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

Ladyleftfieldlover yes I too had a Liberty bodice, someone else reminded me of that in a different thread a few days ago. Mine had broad suspenders, three on each side, so that I could clip my long thick winter stockings on to the bottom. There were always horrible cold draughty gaps at the top of the stockings and the only way to cover these was to wear long legged knickers with elastic around the legs which went over the stocking tops. There were no tights early on although I think I did get ( thick) tights when I went to secondary school.

I remember having knitted school jumpers made by my nan, which I hated. Also always having Clark's sandals with a diamond cut out pattern in the summer and some horrible black lace up shoes in the winter. Could have been Tough Go Girls or something like that. The worst however was the Burberry waterproof coat which was always bought too big and I was told that I would "grow into it". I also hated having my sister's cast offs.

Ooh yes.
We had the tinned salmon, all mashed up in sandwiches, with cucumber, sometimes for our tea at the weekend.

Ohh, remember lots of these I haven't thought of in years! Oh yes those horrid elastic garters. Also remember the Manfred Mann song and poppit beads. Tinned salmon (mashed up with vinegar) and tinned peaches were treats. Also playing a game which involved jumping up and down steps and shouting out the names of the Beatles???

My sunday school hat had narrow elastic which went under my chin to keep the hat on, and after wearing it for 2 hours I had a read mark from ear to ear for the rest of the day that looked as though I'd had my throat slit.

I had a school kilt that had a cotton bodice attached ( like a woven cotton vest) with a long length of bodice inside the kilt below the waist and each year as I got taller the bodice was let down so that the kilt still fitted me.

Ice lollies from the local shop that had ice crystals like big grains of sugar welded to them,that gave you blisters on your tongue.

But most of all was going out the back garden gate and playing in the forest all day every day we wanted to until our parents called us in at dinner time. If you didn't hear
your own parents someone else would hear theirs and we would all traipse out of the trees at the same time, filthy, often wet where we had fallen in to a pond, stinking of mouldy vegetation, sometimes of bonfire smoke if anyone had stolen matches from their house, covered in scratches, and very happy and carefree indeed.

I remember the poppit beads from the late 60s (I was born in 1965) also socks with garters and a knitted hood that buttoned under my chin and itched like nobodies business.
Brushed nylon dresses for Sundays that my mother made, hair in rags at night to make it curly, we later transitioned to foam curlers which were much more uncomfortable. Quite why my poker straight hair had to be curled every night I don't know but I never queried it.

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ginny

My main memory was our freedom to roam.

Mine too. Especially the summer holidays. Both parents worked so we were at Nana's every day. She trusted us not to do anything stupid,
Even got on a bus to roam further.

I remember my brother, sister and I setting off on our bikes for adventures in the woods and cycling home in time for dinner. Dad had a little black car and after my birthday parties would cram all my friends in to drive them home. Seatbelts? What were they? Mum always bought me school skirts which were too long and said I’d grow into them. I never did so scrunched up the waistband so the skirt hung unevenly. If we were thirsty we were offered water. If hungry, bread and butter. Mum made the best cakes (she had trained as a baker) but shop bought fresh cream cakes were a treat. We used to run outside and look at the sky if we heard a plane going over. My best friend’s dad had three jobs so he could save up for a house. It took until my friend had left school. Girls of my acquaintance didn’t often wear shorts or trousers. Does anyone else remember having to wear a liberty bodice? I lost a brand new shoe playing in a hay barn and my parents were devastated. Mum used to make my sister and I matching dresses in different colours. I think she got the patterns from a women’s magazine. It was a treat to have a shop bought dress like my friend whose dad had three jobs.

AussieGran59

Yammy, you mentioned gammon. My friend served this when we stayed with her in Cornwall. Loved it but can’t seem to get it in Australia. Nicest meat I ever tasted. I miss so many foods only available in the UK.

It was a cut of ham, my cousin lives in Melbourne I'll ask her what she uses because she still cooks a lot of English dishes. They cooked it in a large joint seemed to take all day and then stuck cloves in it. We still have it at Christmas or New year in England. The rum butter is a speciality of where I grew up made just with sugar, butter and a lot of Navy rum. Our ports traded with the Caribbean so they used a lot of spices.

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Wow,those were the days when we were free to do whaterver we wanted as long as our parents knew where we would be.
I remember two of those songs,i also remember Cliff Richards Congratulations song,we used to sing along to it whilst playing Hop Scotch ect.
We never felt threatened/frightened at all.
I loved my childhood,soooo many great memories.
Oh ,and i just remembered having my first satchel for school and felling very proud and grown up.

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Pollards, yes!
With a lady who was like Mrs. Overall working there.

getting the school bus to the Grammar school eight miles away and having to take a travel sickness tablet Avomine? because the roads were so bad. Playing hockey in skirt shorts down to your knees on freezing school pitches,
Families getting together and having a party at any opportunity at my grans and enjoying her Roast gammon and rum butter.

I NZ we don’t and didn’t ever have midday meals provided but in the 1960’s we had school milk. We had to drink a half pint bottle each day. Often it was left out in the sun until morning break and was pretty unpleasant by the time children got to it. Our school lucky for me, refrigerated it so it wasn’t so bad.

Walking to school on our own, no adult needed was an escort. Ink pens - no ball-points allowed - and blotting paper stuffed in the inkwells.
Boys and girls strictly segregated in the school playground, as well as separate lessons in cooking and woodwork and no-one had heard of homophobia. Going on nature walks and learning the names of wild flowers. We'd never heard of Sun screen cream and if we got burned we dabbed it with that horrible pink
stuff whose name I've forgotten.
(though to be fair I am going back another 10 years from you - to the 50s)

A go- kart made with a wooden plank ,an orange box,a puece of rope to steer and the wheels off of my brothers old pram.
Secret dens in the bushes in the park,and when parky found you ( parkeeper,he always wore a uniform like a police man) he would chase you out shaking his fist at you.

First bra from pollards,any one remember them,circular stitching and stood out like two uce cream cornets under your jumper.
Suspender belts,or in my case a roll on,think long elasticated tube of instant torture,especially getting on quickly after PE, garters on socks where a practice run for roll- ons.

Knickers where the elastic could be
changed if it snapped or pinned on to your roll- on with the safety pin specially carried for such emergencies.

Loving this thread. Remember the gymfrocks, the Panama
Fhats, the rompers! and warm milk at morning intervals. Going to manual, cooking and sewing for the girls, woodwork and metalwork for the boys. I remember we made meatballs one week, some of boys got into one girl’s take home box and threw these meatballs around the bus, some got caught in those old netting luggage racks! Pretty daring back then!! Days and days at the beach or by rivers. Good days and many happy memories.

Yes, I remember cream buns being a treat as they weren’t home made. Lamingtons and of course pavlova. My Mother’s cheese scones are the best I have ever tasted but I may be biased.

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I can remember crimpelene dresses which were itchy. Also the socks were always falling down. I can remember playing out in the back,lane till 9pm on a weekend summers night. Drinking pop eating jam sandwiches and being so happy. The school hols were long and we all loved them.

My main memory was our freedom to roam.

We had a tent in the garden, and were allowed to sleep in it, sometimes.

Aussiegran I was also born in NZ in 1959.
I remember prickly wool jerseys sitting on the back of the tractor on the farm (no health and safety) the cold crisp sunny days feeding out on the farm. We lived in the central North Island with a view of the mountains the wind coming straight off the snow. The white mountains sharply contrasted with the blue sky. We antipodeans live with much stronger colours and sunlight than our Northern cousins.
I am a redhead my nose was burnt and sore all summer.
Aussiegran you might remember Raro juice in the big green tin.
I still have my Grandmother’s old tin of buttons, I still add to it and use the buttons.
My Grandmother made terrible hats out of taffeta and coarse organdie that made my big sister and mother look like they had those toilet roll holders on their heads.