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Did you get a "play piece"

(88 Posts)
paddyann Fri 07-Jun-19 08:55:47

I suppose that Scottish grans will be the only ones who understand this.When we were at school we had a snack for playtimes a "piece" being a sandwich.On another site I read about folk having cold toast or chocolate biscuits .Mine was usuallly a piece and jam .My late mother who was thought to be delicate all her life had her playpiece in the staffroom bovril and toast ...to build her up.I'd forgotten all about the sandwich wrapped in greasproof paper tucked into my satchel and the swapping them for something a bit more exciting like a cold sausage roll .

paddyann Fri 07-Jun-19 12:52:11

then theres the "christening piece" two biscuits sandwiched with butter or buttercream icing a silver coinin the middle decorated with white icing.Given to the first child of the opposite sex of the baby being christened on the way to the church.It was a 2 shilling or half crown in the fifties and sixties but a 50p nowadays .My daughter and son both carried on the tradition with their babies

SirChenjin Fri 07-Jun-19 12:58:36

I've never heard of a christening piece paddyann - it's a shame these things are all dying out. I had money (coins) put in my childrens' prams when they were babies, I loved that tradition.

Parsley3 Fri 07-Jun-19 13:11:09

I haven’t heard of the christening piece but I do know about the tradition of putting half crowns into a baby’s pram.
My play piece was a roll and butter in a brown paper bag. I sat on it to make it bigger!
My grandchildren call it ‘snack’.

Callistemon Fri 07-Jun-19 13:14:12

I had heard the word 'piece' from my friend's mum who was from Yorkshire.
Our school sold trays of delicious currant buns at morning break, they were really cheap but fresh and delicious.

Nowadays the children are allowed a piece of fruit which the children can buy in school.

Callistemon Fri 07-Jun-19 13:15:55

Cal grin

Thingmajig Fri 07-Jun-19 14:03:27

I'm Scottish and we never had "pieces" (might be more a Glasgow term?) but always had a sweetie for play-time. Granny came on a Monday afternoon and brought us Milky Ways and Fudges to last us all week ... now I'm wondering what we took on Mondays! smile

Anniebach Fri 07-Jun-19 14:09:13

I didn’t have snacks for school, no doubt my mother would have looked on it as breaking the rule , not between meals.

paddyann Fri 07-Jun-19 15:58:23

I started school in 1959 and we didn't get sweets except on a Friday when my Dad brought them home for us all ,mum included, hers were Newberry Fruits .It was normal for children to have bread and jam or even the cold toast and as I read about it I could smell it when the greaseproof came off it .I'm almost tempted to make toast and butter it and leave it to go cold just to see if my sense of smell is accurate.

Ginny42 Fri 07-Jun-19 16:42:54

Calledonai14 that made me laugh so much about you trying to pass the chocolate digestives off as home --made! Priceless. Thank you for sharing.

I've never heard of a piece, but this topic reminded of my Dad who used to get an apple or biscuits for morning snack because they were comfortably off. He used to cry because he wanted cold toast wrapped in newspaper like the other children.

Cherrytree59 Fri 07-Jun-19 16:55:15

Paddyann
A Jilly piece (jam) for the Bairns.

My Gran's potted meat for my grandpa's work piece.
All wrapped in a Plain loaf wrapper.

Happy dayssunshine

Gonegirl Fri 07-Jun-19 17:09:03

I love that Jeely Piece Song! grin

Katek Fri 07-Jun-19 17:11:45

I used to get a buttered roll in a brown paper bag for my play piece. It went in the small front pocket of my satchel so it was invariably squashed flat by the time I came to eat it!

Cherrytree59 Fri 07-Jun-19 17:24:27

Gonegirl your spelling is better than mine!

I think that must be the first time I have had the need to to write rather than eat a Jeely piece

Blondiescot Fri 07-Jun-19 18:48:48

We definitely had a playpiece at primary school - used to love my Marmite piece! However, I remember there was one boy who used to have a piece on sugar - white bread with butter, liberally sprinkled with sugar - to this day, the thought of him crunching into that sugar gives me the boak (there's another good Scottish word for you!)

Cherrytree59 Fri 07-Jun-19 19:17:28

Blondiscot Talking of the Boak,
we had butter rolled in sugar for a soar throat!

I think my parents and grandparents were so
'deprived' of butter and sugar during the war,
that when rationing ended they became rather heavy handed with both.
And all things sweet for that matter.

No wonder when the NHS came into being, they all had their teeth whipped out and had new stove dentures put in.
(my Dad's little joke)smile

Grandma70s Fri 07-Jun-19 20:32:00

SirChenJin, my brother’s girlfriend who talked about the ‘jeely piece’ wasn’t from Glasgow. She came from Crail on the east Fife coast.

watermeadow Fri 07-Jun-19 20:44:29

When my children started school most of the others had a snack for playtime.I didn’t allow this because mine wouldn’t eat lunch if they ate between meals.
One day my child stole someone’s bag of crisps. Oh, the embarrassment!
I’m surprised all you Scottish kids ate sandwiches at playtime. How did you manage lunch only an hour and a half later?

BlueBelle Fri 07-Jun-19 20:52:45

Never heard the term ‘piece’ but then I am east not north but we didn’t use it here I don’t remember taking anything to school we had our milk with a straw and that was it I think They did used to sell home made toffee ( made by the Cookery class ) in break time every now and then

Baggs Fri 07-Jun-19 20:57:32

My mother had a ginger biscuit for her play piece way back in the 1930s when she started school. She began to eat it by scraping the edge on her teeth. A teacher admonished her with "That's no way to eat a biscuit!" so Mum never finished it because she didn't know any other way!

She win't have called it a play piece; she was in Yorkshire.

Baggs Fri 07-Jun-19 20:57:45

won't

paddyann Fri 07-Jun-19 22:29:04

without any problems at all watermeadow we were all running about like dervishes so we were starving by playtime and remmber its colder here so you need extra calories...lol

ElaineI Fri 07-Jun-19 23:35:46

I had a play piece (from 1961) Edinburgh. DGS gets a snack for break (East Lothian) and packed lunch. He could get a free school meal at lunch time as all P1 children can but insists on the same lunch every day (jeely piece, cheese, crisps and fruit, with water). He gets milk before playtime which DD pays for each term.

BlueSapphire Sat 08-Jun-19 09:55:50

When I started school in the 1950s DM used to wrap two biscuits in a paper bag for me to have at playtime.

Gma29 Sat 08-Jun-19 09:57:31

wildswan16 love the “shivery bite”!

HurdyGurdy Sat 08-Jun-19 09:59:47

Yes. My play piece was usually two Jaffa cakes smile

(Also Scottish)