You know you are old when....

[ERICS MUM]

Another thing that makes me feel old is the absolutely vast array of skincare and cosmetics available today - not just on QVC but on the DHS.

Remembering my lovely Mum again, in the 1960's her dressing table had on it: Max Factor Pan-Stick foundation, Bourjois rouge which only came in one shade not the wide choice of today's blushes and bronzes. As for mascara, it was a solid block that had to be wetted and mixed to a thick liquid so it could be 'combed' onto her lashes. In the late 1950's she wore Evening in Paris perfume, a tiny dark blue glass bottle. By the mid 60's she switched between Coty L'Aimant and Blue Grass (Elizabeth Arden I think). She cleaned her face with Anne French cleansing milk and moisturised with Nivea. We all used Vosene shampoo and Camay soap. There really wasnt a lot of choice products until late 60's when Woolies and Boots expanded their ranges

Nowadays we are spoilt for choice. Such a monumental change in the course of my life.

 

[Lilo Lil]

Does anyone remember the listening booths in Woolworths where you could listen to records before you bought them ...

When I first started work you could purchase weekly season tickets on the underground at 2/3 the full price until you turned 18!

 

[Breeze]

Our little department store, later to become a Debenhams, had those listening booths.
And I remember how everything was weighed out & wrapped rather than pre packed. The greengrocer used to weigh onions, spuds, carrots etc & tip them straight into your basket from the scales pan. Dearer things like sprouts & tomatoes got a brown paper bag that was twirled to fasten the corners.
The butchery cut everything off as you asked for it & wrapped it in paper, bacon was cut on a slicer & you were asked how thick you wanted the slices.
When I was at junior school only one girl in my class had a dad with a car, everyone travelled by bus or walked. Smokers had to sit upstairs & the bus ceilings used to be brown with nicotine. Our fare was 3d for a two mile journey.

 

[yorkrose26]

Cricket was being discussed at work the other day and someone said that Sri Lanka aren't what they used to be and I replied that they aren't as they used to be Ceylon only to be met with completely blank looks. For the youngsters on here Sri Lanka used to be called Ceylon until the early seventies.

The other Sunday I went out for a walk at about 9am and thought I would nip into a shop whilst out, so just before 10.30 I was waiting outside the shop with a number of other people who were all considerably older than me. I think that's a definite indication of getting old.

I also would have given you a 'blank stare' as I never knew that, I had heard of Ceylon (but only in 'ancient history' books (sorry)) and didn't know which country it was re-named to.

 

[yorkrose26]

And I won't even mention the 'chocolate oval chocolate'!, that used to be on sale around Easter time only!

 

[Turandot]

Sigh! groan ! I see some on here were born in 73 and later - my year was 1948, so for me the height of technology in the early 70's was a calculator, cassette player and the advent of colour television !! The phone was in a box at the end of the street, and there were TWO deliveries of post every day (early morning and lunchtime).

Just watching old detective shows makes me think how far we've come - no computers on the desks, just Olympia typewriters. We still played vinyl records and Dad's and boyfriends smelled of Old Spice or Hai Karate. Boyfriends wore suits to go out on a Saturday night, - no binge drinking then, just a Pony, Cherry B or Babycham, certainly no wine - apart from Blue Nun or Mateus Rose in the 'continental' bottle.

I could go on, but I do MISS the old and original version of Black Magic chocolates, and Weekend selection. Some things in this modern world just aren't the same.

I'm 1952 so not too far from you in years.Its a completely different world now . No technology and I managed very well without it ,actually went out and talked to people.

When I first left school I worked off of Oxford Street and there was a wonderful shoe shop called Sasha who sold beautiful suede dolly shoes .I remember I had a bright red pair.

My wage was £11 per week. Lol.

 

[loveallthingsitalian]

Does anyone remember the listening booths in Woolworths where you could listen to records before you bought them ...

When I first started work you could purchase weekly season tickets on the underground at 2/3 the full price until you turned 18!

Not at Woolies but at an independent record store .

 

[iloveshopping]

I'm 1952 so not too far from you in years.Its a completely different world now . No technology and I managed very well without it ,actually went out and talked to people.

When I first left school I worked off of Oxford Street and there was a wonderful shoe shop called Sasha who sold beautiful suede dolly shoes .I remember I had a bright red pair.

My wage was £11 per week. Lol.

I had a plum coloured pair of the Sasha shoes! Loved them

 

[China Girl]

I had a plum coloured pair of the Sasha shoes! Loved them

I had a black patent pair, they looked great with my black mini skirt with chain belt.
And wearing Mary Quant Havoc perfume, which you could probably have smelled in the next street it was that strong.
I had long dark hair with a centre parting.....a la a young Cher :mysmilie_17:

 

[Brissles]

Does anyone remember the listening booths in Woolworths where you could listen to records before you bought them ...

When I first started work you could purchase weekly season tickets on the underground at 2/3 the full price until you turned 18!

Woolworths had their 'own' brand records - Embassy, cheaper versions of the originals.

Someone should create a book of all these memories, because once 'us lot' have gone who will be around to impart this knowledge ? how I wish I'd written down all my grandma's stories and memories of her life from 1900 through two world wars until she died in 1984.

 

[Julius]

Our little department store, later to become a Debenhams, had those listening booths.
And I remember how everything was weighed out & wrapped rather than pre packed. The greengrocer used to weigh onions, spuds, carrots etc & tip them straight into your basket from the scales pan. Dearer things like sprouts & tomatoes got a brown paper bag that was twirled to fasten the corners.
The butchery cut everything off as you asked for it & wrapped it in paper, bacon was cut on a slicer & you were asked how thick you wanted the slices.
When I was at junior school only one girl in my class had a dad with a car, everyone travelled by bus or walked. Smokers had to sit upstairs & the bus ceilings used to be brown with nicotine. Our fare was 3d for a two mile journey.

I vaguely recall when people used to smoke on buses. I always used to be into reading words and would always annoy my mum by shouting out any new words I read. Once I was on a bus and noticed this metal thing which was there for the purpose of extinguishing cigarettes and I shouted: "STUBBER!" repeatedly!

Found a pic of what I'm talking about:

https://c8.staticflickr.com/4/3398/13057960223_314c15d2f4_b.jpg

 

[Moth]

I remember taking my Corona Lemonade bottle back to the shop, claiming my 10p and then spending an hour deciding which 1/2p or 1p sweets to buy! Or perhaps a quarter of tom thumb pips

Reading this has been quite revealing as you mention a lot of things my mum has told me about over the years. The world really is so different now, and, as had been said, it's a shame so much of this "social history" disappears as people pass away. Some of the stories my mum has told me about her younger years are worth hearing. Her old landlady remembered the Titanic going down! Mum used to work for the local rag, the Evening Argus as it was known then, and she got a lift home with two male colleagues, who were a laugh a minute, and also one of the lovely canteen ladies who used to bring the trolley round and deliver gorgeous salads! She got in the car in a hurry and said to them "Can anyone smell my Charlie?" Mum said that they did their best not to fall apart laughing because the men had no idea that Charlie was her perfume! The mind boggles!

Also miss the weekly egg-man, milk in glass bottles, and knowing where your friends were by whose house had all the bikes in the driveway. Mum misses the winkle man and milk coming on a horse and cart

 

[Julius]

I remember taking my Corona Lemonade bottle back to the shop, claiming my 10p and then spending an hour deciding which 1/2p or 1p sweets to buy! Or perhaps a quarter of tom thumb pips

Reading this has been quite revealing as you mention a lot of things my mum has told me about over the years. The world really is so different now, and, as had been said, it's a shame so much of this "social history" disappears as people pass away. Some of the stories my mum has told me about her younger years are worth hearing. Her old landlady remembered the Titanic going down! Mum used to work for the local rag, the Evening Argus as it was known then, and she got a lift home with two male colleagues, who were a laugh a minute, and also one of the lovely canteen ladies who used to bring the trolley round and deliver gorgeous salads! She got in the car in a hurry and said to them "Can anyone smell my Charlie?" Mum said that they did their best not to fall apart laughing because the men had no idea that Charlie was her perfume! The mind boggles!

Also miss the weekly egg-man, milk in glass bottles, and knowing where your friends were by whose house had all the bikes in the driveway. Mum misses the winkle man and milk coming on a horse and cart

I remember the Evening Argus! Remember when their offices were in central Brighton! Do you remember a shop called "Sweetime" in Kensington Gardens? It used to sell all sorts of random things very cheaply!

 

[Vienna]

It wasn`t all good though. No central heating just a coal fire downstairs and when you woke up in the morning the bedroom curtains would be frozen to the window panes. Rattling sash windows which my Dad stuffed cardboard down on windy Winter nights. Lino on the floors and no fitted carpets just rugs or carpet squares. No duvets just sheets and woolly blankets and candlewick bedspreads which moulted like mad and made you cough. Frozen milk on the doorstep. Izal toilet roll which was torture on the backside. Punishing pantie girdles which stopped you from breathing. Walking to school in the pouring rain because nobody owned a car back then. Televisions which regularly showed nothing but wavy white lines until someone jiggled the aerial. No tights just stocking which laddered as soon as you looked at them and stuck to your legs where you tried to stop a ladder with nail varnish. Bel Air hairspray which was toxic and back combing which was painful. Damp washing hanging around for days because nobody had tumble dryers or radiators. Boiling kettles for hot water bottles because the sheet shock from ice cold sheets in an ice cold bedroom was tantamount to torture. Sharing beds with siblings. A ten bob note from your parents as your birthday present. Round pin sockets and plaited cables on lamps or appliances and the fear of electric shock from them. No double glazing so you all got as near to the fire and as far away from the windows and doors as you could. Having a bath with 2 inches of hot water cos the geyser wouldn`t produce much more before it coughed and gave up the ghost. The list goes on and on !

 

[Julie]

Oh dear I still live in a house with original windows, no double glazing and no fitted carpets. :mysmilie_19:

 

[Lady Madonna]

They have 2 or 3 in Prague and the prices are for nothing. I usually buy loads of tops and if there is a sale they are nearly giving them away.

They have one in a shopping centre in Gran Canaria where the cruise ships dock.

 

[Lady Madonna]

It wasn`t all good though. No central heating just a coal fire downstairs and when you woke up in the morning the bedroom curtains would be frozen to the window panes. Rattling sash windows which my Dad stuffed cardboard down on windy Winter nights. Lino on the floors and no fitted carpets just rugs or carpet squares. No duvets just sheets and woolly blankets and candlewick bedspreads which moulted like mad and made you cough. Frozen milk on the doorstep. Izal toilet roll which was torture on the backside. Punishing pantie girdles which stopped you from breathing. Walking to school in the pouring rain because nobody owned a car back then. Televisions which regularly showed nothing but wavy white lines until someone jiggled the aerial. No tights just stocking which laddered as soon as you looked at them and stuck to your legs where you tried to stop a ladder with nail varnish. Bel Air hairspray which was toxic and back combing which was painful. Damp washing hanging around for days because nobody had tumble dryers or radiators. Boiling kettles for hot water bottles because the sheet shock from ice cold sheets in an ice cold bedroom was tantamount to torture. Sharing beds with siblings. A ten bob note from your parents as your birthday present. Round pin sockets and plaited cables on lamps or appliances and the fear of electric shock from them. No double glazing so you all got as near to the fire and as far away from the windows and doors as you could. Having a bath with 2 inches of hot water cos the geyser wouldn`t produce much more before it coughed and gave up the ghost. The list goes on and on !

Oh yes and thick ice on the inside of the Windows, getting washed and dressed in the kitchen when mum put the oven on so it was warm.

 

[historymystery]

I find this a bit annoying too, so know how you feel, Turandot, but I confess I usually just bite my lip. I've got a work colleague who says she replies "actually, I'm not your love (or dear) - and you're not mine" whenever anyone she doesn't know well says this to her, but I'd have to be provoked by someone being quite obviously patronising to do that. I normally just ignore it, and accept that this is the way some people (older than me, and younger,) address people they meet.

I get really annoyed when I get called "love "or "dear "by younger people as though Ive lost my marbles.Im not that old but I never got called those things when I was younger.

 

[Lady Madonna]

I find this a bit annoying too, so know how you feel, Turandot, but I confess I usually just bite my lip. I've got a work colleague who says she replies "actually, I'm not your love (or dear) - and you're not mine" whenever anyone she doesn't know well says this to her, but I'd have to be provoked by someone being quite obviously patronising to do that. I normally just ignore it, and accept that this is the way some people (older than me, and younger,) address people they meet.

I used to do credit control and one of the ladies I worked with always insisted customers called her Mrs ..... I didn't mind using my first name.

 

[Lady Madonna]

I find this a bit annoying too, so know how you feel, Turandot, but I confess I usually just bite my lip. I've got a work colleague who says she replies "actually, I'm not your love (or dear) - and you're not mine" whenever anyone she doesn't know well says this to her, but I'd have to be provoked by someone being quite obviously patronising to do that. I normally just ignore it, and accept that this is the way some people (older than me, and younger,) address people they meet.

I used to do credit control and one of the ladies I worked with always insisted customers called her Mrs ..... I didn't mind using my first name.