Web Page 2056

31st May 2014

Top Picture:  School Plimsolls

Bottom Picture: Reckitts Blue Bag

I have to thank Steve Timms for this weeks observations.

I have to say how true are these…..

My mum used to cut up chicken and other raw meat, chop eggs and spread butter on bread on the same cutting board with the same knife and she used no bleach or hygienic wipes or sprays, but we didn't seem to get food poisoning or even an upset tummy!

Our school sandwiches were always wrapped in wax paper or an old bread bag and then put into a brown paper bag, not neatly packed in ice pack coolers or fancy themed lunch boxes as they are today, but we didn't seem to get food poisoning or even an upset tummy!

All babies’ nappies were soaked in a bucket of water under the kitchen sink overnight. Come the following day the water looked terrible but we didn't seem to get food poisoning or even an upset tummy!

Almost all of us would have rather gone swimming in the creek or at the beach instead of a pristine, regulated pool (talk about boring), no beach closures then but we didn't seem to get food poisoning or even an upset tummy!

We all took PE ......... and risked permanent injury with a pair of Dunlop sandshoes or plimsoll’s instead of having cross-training athletic shoes with air cushion soles and built in light reflectors that cost as much as a small car.  I can't recall any injuries but they must have happened because they tell us how much safer we are now. If we were really smart we had slip on plimsolls so we did not have to tie our laces, but we could tie our laces today’s kids can’t even do that!

We got the cane for doing something wrong at school, they used to call it discipline yet we all grew up to accept the rules and to honour and respect those folk who were older than us.

We had 40+ kids in our class and we all learned to read and write, do maths and spell almost all the words needed to write a grammatically correct letter......., FUNNY THAT!!

We all went to morning assembly (unless those who were exempt) said prayers in school and sang hymns and staying in detention after school caught all sorts of negative attention. 

We were taught that we were supposed to accomplish something before we were allowed to be proud of ourselves. 

I just can't recall how bored we were without computers, Play Station, Nintendo, X-box or 270 digital TV cable stations. We really weren't!!

Oh yeah .... and where was the Benadryl and sterilisation kit when I got that bee sting?  I could have been killed! All we had was a damp Reckitts ‘Bluebag’!

We played “British Bulldog” on piles of gravel left on vacant construction sites and when we got hurt, mum pulled out the 2/6p bottle of Mercurochrome (kids liked it better because it didn't sting like iodine did) and then we got our bum spanked.
Now it's a trip to the emergency room, followed by a 10 day dose of antibiotics and then mum calls the lawyer to sue the contractor for leaving a horribly vicious pile of gravel where it was such a threat.

The medical plasters (Elastoplast) in our day were plain pink canvas or Sleek waterproof, ours did not have cartoon characters or colourful slogans printed on them.

To top it off, not a single person I knew had ever been told that they were from a dysfunctional family. How could we possibly have known that?

We never needed to get into group therapy and/or anger management classes. We were obviously so duped by so many social ills, that we didn't even notice that the entire country wasn't taking Prozac or something similar! 

How did we ever survive? 

LOVE TO ALL OF US WHO SHARED THIS ERA.

AND TO ALL WHO DIDN'T, SORRY FOR WHAT YOU MISSED. I WOULDN'T TRADE IT FOR ANYTHING! WOULD YOU.

Stay in touch

Peter

DUSTYKEAT@aol.com

You Write:

Chris Writes: 

When I lived in Drayton my dad was in the police force and I can remember him on 'point duty' directing the traffic at what was them a main crossroad/junction at The George, top of Upper Drayton Lane.

News and Views:

70 year-old Mick Jagger has become a great-grandfather for the first time. His granddaughter, Assisi (by way of Bianca and Jade) gave birth over the weekend to an as yet unnamed baby girl.

On this Day 31st May 1960-1965

On 31/05/1960 the number one single was Cathy's Clown - Everly Brothers and the number one album was South Pacific Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was Wagon Train (ITV) and the box office smash was Psycho. A pound of today's money was worth £13.68 and Burnley were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 31/05/1961 the number one single was You're Driving Me Crazy - The Temperance Seven and the number one album was GI Blues - Elvis Presley. The top rated TV show was Bootsie & Snudge (Granada) and the box office smash was One Hundred and One Dalmations. A pound of today's money was worth £13.25 and Tottenham Hotspur were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 31/05/1962 the number one single was Good Luck Charm - Elvis Presley and the number one album was Blue Hawaii - Elvis Presley. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was Lawrence of Arabia. A pound of today's money was worth £12.89 and Ipswich Town were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions. The big news story of the day was Panic on Wall Street.

On 31/05/1963 the number one single was From Me To You - The Beatles and the number one album was Please Please Me - The Beatles. The top rated TV show was Conservative Party Political Broadcast (all channels) and the box office smash was The Great Escape. A pound of today's money was worth £12.64 and Everton were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 31/05/1964 the number one single was Juliet - Four Pennies and the number one album was Rolling Stones - The Rolling Stones. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was Dr Strangelove. A pound of today's money was worth £12.24 and Liverpool were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 31/05/1965 the number one single was Where Are You Now (My Love) - Jackie Trent and the number one album was Freewheelin' Bob Dylan. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was The Sound of Music. A pound of today's money was worth £11.69 and Manchester United were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.