Things you never see nowadays

The rag and bone man with his wheelbarrow.

Ice cream man with bike and cold box on front, had solid co2 in box to keep ice cream frozen..He would take out a piece and hold it on the bell to make it ring.
. The muffin man and the shrimps and winkles man. They both carried a tray on their head holding the goods
..
The gas lamp lighter man, with his long rod for turning on the gas tap.

The street singer wandering through the streets in Kennington {London)
where we lived. A favourite song was "Just a song at twilight"!

Do you remember any of the "street games" we played?
Knock down Ginger. British bulldog. Cocker roosher. Hi Jimmy nacker one two three. Spinning tops, etc.

The man that came round the streets on Sundays selling prawns cockles,winkles etc for Sunday night tea.

Until quite recently our local town had a rag and bone man answered to the name of 'Flash' He pushed an 8ft x 4ft contraption around it looked like an oversized supermarket trolley.

As 5th of November will soon be here kids shouting "Penny for the guy".

Milk being sold in jugs by someone with a horse and cart.

Kids playing games in the street. Such as hop scotch

Brewery deliveries by horses, aah, lovely.

Buying pop at the door with the 'pop man'.

Shiney brass door wear.

AA boxes

Collecting pop bottles, bleach bottles from neighbours to take back to the corner shop. We could collect the 3d deposit that had been paid on them.
Recycling ain't new!!

The RAC patrol man on a motor bike who saluted you if you were sporting the membership badge on your car.

Donkey stoned steps.

Women sitting on the upstairs window ledges to clean the outside windows.

Washing lines strung across the streets.

Waiting for the chimney sweep's brush to pop out of the top of the chimney.

A knocker-up! This was even before my time, but my mother used to tell us about the man who went round knocking on bedroom windows to get people up for work. I don't suppose anybody could afford an alarm clock.

Gas mantles - the darned things were always breaking and the flame would spurt out of the hole.

Girls with skipping ropes.

Girls playing 'two balls' against the wall.

Rope swings on lamp-posts.

Children bowling hoops.

Whips and tops.

Mums and grans sitting outside their terraced houses on summer evenings, watching the kids playing street games.

The man who used to light the gas street light outside my bedroom

Theseus wants to join in: log tables; slide rules; starting handles on cars.

Me: wrap over pinnies; hair nets; motor bikes and side cars (every day!) pipe smokers.

POGS - we have very shiny brass door-ware, because DH polishes it up regularly - especially if he's heard that there's likely to be a bit of gossip in the village about something or other! He dashes out of the front door with the Brasso and a cloth, ready to polish up the knocker! If he's out there long enough, there's bound to be someone passing with some piece of news....

My mother was told by her mother that she must look after the 'brass and glass' because 'more passes than comes in'.
We got our donkey stones from the rag and bone man - he used to let us give his pony carrots. Sometime, the boys would beg a ride but the girls didn't like the stench of old clothes.
The first time I rode in a car was at my older sister's wedding when I was 12.

Marelli Could you please put him on the train for A......r next week along with his Brasso and rag so he can polish up my brass doorstep . I was so embarrassed at the state of it when all you GN's arrived last week; it hasn't been done for years - it would keep him out of mischief for at least a day! (and he could listen out for my village gossip at the same time)

Gally - he'd be in his glory! He'd also keep an eye/ear open for the philandering 'love-bus' driver! I didn't even notice you had a brass doorstep!!

We always knew when my mother was angry with my father - the black range would positively gleam because she put so much frustrated energy into using the Zebo on it.

Gally I for one didn't even notice a brass doorstep, now I'm imagining an entire step made of brass. Is that what it is?

I never see those deep red doorsteps any more, was it red paint?

It was Cardinal red polish, baubles! My mum used to polish our front doorstep tiles with it. Woe betide any of my friends who trod on it on the way in....! I don't know where I went wrong...DH polishing the knocker and my mum polishing the step....sometimes I give things a bit of a 'blow' as I pass them or at the most a flick with a duster, or whatever I have handy!

Steamrollers - noisily chugging down the road
Gas lamps indoors casting shadows up the stairs and passages - scary
Dolly & tub - still have my nan's though one of the peg legs is a bit dodgy. I don't need to use fortunately!
Mangles - used to love helping my nan with mangling
The boxes in small department stores in which the money is put and is whisked away and then comes pinging back with the change
Seats in the grocery store where you can sit and let the grocer do all the running around!

I'm 68 years old but gas lighter - don't remember those, but then I lived in Canada during my early childhood. Memories from then: the ice box at the side of the house, the iceman and his horse coming by a couple a times a week. He had a leather cape, he's lift a huge block of ice with a pair of tongs, heft it onto his back and stagger up the front path to the ice box. There'd be lots of chips of ice that we would dive on to suck or chuck. The milkman and his horse, the latter with a nose bag with his food, as the milkman went from house to house the horse would patiently walk alongside. So many things we had then have now been adopted here. Lunch boxes, ours were metal , Halloween and carved out pumpkins - our parents didn't come around with us. We went door-to-door on our own. If we didn't get a treat we'd trick, we'd toilet paper your house [getting a boy to lob loo paper over your house] or we'd car soap your car windows. Little asbos that we were!! Saturday morning comics and movies, tootsie rools,lifesavers, oh henry bars, cracker jack etc. [all these sweets still available in the US]

What about brass stair rods...I noticed gally had those because I want some!

Those big stone pop jars that we used as hot water bottles, to stop us freezing to death!
Little Tilly lamps that we hung in the outside toilet to stop the pipes freezing up.

I think I must have had a very cold childhood

Lots of old and interesting things

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