Things you wish would return/come back?

Being less aware of war.
Horse & cart-man delivering the milk.
Manners.
A more simple life.
Less traffic on the roads.
Oh dear, I sound like the old person I am.

Clement Attlee

Everything that's been mentioned here. Lovely memories of a wonderful time past. I would add: vicarage fetes, Sunday school charabanc outings, lemonade crystals, jam tarts, real fires, traffic-free streets, local post offices, pubs without children, fewer dogs everywhere ....

Somebody said up thread about chocolates with proper different fillings. I agree, they all seem to be truffles or salted caramel these days. What happened to fruity fillings?

I also used to love Potato Puffs. Does anyone remember those? They were popular around the early to mid sixties.

The music from late 60s to mid 70s

PinkCosmos

Mint Cracknel - I think that was what it was called. It was like eating fibreglass covered in chocolate

Dundee biscuits. You got two in a pack. They were round and kind of like shortbread but not quite. They had chocolate on one side. We used to have them after we had been to the swimming baths.

Spanish gold - it was sweet tobacco. Actually coconut strands covered in brown sugar of something similar. The packaging was like a tobacco pouch !!! Whilst on holiday, we found an old fashioned sweet shop. It sold Spanish Gold. I have to say my memory of it was much better than the taste of it now. It was extremely sweet.

I've been trying to remember the name of that sweet tobacco for years!

Onthemoors

Cremola Foam drink. Came in a little tin, spooned into glass of water , different flavours, then it would bubble up just like Andrews Liver Salts!

My aunt used to work in the Cremola foam factory . We loved the orange flavour best...

Calendargirl

Symington Table Creams.

Me too, apparently you can still buy them in Tesco, Sainsbury and and Iceland supermarkets.

Golden lemonade(charles wells) with the
crisps with the little blue bags of salt inside.
An afternoon of sitting watching the steam trains.

My grandparents lived in North Shields and every street in the older part of town had a corner shop that sold loose sweets in quarters and half pounds( pre metric era obviously). You'd wander along to one of six shops, look at the jars of sweets and choose a quarter of whatever you fancied. Always much better value and nicer tasting than pre packaged sweets.

My husband loved Creamola I once found the recipe which was merely semolina with custard powder it did taste the same.

Teenagers going out at night without weapons

My magical childhood

Peace.

Mint Cracknel - I think that was what it was called. It was like eating fibreglass covered in chocolate

Dundee biscuits. You got two in a pack. They were round and kind of like shortbread but not quite. They had chocolate on one side. We used to have them after we had been to the swimming baths.

Spanish gold - it was sweet tobacco. Actually coconut strands covered in brown sugar of something similar. The packaging was like a tobacco pouch !!! Whilst on holiday, we found an old fashioned sweet shop. It sold Spanish Gold. I have to say my memory of it was much better than the taste of it now. It was extremely sweet.

pascal30

my parents

my parents

Hand written letters especially thank you ones .

I'd like to travel on the bus without listening to constant swearing and showing off from some passengers especially
from school children .

It would be nice to enjoy a meal without your companions glued to their phones .
I loved the quietness of Sundays now it's a mad rush to IKEA .

Fullers Walnut Cake.

Nice shops like Past Times and Laura Ashley .

Politeness , punctuality and good manners .

At the same time it was still possible to rise through the education system and enter the professions. A degree meant something then.
A degree meant more in the past because fewer people had them, which kept those who didn't 'in their place'. Many people who were perfectly capable of university were denied the opportunity and had either to stay in lower paid jobs or work round the clock taking night classes for years as well as working full time.

Expansion of education has given opportunities to a lot more people, and it saddens me when those who have benefited from the expansion of education in their own youth (eg grammar schools and 'plate glass' universities) seek to cling to the elitism from which they benefited. It's a more even playing field now in some ways. It's not equal by any means, but when people have degrees they still have to prove their worth in the workplace, unlike the days when a degree was an automatic passport to professional or managerial status, regardless of aptitude or experience. I think that is fairer, and better for society as a whole.

When I was a student a lot of people went into the civil service straight from university, at (junior) managerial level. They had no experience, no knowledge of CS policies or practices and were 21, but managed people who had many years' experience, knew the job and associated office politics inside out, but were stuck on lower rungs because they had no degree. that's just one example of what was a commonplace situation.

I would far rather have a system whereby a lot of people with degrees have to compete for the promotions and opportunities that used to be seen as a right for graduates - a right that was denied those who hadn't had the opportunity to study beyond school. Yes, there are still those without degrees, or without any qualifications at all, but that's a different conversation.

I think, biglouis, that people are generally still respected because of their knowledge and what they have contributed to the community - but thank goodness automatic deference of our "olders and betters" is gone!

Older people can be just as rude, ignorant and selfish as everyone else

The social system of the 1950s when people "knew their place". Older people and authority figures like doctors, teachers and so on were respected because of their knowledge and what they had contributed to the community. Children were taught manners and to obey adults which is no bad thing. At the same time it was still possible to rise through the education system and enter the professions. A degree meant something then.

Young people not carrying knives

pce612 I am sorry to hear about your husband. Nothing can replace him.

Drene shampoo

String and sealing wax around parcels.
They never seem secure without string.