Wakes Week

There were times, in the 50s, 60s and the 70s, when whole towns in the North virtually closed - tumbleweed through the streets and so on (not really) - the reason was simple .. . in those industrial days, it made sense to close down a manufacturing plant for maintenance for a while, a week or a fortnight, and there was little point in having staff, workers, hanging around doing nothing so everyone (except the maintenance men - I don't recall any maintenance women, but, if there were, my apologies to them).  So, the whole workforce went off on holiday at the same time and places like Blackpool, Morecambe and, for the more adventurous, Paignton and Torquay became very busy.

Why didn't they all trot off to Spain and the like?  Because, back then, air fares were hugely higher than they are now and only the relatively well off could afford to fly.

Work longer? I don't think so!

I make no political point or comment about the recently announced shifting of the year at which people will be entitled to draw their pensions in the UK.

However, there is a complete misconception amongst younger people. I keep hearing that they will have to work longer but their comments are made against a lack of understanding of reality. The age people will be able to get their pension is now about 5 years later than it used to be – HOWEVER, many people nowadays do not start working until they are in their twenties whereas, back in the old days, many started at fifteen (so the same number of years worked);  additionally, the working week for office staff in the 60s was 40 or more hours and for factory workers around 45 hours (I am not talking about overtime, just standard hours) – ask yourself what the length of the standard working week is now; then there is the subject of holidays – as I recall, the normal entitlement in the 60s was two weeks a year plus (fewer) statutory holidays . . . and, in many cases, employees had to take their holidays when the company said that they could, not when they felt like it.

Have to work longer?  I don’t think so!

Tea dregs and reading the tea leaves

Have you ever wondered why some people always leave a bit of tea at the bottom of their cup or mug? The answer is tea dregs. In the days before tea bags and designer label coffee outlets, people made tea with leaf tea in tea pots. The making of tea was, for some, almost a ceremony with careful warming of the pot (I knew someone who warmed the spout in addition to warming the pot) before spooning in the correct amount of tea (one for each person plus ‘one for the pot) and then pouring in freshly boiled water; the tea was left for about 3 minutes (some people used to ‘mash’ the tea by stirring vigorously with a spoon) and then pouring the tea through a strainer; in the 50s, the strainer was metal with holes in it which was not as effective as the modern nylon mesh ones; because of the not 100% effective strainer, some small bits of tea leaf would end up in the cup and, as people did not enjoy these, they tended not to drain the cup and therefore left the tea dregs behind. Interesting to speculate why it is that some people drinking tea made with a tea bag (or indeed some who have never had tea made with leaf tea) still leave some behind – maybe it is something they have always done or something they have seen their elders do. Of course, it was the dregs left behind that allowed some people to “read the tea leaves”; the cup (with dregs) was turned upside down over a saucer thus allowing the liquid to drain away; the cup was then turned upright again and some people would claim to be able to foretell future events from the patterns the tea leaves (dregs) left behind.

Five to Ten

Five to Ten used to be on the Home service (which later changed to being radio 4) every weekday morning at the time its name suggests. It was introduced by a short piece of classical music which I can remember but, cannot, at this moment put a composer to. What was the programme? Trying to encourage good, I think; the following was never (as far as I am aware) on five to ten but it gives a flavour of what you might have heard: "Mary had a little rag doll - she loved that doll dearly and it seldom left her side. One day, Mary heard of the poor little children in (pick a country of your choice) who had no toys at all because they had had to leave their country because of war. So Mary sent her rag doll to the refugees. Now a prayer to thank our Lord for the generosity instilled in some humans"

Playing outside

Heard on the radio was something about some research which had been done which indicated that it was good for children to play and very good for them to play outside. Sometimes, I wonder why people bother to research the obvious. I doubt that there were many parents in the 50s and 60s who were not completely aware of this – children may not have thought in terms of it is good for me but they would have played outside because it was fun. Of course, while children played together, they also talked and learnt social skills which schools now often have to teach. Texting should not replace face to face conversation and playing virtual games should not replace real outside physical play.

Obesity

I was listening to people on the radio talking about the growth of obesity – one of the contributors was, I think, suggesting that most (or a lot of) overweight people were so because of genetics not because of overeating.  I know nothing about the subject but I am pretty certain that there was only one boy in my school of 600 or so who was called (albeit he should not have been called that) fatty – that was in the mid to late 50s.

You now have another 5 options . . .

Having just spent what feels like hours listening to a voice assuring me that my “call is important” whilst hanging on for the absolute privilege of speaking with someone concerning something which I pay for, I wonder if rose tinted memories are affecting my brain. Certainly the multiple choice answering systems – “you now have another 7 choices”- did not exist in the 50s and 60s but am I wrong in my recollection that one used to speak with real people who seemed to be able to deal with whatever was the query? Whilst I can remember endless irritation caused by my ear slowly melting while chunks of my life drift away, I don’t remember it becoming a problem until the 80s or thereabouts.

Rochers de Faverge, Saleve, Switzerland,

The last time that I remember being on the Rochers de Faverge would have been in 1951 or 52. It used to be somewhere to aim for if one was walking up the Grand Saleve fairly near Geneva. We used to get there, find somewhere to sit on the jumble of huge stones/rocks, make a hot drink using a little meta block heater and, most of all, try to keep the rather energetically inquisitive mountain goats away – still, at times they were preferable to the Swiss mountain cows which I reckon were about as friendly as an English bull. You can find pictures on the net of the Rochers de Faverge.

Sun cream

Was sun cream used in Britain in the 50s? I cannot remember.  I do remember thinking it a good idea to keep the sun off my shoulders by smearing them with olive oil; not a good idea, they fried nicely!

Paper bags and carrier bags

Can't remember when plastic bags started being freely dispensed at supermarket checkouts. I do remember a time when, if you were given a bag, it was a brown paper bag (I seem to remember white bags at bakers) and a carrier bag was made of thick paper with string type handles. Of course, back in the 50s and 60sw, people knew nothing about recycling or saving the planet so, as a matte of course, they used to take their own shopping bags with them and, if they forgot them, used to ask the grocer if he had a spare box.

Photography in the fifties and sixties

One of the huge differences between now and then is that, in the 50s and 60s, it cost each time you took a photo. You had to buy film – which was likely to be a roll of 127 or 120 size film on which you had sufficient to take, I think, 12 photographs; if you were rich enough to afford a 35 mm camera, then the choice was between a 20 or 36 cassette. Having used all your film, you then had to get it developed – which cost money – and then decide which of the pictures (which you had a negative of) was worth printing – and that cost money too. The result of all this was that each shot was carefully taken as it cost as much to take a bad photo as a good one. All the above relates to black and white photography. Somewhere along the line came the option to have, with 35 mm, colour slide or colour negative film – the slide, which gave a transparency, was viewed by setting up a projector and screen and boring friends and neighbours with your slides; the colour negative gave a colour print (more money).

Tea ladies and tea trolleys.

The tea lady, pushing the tea trolley, was an important part of offices in the 60s and 70s; I am sure that they were there in the 50s too. These wonderful people appeared at pre-ordained times and handed out tea to the staff – of course, the more important you were, the sooner you got your drink and the better was your cup and saucer. Huge teapots with tea leaves filled the cups through strainers. I believe that they slowly vanished in the interests of modernisation and cost cutting but, in my opinion, it was far cheaper to have someone bring tea than to have people leaving their desks to go and get their own. Bring back the tea lady!

Pottery bird call/whistle

It must have been in the early 50s or even in the late 40s that I saw and heard the pottery bird shaped and water filled bird whistle that produced an amazingly clear and realistic bird calls. I’m sure I wanted one as much as a current teenager wants the latest smart phone.

Holiday camps

I went to a holiday camp when I was about 7 years old. I think it was a Warner’s Holiday Camp and I think it was in or around Scratby in Norfolk not far from Great Yarmouth. I thought it was wonderful at the time and I guess it was for a boy of my age; I won a sandcastle competition and had a prize of a blue propelling pencil with the facility to pear through the end and see . . .  a picture of Mr Warner; one of my sisters also entered the competition and she didn’t win although, to be honest, her castle was much better than mine. I remember knobbly knees contests (for men), bingo (I think it was called housey housey) and a controlling loudspeaker system which told people what to do and when and, to summon you to eat, call out “ice cream, pickle and jam”.  The oddest thing about being there was that we flew over from Switzerland to go to this camp!

Picnics in the lay-by or at the side of the road

It used to be very normal to see cars drawn in by the side of the road with the occupants having a meal or a snack. Many did it with an element of style – folding table, folding chairs, little stove (probably a pressure Primus stove or one burning Meta tablets), kettle and, quite often, a tablecloth too. Some people would have tea pots and china cups and plates, some a vacuum flask; it was not unusual to see proper cutlery too. For many people, the journey to their holiday was part of the holiday and, even if they could not afford to go to a restaurant, they were going to eat in style and enjoy the experience. Of course, years ago, there were few motorways so most travelling was done on what we would now see as relatively narrow roads with a lot more bends than they have now (they have been straightened);  there were many more lay-bys, many more places where once could stop to make and have a cup of tea.

Calculators in the 50s and 60s

In the 50s and the 60s, the most widely available and used calculator was the brain, paper and pen. I do remember using plus adder machines which had rows of 0 to 5 numbered buttons on the top; does it go without saying that the buttons were mechanical, not electronic? These machines had but one function – to add numbers; the rows represented single, tens, hundreds etc and the addition of a number was done simply by pressing the appropriate key/button . . .but what of numbers over 5 you may ask – simple, for 9, hit the 5 and then the 4.  The result of the addition was shown on a mechanical numeric display. One had to be certain of what one was doing as there was no way of checking whether or not any number had been entered – for that you needed the even bulkier add listing type of machine where rows of keys, this time from 0 to 9, allowed the entry of a number to be shown on a roll of paper once the big lever on the side had been pulled – I think these machines allowed subtraction as well as addition. No, these machines did not fit into your pocket or indeed into a briefcase but, if you were going on an audit, you did usually pop one into the boot of your car. Because the brain was more often used, many people were able to do what would not be viewed as incredible things; remember that, in the 50s and 60s there were pounds (£) shillings (s) and pence (d) (12 pence to a shilling, 20 shillings to a £) but even so, it was not unusual for people to add columns of £ s d at the same time – just running their eye down a column and throwing a total at the end.

Macbeth, smoking, school

My school (a reasonably respectable grammar school) was putting on a performance of Macbeth – I had a minor part in it which involved rushing (with loads of others) from the back of the hall, through the audience, screaming and shouting as we stormed the stage; we mainly shouted “Avjo”, it being a battle cry of the school incorporating the headmaster’s first name.  Moving around the school grounds whilst my towering histrionic talents were not required, I did what many 14 year old boys did in those days – had a cigarette; a master walked the other way and his only action was to say that I probably should not be doing that.

Audits in the 60s

In the mid sixties I spent some time as part of a team doing the audit of Automotive Products in Leamington. The company had about 4000 employees on that site and some of their brands were Borg and Beck clutches and, I think, Lockheed. We stayed in the Directors’ guest house, a rather splendid country house a few miles away; excellent chef and silver service waitresses. I remember that there was a large heated garage in the grounds for the chairman’s chauffeur to park the Rolls. I also remember assuring a new member of the team that he should remember to bring his dinner jacket as one was expected to dress for dinner. He did . . . . sorry Arthur . . . .

Baby, toddler and children's clothes, gifts, accessories and furniture

Nothing at all to do with the 50s and 60s but we came across a really good shop selling great children's and baby clothing and accessories - in truth, there was something a little bit 50s and 60s about it as the level of courtesy reminded me of that time. In Chipping Sodbury - that's near Bristol in South West England - and they sell on line too.
http://www.littlemonkeysbabywear.com/

Coronation

It was 60 years ago, in 1953, but I remember it well. At that time, most people did not have a television set so the Coronation became a very social event as those with TV sets opened their doors to their neighbours - at least, that it was they did in Nursery Close, Shirley! We (my mother and my two sisters) went across the road to Mr and Mrs D and we all sat round in their front room watching a black and white TV. I remember there being toasts and I was allowed a small sherry. I had to concentrate hard not to laugh at some of the ceremonial where there was some religious chanting. A great day which left everyone feeling uplifted and proud to be British.

Brass and copper doorsteps

Copper and brass covered front doorsteps abounded in the 50s; by the time the 60s came, they were becoming less popular probably due to the fact they needed almost daily polishing.  The front doorstep, probably of stone or cement, was painted with a special red paid; the copper or brass cover usually, although not always, covered the middle two thirds of that doorstep.  It was a matter of pride to have that doorstep, the door handle, the knocker and the letterbox all shining brightly. Nice.

Fan belts

In the 50s and 60s, all cars had fan belts to drive the car engine’s cooling fan; nowadays, cars have electric fans.  One of the key differences is that the current fan only comes on when it is needed – when the engine reaches a certain temperature where it needs to be cooled – whereas the fans in the 50s and 60s were on all the time;  so what you may say – well, the so what is that driving the fan belt when it was not needed used power;  I remember disconnecting my fan belt during the winter months and seeing an improvement in MPG – in fact, the company I worked for advised people who had company cars to disconnect their fans. The other advantge of electric fans is that there is no fan belt to break and that was a common occurence back then when one of the favoured methods of fixing the broken belt problem was to get a stocking and use that - it worked!

Picture and dado rails

In the 50s, picture and dado rails were not fashionable decorations - they had a clear purpose. I am pretty certain that any house that I went into in the 50s had those rails. The picture rail was there - yes, you've guessed it - to hand pictures from; special curved pieces of metal hooked over the picture rail and cord went from there to the back of the picture or mirror - two hooks and cords to a picture. The purpose of the dado rail was to stop furniture, mainly chairs, from damaging the wall.

Proper Trains

The 50s - when trains were exciting, when steam ruled before the days when idiotic notions of having high speed trains pointlessly rushing to non destinations with only people on expenses being able to afford them. The 50s and 60s - when no thoughts of HS2 disturbed us.

Shoe fitting

As a child, the highlight of buying new shoes was looking at one's skeletal feet. You stood and stuck your feet into a machine, which I assume must have been x-ray, and peered down to see your feet and the outline of the shoes; the system ensured that the shoes you were buying were the right size. I cannot remember whether I ever used one of those machines when I was an adult so maybe it was only for children. When did they stop using them?

Uncle Mac and Children's Favourites.

Children's Favourites with Uncle Mac on the radio on Saturday morning in the 50s was the programme to listen to. I will try to remember the many regularly played favourites that recurred and add to them as you contribute and I remember more.

A four legged friend, The runaway train, How much is that doggy in the window, I love to go a wandering my knapsack on my back, The ugly duckling, The magic piano, I'm a pink toothbrush, The laughing policeman, Changing guard at Buckingham Palace, Hopalong Cassidy - now yours . . . . 

Petrol Prices

This blog is about the 50s and the 60s but the earliest petrol price that I can remember is 35p for a gallon of petrol and I think that that was in 1973. For those who do not know what a gallon is, that price equates to about 7.7 pence per litre. Can any readers add an earlier price - thank you!

Decorating

Don't know when the fashion of having feature walls started but I am pretty certain that, back in the 50s, a room was painted or wallpapered with all the walls being the same. The ceiling was white as was the wall between the picture rail and the ceiling. Dado rail? Think they had all been removed and it had not become 70s / 80s fashionable to put them back again. 

Deodorant creams

Odo-ro-no (or was it Odor-o-no) and Mum were, I think, just about the only deodorants available in the 50s and, in the early 50s, the deodorant was in cream/paste form which had to be applied with fingertips (care had to be taken not to rub one’s eyes or any other sensitive parts!).  Spray deodorants did not appear until the 60s and roll-ons remained dominant until the 70s. The choice for many people in the 50s and 60s was not which deodorant to use but whether to use one or not. Most men in the 50s and 60s would have viewed using a scented deodorant as being a bit girlie.

Sex education

I have a faint memory of a master in grammar school spending a short while - maybe 10 minutes - briefly covering the topic of sex largely by saying that we probably knew all about it already; apart from that, nothing. How did we all manage?

Crime and locked doors

There is often starry eyed reminiscence about the good old days; one of the recurrent themes is that, in the 50s, one could go out and safely leave the house unlocked. I do share that slightly biased view that many things were better back then but I have to ask whether the fact that the house was un-burgled on return was because people were more honest or because there was a lot less to steal! Maybe the fact that most women did not go out to work, staying at home to look after their children and husband had something to do with it and the much closer communities that existed then would have more easily spotted a stranger in the street.

"I speak your weight" weighing machines

"I speak your weight" weighing machines were quite common in the 50s and, I think, the 60s. You could often find one in a station and sometimes in a larger chemist.  The words "I speak your weight" were clearly visible and they did exactly that - you stood on one, you inserted your penny (? - might have been more) and after a very short while, your weight was spoken - stones and pounds of course, no metrication back then. The machines were quite large - the speaking was not electronic or digital and there must have been some weird and wonderful mechanics to select the right piece of recorded (probably on disc) voice. They were seen as quite cutting edge and there were many jokes, for example, where an overweight person got on to a machine and the machine made a derogatory comment.

Mowers

All you gymn going folk - how do you mow your lawns (given that you have any)? Well, back in the 50s and a large part of the 60s most people mowed their lawns without petrol mowers, without even electric mowers - what? No rotary or Flymo or self propelled mowers? A push mower was the thing and compared to today, it was hard - which is maybe why hardly anybody (other than boxers or aspirant Mr Universes) ever went to a gymn or even thought about it. Of course, we used to spell gymn correctly too.