Does anyone remember

[Schutzengel]

Liberty Bodices. They were supposed to protect children's chests in the winter.

[tamborine]

my house is ancient and this room 10' x 8' am in has two half round iron rings poking out of ceiling over a metre apart. There's an open fire place. A shelved cupboard - floor to ceiling approx 10ft, with opening to next room. 4 doors to other rooms & 2nd staircase - narrow & winding with boxed cupboard under. Latch key door with fitment for roller towel. One sash window - originally with sink. Sounds like old 'laundry room' mentioned in earlier posts?

[Mamyalynne]

thanks for your replies schutz and our army coats were courtesy of dad who was a regular soldier then in the the Territorial Army for years.

Tambo thats a real period property you have there what fun.

M

[tamborine]

Aha Mam....it contains my lappy too ;)

[Robinia]

Hi Schutz...it's so kind of you to reply to all these posts, you'll have RSI!
I'm glad someone else had a clothes horse tent, there were no all-weather play houses then, if it rained you grabbed everything & ran for it! However the boy 2 doors down had a REAL tent, it was great eating your dairylea cheese triangles & swigging dandelion & burdock in there. His mum & dad had a lovely dead patch on the grass at the end of the holidays. He was a real whizz at making what we called trolleys, perhaps known as buggies, go-carts in some areas, with a few old planks, a bit of rope & some pushchair wheels....and there were no brakes on them! He made a brilliantly high one once with pram wheels, we called it the stagecoach.....until one day one of the wheels fell off with us all on it, haha.

[shaneystar2]

Hi again Schutz it's nice of you to take the time to reply to us all
Hair !
That was a huge palaver .It involved loads of bowls of water ,some sort of sludgy soap or it may have been Pears soap ( no bottles of shampoo) a jug of cold water and vinegar for the final rinse .
Then you had to sit in front of the fire to dry it .It was always still damp when you went to bed .
And for special ocassions the dreaded rags . I used to pull them out on one side and get a clip with the hairbrush for my trouble ....Then the front bit would be damped down with Todilocks forced into submission and a ribbon shoved in it ....haha..

[Mamyalynne]

Oh rags yes and Derbac once a month and the dreaded steel fine toothed comb just in case (won`t say it as will set us all off scrattin)

M

[Schutzengel]

glaikityn. Around where I live is very rural, and people still collect horse manure for their roses. Did your neighbours have lovely roses, or did they have an allotment. Sorry you had Scarlet Fever as a little one. My younger sister and brother both had Scarlet Fever, one taken to the isolation hospital on Christmas Day, and the other one on Boxing Day. What a Christmas that was. I was packed off to my auntie's in the hope I wouldn't catch it, and I didn't. I was away for the 6 weeks, and when I got home I wanted to know where my teddy 'Walter' was, only to find out that the Public Health people had taken away all our soft toys to be burned. I cried torrents, and even now I wish I had taken 'Walter' with me. Strange isn't it as we are talking about Scarlet Fever, and I hadn't heard of it again since then, and thought it had been eradicated, but last week I read in the newspaper, that there had been a serious outbreak of the disease somewhere in the South of the country. By the way, the worm cakes were a bit like chocolate buttons but a bit bigger, and the top was covered with pink and blue 'hundreds and thousands'. and they did taste horrible. Take care of yourself. Cheerio! Schutz.

[Schutzengel]

naomicorlett. Yes guzunders were horrible, but at least ours were posh china ones with flowers on. One night when I was about 10, I was dancing around in the bedroom in my mum's high-heeled silver dancing shoes, when I slipped and fell on to the guzunder, which smashed, and one of the pieces cut my back, and I still have the scar. Oh! boy was I in trouble. And you poor baby left outside in the snow, but that's what used to happen, as 'fresh air' was supposed to be good for us. Do you hate the cold weather now you are grown up, I do. Are you still in Scotland, I think it's one of the most beautiful places on earth. My great-grandad was born in, and lived all his life in Moffat. Thank you for your reply. Take care. Schutz.

[Schutzengel]

chinadog. My mum had a Singer sewing machine, she was a dressmaker and used to make all our summer frocks for me and my sister. The only bought frocks we had were each year for the Sunday School Anniversary. Friday bath night, we also had one of those long tin baths, which hung on a hook in the backyard. The water for the bath was heated in the clothes boiler which was in the wash-house and had to be carried in. Then it was baby brother in first, followed by me and my sister. Do you remember being towelled dry in front of the fire, with the side to the fire being hot, and the other side cold. Ugh!! Thank heavens for bathrooms. By the way, Camp Coffee is still available at the Coop. We also had a Yorkist Fire Range, with an oven which had solid cast iron shelves, these were wrapped in a piece of blanket and put in our beds to warm them. With what was available I think children were pretty well looked after. At least we're still here, so our parents must have been doing something right. :-) Cheerio! Schutz.

[Schutzengel]

garner. Yes we had newspaper squares on a string in the outside lav, but later we got a bit posher and had Izal rolls, which were horrible and scratchy. And as for those knitted bathing costumes, I had one which was a revolting pink and green striped one, and I hated it. Ugh!!! Schutz.

[tamborine]

how about paper chains at xmas. Dad cover the ceiling so the room was like a tent ;o)

[Schutzengel]

pips1. We also had weekly deliveries from the butcher, baker, and the Corona pop man, and a daily delivery of milk in glass bottles. When you think about it didn't our mums work hard, with everything cooked from scratch. I don't think some of today's youngsters would survive such a way of life. They don't know they're born. But as you said, for us they were very happy days, even if we didn't have much in the way of material things, we did have love, which is something a lot of today's children don't have. Sad isn't it. Cheerio! Schutz.

[Schutzengel]

Tamborine. I am very envious. Your house sounds just the kind of house I would love to live in. I think you are correct in thinking the room you describe was the laundry room. The two iron half-rings in the ceiling were probably for fastening the clothes pulley to them. Is there something on one of the nearby walls which is made of cast iron about 8 to 9 inches long, and fastened to the wall with a screw through the middle, and leaving the two straight ends slightly proud of the wall. If so this would have been there to wind the rope around when the pulley was pulled up and fastened. The rope would be unwound to raise and lower the pulley. If I ever came into a large sum of money, I would be looking for a house like yours. Thank you for such an interesting answer. Cheers. Schutz.

[Schutzengel]

Robinia. Happy days weren't they. We made trolleys too, and I have a scar on my arm to prove it. No brakes. Ha Ha. I fell off and cut my arm on the metal strip that held the wheels on. Thanks for your concern, but if I was to get RSI, I probably would have by now, as I'm typing nearly all day, on most days through my work of researching and describing antique books for sale on the internet. I have a good boss who appreciates my work, so that's a bonus. Thanks again for your reply. Cheers. Schutz.

[Schutzengel]

shaneystar. I well remember the horrors of hair washing, and the rags to make ringlets. Those were the days, when all little girls wore ribbons, and were lined up for school photos. I'm glad I'm not young anymore. Cheers. Schutz.

[Schutzengel]

mamya. Derbac and steel combs - Ugh!!!
When I was 6 I had lovely long hair, but had to have it cut short as a precaution when a lot of the children in my school class had an 'infestation'. I was mortified to think anyone would think that I had been a victim of the scratchy little horrors. :-). Cheers. Schutz.

[Schutzengel]

Hello again Sqad. Well that's it everybody answered. I think I deserve a cup of tea now, or something a bit stronger.

A few more thought triggers.

Tamborine mentioned making paper chains for Christmas decorations.

Who remembers going to collect their mum's Coop Divi.

Who got the job of cleaning cutlery and brasses, with either Brasso or Shinio.

Who had music lessons, and on which instrument.

Who never learned to swim.

Sunday is my day for myself, and I haven't even started my crosswords yet.

I'm off now to cook our evening meal. Be back later.
Bye for now. Schutz.

[Naomicorlett]

We only stayed in Scotland for a year before my Dad was posted to Wiltshire. I still hate cold weather but live on the Isle Of Man now where it doesn't get too cold. We had one snow shower this winter ( we live at sea level , there was more on the mountain .) I have enjoyed this thread so much thank you so much for looking after it and replying to us all.