Once Upon A Time......

[gray_marian]

#10, Keith, your memories remind me of this little ditty my mum, her six brothers and two sisters used to sing when young. Their ages ranged from 1926- 1941. My Irish grandmother used to enter their bedroom room saying 'hush now the neighbours will hear you'....... A boisterous lot

"Hear the news, hear the news, the news is going round
Uncle Jim wet the bed and we were nearly drowned,
Grandma Jean began to swim and Grandpa blew a Ph--t
And blew the wee bit candle oot and left us in the dark"

[Dennis McGuckin]

May have mentioned this in a previous post.We had solders billeted on us during the war.
We were supplied with a steel table.
During the war years, that is were I slept. Surrounded by army boots when they were getting fed.
Got a bit crowded when the air raid siren went off.
Washed in the 'poss tub' Bet cappy remembers them.
After school, if we were lucky, got a doorstep to eat. Crust of bread piled with dripping and salted.[used to eat it sitting on the doorstep]
No worries about cholesterol back then. Ate anything you could lay your hands on.

[John F Collier]

#12 That was very nostalgic Marian, I could almost see that, they were families in the real sense, no telly everyone listened to the radio together, and afterwards had a discussion about what they'd been hearing. I think thats where we learned to use our imagination we all saw the radio characters as we wanted to see them and it kept the family together. Today the telly leaves nothing to the imagination, and encourages lazy mindedness, the
kids have got their own telly and all that goes with it, in their bedroom and that helps to make a family grow apart. I was born in 1939, a few months before the war started. My dad was in the army from the start in 1939 until the end in1945, after the war he would take me all round London on the buses, showing me what are now the tourist attractions, whenever he got the chance. It was only later in life that I realised he was
trying to build a relationship and form a bond with his son who he didn't know, this must have happened people all round the world. cheers, JC

[happy daze john in oz]

Did some one say TWO baths a week in front of the fire, must have been a very posh house. Childhood was good in our part of south London. We made our own entertainment and did it well. The local council tip had thousands of old bikes there all in bits. We were allowed to go there and get enough to make up a bike. I had a Claude Butler frame and goodness knows what other bits on it. But we went every where on those bikes, used it to do the paper run getting up at about 0500 hours each day to go and collect the papers then deliver. That was how we did it then, today they do not know they are born. Most are completely lost and spend all day looking at the phone no doubt using the GPS system on it to find out where they are.

[gray_marian]

#14, Have to admit John both my parents grew up in homes with bathrooms. It was only when they first married 1956 that they rented rooms in a 'big house' and had to share the utilities with others. For a few years I too lived in my mum's family home and it never ceased to amaze me how my grandma fitted three double beds in that bedroom! Needs must I suppose, which probably explains why with family parties everyone stayed over bed or not. I used to think it was an Irish thing cause my fathers presbyterian side always went home

[John F Collier]

#13 Your steel table would have been a Morrison shelter, steel top and sturdy steel legs and steel mesh sides, making it into a steel cage with fast access. We had the Anderson shelter in the garden the same as Brian was talking about, the fact is if you were caught by a doodlebug like we were you had little chance to do anything. You heard an engine like a plane going over, if the engine stopped that was it, my mum managed to get me and herself under the kitchen table, the same doodlebug killed 17 people in the houses behind us. JC

[John F Collier]

#16 The estate where we lived Marian was built from 1875 to1900 they were very nice houses but the earlier ones didn't have bathrooms, so you had a tin bath hanging on the scullery wall. after the war we moved to a later built house and that did have a bathroom. Before the war my dad had a good job as a supervisor and mum said we were doing ok, when the war started dad joined up and was a soldier for 6 years we were bombed and they lost their home. After the war they had to start over and thats why I didn't have a lot of stuff, they got their priorities right and there was always a cooked meal on the table, I grew up with the war and I didn't know anything different so I don't suppose I found it hard. cheers JC

[Dennis McGuckin]

#13 Your steel table would have been a Morrison shelter, steel top and sturdy steel legs and steel mesh sides, making it into a steel cage with fast access. We had the Anderson shelter in the garden the same as Brian was talking about, the fact is if you were caught by a doodlebug like we were you had little chance to do anything. You heard an engine like a plane going over, if the engine stopped that was it, my mum managed to get me and herself under the kitchen table, the same doodlebug killed 17 people in the houses behind us. JC

Thanks Johnf. Forgot it was called a Morrison shelter. Nearly called it an Anderson.

[John F Collier]

#19 My uncle had one in his front room Den, so like yourself I've seen them first hand. cheers, JC

[Captain Kong]

I remember my younger cousins had Mickey Mouse Gas Masks, and for the baby he had a big one you stuffed him inside.
I had the standard one, but was always losing it when playing on the bomb sites, the police were always knocking on the door bringing it back, it was in a cardboard box with string to carry over the shoulder.name and address inside. Always had a bollocking off them.
Brian