Memories of the Past

[hazel 11]

When my dad worked shifts in the 30s / 40s a man (called luckybags) used to walk the streets with a long pole padded at one end and knock on bedroom windows to wake the shiftworkers for the morning shift

 

As a sideline he sold Luckybags, don't know whether anybody remembers or whether they are still around in one form or another but they were a souce of sheer delight to me, a paperbag with a selection of sweets and toys.

 

As I was 3 when the war started and all such things vanished overnight I'm not sure if I am remembering before the war. I know I can remember the fair coming to somewhere near the Pond St. the noise, the roundabouts and prancing horses and the candyfloss. (for yrs I thought it was a dream) And then nothing. few sweets, no fruit no biscuits, and for some reason only plum jam. My mom used to share a mars bar between the four of us, cut it into tiny pieces to last all wk.

 

There were no street lights, cos of the blackout, so everyone had torchesand I can still remember the blackness. There was also double summertime when the clocks were put forward/back for 2 hrs.

 

We had coupons for everything, tea , suger, meat, bread all in a ration book and you had to register your ration book with one shop, in our case the local co op, known as the Stores. I think corned beef wasn't on ration so you were very lucky if you got a 1/4 of this as well. Eggs were very scarce so we had powdered eggs, made into something like an ommelette or half a real egg if you were lucky. Butter was scarce too so I used to hurry home on Thursdays which was the day butter arrived

My mom used to bake bread in the yorkshire range that day and we had new bead and butter, there was only enough for tea that day and then back to the marge.

My sister and I used to be sent to collect our rations to the shop on Myrtle Rd, we had to be careful the asistant didn't tear out the ticket for the soap with the tea coupon cos they llay behind each otherand you lost your soap for the week.

 

Air raid shelters, Sirens going, bombed buildings ( which were a great source of adventure), Uncles in uniform, formed a large part of my childhood. I suppose I was lucky I knew no fear, it was all part of my life as a child.

 

Hazel

[kirky 10]

http://www.sheffieldforum.co.uk/showthread.php?s=&threadid=9013&perpage=15&pagenumber=1

 

http://www.sheffieldforum.co.uk/showthread.php?s=&threadid=18505

[Guest poppins]

Hazel

What a nice piece you wrote, having no fear as a child,sounds wonderful, i was around 3 when the war ended i think, so don't recall it, i do remember we wore our siren suits for a long time after, i can see mine now, it was a brown hooded all in one suit, we even left our wellingtons in the legs so we could just pull the whole thig on at one, like the firemen do now !

 

we kepts our gas masks under the bed as a habbit, i do remember still being on rashions after the was was long over, but there was always plenty of stamps in the book to use up, i think we bought sweets mostly with them.

 

i joined the WRAC in my teens,peace time then of course, did three years, but never got to travel much, stayed in the uk

 

yes i too felt no fear as a child now i think back.

 

poppins

[vhopkinson 10]

Hello Hazel, I always follow your letters and they are always very interesting. However the one you just posted beats them all. It was like living it all again. I am the same vintage as you and remember it to detail. It was like we were sat talking together.

Living in the anderson shelter for two days waiting for the all clear I can still smell the fusty shelter now and I am 12000 miles away. You never forget. My parents always had to swap a quarter packet of tea for a bucket of coal to keep us warm. When they didn,t get to outcropping guess you remember that unless your dad worked in the mine. We had chooks so could always manage to trade them when they were laying. The greatest thing was when chocolate came on the scene had to wait in a long line to be told all gone now. Good old days not real sure on that one.

Living in Australia noone would know what I was talking about unless they were a pommie

Kindest Regards Hazel

Vera.

[hazel 11]

Hi Poppins and Vhopkinson,

 

Thanks for the compliments, I tend to think people will be tired af old tales, so nice to get some feedback.

 

Did it seem to you that we spent all our time in wellingtons,, perhaps shoes were hard to comeby. i always had a black/chapped line below the knee where my wet wellie used to slap.

I still now get goose pimples when in the bath at dusk cos i think thats when the bombers came over and the sirens used to go and I would be zipped in my siren suit quickly, I'm not sure whether panic transmitted or the fact that my skin was caugt in the zip that gave the lasting impression.

Our Anderson shelter was always damp so we were not keen to go in but others kept them like little palaces and spent most nights in there.

I can't remeber about the coal but remember my mom used to swop 2 bags of sugar for sweets from the factotry on Attercliffe Common (? Dixons) these were boiled sweet in the shape of fishes.

When I flew to OZ a couple of wks after the American Tower tradgedy My son said to his Australian friends, who though I would cancell, My mom is tough you see she has been thro the war. Made me feel quite proud

 

Hazel

[Guest poppins]

Oh Hazel

I do remember the black chapped lines from my wellies,

but i did have another reg pair of shoes as i remember having to put newspaper in them to dry out, and that awful toilet paper that was like waxed paper, before that we cut up newspaper for the lav, my aunt had an outside lav, we had to ask her for the key when we wanted to use it, wonder why she kept it locked ? nothing to steal only newspaper squares.

we all had the "GUS UNDERS" I have my grandmothers whole set now, must be over 100 years old or more, no place to put it, it's quite a big set.

 

i remember my aunt got a washing machine with glass front, we all pulled up our chairs and sat and watched the clothes go around.

 

Then our first tv, we sat in the dark to whatch it, no one wanted to get up to put the kettle on. i use to rush home from school to see Burns and Alan. then mom bought a ship light to go on top of the tv, that was the thing to do then.

[hazel 11]

I thnik people locked their toilets in the yard to stop other people using them when theirs were filthy.

I used to visit a relative as a child, who I think never ever cleaned her toilet and i would have loved to go to someone elses but unfortunately they were all locked!!

 

What does a whole set of gus unders comprise of. Is it the wash Jug and stand?

 

I remember our first TV.. We got it for the Coronation (1953) and sat with rows of chairs in the front room and everybody and their grandmothers there. I think it was 12" screen so there was not much to see and it poured it down all day.

 

Hazel

[Guest poppins]

Hazel

wash set, no, no stand.

Bowl

Lge Pitcher

Sml Cold Water Pot

2 Part Soap Dish

Poe.

 

Thats it, i think it has one other small part to it, forgot now it's been in my attic for years.

 

Yes the outside lavs were dirty, ours in our counsil house was attached to the house but had to go out the back door to get in, we kept an oil lamp in it as it had no electric, mom kept the brick walls inside whitewashed to lighten it up.

 

We would spend time swopping dandy and beano comic books with our friends .

 

Toasted bread and drippin was a big favorite in our house, i still have my moms grey drippin pot.

[vhopkinson 10]

Thanks again for such memories Nice to share with someone who knows what you are talking about. We must live a life of shear luxury now. I don't have to donkey-stone the lavy step now adays. Blackleading (what the hell is that) someone asked me.

When I used to go to Huntsmans Garden School I was only four and a half years old. We used to pass some posh houses and would ask to use their toilet the novelty being there's were in side the house. Can you imagine now adays letting a kid that age loose on the streets especially door knocking. Frightening......

But thats was then this is now. Streets ain't the safest place to be eh!!

Regards Vera

[hazel 11]

HI Vera

 

My mom used to blacklead the stove, We lived in a council house which had a Yorkshire Range and she polished it with blacklead out of a tin called (? zebra) There was steel round the edges which I used to rub with emery paper. We had a shelf at the top which was always hot and a recess below for the kettle, I think there was a circular plate that was taken out for the saucepan to sit over the coal fire.. Can you remember the dampers at the back which had to be right or the fire went out At the side was the coal fired oven to cook in and the 2 shelves in the oven were put in our beds with an piece of blanket round. My dad used to get the fire to draw by putting the shovel agaist the stove and putting a news paper against it and holding it there until it scorched. I can still remember the smell and the cold linolium on my bare feet.

Did your mom have a pegged rug? We used to sit at night pegging them. Made my fingers sore.

 

We were lucky tho and had the toilet attatched to the back porch opposite the coalhouse so didn't have to go across the yard.

Hazel

[vhopkinson 10]

Oh!! I remember so well all this Hazel. We used to wait around for the rug to be finished so we could have it on our bed before it got dirty. If we missed out we mite get my brothers army coat if he was on leave this was always warm.

Remeber the Zebra yes and the Ronuck for the floors. clean piece of newspaper in the doorway too to step on.

I often thought of writing a book.My memory goes back to when I was only 3yrs old. Mind you we were always spotlessly clean but not well off. This scrubbing and polishing has stayed with me all my life as still luv to do house work, these mod appliances help though .Hey. wash days 2 tubs in front of the fire one to wash the other to rinse. Stand there waiting to get in the wash tub before it went cold Shudder!shudder!. Sylvan soap I think it was that floated. Rubbing board and ponsh1 Hope we ain't boring anyone sorry if we are. Good memories tho. Hi Poppins

Regards Vera.

[owdlad 10]

Vera, you forgot to mention the donkey stones ( where did that name come from) and the man who came around to sharpen knives, with the grindstone mounted on his bike.