Help & advice

Do You Remember When…?


Do you remember when?

*  Figs and dates appeared every Christmas, but no one ever ate

   them, and would still be around the house at Easter.

*  Coconuts only appeared when the fair came to town.

*  Salad cream was a dressing for salads, mayonnaise did not exist

*  Hors d'oeuvre was a spelling mistake.

*  Soup was a main meal.

*  Only Heinz made beans, there were no others.

*  Leftovers went in the dog, never in the bin.

*  Special food for dogs and cats was unheard of.

*  Sauce was either brown or red.

*  Fish and chips was always wrapped in old newspapers, and

   definitely tasted better that way.

*  Frozen food was called ice cream.

*  Nothing ever went off in the fridge because we never had one.

*  Ice cream only came in one flavour, vanilla.

*  None of us had ever heard of yogurt.

But I remember other things from being a child in the 50s.

When I was a child I didn’t know anyone who had central heating. In the winter it was so cold in my bedroom there was ice on the inside of the window (it made wonderful patterns) and I got dressed in bed.

For many years we couldn’t afford a telephone. Do you remember when it was almost impossible to get a phone line? And when you did eventually get one you had to share it – a party line.

There have been so many changes in my lifetime that it is hard to explain to young people today just how different it was. Because I lived in London in the 1950s I would play in bomb sites – they’ve all been built on now.

There was no such thing as ‘fast food’ apart from fish and chips it was all slow! In fact when I was a child there were no such things as ready meals or even supermarkets we went from the butcher to the baker –  I am a bit too young for the candlestick maker.

I vividly remember the haberdashers in our town – we would buy dress patterns and sew them up.  I was absolutely terrible at sewing and so I am particularly pleased with ready-made clothes or I think I would be dressed in some very strange looking garments.

Another thing difficult for young people to imagine is how totally different communications were.  If you went to a fair ground, or other event where you might get separated, you would agree a meeting place incase anyone got lost in the crowd, because there were no mobile phones or any other way to get in touch with each other.  You had to stick to arrangements because there was no way of getting contacting each other once you left home. And the Police box at the end of the road where I lived was so the police could get in touch with the station and we could ring if there was an emergency – because as I said before. most people didn’t have phones at home.

I know from heart-felt messages from family members how precious it is when you share your memories.  A recent survey revealed that millions of people regretted not asking their grandparents more about their lives. Don’t be one of them.  Give you family the gift of YOUR lifetime because your family history starts with you.

If you have memories you would like to share, why not get in touch with us? info@autodotbiography.com.

But by far the best way to share memories is to write your life story. Autodotbiography makes it quick and easy to tackle writing your life story but if you don’t want to use this unique system  but would like some free help then go to:

http://www.autodotbiography.com/help-advice/blog/how-to-write-your-autobiography-made-easy

 

 

 

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