Growing up without going to shops

My grandchildren were delighted to travel on a bus with me, front seat upstairs on a double decker of course. Also to be taken to a sweet shop with a vast choice. The 16 year old is just discovering the joys of going into town with her friends- until I reminded her that it was soon to be Father’s Day, which rather curtailed her spending on clothes.

I am not sure I have ever gone out for a days shopping. I would never have enjoyed it. But an hour or two when I have a shopping list , whether for food or clothes is bearable

What I do enjoy are junk shops, antique fairs, auction sales, boot sales, charity shops. architectural recycling sites, proper markets, Anywhere eclectic, random and preferably second hand.

What I do enjoy are junk shops, antique fairs, auction sales, boot sales, charity shops. architectural recycling sites, proper markets, Anywhere eclectic, random and preferably second hand.

Me too M0nica

When I was little, and right through my teens, my favourite shop was the local book shop. I could spend hours (and all my pocket money) perusing the shelves. When my sisters and I were teenagers, we used to go to a posh department store and try on the hats in the millinery department, taking care not to be asked 'may I help you'. They somehow tolerated us - maybe regarding us as future customers. I couldn't pass a shoe shop in my early 20s! Shopping could be fun, especially when we were old enough to do it without mum! I don't think my GDs will have so much innocent enjoyment.

I find that on line shopping is not as easy or convenient as it is made out to be. I agree with MOnicaabout being able to see and touch the things I am buying. That's without all the size variations in clothing and shoes.

I started online shopping when I had hip replacement because I couldn’t get out. I still do but I must admit I missed retail therapy when COVID regulations came about. Just rushing out for essentials was functional and boring. I think children should go to the shops it will teach them social skills which are essential in life. Sitting in front of a computer 24/7 is not healthy and it won’t teach provenance of goods purchased.

I'm amazed that grans on here got coffee when they shopped as teenagers. Getting a decent cup of coffee anywhere in the UK is a new (last twentyfive years or so) phenomenon in my experience.

I’m not sure that’s entirely the case, Baggs. My mum used to take us to a cafe/ice cream parlour when we were children. She would have coffee and we’d have ice cream. It was a red letter day if she put some of the foam onto my ice cream! I was excited to grow up and be allowed my own cup of coffee. It was like a modern latte, really.

I guess if you were brought up in a town shopping was one of your daily experiences. But in a rural village just after the war almost all our stuff was delivered. The milkman, the butchers boy, the bread man daily.

Weekly, the drapery man with household linen, the hardware man, the Corona fizzy drink man, the Friday weekend pastries.

Going shopping in town was an event that required dressing up for the occasion.

I think children should go to the shops it will teach them social skills which are essential in life. Sitting in front of a computer 24/7 is not healthy and it won’t teach provenance of goods purchased.
It's not one or the other though. Not shopping does not equal sitting in front of computers 24/7.

Also, most websites give very clear information about where goods are from, whereas unless you are served by the person doing the ordering that is much less likely in a shop.

Peasblossom

I guess if you were brought up in a town shopping was one of your daily experiences. But in a rural village just after the war almost all our stuff was delivered. The milkman, the butchers boy, the bread man daily.

Weekly, the drapery man with household linen, the hardware man, the Corona fizzy drink man, the Friday weekend pastries.

Going shopping in town was an event that required dressing up for the occasion.

yes I have been thinking about this ansd my own childhood... Children who are adults now will have grown up without seeing the chimney sweep, without having fed the the greengrocer's horse an apple (or scooped up his poo for dad's roses!) without buying roasted chestnuts off the street vendor, without wearing saggy knitted swimming costumes.
i grew up without artisan bread, farmer's markets, school ski-ing trips......autres temps

There were five of us children and we rarely went shopping, so when we did it was a big occasion. I think most of our clothes were bought from catalogues - Freemans, etc.

That may be why I'm not a habitual shopper (although I do love a trip to B&Q to check out the power tools!) but I only buy online if I can't find what I want locally. Sadly that's getting to be more and more often.

Baggs

I'm amazed that grans on here got coffee when they shopped as teenagers. Getting a decent cup of coffee anywhere in the UK is a new (last twentyfive years or so) phenomenon in my experience.

I’m not sure about the quality but there were plenty of places to get a coffee in Manchester when I was a teenager in the early 1970’s - I worked in The Milk Bar in Piccadilly Gardens where were sold frothy coffee made by putting a metal wand with holes in to the cup which blew out hot air! I thought it was the height of sophistication! There were also lots of places to get coffee in the department stores of course.

There was a great fashion for coffee shops in the late 1950s/60s. There was one in every town where teenagers collected and it would have a juke box. I can remember The Palimeno in central Reading.

The 2is Coffee shop in Soho was an influential music venue. Both Tommy Steele and Cliff Richard were discovered playing there.

It was in Old Compton Street, Soho and was famous enough to now have an official plaque on the wall sayi; Site of the 2i's Coffee Bar (1956-1970). Birthplace of British Rock and Roll and the popular music industry

My only complaint is that you cannot get good black coffee in Britain. Because most people put milk in coffee in some form, the coffee used tends to have a bitter aftertaste so that the flavour doesn't disappear when you add milk.

In France where most people drink coffee black, the coffee has flavour but is much smoother. On the other hand I would think it tasted pretty awful if you put milk in it.

I take my grandchildren of 6 1/2 shopping from time to time. They go with their Mum as well for choosing clothes like underwear and shoes as she buys most of their clothes secondhand. They know very well about online shopping. Recently we were looking for stuff for their craft boxes and were allowed £5.00 each. They thoroughly enjoyed choosing their own bits and pieces and paying for them.

I think it’s very important for them to learn about making choices within a budget either online or in person and the social skills involved.

As and aside, I loathe clothes shopping but online is such a lottery. I usually stick with retailers I know or from recommendation on Gransnet.

I buy as much online as I can. at 83 with two new hips and a crumbling spine all I get from shopping in shops is a form of road rage!

I always think the same about going on a bus!
Not being able to drive, I have taken all of the littlies in my family on bus trips to the nearest towns and they have all loved it - one nephew was thrilled to have been on 4 different types of buses in one day!
It is such a shame as to me, actually going into a shop, using public transport etc should be part and parcel of children learning social skills. Of how to interact with complete strangers and to be polite even if things go wrong.
Way too easy to use a keyboard and be rude and offensive or do the same over the phone - after all, you are not speaking/ replying to a real person are you ?

Is it so diffefent to when some of us were growing up? Mum had her groceries delivered - Dad dropped the order book to the shop in on his way past going to work, they came later that day; the milkman called 7 days a week, the baker called 6 days. Mum did go to the butchers but there was also a mobile one that she used. Papers were delivered. Yes we did go to shops for clothes, toys and other bits and pieces but not often as there wasn’t the money.

It seems its what theyre growing up with, more so since covid19, but even about 5 yrs ago when we set off somewhere one of my GD who was coming too asked "have you got your plastic Grandma?" as we all got in the car.So long as i had my debit card she was happy.No mention of actual cash?

Good post, Bluebelle.
Many children think it’s ‘exciting’ to go on a bus or a train, whereas cars and planes are common place for some.
Seeing parents handling money and coping with it themselves is another change from when we were young.
Things change continually.
Wait till you’re asked to go into your DGC’s school and talk about how things were in the olden days!

Yes my GC have asked me "how it was back then" and im only 57!?

I realised I was getting old when I decided to bake a cake for a local fare and went into a Pound shop to buy doilies. Not finding them I found a young assistant who asked: What's a doiley? Our local Hobbycraft no longer kept them in the cake-making section but in with the children's art supplies.

As children of divorced parents, our mum worked. My brother and I, still primary age and latchkey, were sent to the shops with a list and cash to buy groceries: tea and sugar from the grocer, fruit and veg from the greengrocer, bread from the baker, broken biscuits from Woolworths. Milk and eggs were delivered as were clothes from the tallyman! And R White's Lemonade. Takeaway on Fridays from the fish and chip shop when mum had her wages.

Lifestyles are different now and in the main I've adopted a lot of current practice. I shop on line - groceries, clothes, household items. I use my card mostly and just keep £20 in my purse for the odd cash purchase. I embrace the self service tills. I accept that my grandchildren have their own experience of life. They don't like being hauled round shops either, unless it's a toy shop of course.
My mum shopped daily for food and I remember being hauled around the shops and hating it, getting into trouble for hiding in the racks of clothes and picking up and touching things - being so bored. Give me modern shopping habits and next day, or even same day deliveries. I sometimes order my groceries from Morrisons, via Amazon. I order in the morning and I get it late afternoon or early next day.
It's a shame if high streets cannot adapt and are entirely lost. Some are becoming more like social centres with smaller, interesting, unique shops and regular themed street markets.
There is nothing better, for me, than browsing in a book shop or library. I hope there is room in modern life for them.

I’d look on it as a bit of a bonus if your Gdcs find it exciting to go to the shops, maydonoz - a relatively cheap ‘treat’, even if you end up buying them a little something.

Our Gdcs of 6 and nearly 5 love going on a bus - especially the top front seats - they so rarely use buses at home. And if they can choose a little present, that’s the icing on top.

I was playing shop with my grandson and he was looking for somewhere to scan his card!