When I was born........

Did anyone have a shared phone line? We had a shared line with our neighbour with our first phone in the 60’s because it made the phone rental a bit cheaper. Only one household could use it at a time. If you lifted the phone and heard the neighbour in mid conversation you said sorry and quickly hung up.

It worked fine till our neighbours moved and their replacements were nosey Parkers. Mid conversation it wasn’t unusual to hear them lifting their phone and staying on to eavesdrop!

I agree, most things we and our kids& grandkiďs take for granted now they can hardly believe how i tell them it was when i was growing up-born in the 60's- at one point we had an outside loo& a 2up 1 down house with a damp cellar, no gardens. No tv at first,then got a B&W but not colour till late 1970's. When i say we had only 3 channels they laugh we had no bath so had to either use a tin one or go to the local swimming pool for the 'slipper baths'- when my own older kids were growing up they talk to their kids how we were able to get a bulky microwave & a video recorder awhile after they were made & a twin-tub washer.(but at least we had a bathroom) No mobiles then either till late 90's and certainly not for children..No consoles for gaming like they have now, till super nintendo changed their world.again late 90's.I dont think the grankids believe them.

The way people rely so much on tv for entertainment. My mother enjoyed watching Sunday night theatre, but otherwise, we listened to the radio.
Children grew up using their imaginations. They also learned to earn a bit of pocket money by doing little jobs for people or collecting empty jam jars and getting the pennies back. These days, everything is handed to them on a plate.

I often tell teenagers in the school where I work about life without even a home phone let alone everyone having their own personal mobile. They think it such an imposition not to be allowed to use them in class! My mum eventually got a phone when I was away at university after my dad died, but I rarely rang her as I didn't have one until a few years later. We used to write to each other once a week!
We didn't have a car, went everywhere by bus or on foot. I once found a handbag in a hedge when out playing. My mum phoned the police to report it (probably on our neighbour's phone as the nearest phone box was about a 10 minute walk away) so my first ride in a car that I remember was the police car taking me to show them where I found the handbag! The first car our family had was my old banger bought when I was a student.

Gosh yes, Grannynannywanny, when we had a cottage tied to my step- fathers job when i was little, (before the 2-up1- down house) it had a very old 1930's style party line phone in it.The 'lady of the big house' my step- dads employer, used to 'listen in' if we got a call of our own.But we only really knew my aunt who had a phone so it was usually her.The phone numbers had only 3 digits.& i remember my mum asking operater for the town then 642 to ring my aunt.

I didn't write until I was 9 because I wasn't allowed to hold the pencil in my left hand. Also school diner had to be eaten right handed - I never finished one.

No tv,phone,fridge, washing machine hoover, car, disposable nappies, list is endless. Goodness don't think soft toilet paper was even standard. I enjoyed school, never felt scared of a teacher but did appreciate they were not my Mum and Dad so couldn't be cheeked back at. And if a police officer ever had occasion to speak to you well your parents knew before you got home to face the wrath of goodness knows what punishment. Definitely a changed world from when I was born.

Yes Grannynw, we had a party line in our first house in 1970. I found out who it was (were we told?) and knocked on their door and introduced myself. We are still in touch after all these years.

The house we longed to buy was £1500 , a picture postcard cottage but because we couldn't get a mortgage, we couldn't afford it. I wonder how much it would cost now.

Gillybob I wanted to have my baby in hospital but due to a shortage of beds I was told there was nothing wrong with our house as we had our own loo so I would have a home birth.

Life is certainly easier now but not necessarily happier.

Born early 50s. Remember a saying. Those that can't teach. Especially in the secondary school system The attitude was if you did not pass 11+ you were factory fodder , if you had connections in a firm might get apprenticeship, girls office junior or shop, to work for Rackhams you needed at least 1 O 'Level and no amount of CSE' s even top grade would get you through the door. I went back education in the 80s loved the changes that has taken place

That old cottage did have a bathroom in though, i remember the posh lady showing us it and being so proud her father had it put in a few years ago she said (it was not modern though, had an old cast iron/enamel fitted bath & toilet with the high up cistern,wooden seat & a pull- chain.& old 1930's sink) it was better than going outside though. they pulled down the old 2-up 1-down house in the early 70's& re-housed us all.

Speaking of photos, froglady it is astonishing how readily young people whip their phones out for a selfie (self-centred?) - my grandmother would be astounded. When out for a meal, for instance, they'll take a picture of the plate and put it on social media.

As a child our houses had large rugs with small mats by the doorways - fully fitted carpets were an expense we could not afford. When we married in 1980 they'd become the norm. Now, for all sorts of reasons the fashion is for bare floorboards again.

There wasn't too much interest in interiors. Our curtains, etc were bought because they were cheap, not because they co-ordinated with anything or the style had changed. Lots of things were 'hand me downs' which tends not to be the case now as we are so much better off.

* lovebeigecardigans1955* I’d forgotten about the advent of fitted carpets. I remember my Mum taking the rugs outdoors on a nice day and giving them a good beating and airing.

I still have her rug beater.

Growing up in the 40s. Passed the 11+ and there were still girls who had been paying pupils. Was told that ‘my mummy says I mustn’t play with scholarship girls’.
The teachers did little more than dictate their notes which we copied down. We were told to complete our studies in the town’s library. I didn’t know where the library was or its opening hours. I lived in the sticks with a sporadic bus service consequently I never made it to the library It makes me think of the poor kids today who have no internet access. Thank goodness things are better now.

Does anyone remember Izal toilet paper? Horrible hard shiny stuff. Before that, squares of newspaper hanging from a string.

And Lino on the floors?

I remember the horrid Izal paper. I’m being transported back to the school toilets now and carbolic soap.

I still think that it’s pretty amazing that I can walk into a supermarket, and then walk out with a weeks groceries, and all I have to do is slide a thin piece of plastic into a machine , and even better what about the handheld scanners , zap zap zap , the items go straight into my bags and then out comes the thin piece of plastic and off I go ... amazing!

My teachers were all wonderful women who encouraged us and never insisted on being right or made fun of us.

But of course, north of the border we all know that the Scottish school system is better than the English!

We had a double sink in the kitchen. The large one was for doing the washing in. Outside, near the clothes-lines my mother had a wringer she put the washing through to get the water out of it.

A downstairs toilet with no hand wash basin, we opened and closed two doors on our way to the kitchen sink to wash our hands.

No central heating. The dining-room and sitting-room were moderately warm in winter. The rest of the house freezing cold.

The bathroom was only heated on Fridays when we took baths. The rest of the week, you turned blue while washing in the basin.

Two deliveries of mail every day, except Sunday. Shops delivered your shopping if asked to do so.

Children could play in the streets and walk home from school alone in safety.

No teenage drug addicts or boys with knives at school, although the 1960s did see some teenage mothers.

Oh, grannywannynanny my gran also had one of those - we'd get the job of beating a rug on a sunny day during the school hols - the dust flew everywhere! You had to wipe your face and blow your nose afterwards.

And the lino - it was very cold underfoot and the corners went all curly. We had to 'watch that bit' so as not to trip over it. Blimey, youngsters these days don't know they're born, do they?

Our houses were older, colder and damper. Now airing cupboards have disappeared - something I miss in a way. It was nice to put on warm underwear first thing on a winter morning - one of the few comforts as we shivered.

I had to answer Grammaretto...£900 for a bike for a 12 year old !?!?!? Where were you looking, my power-assisted bike didn’t cost that !! Go to any bike shops and pick one up for £200

lovebeigecardigans1955 I’m not quite sure how this beater survived. As well as using it for beating the rugs my brother and I often had a tug of war over it. I pretended I was playing guitar on it and my brother preferred to use it as a rifle

I was born 2 weeks before the queens coronation and the whole family went to my grandmothers to watch it cos she was the only one with a tv. We had no fridge and milk bottles were stood in a pan of cold water to stop it going sour . My mother used to rent a washing machine weekly for 3 hours to do the washing . We were poor and when the coal ran out my dad would chop up old doors and bit of wood to keep us warm. We had ice on the inside of windows in winter and if it was freezing we had coats chucked over us in bed

This is such an interesting thread! I have loved reading everyone’s reminiscences which have brought back so many memories.

Re. squares of newspapers cut up to use as loo paper- for years I was convinced it was only my grandmother who had done that until I mentioned it to a few people and learned it was quite common practice!

We must have been posh as my mum bought proper toilet rolls!

It’s been interesting to learn the differences in living conditions around the country.

I grew up in Surrey in the 50s and everyone I knew had indoor bathrooms, so it’s amazing to learn that even as late as the 60s that wasn’t the norm in some areas.

I guess like lots of us it’s modern technology which is the biggest source of amazement now.

I am hugely grateful for the freedom we had as children compared to today’s young who spend so much time in their rooms.

I and my friends often played out all day in the school holidays and my mum had no idea where I was. My children also had quite a bit of freedom and I think it’s very sad that those days of a proper childhood will probably never come back.

*Grammaretto" £900 for a 12 year old's bike. Took my breath away, must be a very, very special bike. I know some who custom builds bikes for his business and even he thinks that is expensive unless it was for a specific purpose and not just cycling on paths or roads. Hope the bike is well insured!

I remember sitting with my grandmother sometime in the 70s - she would have been about 90 - and her talking about how she had lived through the age of horse-drawn carriages to the age of watching men land on the moon on a box in the corner of her living room. I really do think that generation lived through the most extraordinary changes.