Remembering life in the 60s as a child...

I've just been talking with a good friend who was born in Germany. I'm in NZ, and we are both 1950 babies. Our early lives could not be more different. She had had endless problems with her bones, owing to the hunger and poverty in 1950s Frankfurt. She is a tiny, thin little thing, in the mould of Audrey Hepburn, for the same reasons. She speaks of the shame of being born German back then. NZ was one of the richest nations in the world at that time, owing to the high price of wool and the need for lamb, beef, cheese and butter, worldwide. We still had rationing when I was a baby, because we sent a huge proportion of our agricultural produce back to the Mother Country. Even so, both my parents were of farming stock, and knew how to make a little home-grown food go a long way. We shared a house cow with our neighbours, and mother used to milk her in the morning, the neighbours at night. I remember her in a homemade flour-sack apron, bringing home pails of warm frothing milk from Beauty. We had a dozen chickens, a huge vege garden, many fruit trees, and we children were all actively involved in food production - feeding chickens, weeding rows of carrots, turning the compost pile, mowing the grass. I learned to sew and to darn socks, though refused to learn to knit at age 5, because my brother was not expected to do so, and I didn't think it was fair.
We played out on the adjacent farm, and parents never knew where we were or what we were doing. There were fast-flowing rivers, trees we climbed recklessly, bulls, and one one occasion, aged about 9, I remember being lost and the panic was awful. My sister developed pneumonia aged 6, and was off school for months. Mother used to leave her at home all day while she went off to play golf. Imagine that today!
The best of times, and the worst of times.

I was a 1959 baby too. Our socks were kept up with rubber bands from my mum’s office. So was my pony tail. It really hurt when she took it out.

Lino floor , cold on the toes in the mornings.

Sweets were an absolute treat for special occasions, except for penny sweets, which I bought with some of my threepenny bit spending money. ‘Cali’ (coloured sugar) and rainbow drops were measured out into a paper cone. Or you could buy a flying saucer... sherbet in a rice paper UFO shape. Actually, I saw these in a shop recently, bagged and boxed up, of course, and costing more than a penny ??

When I was 16 I bought my first pair of tights - I hated wearing stockings so I wore them for work. When she got into her teens my sister used to steal them. I once battered her with a wooden hairbrush for taking my last pair of tights. Then I learned to keep them in my locker at work.

I was paid by bank transfer so my parents never knew how much I earned. I opened an accommadation address in one of the local shops and had all my bank statements and private correspondence sent there. If you think thats a bit extreme my mother used to go through my drawers to see if I had any money hidden that she could "borrow". She used to check my wardrobe to see if I bought any new clothes and then interrogate me on how much they cost. So I went out to work in an old dress and changed when I got there.

My locker at work was full of dresses, shoes and makeup plus any spare cash. I also stowed things in my grandmothers house when I was saving up to move into my own place.

When you have nosy parents cheating becomkes a fun game. My father would not have been pleased to learn that by age 22 I earned more than him.

That reminded me of the old joke of the man who had lost his job, his wife had left him and taken their children with her, and he was now homeless, who went into a shoe shop and asked for a pair of shoes, size 6. The assistant suggested he might find a size 8 more comfortable, and he said " the only pleasure I get out of life is removing my too small shoes every night" .

One was always tighter than the other, too.
Oh, the bliss of moving the garter a bit and having a good old scratch of the welt!
So good it hurt!!

MissAdventure

My garters were made from knicker elastic, with a knot in it.
The knot was the worst bit.

Mine too, my Mum hated sewing. Also, I don't think I got a brand new bit of elastic, it would have been unpicked from the legs or waist of my old knickers before they became dusters, so already part of the stretch would have gone.

My garters were made from knicker elastic, with a knot in it.
The knot was the worst bit.

When I was in primary school, early 50s, my long winter socks, with turnups, I had garters made from pieces of elastic sewn into a loop to keep my socks up. Put the socks on, turn over unturned. Pull on garter and turn top of sock, over the garter. Simple, straight forward and not uncomfortable

glad you prevailed biglouis. big up to you.

welbeck

well i'd never heard of nor seen a liberty bodice.
i still don't get why a junior girl would need it, surely they didn't wear stockings with suspenders.
we wore elasticated socks, or some posh people had woolley tights that went all the way up, to elasticated waist.
for warmth a vest or two/t-shirt.
the so-called liberty bodice sounds hideous.
i went to boarding school aged 11, never heard of it there either.
sorry for those who have fond memories of the l-b. but it just conjures up notions of victorian repression of the female form, even children.

Hi welbeck, we wore thick woollen stockings attached to our liberty bodice by suspenders from Primary 1 to Primary 7. I think generations before me would have worn them at secondary school too, but I think by that time thick woollen tights had become available so I had those instead. The only alternative to the suspenders was garters and I didn't like the discomfort of those plus my stockings still fell down when I wore them. I certainly wasn't aware of being repressed in any way, I was always nice and cosy, which was the main purpose of wearing it.

why no elastic in socks ? never heard of tying things to hold them up.
surely elasticated socks has been around a while.
the only thing i saw was to get a coloured feather-edge green tab for scouts, under the turn-over in their usual grey socks.
and that was for decoration/affiliation, not to hold them up, as it was added only when doing scouts.

i wonder if it was a northern thing ?
anyone in the home counties or south use one, in the 60s ?as a child ?

HannahLoisLuke

I grew up in the 40s so my memories are different. I won’t list them here except for one. Wearing wellies with short socks. The socks always worked themselves into a ball in the toe of the wellies and we always had a chapped ring around our calves where the top inside of the wellies got wet and rubbed against our legs. Painful.

I still have a " wellie mark" on my leg!

well i'd never heard of nor seen a liberty bodice.
i still don't get why a junior girl would need it, surely they didn't wear stockings with suspenders.
we wore elasticated socks, or some posh people had woolley tights that went all the way up, to elasticated waist.
for warmth a vest or two/t-shirt.
the so-called liberty bodice sounds hideous.
i went to boarding school aged 11, never heard of it there either.
sorry for those who have fond memories of the l-b. but it just conjures up notions of victorian repression of the female form, even children.

Oh yes liberty bodice with rubber like buttons,navy blue school knickers with a pocket in.Plastic sandals with hollow soles which pebbles would get stuck in.Crying because I was going for a new winter coat and I knew I would hate it and sure enough a green gabardine with huge hood and just above the ankles in length.Visiting Grandparents in summer holidays and being allowed to go to local park on our own it had a playground,tennis courts,paddling pool,fish pond lots of trees,bushes and little shelters with benches.Grandma would treat us weighed sweets cherry lips,broken cigarettes,coconut tobacco,5 boy chocolate.We loved our holidays.

I was in my late teens/early 20s during the 1960s and it was a very significant time for me, I was made to leave school at 15 - my parents would not allow me to stay on to do A levels as they wanted me to get a job - any job - to contribute to the family budget. They had no aspirations for me and were not prepared to make any sacrifices so I could get on. That was being "stuck up" and "forgetting your class".

I was never content with their ideas and was fortunate enough to go into librarianship. I can remember my father being quite hostile that I had to open a bank account in order to be paid. He was even more hostile about my cheque book. Only posh people had cheque books back then. Again, they would not hear of my going to full time library school in order to qualify even though I was eligible for an LEA grant. Fortunately a big boss at my workplace took me under his wing and sponsored me for a "sandwich" course which enabled me to qualify in 3 years.

As soon as I passed my exams I was promoted in work, and immediately began to look for my own flat. My sister fell pregnant at 16 so there was an extra mouth to feed. My mother had just told me I had to put up more money for my "keep" - or rather my little nephew's keep. My sister had to give up work so I was supposed to support her.

Errrrr! No.

I remember the shocked look on my mother's face when I told her I was moving out the following week.

M0nica

Yes, I wore liberty bodices in winter when I was a child. A bit like a waistcoat worn under clothes rtaher than on top. I don't remember the suspenders, but I only wore them until I was about 7 or 8.

With fuel bills rising it is interesting to think how many layers of clothing we wore round the house, just as normal winter clothes, no special attempt to keep warm: My childhood, admittedly in the 1950s, but we wore a 100% wool vest, Liberty bodice, cosy viyella blouse, long sleeve wool sweater, large, warm knickers, sometimes two pairs, thick woollen skirt and knee height woollen socks.

Compare that with what people think is 'normal' indoor winter clothing today, thin underpants, shortsleeved T shirt, thinnish tracksuit bottoms and probably wandering round the house without socks on.

Hi , the suspenders were in no way attractive -about 2 inches broad and the same long, virtually no stretch as they were made of slightly smelly rubber with rubber buttons and a metal clasp, and attached with a saw edge metal contraption so they could be detached ( maybe later in the Spring??) Girls would phone Childline today!

Franbern I also do not remember, liberty bodices as being uncomfortable. I do know that I used to cut the buttons off to use as a pencil rubber at school. My mother was very puzzled as to why my buttons kept falling off and that she never fund any on the floor and was always having to buy new ones!

Born in 1941 I am coming to terms with the fact that many on GN are around the same age as some of my children.
We moved back to London in 1945, never allowed to play out in the street, but although we actually lived in the four attic rooms of a large house, my Dad had wrung out of the Landlord permission for me to use the garden BUT only me - no friends permitted. Lonely time, I had many imaginary friends and animals.
Remember the Liberty Bodice, worn every winter- rubber buttons. do not remember it being particularly uncomfortable. Ice inside the window each winter. Mum making what she called cream cheese from milk going sour.

At the age of 9yrs we were moved to a new estate in Essex. Here we did have the freedom to run outside with the other children after school, and all the school holidays. Freedom and fun Yes - but not accident free. Those of us who survived all that can remember it with affection - others did not survive. We lived at the top of three hills - I learned to ride a two wheel bike on the mans full size one owned by the brother ( doing National Service) of a boy friend when I was about 13 years old. Taught, by me sitting on it (far too high for me to get feet to ground), and being pushed off down those hills!!! I was fortunate - loads of bruises and grazes but no broken bones!!!! Think I preferred the way my children learned with safety wheels on their bikes.

I have always enjoyed food - very little that I will not eat - so really enjoyed both the school milk and the school lunches (which I also had during the school holidays when in London). By the age of 7 yrs I was a latch-key kid as my Mum (working part time) would be out of the home before I went to school and did not return until about an hour after I got back home. During the holidays I would often have several days without any child care, left to myself. On one occasion this resulted in what could have been a fatal accident), when I sort of fell (long story ) out of 2nd floor window.

As with so many things, we remember the good bits and our brains have dismissed the bad things then. I think that the childhood of my children (70's) was far better. They had freedom, but I was at home and never that far away from what they were doing.

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Collecting eggs from the chickens and putting some in a big crock.it was covered with a liquid called waterglass which preserved the eggs.
A fire lit in my bedroom as I was always ill, perhaps due to the coldness of the house. Tin bath in front of the fire and the excitement when our first bathroom arrived. It was a wooden hut in the yard but water still had to be fetched in buckets from the pump at the neighbours farm. Toilet was in a hut down the garden and I think it had to be emptied somewhere in the garden.

Yes, I wore liberty bodices in winter when I was a child. A bit like a waistcoat worn under clothes rtaher than on top. I don't remember the suspenders, but I only wore them until I was about 7 or 8.

With fuel bills rising it is interesting to think how many layers of clothing we wore round the house, just as normal winter clothes, no special attempt to keep warm: My childhood, admittedly in the 1950s, but we wore a 100% wool vest, Liberty bodice, cosy viyella blouse, long sleeve wool sweater, large, warm knickers, sometimes two pairs, thick woollen skirt and knee height woollen socks.

Compare that with what people think is 'normal' indoor winter clothing today, thin underpants, shortsleeved T shirt, thinnish tracksuit bottoms and probably wandering round the house without socks on.

https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202208/medium-939273-bacon-and-egg-pie.png https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202208/medium-673705-cream-cheese-pastry.png

Hi Folks
Aussie Gran and I have been private messaging about Aussie and NZ foods which aren't so common in the UK. One was Bacon and Egg Pie a picnic treat from our childhoods.
These recipes are for Aussiegran but feel free.
I can't see that I can add attachments on private messaging so hence two recipes on a chat about reminiscing.
Food is such an important part of our past and our Mother's cooking whether good or bad matters a lot. My Mum was a very good pastry cook, all those beautiful buttery pastries. I don't make pastry any where near as well as she did, but I have discovered that for the few times we have pie, maybe once or twice a year home made is nicer . This cream cheese pastry is delicious and much easier to make than flaky pastry, for the recipe I add the smoked paprika and black sesame seeds in the bacon and egg pie recipe but that is not traditional. Do double the pastry recipe or use bought.

AussieGran59

I just googled liberty bodice as I’ve never heard of them. They look very uncomfortable. We had to wear singlets under everything, even in summer and mum would tell us off because we didn’t keep them pulled down. They rolled up with irritating frequency and were the bane of my life.

Hi, apart from the horrible suspenders which could be unclipped if you weren't wearing long stockings, I think I found my Liberty bodice quite cosy and comfy. It had fleece on the inside and soft knitted cotton on the other. It was a creamy off white colour, at least mine was. It was really old fashioned looking though, even then !

Message withdrawn at poster's request.