Do you remember...

I do remember sachets of Palmolive shampoo that had to be mixed with hot water to dissolve the powder. Either that or my mum put in persil and didn't tell us it wasn't shampoo !!!!

I used to love the smell of calamine lotion used on our rashes when we has chicken pox and German measles. Used to hate the taste of Virol malt! We had hand-me-downs. I had two older brothers and had the embarrassment of having to wear their patent leather Page boy shoes with a large silver buckle on the front!

We used to have the Gibbs toothpaste in a tin as children it was pink. My dad would only use red Lifebouy soap, but the rest of us used a variety of different soaps ranging from Pears, Palmolive, Lux, Camay, and sometimes a new soap would come out and would get a free sample through the letterbox also free samples of various toothpastes. The shampoo I remember most was Drene and we only had our hair washed once a week unless their was a special occasion when it would be washed again. No going outside with wet hair as you would end up with a bad cold or worse by all accounts! No hair washing or baths either at that time of month. I remember the washing powder in my childhood being Oxydol or Rinso and Stergene in a glass bottle for handwashing woollens and washing the pots. You got 2d back refund on the return of the bottle. Also a lot of women then would have a weekly shampoo and set at the hairdressers and never wash it at home in between visits.

I still use Astral Face cream.

Mothers ‘posh’ was our Barathea Blazers, which she boasted about continuously. My brother and I were the only ones in our street who passed the 11+ and she loved to parade us In our uniforms. She also boasted about the blazers to all of my aunts. I did not really understand why so I asked one of my cousins.she said that she ‘had no idea’, but that all 6 of the aunties used to call her ‘Mrs Barathea Blazer’ behind her back.

Shysal - yes stockings! On the first day of my secondary school education my mum made me wear stockings and a suspender belt. I was uncomfortable and looked ridiculous, she made me practice putting them on for a few days before I actually started big school, so I could hurry up for breakfast. Not sure if tights had been invented?

What a laugh I'm having reading all these memories....
Astral hand cream, which I must admit I used to lick, and I can still remember the taste....
Lemon meringue pie made with the little capsule, it must have been essence of lemon in the capsule I think....
Being allowed to put the clothes through the wringer and catch them the other side....
Washing woollies by hand in the sink, very gently, then mum rolling them in a towel which I was allowed to jump on and off....
Moth balls!....

The fields around our home being sprayed with ddt and all the wildlife dying, including our three cats, also the very hard winter in the early sixties, birds and small mammals just giving up and dying?

Does anyone remember that? (sad)

The red soap brings back memories. It was used for washing up, washing clothes and washing me in the tin bath in front of the fire!
I wore hand me downs from the rich family my gran cleaned for, which was lovely if it was a dress or blouse but I hated the liberty bodices!

Happy birthday, Jayelld , hope you enjoy your 'smellies'.
I remember how proud I was of my first pair of stockings. They were thick and beige. I used to sit with my feet up on the mantelpiece and admire them. Thinking back, they were too big for me as I was stick thin and short, and I am sure I looked like Nora Batty! They were worn with suspenders on a roll-on which Mum insisted on, as if I didn't wear 'control' I would end up with a flabby tummy.

We had Zambuc (not sure of the spelling) and a tin of stuff called Pink Healing Ointment for cuts and bruises. Last year we went to a Howarth ( Bronte country) and there was an old fashioned chemist and they had bought the recipe for Zambuc and they still manufacture it!

My DM was concerned about my dandruff and decided to take me to see an 'alternative' practitioner who recommended washing my hair with an egg (raw). Predictably, the egg cooked in my hair when it met hot water and the smell was horrible. Re-enter Vosene.

We had Robert Hirst macs for school, quite expensive but Mum must have felt they were worth it. They had an attached hood, and a ‘penny safe purse’ in the pocket, to carry our dinner money, five shillings a week. Also in the winter we had little brown suede boots with a zip, real frumpy old lady type boots, but we lived in the country and needed sensible footwear, nothing fancy. Heaven knows what our trendy grandchildren would make of our outfits.

Yes Wheniwasyourage. I remember the different coloured Gibbs Dentifrice.

My dad always used Sunlight or Fairy washing soap for his weekly bath and hair wash. He referred to it as ‘common soap ‘ and was convinced it was the best thing for us working people.
Mum liked scented soap which we would buy from the chemist, it was laid out prettily in a big basket, and you could choose your colour. Choosing a bar was a real treat for me as a small child, I loved the rose and lemon verbena scented ones the best.
Later on, Mum bought Imperial Leather soap- it was considered posh - and Dad used to get quite passionate about ‘people thinking they’re summat they’re not’. He stuck to his common soap.
I didn’t have a toothbrush or toothpaste until I was eleven. I bought them with my pocket money, and took myself off to the dentist. Dad didn’t hold with tooth scrubbing as he called it. He was convinced it wore your teeth away. Anyway, he had a full set of dentures which he found very satisfactory! I think I must have been decay resistant, as despite that early neglect, I have all my teeth to this day.
I was thinking yesterday how things have changed. I live very modestly, yet I enjoy a warm scented bath every day, and lovely body lotion to follow.
I can almost hear my Dad’s voice - he would have said “Ahhh - you do think you be royalty, my girl, a’washin of yerself all day long!”

Bathing or washing hair during your period was supposed to increase the flow! So there was no way I was going to risk that!

My grandmother used Ponds Vanishing Cream on her face. I remember wondering what was going to happen to her face.

My mother bought the powdered shampoo too. Thanks for reminding me that it was made by Vaseline

When I was very small the local chemist made up his own shampoo. It was bright pink and smelt of almonds. It came in a glass bottle stopped with a cork.
And we sent the bottle back when it was empty to have it refilled.

We children used Pears soap and when I was a teenager they made shampoo too.

My mother used Palmolive soap ( I loathe the smell, strangely enough) and I think Daddy just used whatever was nearest!

When I was very small he used Old Spice aftershave..

Loved the smell of Vosene as a kid ...couldn’t stand having hair washed though as mum was a bit rough. I was youngest of six and by time she got to my bath/hair wash I think she’d had enough. My dad always used coal tar soap on face and hair....he had a full head of it all his life so didn’t harm him much! We also used Euthymol toothpaste in a tin. But what about Izal loo paper ...oh my goodness , give me squares of newspaper despite the print !!

So many memories here. Also remember Junkett, Glymiel jelly in a tube for chapped hands - smelt of lemons. Recketts blue dolly bags for the washing. Tide and Omo washing powder and later Cadum soap - cadam for madam was the slogan. White canvas shoes in summer - cleaned with a little pot of liquid with a foam brush and left outside to dry.

missdeke, I have just seen your mention of Drene shampoo!

We had our hair washed once a week as children. Mum would buy a sachet of shampoo which I think was called Drene. The first bottle of shampoo I saw was beer shampoo which we were very wary of! I too got a pair of summer sandals in the spring and a pair of brown Clarkes shoes for the winter. I had a Gaberdine coat for school and a posh coat for Sunday school. Mum knitted my cardigans and dad's socks, also sleeveless jumpers he wore under his suits on cold days. Dad liked a trilby hat so he had one for work and a better one for going to church. We had enough clothes to get by, and everything was bought for a purpose and had to last.

Anyone remember Drene Shampoo, my very glamourous aunt used to use it. It came in a small cushion shaped sachet which was filled to bursting.

I wasn't allowed outside after I'd had a bath or a hair wash - "you'll catch your death" was the warning. Also not only could I not wash my hair while menstruating, but I wasn't allowed to bath ?. What on earth was that all about?

I remember orangeade powder, which we mixed with water to make a weak, sugary drink. It was bought by the quarter pound (only in summer - the rest of the year we had water if we were thirsty) and sat in the larder in a brown paper bag. If it wasn't used quickly it would become a horrible sticky mess. Probably chiefly because we kids used to lick our fingers when no one was looking, and dip them in the bag to suck the powder ?

I used to buy the Bunty every week and cut out the figure and the clothes and dressed her in different outfits, so exciting I loved it.

Such simple pleasures then.

urmstongran my mum also used Cremolia hand cream. We loved the smell. My sister and I used to eat it when she wasn’t looking as it had glycerine and rose water in it! DM was the same about hair washing at ‘that time of the month’. Something to do with bending over the basin making you feel faint.

Ditzyme, I remember my (much older) brother in law saying that Germolene was the best contraceptive in the world. I was horrified until I realised he meant the smell. My sister used it on her facial blemishes.