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Do you remember...

(155 Posts)
fizzers Thu 30-May-19 12:07:00

Do you remember when there were only 4 different types of shampoo? Dry , Normal, Greasy and Medicated? I had oily hair and the only only type of shampoo was Lemon and Lime, I used to hate it, then along came a product call Agree ( anyone rember that?) it didn't stink of limes or lemons, and I loved it - unfortunately I don't think it was on the market that long. Mother always used to buy Vosene for the family - hated the smell of that too lol

Do you remember the plastic flowers - daffodils that came free with boxes of washing powder? mother had a good collection of those.

Remember the paper dollies and clothes on the back page of your comic?

Remember stacking your single records in a certain order so they didn't wobble?

Sara65 Sat 01-Jun-19 11:30:27

I remember the corona man loopyloo, my mother would never have allowed such extravagance, but we could usually get around my granny, cherryade was my favourite

loopyloo Sat 01-Jun-19 11:27:39

Remember spangles, used to get one if we did well in a test at school. Can taste it now. Also the Corona man.
When babies didn't settle my mother would put a raisin in a clean handkerchief for the little one to suck on.
And yes I have a mouthful of fillings.

Sara65 Sat 01-Jun-19 11:26:14

Your mother sounds like mine Happy, she never managed to tell me about periods, I started them at school, and at only 11, thought I was bleeding to death. I couldn’t bring myself to mention the subject for ages, and somehow managed by getting sanitary towels from the school office!

FC61 Sat 01-Jun-19 11:26:01

I’m addicted to Euthymol toothpaste in a tube even now ! No other toothpaste gives me that clean feeling !

Evie64 Sat 01-Jun-19 11:15:02

What lovely old memories! We also used Izal, yuk. I remember Lifebouy soap and Vosene. If we ran out of Eucryl tooth powder, we used to have to brush our teeth with salt. Horrible. Does anyone remember beer or cider lollies and old English spangles? They were my favourite, especially the black liquorice flavoured ones grin

Happysexagenarian Sat 01-Jun-19 10:30:12

arosebyanyothername My mother was also horrified when I chose to use tampons. She said "They will ruin you. No man will ever want you!" She blamed the school for putting 'modern' ideas in our heads. I later wondered why she found it so shocking, she was after all a nurse and a midwife, but she had lots of very old fashioned ideas. As other GNers have said I was not allowed to wash my hair or bathe during my periods, and she bought me plastic pants to wear at school in case of leakage 'You don't want the boys knowing' - I never wore them.

When my eldest son was in his teens my Mum overheard us lightheartedly discussing contraception. She was shocked and said it was not 'nice' for a mother to talk about such things with her son. She had applied the same prudishness to me as well. Thankfully I have always been able to discuss anything and everything with my sons.

Luckylegs Sat 01-Jun-19 09:54:51

I spent half my life in Clark’s sandals with the toes cut out! My mum was very frugal out of necessity I think. She loved Izal toilet paper, hated the “soft stuff”! She had dozens of blocks of Fairy Household Soap in the airing cupboard to harden and that’s what we washed our hair in when we had a bath. My dad used to light a paraffin heater then carry it lit upstairs to the bathroom! We had enough but very plain food really although my mum had a sweet tooth and encouraged mine with sweets and chocolate. Like others, I never cleaned my teeth, nobody bothered! No wonder I have a horrendous collection of fillings now.

I was given various medications though: Cod liver oil and malt, some kind of tablet for stopping your blood getting too irritated in spring (?), Fenning’s Little Healers, Carter’s Little Liver Pills. I wouldn’t eat much so I had to be fed disgusting green herbal stuff and Benger’s which was added to milk to feed you. I do wish they’d left me, I might be slim now!

Sara65 Sat 01-Jun-19 08:42:51

Aggie

Can you imagine doing that for the children of today!

aggie Sat 01-Jun-19 08:35:42

We had new sandals every year about Easter time , last years had the toes cut out and did for playing out

LullyDully Sat 01-Jun-19 08:08:23

Reading this thread, I can smell the Vosene clearly. Izal/ Bronco lav paper didn't work imo. I think we used to use all the previously mentioned things, including the vile pink toothpaste.

I remember my mum giving me lemon shampoo once instead of lemon cough mixture. I can still taste it.

I used to love the mini Hovis loaves my mum brought back from the Ideal Home Exhibition. We had to
slice them up so carefully.

Dad worked in bakeries as an engineer he used to sometimes bring back broken biscuits. All the flavours used to mix together in the bag. Very nice.

Sara65 Sat 01-Jun-19 07:53:03

Notagran

We had a paraffin heater in the bathroom, and I used to like the smell of it, but it was only lit if temperatures dropped to sub zero! I too remember ice on the windows and a frozen flannel, we didn’t have hot running water, and had to boil a kettle and take it upstairs to have a wash!

sodapop Sat 01-Jun-19 07:40:36

We did exactly the same Notagran such bliss after a very hard to light coke fire.
I remember the ice inside the windows too, getting undressed in front of the fire and running upstairs for a bath - the bathroom was soooo cold.

NotAGran55 Sat 01-Jun-19 07:23:59

One of the best days I recall was the day The Gas Fire was fitted to replace the open fire in the sitting room . We sat and stared at it in wonder . Not long afterwards we replaced the paraffin heater that warmed upstairs with an electric heater on the bathroom wall . Still had to scrape the ice off the windows inside the bedrooms !

NotAGran55 Sat 01-Jun-19 07:16:24

Ah yes KatyK the juice was from the welfare . I wonder if it was something about getting your vitamins after the war ? Just off to google ....

Flossieturner Sat 01-Jun-19 07:06:13

I too loved the spoon of Malt that we were given every day but I was not so keen on the spoonful of Cod Liver Oil that followed it.

We had the Corona Man deliver lemonade, cream soda and orange aid each fortnight. My favourite though was the proper orange juice that the milkman delivered on a Saturday.

My dad used to get us comics and he got the Revallie and Tit Bits.

Lilyflower Sat 01-Jun-19 06:34:43

Mum bought Camay for her face and, as dad used to say, thought herself ‘body every self’ because of it.

lemongrove Sat 01-Jun-19 00:09:46

Ailsa43 ah yes, that OJ from the milkman in glass bottles, it was wonderful.The nearest to it that I have found is the Co-op own OJ.
We had various soaps in the house depending on what Mum fancied, Lux, Camay,Imperial Leather or Pears usually.
Shampoo bought in sachet form, usually Vosene.
Daz was the favourite detergent, possibly because it had free plastic daffs with it.?
American cream soda and dandelion and burdock bought from the pop van.
Syrup of figs and malt extract dished out almost daily.
Beechams Powders and Fennings Fever Cure for colds.
Bile Beans!
Lily of the valley talc and Twink home perms for Mum.

lemongrove Sat 01-Jun-19 00:01:17

Haha OPgrndtr where was this, rural Alabama ?

OPgrndtr Fri 31-May-19 23:28:03

We didn't have toothpaste until I was 11 years old. We dipped our toothbrush in a mixture of salt and baking soda. Yes, I have a mouth full of fillings. I had shoes for everyday and Sunday, but we went barefoot unless we were going into town. Thanks to family friends I got a handmedown coat every other year then passed it to another family when I got the "new one". My Gran had a two-holer with a Sears Roebuck catalog on a string, and we never gave it a second thought.

Jomarie Fri 31-May-19 23:14:57

BradfordLass72 - totally agree with your psychologist - am reminded of this concept every time I shop in our local megastore supermarket and confine my shopping to my list - and some extras obviously!!! Less choice less stress ? grin

Wobbles Fri 31-May-19 22:55:21

This thread is bringing back some wonderful memories.
At school the teacher would send us to the outside toilet to get some Izal paper if we needed some tracing paper.

Ailsa43 Fri 31-May-19 22:48:36

Sara65. I remember the orange jiuce from the milkman, it was absolutely delicious. I have no idea why it tasted so nice, but despite hunting everywhere in this country and many others I've never been able to find any orange juice that tastes the same as that OJ from the milkman.

Ailsa43 Fri 31-May-19 22:46:23

lovebeigecardigans1955 Yes I remember Creamola Foam very well. My auntie worked in the Creamola Foam factory, so we as kids in the 60's used to get a regular supply of Orange or Raspberry flavour! Loved it.

BradfordLass72 Fri 31-May-19 22:33:21

I've just listened to an excellent TED talk about how the huge number of choices we now have, leads to our constant stress and undermines our confidence in ourselves.

Making simple decisions is fundamental and when we have few choices, we feel good about making them.

When faced with 21 different salad dressings, 40 different types of soap or shampoos, there is no way we can feel as confident that we've made the right choice and - so the psychologist maintained - we never know if we've made the correct one.

Sara65 Fri 31-May-19 21:36:21

We used to get orange squash from the milkman, it was lovely! We also had a bakers van come around, and we would be sent out to buy penny buns, which we ate with jam