CHILDHOOD MEMORIES

[Stanley]

I rather think Piggy was played in Hebden Bridge but I've never come across it in Barlick. Knurr and Spell was the biggy round here especially in Colne.

[Stanley]

The boredom of wet afternoons at weekend when we couldn't play out.

[Stanley]

Whip and top.

[Stanley]

The cold oilcloth on the bedroom floor when I got up but the bright fire and hot breakfast that was always ready downstairs. Aren't good mothers wonderful!

[Marilyn]

Yes we are, Stanley
Now tell me what an oilcloth really was, because I've heard of them on floors and I've heard of them on tables and I've heard of them hung at windows. What was this miracle fabric?

Who remembers women wearing sunray pleated skirts?
Who remembers sear-sucker?
We all remember the mini...but who remembers the midi and the maxi?

[Tizer]

And there was the craze for women wearing harem pants, but that was for a few years before WW1, a bit before my time!

[Marilyn]

You must have missed something Tiz, cos I am pretty sure the Harem pants have been "in" and out again since then!
My former mother-in-law had some. She was an amazingly fashion conscious woman who also, at one point, used to wear a lot of animal prints...leopard prints/tiger stripes/etc. She looked fabulous in them...at the time...

[Stanley]

Various grades of oilcloth Maz. The heavy one was linoleum and that was on floors, that was what I meant but we always called it oilcloth. This was the forerunner of today's vinyl flooring. There was a lighter grade used extensively for kitchen table cloths because it could be wiped down, an advance on scrubbing bare wood tops, often called 'American Cloth'. Never come across it for curtains.
Paper disposable knickers were the thing in the 1970s. The bane of my life at Bancroft because they blocked the sewer pipes and guess who had the job of clearing them out.....

[Cathy]

The oilcloths that I remember have mainly been in pictures and they always had old fashioned patterns on them. Probably classed as Vintage these days. But they bring to mind the table coverings that the 'Pizza Hut' use, I'm sure they are of the plastic variety.

[Stanley]

Very popular Cathy before the advent of Formica tops. Many restaurants had an oilcloth cover under a normal fabric tablecloth that was changed for each diner.

[Wendyf]

You can still buy the modern vinyl equivalent of oilcloth for tables, it's sold off the roll cut to the size required. I've used it on my kitchen table for years but have gone back to scrubbing the top recently.

[Tizer]

You must have missed something Tiz, cos I am pretty sure the Harem pants have been "in" and out again since then!

You're probably right, Maz. They came to my notice this week because there was an article in our latest postcard magazine about their appearance just before WW1 and it showed postcards that featured images of women wearing them. Most of the card photos or cartoons were men mocking women for wearing them. The men obviously couldn't cope with women being seen in anything approaching trousers. Of course it all changed when the war started and women wore trousers for work.

[Stanley]

'Oxford Bags'? (LINK)

[Cathy]

Do you remember Lift Operators in Department Stores? They used to open the lift doors for shoppers and tell you what goods were being sold on every level, then tell you to mind your step as you exited the lift. The operators were always really well dressed and the female operators always had their hair and makeup done.
These days all we have is a Store Directory that we first have to find and then work out where we need to go ourselves.
I remember too that going into Town (the City) was a big deal and everyone used to 'dress-up'.

[Stanley]

I can remember them Cathy, further I can remember when the responsible person was a male member of the Corps of Concessionaires.

[Cathy]

Our main shopping centres that have the shops 'all under one roof ' have Concierge Desks these days.

[Marilyn]

A lot of the elevator operators post war were veterans and had missing limbs. I guess it was a job they could manage and gave them employment. I was always told, that as a child I should not stare at them or comment!
Hubby had a check-up appointment in a private hospital recently and there was a lift operator. Haven't seen such a person in decades and the child within me couldn't help searching for the disability. ( I couldn't detect one, though the woman had a very discreet folding stool tucked between her and the lift wall.)

[Stanley]

In the UK, lift and hoist insurance is a separate policy and it may be that on some types of installations the tariff is cheaper if the lift is attended.
Remember bells on police cars and fire engines?

[Cathy]

No.

[Stanley]

Ah, there you are. You young people missed so much!

[Stanley]

Roasting potatoes in the ashes of the November 5th bonfire. Come to think, roasting chestnuts as well on the house fire, haven't done that for 70 years!

[Tizer]

Boiling down sugar syrup to make a block of toffee and then smashing it with a hammer to make bite-size pieces.

[PanBiker]

I think we had a fire on the go permanently on our adventure playground where the former pens were between Bank Street and what is now the continuation of Valley Road, it was just a cinder path when I was a lad. Perfect for noggins though for the marble battles. A spud from mum after school and before tea time was a good put me on.

[Tizer]

We were spoilt. The caretaker at Hollinshead Mill kept a fire going on the spare ground opposite the mill gates to dispose of combustible waste. We could always `get a light' from it and set a fire going in our den. If he saw us he shouted and made an effort to look like he'd chase us but we all knew he couldn't keep up with us young `uns!

[Stanley]

I don't remember many independent fires. Because of the war years I suspect any sort of fire immediately attracted authority in one shape or another.