How poor were you?

I am reminded of the Pythons' sketch: Four Yorkshiremen.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xe1a1wHxTyo

KatyK, that is so sad.

We were not poor but definitely hard up. My father's parents had been quite well off but my grandfather invested badly and I think my father was shocked to find he had to earn a living rather than walk into a family business. Our house was a 3 bedroomed terrace cottage bought by my granny for mum and dad when they first married. It needed 'work' when it was bought and when they sold it! We had no bathroom so made the trek to Nan's for a bath and had our hair washed on a Saturday night over the kitchen sink.

We always had good, nourishing, food - it was Mum's priority. We had a washing machine but no fridge, the house was freezing unless you were burning your legs next to the fire. Water was heated by a gas geyser over the kitchen sink.

We moved to a much better built semi in 1963 and got a fridge but still no central heating which we first got in 1969.

We were not much different from everyone else we knew. DH grew up in a large detached house with a huge garden, a bathroom AND a downstairs loo and was quite taken aback by how small my first home was.

I don't know how she managed it, but my mother made sure we were fed, that we had something for Christmas, Easter eggs, Holy Communion and Confirmation clothes and school uniforms when we passed the 11+. There were 7 siblings, one died aged 7 months. My parents were Irish immigrants and we lived in inner city Birmingham. My father was a violent, abusive, womanising alcoholic who worked when he felt like it. He would regularly beat my mother. We never had holidays, days out or anything like that. We were neglected as my mother had to spend all her efforts trying to feed us and fending off the violence. I can remember telling my mother there were holes in my shoes and she cut out shapes from Cornflake boxes to fit into my shoes. We were the kids the other children were told not to play with. I constantly had nits in my hair and sometimes my head would be crawling with live creatures. Not many people around us were well off but most had the odd holiday or a trip out. We never did. I always wanted to be the little girl with the plaits and ribbons.

That sounds lovely Grannyknot

I thought we were poor, but reading some of the above posts, I think we were just 'hard up'; we always had plenty of food, some home-grown, all home-made, enough clothes (some home-made), shoes and a coal fire. My room was supposed to be warm because the chimney breast went up through it - but there was still ice on the inside of the windows in winter! However, we had blankets and cosy eiderdowns to keep us warm.
My mother was what would have been termed 'a good manager' and everything was always spick and span.

It wasn't until I went to senior school and mixed with girls who lived in big houses, had cars and telephones that I realised that we weren't that well off because everyone I knew until then lived in semis or terraced houses and we never had a car or a telephone.
We always had a holiday of some kind, often in a caravan or in a boarding house.

We always had 'proper' toilet paper too - Bronco or Izal.

Reading this makes me realise that I'm glad we were poor in a hot climate!

We three children were raised by my single parent mother in the 1950s on the east coast of South Africa (Durban). There wasn't a great deal of money (my mother worked as a receptionist) but always plentiful food, we benefited from my grandfather's big vegetable garden and his chickens reared for the pot. On "payday" we had treats - I remember being sent to the butcher with an order for rump steak.

My mother sewed all our clothes including school uniforms - and she also made fancy "hostess aprons" and sold them to colleagues at work or to neighbours to make extra cash. I remember her being so proud of "my own business".

We were "latch-key" kids a lot of the time, but that meant that I could be left with a list for food and groceries, and cash at age 10 and buy according to a budget.

When we were young children, my grandparents helped look after us after school, had to go to their house. We would play outside until my mother finished work, and would wait at the gate for her with my granddad for an evening walk around the neighbourhood, once she had kicked off her high heel shoes.

I remember there being no money for school outings, or a new blazer when I got "school colours" (I got a second hand one from the school charity office), or holidays. But looking back now, I would say, we were poor, yet rich

My family weren't poor and we were well dressed with clothes my mother made and ate well. We always had a bathroom and my father bought a house when I was 7. However, we still had ice on the windows, a fire in the lounge the only heating, no mod cons such as fridge or washing machine. Most people had very little in the 1950s compared with our children's generation.

I remember showing my children an aerial photograph of the street that I lived in, and could point out our house, and knew the names of the families who lived in all the other houses and most of the streets around! (What are the chances of that happening now?). They were fascinated and appalled at the same time. DD said "where was your garden?” I said "what garden?" The whole area is a garden now, with a community farm. There is a tree where my house used to be.

In 1948 I was born in London in a 4 storey Victorian house, there were 5 other families in the house with no bathrooms and 2 toilets for the whole house. My family lived on the top floor but shared the toilet with 2 families on the next floor. We had no carpets anywhere and only a coal fire in the living room. My Mum used to carry the coal in a bucket up 2 long flights of stairs when the coalman dumped it on the front steps. Tin bath in front of gas cooker in the kitchen. We didn't go hungry but we were pretty poor and I shared a room with 2 sisters and my young brother. My dad was unskilled but was always in work. I imagine they struggled with 5 of us to cater for but of course us kids never realised this at the time.

Although we weren't poor our life bears no resemblance to my grandchildren's lifestyle! Born in the early 50s mum stayed at home and dad worked. We played out from breakfast till dinner from about age 3! TV was for an hour at 4pm. No central heating and my sister and I would dress for school under our bed covers! No shower so bath and hair wash on Sundays. Whole family sat in living room all night with door shut as rest of house was like an ice box in winter! I hated going to the toilet as it was cold and shut off from everyone! We couldn't play in our bedrooms because it was freezing up there!

We had enough food but we're expected to eat dinner if we wanted pudding and supper was a buttered crust and warm milk! No wine was consumed by my parents until sometime in the 70s when we started having some on Sundays!

When I was born in 1948 we lived in a small flat before moving to a Victorian house with 2 bedrooms; the 3rd bedroom had been made into a bathroom and a wall erected to make a toilet. There was no heating upstairs but downstairs there was a radiator heated by a boiler in the kitchen and a tiny coal fire in the lounge. The whole house was incredibly damp with mould growing up the walls in the hall. The passageway downstairs and the kitchen were stone flagged. We had no fridge but an outhouse served as a pantry. There was certainly ice on the inside of the windows in winter as there was in our next house which was more 'modern' but still had limited heating. Since that time I've hated being cold and when I married we first lived in a tiny but cosy flat and then to a small house with the luxury of storage heaters. We've never had much in the way of new furniture but have had handmedowns which are still doing nicely and withstand the activities of umpteen GC. We never had much money and what we - and my parents had - was used carefully and still is.

Like most I remember ice on the inside of bedroom windows, the only heating being the coal fire in the sitting room, my parents having toast or sandwiches for tea so my brother and I could have a meal. Just before Christmas we would gather together all the old clothes which could no longer be repaired and take a bus to a rag merchant and the money would go towards buying a chicken for Christmas lunch.

For those who might be interested, this is a good website.
It's English Heritage/Lottery funded and free. You can make the images public but must acknowledge them.

www.britainfromabove.org.uk

There are thousands of aerial photographs taken of various places in Britain from about 1923 to 1954.
I found one of my street taken in 1934 showing the little court of back to backs where I lived. Apart from the bomb site at one end, the street was much the same 20 years later. Funnily enough a preservation order was put on the properties in 1980 ish as they were actually the last, late Georgian cottages left of their kind in Birmingham. The then owners covered them with shuttering and left them to collapse. There are million pound canalside apartments there now!

Like all the people around us, we rented our house. I found out from my older sister, after both my parents had died, that my father had given them the deposit to buy their first house in the fifties. They were living with her husband's parents at the time and relations were strained. It was nothing special as bricks and mortar go, but my brother in law was a joiner and set about making it a lovely home, and it put them on the housing ladder. I knew my father always saved what he could from his wages, but this must have been a sizeable sum for him to find at the time. She gave me to understand that my mother was less than pleased about it, and thinking about the way in which her domestic aspirations were being continually thwarted, I can't really say I'm surprised.

Some heart wrenching stories on here. Sounds like another world doesn't it?

I was brought up in dreadful poverty, due to my father's long term ill health, which made me determined to get an education to provide a better life for myself and my family.My mother tried to discourage me, as she thought I should be bringing money into the house. I paid my own way through university by cleaning and working in a pub, where I met my darling husband. We celebrate our ruby wedding this year. I remember my mother giving me her last 2 shillings to go and buy a loaf. I dropped it in a bush and lost it, so she slapped me. I was about seven years old and have never forgotten it.
I eventually became a teacher working with the most disadvantaged children, determined that they too would find a way out of their situation through education.

I grew up in the lap of luxury!!!

We moved from our rented house to a new build (bought) house when I was around 4, it was detached with a big garden.
At that time there were 3 of us kids and another arrived a few years later. The actual house was too small for 6 people though admittedly we didn't notice at the time. My brother had a little box room and we 3 girls all shared a fairly small bedroom which was always a mess.

I vaguely remember the coal fire but early on my dad fitted central heating. Always had an inside bathroom of course.

We weren't well off at all and the house was small but compared to many we were much better off. We went on holiday every summer, got pocket money and Santa always brought what we wanted ... never big things, but expectations were less back then!

I was born in a two up two down that had been farm cottages but by that time were surrounded by 'better quality' housing. It was the tin bath, ice inside in winter, cold, outside toilet sort of house.

We used newspaper in the toilet or, if mam could afford it, we had scratchy Izal (soft toilet paper was far too expensive).

Winter clothing included the obligatory liberty bodice and tights that pulled up to your chest to give another layer. Bedtime clothes were vest, pyjamas, socks, cardigan, mittens and bonnet but we were still cold so even though we had a bed each my sister and I would sleep together.

Mam would try all sorts of ways to save money but even she agreed that the first time we had tripe and onions in white sauce would definitely be the last. But we still had to eat that meal because there was nothing else.

But there were good things too. We used to walk miles to a sort of supermarket which used to sell broken biscuits. They were sorted into big tins with glass lids and we were allowed to choose 1lb of them. Imagine ours and lots of other children's sticky little fingers, having been goodness knows where, poking through the biscuits to find our favourites. But then it was a time when a bit of muck didn't do you any harm

Christmas was really special because it was the only time of year we had fizzy lemonade and lots (well it felt like lots) of sweets.

I was born in a back to back house in Birmingham in 1951.Two rooms upstairs and two down. No garden or bathroom but at least we had our own (outside) loo! The nearest tree was a good 10 minute walk away and we were surrounded by huge factories, all of them linked to the metal bashing trades such as foundries and forges.
The houses were condemned before the war and the city council had started building large estates to re house the residents but all that stopped when war broke out.
After the war there was such a huge housing shortage due to bomb damage that the properties were still used well into the 1960's
I lived in a slum but never realised it. It was clean and we (my brother and I) were well fed and loved although my parents did have quite a volatile marriage!
I do remember playing on bomb sites and using an old air raid shelter as gang headquarters when playing outside. We were feral street kids.
When I was 7 some new maisonettes were built at the top of our street...Very posh with all mod cons. I became friendly with one of the children who lived there but I'm afraid I led her astray. I introduced her to the delights of throwing clumps of dirt at each other to see how accurate our aim could be. The upshot was that she was banned from playing with me. Apparently I was one of the rough children from the backstreets as her father called me. First but not the last time I experienced class division and it still needles me all these years later!
Still, with parental encouragement I eventually became a teacher and my brother a solicitor.

Mum and I had to go and live with her parents during the war,as Dad was away, and there were food shortages for everyone.
Mum's oldest sister was married to a man with a well-paid job and they used to help out the rest of us.In wartime people helped eachother more.
The time when I felt most poor was when I was at home with 2 young children, husband working away. We had our electric cut off once and I was often short of cash for food. No telephone, TV, washing machine etc.

I was born in 1951, the youngest of 4. We lived in a new council house although my parents only just moved to it a few months before I was born. Before then they lived in a 2-bedroom prefab. I remember being cold, particularly at night - but never hungry. My father (who is still alive aged 101) worked on the Docks and worked 7 days per week.

As others have said, I never felt "poor" because we were the same as everybody else.

I was born a year it so after the war started. My parents lived in a rented maisonette owned by the Liverpool Victoria insurance company. My mother had insisted they move out of London before having a family. My father had had a variety of jobs during the thirties and had gone to night school until he was 25 so comparatively well educated by some standards. At the beginning of the war he got a job working on radar at what became EMI. This was a reserved occupation so he was not called up but did fire watch and belonged to the Home Guard also.
Dad needed to do overtime and my mother was sensible and saved all the money she was unable to spend as nothing in the shops. This meant that in 1943 they were able to buy a house and to put things into perspective - she had more than a 50% deposit!!! Not a big house at all - 2 bed semi but they lived there the rest of their lives.
We did not live in what we considered the lap of luxury but we had carpets and curtains and blankets - also indoor bathroom. My mother was a good manager of the money and luckily she always had the money for the bills as they came. She also made our clothes and we had bedside rag rugs she made to step out on in the mornings but did have ice inside the Windows!
We did not have a TV till I was 19 but enjoyed listening to the radio. We lived in a nice warm kitchen apart from when visitors came or it was Christmas. We had fruit trees in the garden and dad kept chickens so all spare fruit or eggs was given to neighbours. People came to the house with shopping baskets when dad picked the pear tree fruit and we just filled them up!
I realise that we were very lucky reading some of these posts - I also had a dad who believed girls should be as educated as boys - wanted me to go to college etc. No wonder I loved them both so much - they talked to us and listened to what we had to say - they have been dead 20+ years and I still miss them and so do my children.
Thank you for posting as you have and telling your experiences. To say some posts are an eye opener is an understatement -

I grew up in a two up two down, no bathroom or hot running water, outside toilet terrace. My father was what would be described now as a low skilled worker, but he was never without work. The contents of our house were very basic and had definitely seen better days. My mother had no mod cons - it was years before she had a proper gas cooker and if the range oven hadn't given up the ghost she wouldn't have had that. I always felt she resented this as our neighbours seemed to have more in the way of home comforts. My father refused to buy anything he couldn't pay outright for, but she didn't share his philosophy. I think he actually feared being in debt, but I had the impression later that if it had been left to my mother we certainly would have been. I don't think I would say we were poor, although I thought we were then. If I needed clothes and shoes I had them; there was always decent food on the table, books, and a present for Christmas and birthdays. I didn't realise just how basic your life could be until I was at secondary school and went home with a friend whose family lived in two rooms and quite literally lived from hand to mouth. They seemed to have very little to keep body and soul together it seemed, but she was always unfailingly cheerful and funny. She was a junior champion swimmer and her focus on this helped her rise above her home circumstances I think.

I have read through this thread feeling very sad (for some of you) and had a giggle too. Thank you for starting it morethan2

I appreciate that there might be a generation gap but I was born in the early 60's. My dad was a pitman and my mum a shop assistant. We lived in a one bedroom flat with a large sitting room a tiny kitchenette (well it was a passage really) and a shared outside toilet (I could write a book about the horrors of that shared outside toilet) When I was 7 we moved to a council house with 3 bedrooms and a coal fire. No central heating but I had the room with the chimney breast so I used to lie against it in the winter. I remember ice on the inside of the windows. With my dad being a pitman we never had a shortage of coal although my dad did give a lot of it away to neighbors who couldn't afford it. I never went hungry although meals were fairly simple affairs and a special treat was tinned fruit with Carnation milk.

Oh yes I forgot using newspaper in the toilet. It was cut up into squares and threaded onto string. Yuk