A modern history lesson for today's youth

A certain persons Blitz-threading has got me reminiscing. When I was fifteen and staying on a year at school to take GCEs, my pocket money went up to 2/6d a week. I remember this as I wanted to wearing stockings and be grown up, but my dad thought I should wear socks and stockings cost 1/11d. There were few opportunities to earn extra apart from fruit and bean and potato picking and yes, we walked behind the tractor picking potatoes. (Turnip and beet thinning was also done by hand, men walking the fields hoeing them out.)

My parents scrimped for nearly twenty years to get enough deposit for a tiny two bed bungalow (with a bathroom!) and mum made most of my clothes - and her own - to save money and I was a latch key kid from the age of eleven. And we kept hens to make a bit too. The egg packing station sent a lorry round all the small producers to collect the eggs once a week.

The night soil lorry (the honey cart) came round once a week during the night to empty our neighbours Elsan bucket. They weren't as fortunate as us being in older houses with no inside loo or bathroom.

Should we write a book?