Funny things that your children would be appalled by

No car, no phone, no holidays, no day trips out, no pantomime visits. Tin bath in front of the fire. Outside toilet with newspaper instead of toilet roll.
Me and my friend used to knock on doors and ask mother's 'Can we take your baby out?'. They would always put the baby in it's pram and let us take it to the park. Most of them had never set eyes on us before.

I was put in a drawer!

I was also given 'the slipper' on my bottom (for something I didn't do!) by a male teacher in front of the whole class whilst still at Primary School.

My DH told me that when he walked to school his feet hurt and it was later found out that rats would clew on his toenails as he slept, as a little boy.

I remember wandering about the town with my brother who was two. A lady sweeping her porch with a broom stopped us and asked if my mother knew we were out and about. I said, of course, and continued walking with my toddling brother. I remember her face horrified as we walked around. No, my mother didn't know or care that we were out for a walk.

We three sisters slept three in a bed (two up, two down). There was a big hole in the wall and plaster fell into the bed.
The hot water bottle was stone and if it ever fell on a foot, would cause considerable damage….
Outside loo with the local paper, not only to read, but for the necessaries.
The bonfire was lit one year outside our front door and the brown paint bubbled. My father carried buckets of water to put it out.
Washing the front step and leaving a yellow line 🤔
Being put on a coach in the north aged 7 or 8 alone with a string bag with a comic, an apple and instructions to the driver to keep an eye on me until reaching Gloucestershire.
Endless roaming about the city as a child and no one bothering.
Keeping quiet and out of the way every week at the weekly visits to grandparents, definitely seen and not heard.
Standing up immediately for people on the bus, which is not the case now.

Bonnybanko

I got my first period when I was 14 sitting at the hairdressers, it was so embarrassing to rise from the chair to find a pool of blood there - the hairdresser was so kind she silently wiped the chair while I ran out the door as fast as I could after paying for my hair I’ll never forget that day

That must've been really scary. Thanks for sharing. It's hard being a girl.

haha.* my DD, not my mum

Nanna8, I was in a wicker basket in the back of a station wagon, too. My mum bought one for my DD too. She slept in it but NOT in a station wagon!

Harrigran you just reminded me that we didn't have a car, either. My mum would walk us to the grocery and each of us would have a bag of food to carry home. I remember my brother and I would take turns in the stroller as it was a long walk and we were both less than four. I also remember picking blackberries on the way home.

When I was twelve my father sent me to a glaziers to collect a pane of glass, it was about 24 inches square. Obviously I could not get on a bus so had to walk home which was about two miles. The glazier folded a piece of newspaper and placed it under the bottom of the pane so it wouldn't dig into my palm and I then tucked the top under my armpit.
When the family visited we were talking about children doing chores and I told them about this incident and the look of horror on their faces was hilarious.
This was not a one off incident we sometimes had to carry bags to a laundrette if my mother wanted blankets or eiderdowns washed and dried. We weren't tall so the bags were almost scraping the ground. I can understand why we were sent, my mother did not have time to sit in the laundrette, in the fifties housework was time consuming.
We never had a car or any labour saving devices at home so everything had to be fetched and carried. Although I loved a real Christmas tree it was one of the most difficult things to carry yourself, in the olden days they didn't fasten the branches together with netting.
I was ten when my sister was born and she was placed in my dolls cot with just a pillow as a mattress. We did have a proper baby cot too but my father had made the dolls one and it was far superior to kids toys now.

We were told to sleep our babies on their stomachs because it helped with the wind. Never now, they are afraid of cot death. I used to put the baby in a wicker basket in the back of the station wagon. When I went round a sharp corner it would sometimes tip over so I would stop, put baby back and continue. No straps, no seatbelts and the other kids sat on cushions so they could see out of the windows. I suppose here the traffic was pretty light then, just as well!
Another thing , long ago before we had kids, was drink driving. It wasn’t illegal and we thought nothing of it. Thank goodness we never had an accident though sometimes we were pretty bad. Pub crawls etc.

I remember as a child we all had three pairs of shoes. School shoes, party shoes and plimsolls(black). We wore the plimsolls all through the holidays and then hopefully had a new pair for September. I did feel very grown up when I got a pair of white plimsolls.

I do remember my Nan and Grandad buying me my party shoes otherwise I think I would have just had 2 pairs. And wellies. Wellies from Woolies I think!

Greenfinch

And babies were put to bed in a dressing table drawer. I used to visualise someone closing the drawer

I remember my elderly Dad reminiscing and he mentioned about small babies sleeping in a drawer. My granddaughter was about 4 at the time. She said “that must have been really scary when the drawer was closed” 😀

I got my first period when I was 14 sitting at the hairdressers, it was so embarrassing to rise from the chair to find a pool of blood there - the hairdresser was so kind she silently wiped the chair while I ran out the door as fast as I could after paying for my hair I’ll never forget that day

DH and I attended the same mixed grammar school in the Sixties but the only time we were “mixed” was in class or in the canteen! We had separate entrances, a separate quad for morning milk, separate areas on the field in summer months and separate allocated classrooms for wet breaks and lunchtimes.

In Assembly, each was allocated a place in descending height order with the tallest in the middle and the shortest towards the end of the row, girls and boys separately so that the tallest girl was next to the tallest boy in the middle. Even the teachers had separate staff rooms and paraded into Assembly, mostly in their graduation gowns, through separate doors. Prefects supervised entry and exit to the Assembly.

Greenfinch

And babies were put to bed in a dressing table drawer. I used to visualise someone closing the drawer.

My mum always told me to put my newborns in a dressing table drawer too!

BlueBelle

What are you seeing macadia Missadventure hasn’t posted anything !!!!
Talking about baths mine were often bathed by the fire in a babies bath tub or in the washing up bowl in the kitchen sink if it was just a quick spruce up

Sorry Bluebell, sorry MissAdventure. I must've got the name wrong. I remember reading a post about someone who lived with their daughter in a van and had no heat. I must've got the name wrong. No offence please. Sorry, but I can relate to that poster, whoever it may be. I have been there, too.

I co- slept with them when they were upset or not well and slept all of them on their tummies and they often ate giblets cooked in a variety of ways or cheap mince (Two out of three are brilliant athletes and the third brilliant in many other ways)

And babies were put to bed in a dressing table drawer. I used to visualise someone closing the drawer.

What are you seeing macadia Missadventure hasn’t posted anything !!!!
Talking about baths mine were often bathed by the fire in a babies bath tub or in the washing up bowl in the kitchen sink if it was just a quick spruce up

I can relate to MissAdventure in her stories about her first child. I had hot water but no heat, so I used to wake up, chop wood, start a fire, then put a tub by the fire to wash my DD. Also, no washer so would scrub our clothes in the tub.

My first period I put the sanitary pad on upside down and got scolded. How was I to know? The sticky stripes seemed to fit my body but I guess I got it wrong. No assistance there. So embarrassing.

Certainly never had any corporal punishment in our school and I m as old as you can be (nearly)
I do remember my second husband had a van at one time and the kids used to sit in the van part swishing around on the floor when we went round corners
I remember going to the nearby shop to get paraffin for my nans fire and I used to be the one holding the newspaper over half the open fireplace to get the fire to start (and my Nan was very very protective of me)
I used to dry my long hair sitting on a stool in front of the open door of the lit gas oven
I wasn’t allowed to wash my hair (or goodness forbid) go for a swim when I had a period