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

This is making me feel very old. I left school in 1962. The 60s was a significant decade for me - leaving home to go to university in London, marriage and motherhood all within the space of a few years. I had a beehive hairstyle throughout this period and trendy specs with swept-up sides (think Edna Everage but without the diamante decoration). A quirky early memory of starting university was the existence of a "milk machine" in the street near to my rather seedy student hostel in Bayswater. I'd never seen one before - coins in the slot and hey presto there was a carton of milk. Across the road from the milk machine was a laundrette where my roommate and I spent many a Sunday afternoon writing letters home to our parents (it was warmer in there than in our hostel room). We knew how to enjoy ourselves in those days - a carton of milk and a cosy afternoon in the laundrette. The telephone box down the road was the only way we could communicate with our friends across town - oh the hours I spent queuing outside that box waiting to make a call to my boyfriend. Readers, I married him..... and he's just come back home from the allotment and is wondering what I'm smiling at.

Jam sandwiches. Even sugar or syrup ones occasionally. We'd be horrified if we saw kids eating them now. Carnation milk on tinned fruit for pudding. Loved elastic skipping and hopscotch.

This thred brought back so many memories! THANK YOU!!! I grew up in Long Island, NY, USA. I have very similar memories. My knee socks were held up with rubber bands! I remember listening to the Beatles with my friends and our older brothers. Also remember playing stickball and kickball in the street until it got dark and spending the whole day in the summer playing in the woods. Ice Cream truck came around everyday. At that time, we were told to go outside and play. Today that would never happen. I feel that the 60s and 70s were the last of the good eras to grow up.

I am 70 and still have my mum's button tin and enjoy seeing my grandchildren playing with them, not every thing is electronic!!

Lovely thread I left school aged 17 in 1979 immediately travelling to Southern Germany to work as a mother's helper.
Riding pillion on a motorcycle with a very dishy tanned German boy I'd met, in the warm evening sunshine. Drinking beer in huge steins, eating frites with mayo walking around Munich, chatting with American airmen.
I was there about 4 months before being called home because of a serious illness in the family.
Then settled in to work and poof adulthood began. Early mornings long hours at the hospital where I worked.
Where have all the years gone ?

My childhood was the 50s. Calamine lotion for sunburn, if you were lucky.Blackcurrant , gooseberry, strawberry and raspberry jam from the berries grown in the garden. Roller skates with metal wheels, what a racket! Chalking on the pavements to play games (hopscotch?) with an empty shoe polish tin. Clothing parcels from America, loved those as usually a toy or string of lollipops inside too. Yes, sorting out the button box basically making up sets and then putting them all back in the box, absolutely no purpose other than to keep us quiet. In the winter waking up and snatching clothes from chair then heating them up in the bed before getting dressed for school. None of your clean clothes everyday, had to wear everything for a week with a bath and hair washed every Sunday night. Ah the good old days.

MO, poppits beads were around in the early 1950’s too. Remember embarrassing an honorary Aunt at a family party by pulling hers suddenly when she was dancing past very elegantly with a man who collapsed laughing and called me a little moo-er. Suddenly realised many years later that he was calling me a little cow.

As Mary Hopkins would say………… those were the days..?.. Born in 1953 and so grateful now for the child hood I had compared to the childhood my grandchildren have now…

I'm from the U.S. During the summer we would be outside playing with our friends all day. We would rarely check in at home. We were very active. We played hopscotch, jump rope, double dutch, volley ball and so many other games.
We'd go to the park and play on the swings, monkey bars, teeter totter, etc. During the winter the park would be flood for ice skating. We would go into the field house once in a while for warm up.

I lived about a mile from my school. I would always walk to/from and usually meet up with friends along the way. We were able to go home for lunch. Sometimes my mom would give me a nickel or a dime to buy penny candy on my way back to school.

I lived in a very working class neighborhood. We didn't have a lot of material possessions, but we sure had fun. I miss those days. Fond memories.

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

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 !

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.

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.

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.

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

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.

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!

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!

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.

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.

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.

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!

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