good old days Back then I bought a dog from the local blacksmith and when I got home with it the first thing that it did was make a bolt for the door. Those were the days Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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