Web Page No 2500

12th August 2018

1^st Picture. Chimney Fire

2nd Picture. Typical Larder

3^rd Picture. A Tin of Mansion Polish

  

4^th Picture. Airwick

Yet another of those do you remember pages.

Growing up as a child in a 1950's House

Sometimes I look back to the 50's and can't believe I have lived in an age where things were so very different. Seeing movie clips of those times seems like it was before my time and not after it!

You may still see some furniture in people's houses which have been around since then, but always inter-mingled with modern technology and design. Saying that however, the revival of 'Retro' has been fairly authentic and who can fault the Basic Bush Radio!

The Kitchen for many was the centre of the house. My Mother, or the Housewife' was the mainstay of the family and would, for no want of her own, have to spend quite a lot of time in it.

In my own home, we didn't have a Fridge or a Washing Machine. You'd have The Larder for cold storage. Usually a walk in cupboard with various shelves above a plain stoned floor. Meat and Fish would be stored under a felt umbrella on a cold tin plate until cooked. Milk would be placed in a bucket of cold water and butter etc would be covered. This was offset by the fact you didn't do so much 'the weekly shop', but the daily shop - and shops were more plentiful then.

The Kitchen would have a solid wood table, laminates came later and would often be nicely curved by the overworking saucepans and kitchen utensils which were used on it. The Gas Oven actually smelled of Gas and you lived in expectation of something going wrong almost everyday.

One of the centrepiece furniture items was The Writing Desk, something replaced now by the PC Table. They would have all the bills stuffed in little compartments, a small drawer for stamps, drawers full of letters from relatives and friends and a monumental number of Pens and Ink scattered everywhere. This furniture item was the business and communication centre and people actually hand wrote letters then!

As I recall, the only flowers in bowls were Sweet Peas. For some reason or other, everyone grew these and each home you walked in appeared to have the same over riding smell.

Other prominent smells would be Mansion Polish on the furniture, Moth Balls in wardrobes in the Bedrooms, Newspaper laid on wardrobe shelves and drawer bases, Lavender Furniture Polish and Bath Salts in the Bathroom. During the summer months there was always the smell of the Airwick to keep the flies down and in the winter there was always the smell of wet and drying clothes.

The toilet didn't smell of anything really, except Brobat, but it was always the coldest room of the house.

Above all this would be the aroma of coal burning with the smell of smoke coming into the room when the fire was first lit and the coal itself being stored in a shed or coal bunker. With fires there was always the danger of that terrible smell of a chimney fire!!!

The combination of above made being a Housewife and Mother, a full time occupation. The upkeep of a 1950's home meant her being a Business person, Budget Holder, Cleaner, Chef, Mother and general Dogs Body, plus a nurse, laundress and seamstress.

Children's bedrooms then were completely different; no TV, no PC, no Games Console and no massive stacks of toys. All you had were a few books and some toys, all of which would be tidied up and put away before you went to bed or were allowed to go went out.

The good thing was that beds in those days were built of strong stuff and they would adequately substitute a trampoline and many a boy or girls head would come a cropper on the ceiling or the bedhead.

The 50's house was a working house and not often one of luxury, that was for the very rich, not the likes of us. As time went on and TV grew, the House slowly developed more into the entertainment mould. Sitting Room chairs would be turned to face the TV rather than the fire and just walking into the house next door for a chat became a disappearing social activity.

Keep in touch

Yours

Peter

gsseditor@gmail.com

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News and Views:

On this day 12^th August 1960-1965.

On 12/08/1960 the number one single was Please Don't Tease - Cliff Richard & the Shadows and the number one album was South Pacific Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was Rawhide (ITV) and the box office smash was Psycho. A pound of today's money was worth £13.68 and Tottenham Hotspur were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions. The big news story of the day was First communications satellite launched.

On 12/08/1961 the number one single was You Don't Know - Helen Shapiro and the number one album was Black & White Minstrel Show - George Mitchell Minstrels. The top rated TV show was Top Secret (AR) and the box office smash was One Hundred and One Dalmations. A pound of today's money was worth £13.25 and Ipswich were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 12/08/1962 the number one single was I Remember You - Frank Ifield and the number one album was West Side Story Soundtrack. 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 Everton were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 12/08/1963 the number one single was Sweets For My Sweet - Searchers and the number one album was Please Please Me - The Beatles. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was The Great Escape. A pound of today's money was worth £12.64 and Liverpool were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 12/08/1964 the number one single was A Hard Day's Night - Beatles and the number one album was A Hard Day's Night - Beatles. 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 Manchester United were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions. The big news story of the day was Novelist Ian Fleming dies.

On 12/08/1965 the number one single was Help - The Beatles and the number one album was The Sound of Music Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was Riviera Police (AR) and the box office smash was The Sound of Music. A pound of today's money was worth £11.69 and Liverpool were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions. The big news story of the day was First woman High Court Judge.