THIS TAPE HAS BEEN RECORDED ON THE 29th OF JANUARY 1979 AT YORK HOUSE, THE HOME OF THE INFORMANT ON LINKS ROAD, ST ANNES ON SEA. THE INFORMANT IS GEORGE FORRESTER SINGLETON, RETIRED SENIOR PARTNER IN THE FIRM OF G F SINGLETON AND COMPANY, ESTATE AGENTS, OF BLACKBURN. THE INTERVIEWER IS MARY HUNTER.
Well Mr Singleton, just before we move on to family life and the home perhaps we con just finish off what we were talking about and that was the effect that the first world war had on clothing, fashion and style. And I think we were just about to say that shoes really began after the first world war
R- Well, developed, yes. And naturally with the shortages of goods people had to make the best with what there was available. It took several years for warehouse shelves to be filled with goods that people wanted see? Right.
What kind of clothes did you wear in the twenties? Can you remember there being any significant difference?
(50)
R- Well I was married in 1919 you see so I was 29 and had just come out of the services and married in the May. May 29th , Royal Oak Day 1919 you see? There was no rapid change in men's clothing, except as time wore on and clothes became more expensive there was a tendency to dispense with waistcoats, there was a tendency to wear belts instead of braces which automatically followed you see because you don’t wear braces you see, to show, it's not done. But I never followed that trend, I always bought a three piece suit and I still wear braces. 1 may wear a belt as an extra, to be sure, now and again but not normally.
(100)
Then other materials than wool and cotton came on the market, with artificial yarns. They are called man made fibres nowadays, but I object to that term, they are artificial and serve a very useful purpose. They have their advantages, they have their disadvantages. For instance most of the worsted suits today contain a large proportion of synthetic fibre of one kind or another. You can note this, you can see that by the sheen on men's clothes you see? And, and therefore price has had an effect on fashion by combining style with cost and so it will go on. Yes.
Yes. What sort of …
R- Collar?
Well, and collar. I was going to say tie. Did you have that at your neck?
R- Well, I invariably wear a shirt requiring a tie. I am uncomfortable in shirts without ties, or in woollen jerseys, polo necks. I have several, I have tried to wear them but I am uncomfortable in them because I had not been used to it you see?
Yes. What sort of a tie would it be that you wore in the twenties?
R - Oh there were silk ties in the twenties.
Ones that you do up like that?
R – Yes.
Not a cravat or anything?
R – No. No, cravats have only been worn in my time for weddings. I don’t recall them being… Well, wait a minute, you mean the, there are some men’s gear, out gear, where a scarf is tied round the neck you see?
Yes. No I wasn’t meaning that. I was trying to locate what sort of neck tie was worn in the twenties. I didn't think it was exactly like that.
(200)
R - Well It was this style.
But it would be, it would be thinner wouldn’t it though of course? Yes?
R - A bit thinner. Yes. And they were silk in those days, Macclesfield silk.
And would the collar turn up? Wing collars are they called?
R - Oh yes, for a number of years there were wing collars, that's true. And then they went out of fashion. But the movement in fashion in men’s wear is slow.
Yes. Right, back at home again now. On a weekend I think you said that your family did all sit down for meals together. Did you?
R - Yes.
But not during the week because of your father's hours.
R – Yes, but the family, as a rule sat together. The children and parents, it was teatime and we all assembled you see?
Did your parents have any rules about children’s behaviour at the table?
R – Rather.
Go on then, tell me.
R - There were strict rules and none the worse for that. We were able to take part in conversation but we had to behave in accordance to our parents wishes.
(250)
Did you have grace before meals?
R – Yes. Grace before meals.
Which grace did you tend to have?
R - 'For what we are about to receive, may the Lord make us truly thankful. Amen'
And you [all said it] together?
R - Yes and we took it in turns.
(10 min)
To say it?
R- Yes. Which would be nominated you see, by our parents.
And then you had to wait till your father started before you started.
R - Yes.
And you had to, did you have to ask to leave the table?
R - Yes we had and why not?
Oh well, I agree.
R - You see what I mean, there is a merit in discipline. You see it more, you realise it more as time goes by, but those people who are disciplined enjoy life, in my experience, better than the ne’er-do-wells and free for all business.
And presumably you were trained to watch what your neighbour wanted and secure it for him.
R- Yes. And pass it along, that's true, yes. That's right.
Yes. I always find it very…
R - In other words, table manners, we were taught table manners.
Yes. And using the jam spoon instead of your knife etcetera.
R- Oh my word! We had to. Yes.
(300)
What else were your parents strict about? For example, things like coming in at night and swearing and that sort of thing?
R - There was no swearing at home at all. None. I only remember - I don't think I should put that down.
Go on.
R- (Cut it off, cut it off, cut it off.) I have never repeated that to anyone, not had occasion to, but seeing you mentioned it.
And what about, when you got a bit older, going out at night and things like that?
R - Oh we were expected to return in reasonable hours. And mostly we had a time and we had to be in within that time yes.
And what about your sisters going out?
R – Same. Same yes.
He let them go out though did he?
R - Oh yes, but they had not the same flexibility that boys had. It’s true, no. They were busy indoors reading, sewing, knitting, doing domestic matters, you see? Whereas boys, more than girls, though girls did go out to play. But it was the boys who you know enjoyed themselves and …
If you were naughty or disobedient or something did they punish you?
R - They did.
How?
(350)
R- Well it depends on what date you see but when we were at Darwen, before we left Darwen, we had a leather strap on the kitchen mantelpiece hung on a rail on the kitchen mantelpiece and it was used.
On all of you?
R - Well, I remember it for myself, I don’t know about the others.
And was that your father who would use it or would your mother use it as well?
R – No, father.
Father yes. So your punishment had to await his return?
R – Yes, or it was administered instantaneously if he was about, and I objected but you see (cut it off again)
Did you have prayers at home when you went to bed at night.
R - Oh yes, we said that, we were taught to say our prayers and to include all members of the family, you see? God bless father, God bless mother, etcetera. We kept that up. On our knees by the bedside.
That's right, yes.
R- Yes. And as far as I know it was kept up quite a long time.
Yes. When you had a birthday, was it different from any other day?
R - You have asked me that.
I was asking about food then.
R- Oh well yes, we'd a birthday present you see. And something which the parents thought would please and something which did please. I’ve very happy recollections of having birthday presents.
Were they were they often made for you, rather than bought.
R- Oh no, they were bought, you see?
(400)
Perhaps your younger brothers and sisters made things for you, did they?
R - Well now, later on perhaps one or two would do something which they’d made, or a drawing or something in wood they had carved, which was a special favour shall we say? But normally birthday presents were something which they thought the recipient would like, you see?
(15 min)
And can you remember visitors calling on birthdays or parties?
R – Yes, I can remember the pastors, we were Wesleyan Methodists. You mean ministers, pastors? What did you say?
Parties, birthday parties.
R - Oh I beg your pardon. I thought you were talking about pastors.
No it was probably the way I said it. I said any visitors or, or parties that you had on your birthday.
R - Well normally we had a sufficient number to form a party in the family, but now and again a friend would be invited, yes. Or two, but we had no big show, it was just a little extra and a pleasant occasion.
How did you, how did the family spend Christmas and New Year.
R - At home. Invariably.
And would, perhaps your mother's parents or your father’s parents visit you or…
(450)
R- Well no they didn’t you see, because my mother, her mother had died early, her father lived 150 miles away and married to a stepmother so to speak. On the other hand my father's father lived in the same road, at the bottom of the hill whereas we were at the top but he lost his, my grandmother died oh about 1892. I just remember what she was like plus recollections from a photograph of course. So we didn't have visitors as such.
Not any of your ...
R- We had, we had presents and relatives sent presents and we’d, we'd regular presents from our parents and uncle George and, and Mr Helm. That's right, there wore three lots, we looked forward regularly, and we got them.
And who was Mr Helm?
R - He was a friend of my mother and her aunt who as I said was eight years older. This Miss Sedgwick who was a school mistress, you see? And her first school was at Hapton and Mr Helm lived ... at Hapton, he lived at Hapton and so he was an early friendship you see. And they’d kept it up with the family yes.
Yes. How did the family spend the Easter Holidays?
(500)
R - We didn’t. We just stayed at home, never dreamt of going away.
Was it a celebrated time of the year or did …
R - Oh yes we attended church services but we were at the school, the school was on holidays, and we just entertained ourselves in the ordinary way. We never dreamt of going away.
Did you have, can you remember anything special about Easter eggs and things like this?
R – Yes. My mother would boil some eggs hardy and put some colouring material in the water. Mostly deep red. I don’t know what material it was.
Cochineal perhaps was it?
R - That's it. Anyhow, my recollection is deep red you see? Now again, you'll say 'What did we do at Easter?’ Well, in those days Easter Monday was known as egg rolling Monday, and I remember father took us over to Preston in a horse drawn vehicle, a cab I suppose, to take part in the egg rolling at Havenham. Park. I remember that. Coloured eggs you see?
Yes. They would all be hard boiled eggs?
R - Hard boiled eggs that’s right.
Getting splattered all over the hill.
R- Well there we are, that’s …
And they, the aim I suppose was to have a complete egg at the bottom was it?
R - I suppose it was. I was so young that it was simply an event as far as I was concerned and…
Chocolate eggs though, did you have chocolate eggs?
(550)
R- Chocolate eggs were just coming in shall we say as far an we were concerned and yes, we would probably have a chocolate egg to celebrate the weekend you see? Divided amongst the lot.
It wouldn’t go very far would it?
R – No, it depends on the size of it but still, no you see, again, the makers were constantly… It is the old story of supply and demand. They were then, by this time, in a capacity to make on mass production. Fry’s, Rowntree’s and so on. And of course they made these eggs and Cadbury’s. And they were, they helped to create the demand by putting them on the market, see? And of course children all like chocolate eggs.
Yes. Did you have any musical instruments in your home?
R – Yes, a piano.
And who played it?
R- My mother, which had been hers before she was married. Because she taught music.
Oh yes.
R - As a side line before she was married, she was a school mistress. Yes the piano was a Kirkman, a make with a good reputation, but it was a wooden frame and therefore didn't keep in tune as an iron frame piano does.
And, and that was the only musical instrument you had was it?
R - Oh yes.
Did any of you sing?
R - Well my mother was a singer, used to be on the choir, and I developed a voice, sang as a boy but, that’s all.
Yes. Did you have family sing songs and get-togethers?
(000)
R - Yes. On Sunday, Sunday nights you see, Sunday evenings yes.
Yes. And perhaps at Christmas time?
R - Oh yes, and Christmas Carols, that’s right.
(25 min)
Were there any games you played in the house, either with your parents or without them?
R - Yes ... what's that game? Tiddley-winks. Snakes and Ladders was just coming into prominence. Later draughts and chess but no cards. Cards were taboo. The cards were known as the devil's prayer book.
I have heard that before yes. Were they wooden boards that you played these games on?
R – No, cardboard mostly.
Cardboard. Yes. And did you ever have any particular games you played with your parents.
R - Well, I played chess and draughts with my father. The rest, I played games with the family. I was fond of stamp collecting as a spare time, a hobby.
Have you still got your stamp album?
R – Yes.
Is it a beautiful leather one? I bet it is.
R – No, it's a cloth bound one. But I intend to pass it on, to a grand, any grandson who shows promise in that line. I’m waiting.
Have you kept it on through the years or not?
R- Oh no, I stopped.
Did the family have a regular newspaper or magazine?
R- Yes. The Manchester Guardian.
That was a daily.
(650)
R- A Daily. The Darwen News, a weekly, The Methodist Times, a Sunday paper. Later I got the Boys Own Paper. Indeed I once got a certificate from the editor for something I had sent up.
Can you remember what it was you sent up?
R- I forget now, but I think the editor was called Hutchinson. His name came to mind the some time ago, because he was referred to in the Daily Telegraph, some reference. And, yes it was a good paper.
Con you remember any magazines that you had? Periodicals?
R- Occasionally the Strand Magazine. No I think that we had Methodists papers, apart from the Times there was missionary paper and the like, but you can’t call them newspapers.
No. Did your mother have a women’s magazine at all?
R- No. You see that side of journalism has developed in my lifetime. A man called Harmsworth got going about 1900. There were two brothers and I think they established the Daily Mail you see? And as printing became more popular, more paper, the country was more prosperous, enterprising journalists established papers. To cope with the volume of people who had become literate you see?
[The Harmsworth brothers became Lord Northcliffe {1865-1922} and Lord Rothermere. {1868-1940}]
Yes. Did any of the family belong to a library?
R - No.
Was there a library in Darwen?
R - I believe there was a Co-op library. There wasn’t a free library, a Carnegie library until about 1908. And I remember Andrew Carnegie coming to open it.
Yea, And when you moved to St Annes?
(700)
R - We had a library in connection with our Sunday School, we had no public library, until 1902. This Carnegie found the money, but that's still going round the corner,
And did you borrow books from this Methodist library?
R- Oh yes, that's where I got my liking for reading. And the authors were G.A. Henty, R.M. Ballantyne and so on.
And what sort of books did they write?
R- Oh, boys adventure books. ‘The Cornet of Horse’ for instance, 'The Tiger of Mysore, those were Henty's. R.M. Ballantyne was 'Coral Island'. Oh, then ‘Robinson Crusoe’ and ‘Swiss Family Robinson'. I think the ‘Swiss Family Robinson’ I enjoyed most of all, because they were shipwrecked and they managed to develop a happy life on land you see?
(30 min)
The sense of self-sufficiency appealed to you did it?
R- Yes, very strongly.
And did you read that book more than once?
R- Yes I think I read it twice but I’m normally not a repetitive reader. No.
No. I just wondered with it being perhaps your favourite one, whether you had read it more than once.
R- No, I read ‘Pilgrims Progress’, I was rather impressed with that.
Good for you.
R- One of my favourite characters was Mr Ready to Halt, he was always ready to halt to talk to somebody.
That's what you did this morning wasn’t it?
R – Yes, there you are.
Did your parents encourage you to read these sorts of books?
R- well, I’ll put it another way around, the enterprise was on our part because we saw the books and we had the opportunity. My eldest sister was a great, much greater reader than I was. So much so that she was rather frowned on for spending so much time reading,
Being a bookworm.
R – Yes, she was. Anyhow she established a private school which is now an institution of 600 pupils.
Yes, you have mentioned that to me before. Were there any books in the house?
(750)
R – Yes, several, which had been handed down, largely on my mother's side. There were a few books which my father brought in, mostly in connection with industry. One was a series of volumes by a Dr Ure on Arts and Manufactures. This is a man of the early days who described the early processes which were mostly hand made you see. Pottery, Paper making, Textile Printing and all the rest of it. But my mother brought books which are of a religious persuasion which had come from her grandfather mostly. And one I remember particularly was ‘The Hand of God in History’, I've still got it. I was impressed by the title and I've recently referred to it but the rather lurid wood cut sketches, illustrations and, and some of the arguments seem rather far fetched, but nevertheless it's a profound statement which rather appeals to me, and, in my opinion, the Hand of God still continues in the development of the world.
Did you have books that were your own, that perhaps you won from Sunday School or ...
R – Yes I did.
School prizes?
R - Yes, I did. I got regularly books for attending school, Sunday School you see.
Can you remember any of the books you chose or the books that you had chosen for you?
R- Yes. One was Oliver Twist. And another was Kenilworth, Walter Scott And there was ... I've got them upstairs, I can’t just recall the titles but we were able to select what we wanted you see? And we treasured them.
(800)
Yes, and it would have a little sticker in the front?
(35 min)
R- That’s right, that's it.
And can you remember getting school prizes as well?
R - Yes
They would be in the form of books as well would they?
R - Yes they were. Yes.
For diligence and progress and things.
R – Yes, I have quite a number of them shall I say.
I am sure you have yes. All the family were interested in reading were they?
R- In varying degrees yes they all had periods for books. Yes
Did you have any toys?
R - Yes I remember I had a little horse and cart when I was very small.
You could pull it along, could you?
R - With a string. And one of my treasures was a steam engine, which would operate on methylated spirits and it would run by the pistons you see?
And your mother?
That’d be valuable today, I don’t know where it's gone to.
Yes. And your mother would be in fear and dread thinking you are spilling the methylated spirit I suppose.
R- She was. And making a mess of the carpet and so on.
Can you remember any of the toys that the rest of the family had?
R - Oh, dolls were a regular outfit for the girls, the two girls who were sisters and eventually a little doll's pram.
Would the dolls be made out of plaster?
R - No they were made with pot heads and glass eyes and straw or shaving filled bodies.
Soft dolls then.
(850)
R- Yes, soft dolls.
I want again to ask you what did your mother do in her spare time in the house but I suppose your answer to that would be that she didn’t have any spare time.
R – That’s true. We were glad to see her resting now and again. She was a very active woman and anyhow she lived till she was 80.
Did she ever perhaps sit down after you had been all put to bed?
R - I would think not
But then perhaps it was mending time, was it?
R - Possibly yes. Mending, darning socks.
And what did your father do when he’d return from work at night?
R- Oh he’d read. He wasn't a literary man but he was a man interested in what went on in life and we had the daily papers and the weekly papers and he read his Bible now and again. And then we went to Church and Sunday school on the Sunday, and occasionally we had meetings so we never felt that we had nothing to do. None of us you see? Full programme.
What time would you get up in the morning?
R- Oh well I would think half past seven. We’d to be at school at nine o'clock. And I had a twenty minutes walk. So we should be off shortly after half past eight so it just gave an hour, more or less, for getting ready and having breakfast and doing what other chores there may be.
And would your mother get up quite a bit before half past seven?
R - Oh yes. She would get up to see her husband off you see because he caught the quarter to eight train see, so she'd be up half past six.
At what time did the children go to bed?
(900)
R - Oh, we kept reasonable hours We were all in bed in good time, put it that way. And different stages, the youngest went to bed first you see?
Oh yes.
R – Naturally. And so on. But we were all in bed for ten o'clock.
(40 min)
And what about your parents?
R - Well they wouldn't be much later. No they wouldn't.
Did you have any pets?
R - On one occasion I was allowed to have some white mice. And then they started to breed so they got taken from me.
Where did you have them?
R - In the yard. In a cage you know? My school boyfriend next door kept pigeons. And I used to watch those pigeons and indeed go in and help him occasionally and I was able to copy the cooing you know? I can do it now.
Go on then.
R- Coo, Coo, Coo.
So you can too. That's very realistic. Yes. Were they homing pigeons or were they…
R - Homing pigeons, yes. And fantails, and tumblers.
Oh I don’t know what tumblers are.
R- Oh they go up in the air and they roll back down, they roll backwards way and downy.
Never seen them.
R- Oh yes. I once, when I moved to Blackburn, when I was about 18, my father got me a pair of tumblers, but I hadn't them for very long. I don’t know why I got rid of them.
Did you go to, I don't know what they are called, when they take the pigeons off to race them. Did you…
R- No.
You didn’t go with the lad next door? And you can't remember having any other pet? Or the rest of the family having any other pet?
R- Well over the years we had one or two cats but we had no dogs.
For any reason?
R – Well, not until, wait a minute we had ... my brother had one. One of my young brothers had one when he was about 18 but I should be about 25. We’d a fox terrier, but we never went in for keeping animals. For one thing they need accommodation you see and on the other they need attention and we had a very active life without the animals you see?
(950)
Did either your father or mother or brothers or sisters smoke?
R- My father smoked a pipe and occasional cigars. No cigarettes. As a rule, in those days, cigars. And, I must say the aroma from a good cigar which was lit up in the hall before he went out left a very delightful effect.
Yes, the smell of the cigar sort of evokes a good ...
R - Of a good quality cigar, and before it’s been smoked a long time. If you get it heavy it affects the curtains and what not if you ever smoke a full cigar in a room. But if you happen to light part of it and go out it just leaves…
Now. Your father smoked a cigar or pipe.
R- Yes.
What about any of the rest of the family as they grew up?
R- No, no.
Nobody.
R- Oh well. No we were not a law breaking, we didn’t go in for it. One of our younger brothers did a little bit but we were never, we weren't what you’d call a smoking family. No.
No. Just frowned upon.
R - Well yes. But of course one factor was the cost you see?
Yes of course. Can you remember when the family had its first radio?
R- Yes.
Or wireless I should say shouldn’t I.
R – Well, one of my brothers made a set, what they called the cats whisker, that's a radio isn’t it? You don’t mean a radiogram do you?
(45 min)
No, a wireless.
R- A wireless, yes well. When did it come out, do you happen to remember the year? Well in the year, whatever it was, I would think it’d be about 1926-7. But one of my brothers built a cat’s whisker set, and he brought it round and of course we were thrilled you see. And then of course, in time, we acquired radiograms but we were all busy. I was busy, I had really no spare time to go into these things, as for myself you see. But that’s the answer to that question.
Yes. Right, thank you.
SCG/03 June 2003
4,787 words.