Do You Remember?

[meatboy]

who can remember the only street lighting was gas lamps,we used to go down the back lanes and play docters and nurses,cant remember their names.

[onionluke]

I need an abacus to work out my score .

The Stylophone and "Do you know what it is yet kids ?"

2000AD comic .

The Dickies .

High waisters .

Power cuts and coal fires in a smoke free zone .

MZ motorbikes .

Aaahhh nostalgia for an age to come .

[lovelomsak]

Paying cash for everything no credit cards or atms.

When i was very young in rural Canada we didnot have electricity or running water,or central heating. Water came from a cistern,lights were coleman lamps,and heating came from wood stove in the kitchen. Mother used to have to heat the iron for pressing clothes on the stove. And Thais think they have it tough.Its cold in Canada.

[mario299]

14 out of 15....but I already know I'm old.

I was born in 1946 and these things are mainly from the 50's, so they are part of my youth.

P.S. Sorry, But I'm an Anerican so I don't remember any British stuff, so the Archers on the radio has no meaning to me.

Also an American I'm a bit younger than you, born in 1949, but scored a 100%. Times were a lot simpler then, and I miss it. We could play in the neighborhood until Mom called out, then home to dinner with the whole family. We discussed things together, we talked, no TV during dinner or any meal. In fact TV was secondary to many other forms of entertainment for us as a family.

We played canasta and gin rummy and some board games, my Dad taught me chess in the evenings, we built model cars and airplanes, my mom taught my sisters to sew and made most of our clothes. My Dad was a good mechanic with a lot of tools, so my brother and I learned the care and maintenance of many things. Life was quite good.

Since I have retired in Thailand, I do find myself getting back to more of the basics. I don't stress about time, don't carry my cell phone constantly, like sit-down meals with my family where we discuss things, and don't watch a lot of TV.

And if Mom calls out in the evening I come right home!

Full circle, perhaps?

[trevorg]

Post 53 Smokie - you, lucky, rich b*stard - a Grifter! In Ealing (Queen of the London suburbs) - only sons of Persians owned them when they came out! Even the local halfords weren't carrying them! What year was this and was it new?

I have 7 out of 10 on this poll checklist, probably would have had more, but was never a student baker, I did used to 'cellar boy' in the local sports and social from the age of 12! Previously I set up the chairs and tables and laid them out (and cleared them away) for the cricket teas in the summer and the football dinners in the winter. Unblemished record from 10-18!

[phomsanuk]

How about the half hour, including the weather lady, 6 0'clock news instead of the non stop drivel we have now..

[smokie36]

Post 53 Smokie - you, lucky, rich b*stard - a Grifter! In Ealing (Queen of the London suburbs) - only sons of Persians owned them when they came out! Even the local halfords weren't carrying them! What year was this and was it new?

I have 7 out of 10 on this poll checklist, probably would have had more, but was never a student baker, I did used to 'cellar boy' in the local sports and social from the age of 12! Previously I set up the chairs and tables and laid them out (and cleared them away) for the cricket teas in the summer and the football dinners in the winter. Unblemished record from 10-18!

Got it second hand Christmas '79 from my cousin....nah we weren't rich....but my uncle even had a car! A bloody nice car at that.

I used the bike for years after that...until I was around 14....and bought my own racing bike with the money I made from rasp and tattie picking.

Edit: This reminds me....we had a Raleigh shop in my home town...I wonder how many of those are left? I must check and see if its still there next time I'm back.

But even my racing bike was second hand....I rarely buy anything new if I can avoid it....old habits...

Edited July 27, 2011 by smokie36

[trevorg]

Post 53 Smokie - you, lucky, rich b*stard - a Grifter! In Ealing (Queen of the London suburbs) - only sons of Persians owned them when they came out! Even the local halfords weren't carrying them! What year was this and was it new?

I have 7 out of 10 on this poll checklist, probably would have had more, but was never a student baker, I did used to 'cellar boy' in the local sports and social from the age of 12! Previously I set up the chairs and tables and laid them out (and cleared them away) for the cricket teas in the summer and the football dinners in the winter. Unblemished record from 10-18!

Got it second hand Christmas '79 from my cousin....nah we weren't rich....but my uncle even had a car! A bloody nice car at that.

I used the bike for years after that...until I was around 14....and bought my own racing bike with the money I made from rasp and tattie picking.

Edit: This reminds me....we had a Raleigh shop in my home town...I wonder how many of those are left? I must check and see if its still there next time I'm back.

But even my racing bike was second hand....I rarely buy anything new if I can avoid it....old habits...

I concur, I've never had a brand new vehicle in my life, whether it be a bicycle, a moped, a car, a company car, a motorbike......! I've bought a few 'nearly' new from people who thought it was important and then realised that they couldn't afford it!

I'm extremely loyal to my vehicles, and should have had far more (on average for my age) - nothing spectacular, but I usually had/have a couple 'on the road' at any point in time!

[WarpSpeed]

14 out of 15....but I already know I'm old.

I was born in 1946 and these things are mainly from the 50's, so they are part of my youth.

P.S. Sorry, But I'm an Anerican so I don't remember any British stuff, so the Archers on the radio has no meaning to me.

Also an American I'm a bit younger than you, born in 1949, but scored a 100%. Times were a lot simpler then, and I miss it. We could play in the neighborhood until Mom called out, then home to dinner with the whole family. We discussed things together, we talked, no TV during dinner or any meal. In fact TV was secondary to many other forms of entertainment for us as a family.

We played canasta and gin rummy and some board games, my Dad taught me chess in the evenings, we built model cars and airplanes, my mom taught my sisters to sew and made most of our clothes. My Dad was a good mechanic with a lot of tools, so my brother and I learned the care and maintenance of many things. Life was quite good.

Since I have retired in Thailand, I do find myself getting back to more of the basics. I don't stress about time, don't carry my cell phone constantly, like sit-down meals with my family where we discuss things, and don't watch a lot of TV.

And if Mom calls out in the evening I come right home!

Full circle, perhaps?

They were around for the next couple of decades too.. I remember our first color TV and A/C unit too.. How about a push button phone from the old dial phone??

I'm an all around handy person too though my Dad didn't show me as much I'd like he4 was also pretty handy and now I'm passing that on to my boys as there's nothing like being independent and self sufficient..

Edited July 27, 2011 by WarpSpeed

[StreetCowboy]

How dismal was it, eh? The good old days - second hand furniture, getting dressed huddled up against the storage heater, falling on your arse on the ice at the turn at the foot of the road every morning on the way to the paper shop... Thank heavens my bairns don't have to go through that. Still, I suppose I should be grateful - it made me the man I am now.

The Grifter was the best of a bad bunch - I reckon that series killed Raleigh; the tomahawk was absolutely dreadful, the Chopper little better.

SC

[onionluke]

How dismal was it, eh? The good old days - second hand furniture, getting dressed huddled up against the storage heater, falling on your arse on the ice at the turn at the foot of the road every morning on the way to the paper shop... Thank heavens my bairns don't have to go through that. Still, I suppose I should be grateful - it made me the man I am now.

The Grifter was the best of a bad bunch - I reckon that series killed Raleigh; the tomahawk was absolutely dreadful, the Chopper little better.

SC

I was blessed . My paw pulled a frame out of a skip and built me a bike with wheels from Dales on Maryhill road and other bits and so on , it was a front brake only job and had cowhorn handlebars to look like a grifter . It was red and ready in time for my cycling profficiency test where the polis commented that it was a cracker even though it only had one break . It was so good and unusual looking I was always getting chased about by bams who wanted to steal it . Those grifters and choppers just couldn't keep up the pace .

Edit ; I still buy second hand furniture . It is a family tradition or written in an old charter somewhere .

Edited July 28, 2011 by onionluke

[trevorg]

I was about to launch into a tirade about how (American) Tomahawk bicyces and the Chopper and Chipper by Raleigh and then the Grifter were different, but I ran out of pedal power! Sorry!

[StreetCowboy]

How dismal was it, eh? The good old days - second hand furniture, getting dressed huddled up against the storage heater, falling on your arse on the ice at the turn at the foot of the road every morning on the way to the paper shop... Thank heavens my bairns don't have to go through that. Still, I suppose I should be grateful - it made me the man I am now.

The Grifter was the best of a bad bunch - I reckon that series killed Raleigh; the tomahawk was absolutely dreadful, the Chopper little better.

SC

I was blessed . My paw pulled a frame out of a skip and built me a bike with wheels from Dales on Maryhill road and other bits and so on , it was a front brake only job and had cowhorn handlebars to look like a grifter . It was red and ready in time for my cycling profficiency test where the polis commented that it was a cracker even though it only had one break . It was so good and unusual looking I was always getting chased about by bams who wanted to steal it . Those grifters and choppers just couldn't keep up the pace .

Edit ; I still buy second hand furniture . It is a family tradition or written in an old charter somewhere .

My dear old dad painted up my brother's old bike, I think, and then I inherited his five-speed which was built by a bloke in Musselburgh, I think. I sold it for fiver to the Polish fella that had the bike shop in my town.

I paid 120 for my new bike when I was thirteen or fourteen; it was pretty ordinary. I paid 120 quid for a new bike when I was nearly thirty; it was exceptionally ordinary. That's inflation and Chinese manufacture for you. I bought a bike factory near the Greyhound Roundabout (not the whole factory, just shares in it) and they plummeted. Anyway, I left it (the second bike) by the skip in HK after shipping it to Singapore and then HK and still not getting round to putting the pedals on it. I only paid about sixty quid for my next bike, when I was about forty, and it was very ordinary too - also new from a reputable manufacturer, though; I should've haggled but it really didn't seem worth it. I can't recall but I think I left it at the side of the road along with my vinyl (clearing out the wreckage of the past).

SC

[onionluke]

How dismal was it, eh? The good old days - second hand furniture, getting dressed huddled up against the storage heater, falling on your arse on the ice at the turn at the foot of the road every morning on the way to the paper shop... Thank heavens my bairns don't have to go through that. Still, I suppose I should be grateful - it made me the man I am now.

The Grifter was the best of a bad bunch - I reckon that series killed Raleigh; the tomahawk was absolutely dreadful, the Chopper little better.

SC

I was blessed . My paw pulled a frame out of a skip and built me a bike with wheels from Dales on Maryhill road and other bits and so on , it was a front brake only job and had cowhorn handlebars to look like a grifter . It was red and ready in time for my cycling profficiency test where the polis commented that it was a cracker even though it only had one break . It was so good and unusual looking I was always getting chased about by bams who wanted to steal it . Those grifters and choppers just couldn't keep up the pace .

Edit ; I still buy second hand furniture . It is a family tradition or written in an old charter somewhere .

My dear old dad painted up my brother's old bike, I think, and then I inherited his five-speed which was built by a bloke in Musselburgh, I think. I sold it for fiver to the Polish fella that had the bike shop in my town.

I paid 120 for my new bike when I was thirteen or fourteen; it was pretty ordinary. I paid 120 quid for a new bike when I was nearly thirty; it was exceptionally ordinary. That's inflation and Chinese manufacture for you. I bought a bike factory near the Greyhound Roundabout (not the whole factory, just shares in it) and they plummeted. Anyway, I left it (the second bike) by the skip in HK after shipping it to Singapore and then HK and still not getting round to putting the pedals on it. I only paid about sixty quid for my next bike, when I was about forty, and it was very ordinary too - also new from a reputable manufacturer, though; I should've haggled but it really didn't seem worth it. I can't recall but I think I left it at the side of the road along with my vinyl (clearing out the wreckage of the past).

SC

I still have a wreck rusting away on Yung Shue Wan pier (sigh) but I managed to keep my vinyl . Although I don't play it loud at my sister these days me and my boy occasionally do the dying fly to the bannana splits song on the veranda .

[meatboy]

my first job was a butchers boy,delivering meat,by bike big heavy one with a basket on the front,i had muscles in my legs like front a row prop,my father bought me a claud butler racing bike one of the last manufactered with campagnoeler gears could lift it with your little finger.

[chuenyongman]

And there were Liqorice root in the greengrocers shops for a penny. You could get fish and chips for 5 pence. Ten woodbine cigarettes 10.pence halfpenny. Spect apples , beer 1 shilling a pint. A pork pie 4 pence. Cinema 3 pence. Watchng General Montgomery going to collect his pension on the newsreel. And an invention I have seen on the newsreel at the cinema but never seen commercialized.

[Patsycat]

I had a space hopper. It was orange with a face painted on it. My nephews played with it in later years too.

I had a pogo stick too!!

Edited July 28, 2011 by Patsycat

[Ulysses G.]

I remember them all in the OP except party lines on the telephone (they were on TV shows all the time though). My father owned an ancient Studebaker or I would not remember them. I guess that 55 is older than I thought.

[BEENTHEREDONETHAT]

I can remember zoot suits with the wide shoulder pads and peg legs that the feet could hardly get through.

The girls wore bras that made there boobs look pointed.

[smokie36]

I just passed an old "Telephone Interchange" building in East London. When were these in use?

[StreetCowboy]

I still remember my British passport number.

With letters and digits, it was easier than the subsequent longer European numbers.

And it was reassuringly different, as well. Passports are all pretty similar nowadays....

SC

[smokie36]

I still remember my British passport number.

With letters and digits, it was easier than the subsequent longer European numbers.

And it was reassuringly different, as well. Passports are all pretty similar nowadays....

SC

Do you remember your National Insurance number though?

[StreetCowboy]

I still remember my British passport number.

With letters and digits, it was easier than the subsequent longer European numbers.

And it was reassuringly different, as well. Passports are all pretty similar nowadays....

SC

Do you remember your National Insurance number though?

How could I forget that? Its imprinted on my mind, just like ... well, apparently like lottery numbers in the rain.

I doubt they'll have pensions when I go back.

Do you remember your first telephone number?

Your first car registration number?

Release date?

Good luck against Wigan, by the way. You'll be doing us all a favour if you give the pie-eaters a bit of stuffing tonight...

Harping back to another thread, Jason Robinson was eligible to play for Scotland, up until he played for the all-woits

SC

[smokie36]

I still remember my British passport number.

With letters and digits, it was easier than the subsequent longer European numbers.

And it was reassuringly different, as well. Passports are all pretty similar nowadays....

SC

Do you remember your National Insurance number though?

How could I forget that? Its imprinted on my mind, just like ... well, apparently like lottery numbers in the rain.

I doubt they'll have pensions when I go back.

Do you remember your first telephone number?

Your first car registration number?

Release date?

Good luck against Wigan, by the way. You'll be doing us all a favour if you give the pie-eaters a bit of stuffing tonight...

Harping back to another thread, Jason Robinson was eligible to play for Scotland, up until he played for the all-woits

SC

I know how I remember mine...aye I worked for the DSS for a summer and then left to go to Uni...some time after I got a giro through the post for a backdated pay rise.

So I wandered off to the Post Office to cash my £500 giro cheque only to be told to wait a few minutes....the police arrived and I was carted off.....

Can't remember the exact date of release...sorry....

[StreetCowboy]

D'ye remember two-shilling clubs in Fife on a Sunday?

I was from South of the water, and rarely dared go over the bridge, but on a Sunday you had to apply a membership fee to drink in a club; two shillings, when they were fifteen years' past legal tender, and they'd not even buy you a caramac bar.

Since then, I've realised that there is a reason for everything, and once we know that reason, it becomes a subject for humour, rather than ridicule

SC

[smokie36]

D'ye remember two-shilling clubs in Fife on a Sunday?

I was from South of the water, and rarely dared go over the bridge, but on a Sunday you had to apply a membership fee to drink in a club; two shillings, when they were fifteen years' past legal tender, and they'd not even buy you a caramac bar.

Since then, I've realised that there is a reason for everything, and once we know that reason, it becomes a subject for humour, rather than ridicule

SC

My grandfather was "someone" in the RUM...so any such nonsense was brushed aside as a matter of course...or I was too young to notice.

Some good times with him wandering around Lochore Meadows though...and hope to do the same next month with my granny...her home turf so to speak....I love the place for the memory and indeed its enjoyed a renaissance simply due to better transport links but the acute poverty is only a wee daunder away....I just hope the lads are still up for some five-a side.

Edit: Did you know there's nae chocolate in a Caramac?...only found that out myself the other week...

Edited July 29, 2011 by smokie36

[StreetCowboy]

D'ye remember two-shilling clubs in Fife on a Sunday?

I was from South of the water, and rarely dared go over the bridge, but on a Sunday you had to apply a membership fee to drink in a club; two shillings, when they were fifteen years' past legal tender, and they'd not even buy you a caramac bar.

Since then, I've realised that there is a reason for everything, and once we know that reason, it becomes a subject for humour, rather than ridicule

SC

My grandfather was "someone" in the RUM...so any such nonsense was brushed aside as a matter of course...or I was too young to notice.

Some good times with him wandering around Lochore Meadows though...and hope to do the same next month with my granny...her home turf so to speak....I love the place for the memory and indeed its enjoyed a renaissance simply due to better transport links but the acute poverty is only a wee daunder away....I just hope the lads are still up for some five-a side.

Edit: Did you know there's nae chocolate in a Caramac?...only found that out myself the other week...

I'm really quite speechless. None at all? A shilling wasted? And later, two shillings? If I'd invested that money, I'd have over a pound now!

And all those smutty double entendres; with not even a hint of chocolate to add ?spice...

Oh, you.ve taken me aback there. I'm vexed, I'm .. well, I don't know what to say.

Specky Potter Meets Monkey McGuire Behind the Lochore Institute.

I used ot sail at the Lochore Meadows Country Park; very fond memories indeed. You';re only young once, and then again, decades later.

SC

[smokie36]

D'ye remember two-shilling clubs in Fife on a Sunday?

I was from South of the water, and rarely dared go over the bridge, but on a Sunday you had to apply a membership fee to drink in a club; two shillings, when they were fifteen years' past legal tender, and they'd not even buy you a caramac bar.

Since then, I've realised that there is a reason for everything, and once we know that reason, it becomes a subject for humour, rather than ridicule

SC

My grandfather was "someone" in the RUM...so any such nonsense was brushed aside as a matter of course...or I was too young to notice.

Some good times with him wandering around Lochore Meadows though...and hope to do the same next month with my granny...her home turf so to speak....I love the place for the memory and indeed its enjoyed a renaissance simply due to better transport links but the acute poverty is only a wee daunder away....I just hope the lads are still up for some five-a side.

Edit: Did you know there's nae chocolate in a Caramac?...only found that out myself the other week...

I'm really quite speechless. None at all? A shilling wasted? And later, two shillings? If I'd invested that money, I'd have over a pound now!

And all those smutty double entendres; with not even a hint of chocolate to add ?spice...

Oh, you.ve taken me aback there. I'm vexed, I'm .. well, I don't know what to say.

Specky Potter Meets Monkey McGuire Behind the Lochore Institute.

I used ot sail at the Lochore Meadows Country Park; very fond memories indeed. You';re only young once, and then again, decades later.

SC

Aye I went to that pub in Cardenden once or twice....

[kandahar]

I can remember watching the trains come through town and the guy in the mail car throwing the town's mail bag out at the station and then, him snagging the bag of outgoing mail that was hanging from a special pole and arm near the tracks. The train didn't appear to slow down and the mail bag would tumble for some distance after it hit the ground.

The "orders" or changes in plan for the train crew were posted on little folded slips of paper, tied to a tight string on a wooden "Y" arm and the crew would grab those as the train went by. If there was time, the little wooden arm wood be placed on a special pole that was the correct height for the crew to reach. If the station guy was running late, he had a small wooden arm that he would just hold up with his hands, reaching high as the crew come by, allowing them to snag the message papers. The crew sometimes threw little message out the window of the train as they passed the station.

And long trains of cattle cars, moving cattle about the country. If the cattle were in for a long ride, they would sometimes pull into the siding in our town and unload them into huge pens for food and water. The cattle cars had wooden slat sides on them. Years later, our little town's railroad sidings were filled with cattle cars that were no longer used and they sat there for years, waiting to be hauled in to be scrapped. Haven't seen a cattle car on the railroad for more that 45 years now.

In those days, rail passengers could board a "local" and go to nearby towns for shopping and the "locals" would even stop and pick up or drop off passengers at highway crossings and farms in the country. Passengers could also choose the "express", which had right-of-way over other trains and only stopped in major cities. For travellers on the "locals", it was common to go into a siding and sit there for an extended time, waiting for the express to go blasting through. The "locals" often had standing room only and during the major holidays, extra trains were put on line to handle the extra passengers but even then, the trains were very crowded until the holiday was finished.

The porters and staff on the trains in those days were very, very pleasant. On the express trains, they paid particular attention to children, smuggling snacks from the dining and club cars to them and entertaining them. Every child knew that the staff were considered "friends". Time spent in the "club" car was always a good experience, as people mingled and talked and got to know each other. Games of cards on the tables, dice on the floor, alcohol and smoking were the norm. There were always plenty of people who couldn't sleep and opted to stay up all night in the club car, having more or less, a mini-party. I never saw a fight or serious argument in the club car. At six in the morning, the dining car opened for breakfast and the grills were loaded with fried eggs, hash-browned potatoes and bacon and sausages. There was a full service menu in those days for breakfast, lunch and dinner (supper). I always thought the morning coffee on the trains was superior. I can still recall walking into the dining car each morning and being greeted by the wonderful, strong aroma of that coffee.

Edited July 30, 2011 by kandahar

[meatboy]

can you remember the big gob stoppers you could buy 2 for a penny,wish i could still buy them,OH SHUT UP WOMAN.