One Upmanship.

www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/food/article-2977102/How-one-family-ate-way-decades-new-BBC2-Time-Dinner.html

How appropriate!!

When a traditional sweet shop changed hands in Leicester- can't remember the year, but early 80s- I bought 8 large sweet jars for £1 each- just love them, one for lentils, one for rice, one for pasta, one for sloe gin (;) ), 1 for porridge oats and one for dried (home picked/forayed) mushrooms- we have a large kitchen cupboard without a door + shelves- they look great with the wicker baskets I bought at Tesco's about the same time.

Our first kitchen table (black, white and grey formica) and stools had been thrown out by next door neighbour, I went to beg for it. Everything was begged and borrowed- but not from family as my parents lived abroad, and mil had downsized and given stuff away a year before we got married. From her I have got a top half wicker mannequin I found in her garage- I use it for costume jewellery and I love it.

Length of curtaining ! x

Falconbird, we were also given the stainless steel spaghetti tongs. I can't remember what happened to the jar, but the tongs are still going strong after 40 years. They are very useful for all sorts of things.

We had Habitat floor cushions. I still have a green and white duvet cover and length of curtailing, not used but kept because they were such lovely designs. Also several Habitat catalogues, fun to look back on, the prices look cheap now! x

Mortgages were expensive back then. I think the interest rate was very high.

When we applied for a mortgage in 1969 my DH was earning just over a thousand pounds per annum and the Building Society said they wouldn't consider a mortgage without my earnings being taken into account. I was earning about 600 a year.

Our first house cost £3,000 seems a very small sum by today's standards and our second house which was a big old falling apart Edwardian house cost £11,000. Friends were horrified by our decision to take it on but we were young and strong and set about doing repairs, decorating etc., It had no central heating and we wore coats during the colder months. The children were OK and even today don't like their homes to be too hot.

It was 1973 and we bought a detached house, the mortgage was £60 per month. We had a borrowed sofa and chairs. No carpet until dad visited and said.... how much would it take for a carpet

Lamp table was a tea chest with a table cloth over it.
Bedside cabinet was an old fashioned dining chair.
I had net curtains that weren't long enough for the massive picture window so we tilted the venetion blinds so that this couldn't be noticed from the outside. Sofa in front of the window meant it wasn't obvious when in the room that the net curtain was about 6" short.
Cooker was rented from the electricity company.
My fridge had been my grandmother's and was about 30 years old and weighed a ton.
No washing machine for 5 years... when son was 3 years old.
All washing was done by hand, including terry towelling nappies.

The oil heating system didn't work for the first year until we could afford to get it seen to. The open coal fire heated the hot water (and immersion heater). We had no shower only a bath.

But I thought we were doing ok, and especially as we had a telephone..... even though it was a shared party line

I had two yellow swivel chairs in the 1970s and floor cushions. Remember a friend saying I can't cope with this sort of furniture any more because of my back. We were about early 40s and felt we were getting old.

Yes Habitat was expensive. I used to walk around coveting all the kitchen equipment and china. Seem to remember a chicken brick? You could cook a whole chicken in it.

A friend had a house full of Habitat stuff. Looking back it wasn't all that wonderful but we were starved of something different having grown up in the 40s and 50s with rexine suites and utility furniture.

I keep porridge oats in my spaghetti jar.

We couldn't afford chairs when we got married and had the big floor cushions!

Habitat still exists but only online, I think. It's not what it was!!

We had brown corduroy scoop chairs and orange sag bags when we first got married. Couldn't cope with either of those now!!

Has Habitat gone altogether? When DH came to work in Manchester his office was over the Habitat on John Dalton Street and if I went to meet him I would go round it and shop in my head as the prices were quite high.

I think Ikea happened to Habitat. Similar styles, a fraction of the price!

J 52 Oh how I longed for a Spaghetti Jar in the 1970s particularly one from Habitat.

I seem to remember that they were pricey and we were on a tight budget. I did have one eventually but it was a cheapo one made of glass.

Speaking of Habitat I had a sofa from there and it was the envy of my friends and neighbours.

I also had a wooden chair and lovingly made cushions for it. The chair was with me for years, ending up in teenage son's bedroom and then into the garden.

Whatever happened to Habitat?

Our spag bol consisted of the long spaghetti broken in half ( because I didn't have a saucepan big enough to cook it in) and a tin of mince, sprinkled liberally with good old Cheddar. Can't believe I ever served it!

Me too, and keep the dustpan and brush to hand!

I still do that!

I'd forgotten what seemed like yard-long spaghetti, and how tricky it was to try and fold it around the saucepan as it softened- I used to break it up, with bits flying off everywhere

Harrigran: in 1974 we had a habitat spaghetti jar for a wedding present! Solved the storage problem.! x

The first time my in-laws came to stay I pushed the boat out and did duck with cherry brandy sauce. I spent so long on the preparation and cooking I only had time for carrots and frozen peas for the veg.

MIL declared, 'Ooooh, we're having duck and green peas'

I thought she was taking the piss mickey because she didn't seem to notice the sauce but apparently duck and green peas was considered to be a very posh meal in Yorkshire in those days so I scored mega brownie points.

When we were hard up and courting we used to take a Vesta packet to his Mum's on a Saturday night. His parents used to pull their faces and call it pig swill.
Spag bol was the height of sophistication when we first married, those long blue packets of spaghetti were difficult to store when opened.

We certainly weren't posh either Eloethan, we did have so-called 'dinner parties' but more as an excuse to have a meal with friends rather than in the grandest sense.
The only posh 'do' I ever went to was a dinner party on board a ship that my first boyfriend (a Radio Operator in the Navy) invited me to.
All dressed up I was shaking and so nervous that I couldn't even hold a glass of wine
All I remember is being utterly terrified!

My DH loves the FB tinned steak pies and every few months I buy one and he gets it all to himself !! He also loves Angel Delight....

Our first home made curries were with beef mince and Madras curry powder. They always turned out a bit green looking but a garnish of sliced banana and dessicated coconut made them more appetising.

You could buy chapatis but I don't think anyone had heard of Naan bread.

Does a take away curry with Kate (cleaner) and the great Gary (gardner) count?

My experience as a young wife was not nearly so grand as some of you on here.

We'd have friends round for something like home made meatballs in tomato sauce with spaghetti, which we ate on our knees because we didn't have a dining room/table.

A couple of acquaintances did invite us to a fondue party once but it transpired that they were trying to recruit us as Amway agents - we declined.

Now, we occasionally have friends round for lunch or an evening meal but I wouldn't describe them as "dinner parties".

That's the one!
I used to like it, but funnily now I only tend to dring red (champagne and prosecco excepted)