Web Page  No 2408

21^st  September 2017

First Picture: A tiny Lighter flint

Second Picture: A selection of mourning bands

Third Picture: Telephone money box

Fourth Picture: Column gear change

I must be getting Old!!!!

The older I get the more I seem to remember the things that were in daily use but we  see no more, so here are a few.

My father filling his petrol Ronson Lighter with lighter fuel by pouring it from the can onto the cotton wool in the fuel chamber  and at times changing the flint and wick and cleaning the serrated wheel. Who has a petrol lighter these days?

Whilst talking about wicks one of the greasy, smelly and messy jobs which had to done in the house was the regular cleaning of the wick on our paraffin heaters in the bathroom and hallway. It always seemed that whoever was cleaning it always ended up with a black, sooty and greasy deposit all over their hands!  No central heating for us when I lived at home!  

Death was not something that many of us came across in our younger days but the way our parents dealt with death was completely different to the way our Grand Parents and elderly relatives dealt with the loss. For this older generation, there were many conventions to be observed. As soon as the person had died all the curtains in the front of the house were drawn and stayed that way until a week after the funeral. All pictures in the house that had a face on them were covered with a cloth as were any mirrors. From somewhere black armband were produced and were worn by both men and women for many weeks after the death. Men wore black ties for some time after the death. Ladies wore funeral jewellery made of jet and the gentlemen wore jet tie clips and cuff links. There was also funeral crockery mainly made by the Jackfield pottery. In many families, it was not the done thing for the ladies of the household did not attend the funeral and so mostly a funeral service and internment were male dominated. This was a hangover from the conduct of Queen Victoria, luckily things have changed over the last 116 years.

At infant school after lunch the pupils were told to put their arms on the desk and lay their heads on them and have a rest for twenty minutes. I doubt if that still happens.

So many other things have changed for example in some households the man handed over his unopened pay packet to his wife who then gave him back what amounted to his pocket money. Others allotted varying amounts went into tins or jars to cover the rent, bills for the utilities, insurance policies or to pay regular instalments on essential items, such as the gas or electric cooker or the telephone. Another receptacle was earmarked for storing the one-shilling pieces needed to feed the gas and electricity meters.

It was left to the housewife – mostly wholly dependent on her husband for money - to squirrel away what she could to cover such items she might want, such as make-up, a rare visit to the hairdresser or birthday and Christmas presents. Things in the 1950s were still male dominated. For a married woman who worked there was nothing more annoying, when faced with a form that required the answer to the question "occupation" to be instructed by the official to write "housewife". Worse still was being told that you needed your husband's permission, verified by his signature, to do certain things, such as enter into a hire purchase agreement. It was assumed that a female might default on payments unless she was backed by her husband.

How things have changed!!!!

Moving on, one of the biggest changes since we were kids can be seen in the motor vehicles. Here are just some. Cars of the late 1950’s had no heaters, no radios and only a basic system of windscreen wipers and almost every car came fitted with a running board on each side. Now who remembers a foot operated dipped headlight switch, swinging arm trafficators set into the door support and had to be hit when they did not swing out. How many new drivers today would even know how to drive a car with column gear change, and to know the joy of a through bench front seat!!!!

Ah well there went another look into the past.

Keep in touch

Yours

Peter

DUSTYKEAT@aol.com

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News and Views:

On this day 21st September 1960-1965

On 21/09/1960 the number one single was Apache - The Shadows and the number one album was Down Drury Lane to Memory Lane - A Hundred and One Strings. The top rated TV show was No Hiding Place (AR) 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.

On 21/09/1961 the number one single was Reach for the Stars / Climb Ev'ry Mountain - Shirley Bassey and the number one album was Ipswich Town. The top rated TV show was "Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was One Hundred and One Dalmations. A pound of today's money was worth £Argentinian swims English Channel both ways non-stop and 13.25 were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions. The big news story of the day was Take Your Pick (AR)".

On 213/09/1962 the number one single was She's Not You - Elvis Presley and the number one album was Best of Ball Barber & Bilk. 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 21/09/1963 the number one single was She Loves You - The Beatles 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 21/09/1964 the number one single was You Really Got Me - Kinks 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.

On 21/09/1965 the number one single was Make It Easy On Yourself - Walker Brothers and the number one album was Help - The Beatles. 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 Liverpool were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions