What our parents did that wouldn't be seen now

Its interesting that there were all those puss-y knees. I was moisturising MIL's back the other day. Smooth and white as when she was born, as never exposed to the sun, and asked her about a scar. An abscess when she was a child apparently. I remember my gran having abscesses on her bottom.

Back to the knee injuries theme - Mum used to put the pink ointment onto a piece of lint and then bung it onto my knee then wrap it in a bandage, which if the wound was bad enough would stain with the puss etc. It was always horrible when it came time to change it as the lint stuck to the would and always made it bleed.

My grandfather always wore a trilby - even when gardening. He worked before WW1 as a gardener for a big estate in Somerset, and was entitled to 1 Sunday in the month off. H e was required to attend C of E church every week regardless of faith or denomination (he was Methodist).

Was injured at Gallipoli (is that the the correct spelling?)which put paid to his war effort.

Those were the days!!

JessM, my mum's behaviour was exactly like your grandmother's. No walk, or visit to any country park or garden was complete without mum snipping cuttings of any plant she fancied. She also nipped out with a bucket and shovel whenever the rag and bone man came down the road.

We didn't have germoline (luxury!), mum made a poultice of sugar and soap if we had a cut that went sceptic. I confess to doing the same thing when my children were small.

Grannie always had the family baby on her knee, and as soon as the baby was ready for solids, would chew bits of food, to feed to the baby. Amazing that so many of us are still here to tell the tale, given we roamed the countryside unsupervised, and lived in smoke filled homes.

Wow some of you have some seriously interesting memories from the 40s.
My grandmother was in effect one of my parents and she was a keen gardener. She used to "take a little cutting" if she saw a plant she fancied (e.g in the "educational gardens") and if she heard the rag and bone man (the only trader who still had a horse and cart) she would nip out with bucket and shovel in case there was any horse manure she could commandeer for her rose bushes.
My parents both had rheumatic fever in their childhood. No antibiotics and the after effects killed my father at 34.
They both rejected christianity and were agnostic/atheist and we were not christened. He was involved in trying to set up a new political party after the war and, I believe, stood for election (which I have never done). He had a beard and relatively long hair. He used to wear a hand-knitted tie that a child made for him. Pretty unusual in the post-war years (he died in 1955).

My father always wore a hat too - never, of course, indoors and always raised to ladies. I think it was a fedora. I also remember M & B, presumably May & Baker. I had pneumonia when I was three and recall the bottle of pink medicine that was kept on top of the wardrobe in my bedroom. I also at one time had thread worms but have no intention of describing the primitive and deeply embarrassing treatment of the 1950s. Nowadays, a readily available tablet solves the problem.

Whitewave, I wonder was the pink ointment Germolene ? Smelled like Peptobismol.

rosesarered Until your post of 21.01, this had been quite a light hearted, nostalgic thread. You then decided to make some critical comments about a thread on the politics forum and referred to contributors as "whining" and "posturing".

If you disagree with the comments on a particular thread (and I don't know to which thread you were referring), why not put your point of view on that thread?

As to taxes being "our money" - yes, it is your money, and it is my money also, and I too have a view as to how it should be spent.

As other posters have pointed out, your characterisation of our parents'/grandparents' generation as all being happy with their lot and "just getting on with it" is a sweeping generalisation.

I got tonsillitis when I was young and I remember the doctor coming to visit me - mum got me out of bed, wrapped me up in a blanket so that she could change the sheets before the doctor came! He gave me M&B tablets which seemed huge but worked a treat.

My dad had a bowler hat, I wish I had kept it.

Galen, our local library wouldn't let you do that! I'd go on Saturday morning, would have read the book by mid-afternoon and they wouldn't let me take out another on the same day on that ticket!!!

Soutra my father had a black bowler that he wore every year to take the salute at the memorial garden in Wednesbury. He was president of our local branch of the British Legion.
I used to watch from our dining room window as it was opposite the garden (and even better next door to the library. The librarians never bothered to file my brothers and my tickets away until closing time as we would choose a book, sit on our doorstep, read it, take it back and choose another!)

My mother had some sort of pink ointment that was meant to "draw" out the pus, I can still remember how a big lump would form and then burst with all the pus and blood ousing (can't spell) out. Sorry for those with a delicate disposition!

Goodness, yes - just remembered that I fell down some steps when I was about 6 and the quite minor graze I suffered 'went septic'! That was despite the swabbings of TCP inflicted on it - can't bear the smell to this day.

On a lighter note

Monica the milk lady came around in a black van and my grandmother or mother went out with a jug to buy the milk - un-pasterized of course. This decanted into a saucepan and allowed to stand before scalding then cooled when the cream was skimmed off and we had it on bread and jam for breakfast delicious.

Shopping for the weekend was bought and carried home in 1 basket.

Bread and hot milk with butter and sugar for breakfast - divine.

Remember the time before anti-biotics in general were commonly available. I used to suffer from really bad ear-ache and also remember having injuries to my legs through falling etc and the wounds becoming infected which would not clear for ages - all these are now dealt with in a flash.

^Jess, I expect the contented ones were the working class Tories who 'knew their place'.

Those with a brain were as you described above.^

How patronising is that post?

I recall my extended family having enthusiastic political discussions and disagreements when we all met up each week. Religion was another contentious topic that cropped up pretty frequently too. The only subject that prompted whining was on the ever-popular subject of corns.

I can't believe that this thread was started with the cunning plan of starting a political bunfight.
One thing that my father did which you rarely see today, was that he wore a trilby hat (it became his trademark at the rugby matches which he reported for newspapers in Scotland) and he would always raise it when he passed or met a woman in the street.

Another thing he did was to walk home for lunch each day (probably a mile or so) which my dear mamma as befitted a 50's housewife, would have ready for him - a hot meal of course.
I certainly would not be seen doing that for DH!

ROSES your post 17.17, Well said .

Many [smiles] S

Gosh neither my parents nor grandparents were "content" with things as they were. Both were solid working class and were strong union members who voted for better conditions both in the public and private domain.

In their life time they saw probably most importantly the formation of the NHS and the Welfare State which included a living pension and benefits for those out of work. (I was born in 1946, and was born in a nursing home for which my parents paid) but much else besides.

There has been democratization in many areas of life, opening up many areas of culture and leisure that didn't exist before.
The servility to members of a different class has disappeared.

So much of what our parents did would would not therefore be seen now, but we must guard it jealously as they could all be so easily taken away.

Jess, I expect the contented ones were the working class Tories who 'knew their place'.

Those with a brain were as you described above.

Hmm rosesarered depending on how old members are they might have had parents who were active in trade unions, conscientious objectors in the war, or feminists fighting for women to have the rights that are taken for granted these days. A 1930s baby might have had a mother who was a suffragette.
If I understand history correctly Mountbatten got out of India with unseemly speed (causing chaos in his wake) because he and others in power were convinced that the British soldiers would mutiny if ordered to fight Indian people who were campaigning for Independence. Doesn't sound like they were a bunch of happy chappies singing "we'll met again" around the campfire and doffing their hats to the toffs.
The supposed hero of WW2 - Churchill - suffered a resounding defeat in the first election after the war. Doesn't sound like a contented population that was happy to let the status quo continue does it?

Ana* Ah yes, those pesky Communists!'
I certainly won't be justifying my post Aka by doing quote and counter qoute and adding to the mountains of statistics. I have said what I wanted to say and that's it.

Actually I think Rosesarered has a point as I'm pretty fed up with all this whinging too. Don't feel you have to justify yourself Rose and neither do you have to trawl the threads to prove your point nor allow yourself to be caught in a pincer movement

I know what you mean, roses, and I agree that it does get tedious.

However, one of my earliest memories is of my much-loved Granddad pointing a jabbing finger at the little black and white tv they had while watching the BBC news and shouting "I blame the communists!". This was in the mid-50s and I have no idea what he was blaming them for...

That's not an answer, Rosesarered. Let's have some examples from those threads and an analysis of them rather than assertion and tub thumping.

And what has Mr Brown got to do with it all? I really am mystified.

Actually Eloethan [and this may surprise you] I don't care what you think about the tone of my post.
MiceElf if you have really read those posts then perhaps you are a little slow on the uptake.
There are a few [only a few thankfully] who continually whine on about 'the government' not doing things [i.e. giving out cash] for poorer people. It's our money, who pay the taxes not the government.Would you like the lovely Mr. Brown back? Hmmm? I was making the point that in our parents day, they got on with it and did not continually blame 'the government' for every mortal thing.We had a certain amount of help [we were very poor BTW]like free school meals etc and my mother went to work. Never heard her complain.I am not a Tory, and I am not a Socialist, but the politics thread here is not worth going on any more, as we are hit over the head with reports and statistics and it's getting a right old bore.