How poor were you?

What's a g between friends. And yes, proper contraception.

Sorry forgot the g

And reliable contraception NfkDumplin

Wonderful thread. Thank you all for taking me back as I sit in my centrally heated house.

I remember taking my mum for her weekly drive around the countryside just before she died and driving along a bit of new (for Norfolk) dual carriageway with electricity pylons running along both sides. I apologised for taking her that way through rubbish scenery and she said that she loved the pylons they meant freedom. Real freedom for women. Electricity had liberated women more than anything else. Even gas. It led to a long reminisce about my childhood and how things were just after the war. And she was right. Electricity did liberate women.

That and tampons!

Falconbird I'd forgotten how horrible it was to wash your hair over the sink. Ordinary life is much more comfortable now

Sounds terrible, I used doc whites and was e mbarrased to ask a man in the shop. Nowadays I still can't discuss things like this with a man. Even today buying ten a for my mother I look around to see if a man is near. I used to hide a pad in my pocket of my school blazer so I did not have to poke in my bag in front of anyone. I used to make excuses such as having a cold when we went swimming.

I remember one Sunday when I wanted to wash my hair. I was about 15. There was no shampoo in the house so I washed my hair in Omo. It came out quite well. I had to boil three kettles of water when I washed my hair and kept the kettles under the bathroom sink, big risk of burning toes so bare feet were a no no.

Hair washing definitely not allowed either.

Oh I remember those. And Southalls Santowels.

STs and Sanitary belts - yuk! No wonder our periods were known as 'the curse'!

On a lighter note. Imagine the hilarity when we had a new Science teacher at our school. His name was Doctor White!

polly I believed the same!!! But honestly given the lack of information I bet there were some men who were ignorant of such things.

pollyperkins, but you just couldn't go swimming when you had a period wearing a sanitary towel!

The other things older women said were just daft though, such as the hair-washing.

Not too old

My DH once bought his mother a packet of sanitary towels for her birthday. He had no idea what they were but had seen her buying them in Woolworths so he knew she liked them

pollyperkins, you made me laugh when you wrote 'How glad I am that that is all behind me!' Sorry - just my silly sense of humour.

And my Mum told me not to go swimming or even wash my hair when I had a period!

I was convinced that periods were a female secret that no men knew about as it was never mentioned in mixed company. I was terribly embarrassed about buying S Ts as they were called, especially if the chemist was male, and begged my mum to get them for me. They were horrible things too. How glad i am that that is all behind me!

Elrel I have the same Santa in a chimney and green bristle Christmas tree in my cake decorating box though I have not made a Christmas cake in 40 years as nobody in my family likes them! I wonder if they were bought in Woolworths - most of my things were!

I remember them on the top shelf in the corner grocery shop in the '50s, wrapped in plain brown paper.

When I was a teenager, a neighbour asked me to go to the chemist and get her a box of Tampax. I was sooooo embarrassed ! How times have changed. My GD, aged 14 quite openly mentions periods and protection in front of her father and brother and anyone else who happens to be there.

Have to try that. I have found some via google.

My Firefox doesn't mind. Does yours do that to all of them? To them when you find them on Google?

Elegran My Firefox is stopping me from getting in. says not secure site....bother.

My mum was a dancer and used tampons! She was born in 1920.

Some of them didn't blue. I'll try again. how is this?
www.mum.org/whatwore.htm
susannaives.com/wordpress/2015/09/tidbits-on-mid-victorian-era-menstrual-hygiene/
georgianlondon.com/post/49464043356/on-flowers-a-short-but-frank-post-on-how-18th
www.gregjenner.com/history-periods/
little-details.livejournal.com/2445819.html