How poor were you?

Yes libraries were a life-saver - you could get away from the everyday world and become absorbed somewhere else.

I had a London childhood. My parents must have found it hard to manage, but I think they went without to provide for we children. Three of us.
My Dad made out Christmas presents - things like a desk, a dolls house, a garage, a car track. dolls pushchairs. We thought they were fantastic. He made my girls s desk each too - rather more modern in style. I gave them to the British Heart Foundation and they sold them almost immediately.
We never went hungry unless we couldn't eat the meal. There was no alternative. I can remember balking at tripe and onions even though I was really famished.
I do remember the awful clothes my sister and I had to wear.
Hand me downs from extended family. Family photos show us in some bizarre hats, and that feeling that came with having to wear something that marked you out as being a bit odd. We were always as well shod as they could manage.
Our house had no central heating as was the norm in those days and Jack Frost patterns appeared on the inside of the windows. No fires in bedrooms unless you were ill. The bathroom was freezing. Only one fire downstairs around which we'd all cluster, although there was a sort of range in the kitchen on which the kettle was always singing. At Christmas we;d have a fire in the 'front room' too where there were family gatherings and games.
I think my parents managed well on limited means and thought of us first, for which I'm thankful and probably wasn't thankful enough at the time.

I was born in 1944 and when I look back now I think my parents must have struggled but, of course, nobody talked about money, and nobody expected something for nothing. My father was a plumber (not such a well-paid job then) and my mother was a school cleaner. We always had food on the table - nothing special but always filling and nourishing, the oven was never turned on unless it was full of baking (cheaper to fill the oven than using it every day), and our house was always cosy, even if we did only use one room. The bedrooms were cold though, but everybody was the same, so nobody complained. There was no such thing as 'keeping up with the Jones's'.We all seemed so much more content then than people do nowadays, but this is probably just because there is so much choice now.

.I was brought up in a two and a half bed council house my parents moved into three months after they married in 1947(my mum was there for 50years). Coal /(free)wood fire in the living room and ,on special occasions, the front room .Back boiler which heated the water. I remember you could hear it boiling. And had to be run off, as mum worried the tank would burst- she would ask who wanted a bath!We did have an indoor bathroom and toilet .Rest of the house including the tiny 'back kitchen'was freezing . (The council gutted it and put in central heating after mum moved out which peed me off a bit)No electricity til 1962 (rural Wales).So Tilley Lamps on the mantel piece -they hissed but gave a decent light .Candles upstairs .Oh the joy of reading in bed once we had electricity.And using the library in town when I went to grammar school
But dad worked on my grandad's farm so we had milk and eggs and we had a very productive kitchen garden. Mum had green fingers and was a good manager -though dreadfully untidy,the house was always clean .Dad handed over his pay every week and she gave him back his 'pocket money'. I'm not sure they even had a bank account .They were never in debt (me neither. An ingrained habit) never had a credit card and the only thing they ever bought on the never never was a new cooker from the electricy board.I was in my late teens before dad had his own car I recall the excitment We never went hungry and the food was good and nutritious.But I was sixteen before I ever ate a restaurant meal .Fish and chips from a cafe was a rare treat (there were only two of us kids. I wonder now if that was deliberate so they could give us a decent life)
She knitted and was an excellent needlewoman .We also got hand me downs from richer family in Sheffield .Dad made us toys .I had a doll's cot and my brother a tractor and trailer he made .
So, always well fed and well dressed and ,most importantly ,so very well loved .
We only ever had two holidays, with the said richer relatives (dad's sister married a bank manager) but otherwise we had days out in the beautiful countryside where we lived (dad borrowed grandad's car)with the traditional British picnic complete with primus stove for the tea.
I realised our relative poverty only when I went to secondary school and became friendly with children from better off middle class families .But class distinctions were very blurred and my best friend was (still is)the daughter of a headmaster with whom my dad got on very well .They owned a detached house .
I was quite academic and used to sit working in my bedroom for GCSEsand A levels .I never realised at the time how much they must have sacrificed so I could have an electric fire up there .And I was encouraged to stay on to sixth form ,thence to university .It would have made life so much easier for them if I had gone out to work and contributed but it was never even hinted at .
Thanks mum and dad .We were rich in the things that mattered

I was born in 1955, lived in a small cottage in a very rural community. Coal fire in Sitting Room, Rayburn (not posh enough for an AGA) in kitchen, Pantry for all food - no fridge, outside toilet (IZAL or newspaper, eventually soft paper which went damp) & "potty" or "gazunder" for nights. Tin bath in front of Rayburn. No electricity until I was 5 as Farmer across the road wouldn't have it installed. Ice on inside of windows.

Did I feel poor - no, lots of people in similar circumstances & we ate well as we had a large garden & grew lots of fruit & veg. Granddad kept chickens so eggs were always available & the occasional "old boiler" for the pot. Mum baked lots, she stayed at home until after I started school & then got a job cleaning for a neighbour. Dad was a Painter & Decorator & later worked for ICI.

When I was 11 my Parents managed to buy the Farm Buildings attached to our Cottage - Bathroom, Central Heating & big kitchen with a fridge (still had a Pantry for storage) - it was luxury. I was 8 when we got a black & white tv, we only got BBC1 until a new transmitter was erected for BBC2, we then got ITV as well. My parents didn't get a colour tv until after I left home!!!!

I loved my childhood, so much freedom, my Parents did have some arguements but stayed together until my Dad sadly died of a heart attack at 49, they were married 26 years. What memories we have, my DH was brought up in London (born 1941) - remembered being evacuated with his Mum & Brother & playing on bombsites after the war.

Someone upthread mentioned chamber pots. Although my grandparents' semi had a bathroom and toilet, granny still had (and used!) the china chamber pot under her bed rather than visit the bathroom in the middle of the night!

Chamber pots! Our toilet was outside so yes, we each had a gazunda.

And I remember Mum doing the washing for all of us in a dolly tub and using a hand mangle until she got an Acme gas washing machine - the water was heated by gas jets underneath and I think there was a mangle attached. She used dolly blue to make the sheets nice and white!

I can equate with a lot of these lovely stories ! I ws born in 1947 and was lucky in that my mother had inherited the 3 up 3 down house from her parents who had it built for them when my grandad was promoted to engineer on the railways and drove the Ipswich to London 'express' (not sure how long it took in the days of steam to get there !) so my mother had a good childhood ..there are even photos taken professionally showing her in a velvet dress and leather button shoes ! However, when she married my dad, who had been sent to Suffolk from Liverpool when there was no work there, to train as an engineer, her brother said he was no longer talking to her as she had 'married beneath her' we were very poor ....by Tuesday there was only beef soup with potatoes in it cooked by turning the electric one bar fire on its back ...can you imagine that now, with small children in the house !!! I was sent to the corner shop (only go to Mrs Squirrel, as Mrs Kerridge doesn't have an 'until Friday' book ...to ask for a loaf of bread 'till Friday.

When my dad came home from work on Friday he handed my mother a white £5 note so we went off shopping to the Co-op...the problem was, this would have been a lot to some people, but my mother (and I always believed this was because she once had a good living with her parents) would spend the lot and by Monday there was no money left !

We used to have the cinders from the coal fire laid down to the outside loo when it snowed ...no heating, hot water , fridge, etc and definitely no tv ! We did have a piano which I desperately wanted to learn to play but was told it was too expensive ! I later learnt that my mother had private piano lessons as a child and was upset that she refused to help me learn! Clothes were a bit hit and miss but someone along the road from us had a daughter a few years older and so used to pass on her clothes for me ..my entire school uniform came from her .I was one of the few in my class therefore to have a blazer and a navy mac complete with a school scarf ! My brothers clothes came from the second hand shop. Christmas was not too bad ,,,always a small chicken, and a few presents like toy engines for my brother a doll and a book for me, I loved books, and belonged to the library which I loved and used to read at least three books a week. We did have a 'wireless' which had to be turned on to warm up before my dad came home at 1.p.m for his 'dinner' !! There wasnt much food, but we survived ......I recall my dad referring to anyone who chose not to work (not through ill health) a 'waster' ....and anyone (like me, who worked in an office) a pen pusher ....

I recently found, online through an Ancestry researching site a long lost cousin still living in Suffolk who remembers my mother and visiting her before she married my dad, whilst she was still living in the old family home ..so its good to be able to discuss the family now with him !

Probably made me appreciate the things I have now, although by no means wealthy !

I remember going to my Father's works children's Xmas party and being given a goody bag with an orange, a few sweets and some crayons in it. Also remember my Mum cutting a Mars bar into slices and sharing it between myself and my two siblings. Times were hard. A bag of crisps also had to be shared. No wonder there are so many overweight little'uns around these days, they'd be horrified at such meagre portions!

I remember going to a trades union children's Christmas party where I ate one of those imitation strawberries they used to put on the top of buns. I only realised it wasn't real once I'd got it in my mouth, and was too embarrassed to spit it out!

My Dad had retired from the Police force on a fixed pension before any of us were born. When I asked him once why he had more children on a reduced income he said when he married my Mum (his second wife) he thought she understood he didn't want anymore children but clearly not as there are three of us. We were lucky to have a huge garden and Mum grew all our veg and fruit there, our house had been built in what had been an orchard so we had apple, pear, plum and baking/cooking apple trees all around the walls. Mum was an expert in letting down dresses and skirts by inserting a band of contrasting material, I got my older sister's clothes as she outgrew them. Older cousins clothes were passed on by my Aunties and Mum also knitted cardigans and jumpers, unwinding the wool when outgrown and reknitting the next one with it. Sheets were cut in half when worn and sewn together again to get more life out of them, then made into pillow cases when too worn to use. We had blankets from the Army and Navy store. Mum knitted our swimming costumes which looked lovely until they got wet and hung down by our knees Dad kept hens and rabbits and we ate well - Mum made soups and stews with dumplings to fill us up, eggs were exchanged for fish with the fishmonger - but, apart from all the rows my parents had (initiated by my Mum) we had a happy childhood, I have lots of happy memories of playing out with friends, climbing up the trees and sitting on the branches hidden away and reading my books, going swimming and playing tennis in the street.

Our house had no damp proof and was shockingly cold and wet in the winter. The wallpaper used to peel off regularly and flap down. When I was six we had a flat roof bathroom extension built on the back, but it too was seriously cold and a paraffin stove was kept burning in it overnight so the pipes didnt freeze up. I can remember having sugar sandwiches with a cup of milky tea for a meal - we loved it - but as the bread was white sliced with marg I dont think it was very nutritious.

Oh, those swimming costumes Dot

And I remember clothes were always bought a bit too big, turned up, let down, let out, then a false hem put on the bottom.

Elbows in jumpers and cardigans got darned, as did socks.

Reading these posts especially the ones from the baby boomers. I realise how lucky I was! An only child living in Sussex by the coast in a large detached house that my great grandmother had purchased in the 1920's and which my grandparents gave to my parents upon marriage; I had my own room and a large garden to play in.we always had a car (my mothers father used to buy them for us) and at least one holiday a year usually abroad! Both my parents had been brought up in affluent circumstances and had the benefit of public school educations, they therefore prioritised this for me and sent me to be educated privately something I have always been grateful for. My own experience of poverty was when my own girls were small and my husband became ill and unable to work for a while I was a carer and parent to three small girls. I lived on a tiny income never had new clothes or luxuries like hair cuts! But all available money was ploughed in to trying to raise the children's standard of education so I paid for French lessons dance lessons gym classes and horse riding because I felt guilty that I couldn't provide for them what my parents had provided for me. I am not sure my girls appreciate even now how hard this all was but I have seen them take degrees, travel the world and now become excellent parents themselves so I think it was worth it!

Reading this thread has brought back many memories of childhood in the 50s and 60s. The biting cold, Ice on the inside of the windows, being able to see my breath as I laid in bed, getting dressed under the covers and the chilblains. We were talking about this a while ago and I was delighted when my son (30) said he has never known a cold house. He has also never known hiding from the tally man, having to borrow meter money from neighbours, wet feet from leaking shoes, lack of food, second hand clothing or domestic violence. It'd be lovely to think that all these things are confined to the past like they are for me but unfortunately for a great many people they are still day to day reality. The most surprising thing on this thread though is the high number of working mothers. Current social history would have us believe that most women stayed home in the 50s & 60s and only took to work in the 70s but that ain't necessarily true.

I think also some things were just what happened then and not necessarily down to being poor. We had a car but it was never used for shopping or going to work (Dad had a bike ) but was used for chapel on Sundays or holidays. My mother always saved string, reused wrapping paper etc, I suppose this was wartime thing, she had lived through both wars. I never remember having shop bought cake or going to a restaurant with my parents.

But really I think the point is as we can all testify happiness can be found everywhere whatever your circumstances.

We were all so lucky as just after or before most of our births the welfare state was formed and we have all so much to be thankful for as we have all benefited from it either directly or indirectly. Just think how different so many of our lives would have been without the welfare state.

Born just after the War, we lived with my grandparents in the Black Country till I was six. They owned the house, and my grandfather was a keen gardener, growing all his own vegetables, so we ate well. No central heating, of course. I remember ice on the inside of bedroom windows and grandfather 'drawing' the fire in the living room with newspaper. What health and safety? I remember pea souper fogs. In the Winter, when the furnaces were opened up to cool them for maintenance, the sky and the snow covered ground were lit with a pink glow.

I think we feel poverty when we are poorer than our neighbours. When everyone's in the same boat, we don't seem to regard ourselves as worse off than anyone else. As someone has said on this thread, it's a relative thing.

Thanks for the thread, OP. It has been a walk down Memory Lane.

I was born in October 1945 in a 3-bed terraced council house in North London, my granny lived with us too. It had an indoor bathroom but no heating other than a coal fire in the living room, which had to burn all year to provide hot water. Mum did piece-work at home (making dolls) then when I was about 7 she got some evening shifts at the London Rubber Company; I was told they made balloons, but of course it was condoms! Dad was an HGV driver, they were really poor but there was always enough to eat and they were savers, so we always had a week's holiday in a caravan in Littlehampton, Sussex.

When I passed my 11+ and went to grammar school they really had to scrimp to afford my uniform (the blazer lasted me 5 years) and it was only later in life I realised what sacrifices they made for me. But we were a very happy unit and I know I had wonderful parents who instilled into me their values of hard work, standing on your own feet and taking pleasure from small things.

Morethan2 We must have been posh then as we had Izal toilet rolls that smelt of disinfectant
Any one remember these ghastly pieces of scratchy toilet paper on a roll.

Oh yes

I went somewhere recently where they had that type of toilet paper, can't remember where. Not in this country.

Yes!! That's all we had as I might add did the Civil Service (whoops state secret)

You could actually buy Izal toilet paper until a few years ago. DH bought his dad a roll as a joke Christmas present one year!

In the late eighties I worked for a firm who equipped its lavatories with Izal. It was the same dreadful stuff I remembered from childhood! The directors had soft tissue in their facilities . I used to keep a roll of soft in my desk drawer!

The only good memories I have of Izal toilet paper are that you could wrap it round a comb and play a tune !! and it made great tracing paper for school work .

We were poor and most of your memories from the 50's apply to me ... but I was loved so much by my DD that I didnt mind any of it as long as he came riding up the road each night with his lovely smile and then took me for a cross bar ride before going in for tea .