Remember these?

Post by **paddyscar** » Fri Sep 19, 2008 4:30 pm

A collection of memorable items from a while back, received from my Great Aunt's grandson. We defined this connection with the analysis and help of TS members

Here's a few random childhood memories.....

Does anyone, anywhere still use Gentian Violet? Do they still make Germolene antiseptic cream, or Lifebuoy carbolic soap? Pears Soap? Sunlight Soap?

Andrews Liver Salts? Eno Fruit Salts? How about Creamola Foam?

Spangles? (In Canada, I think they're called Jolly Ranchers for some reason.)

McGowans Penny Dainty's (They were HUGE -- and only a penny each!) and McGowan's Highland Toffee, too.

Fry's Five Boys chocolate bars? ( A really stupid name for a very thin bar of chocolate. On the back of the wrapper there was five drawings of the same boy with various expressions on his face....Desperation, Expectation etc.)

What about Fry's Chocolate Cream bars? (They also made a same sized chocolate bar which had different flavour-filled sections. Orange, lime, pineapple etc. Was it Fry's Five Centres?)

Cadbury's Bournville chocolate?

Did your Mom own a Hoover Twin Tub? (Mine did!)

The milkman delivering bottles of milk in the morning, in his electric cart?

The coalman delivering coal from a horse-drawn cart?

The cry, "Toys for rags!"

Ice cream vans on summer days?

Tizer? Vimto? Horlicks? Ovaltine?

Smith's Crisps? Golden Shred marmalade? Camp coffee?

The baker's van selling 'well-fired' rolls? Hovis?

How much are Penny Onions in a fish & chip shop these days?

Are fritters still a big favourite?

Remember 'thruppence worth of broken biscuits' and 'chipped fruit'?

Lining up forever to get into the public swimming baths, during summer break from school? (Cost 4d.)

Dog foods like Spratt's Mixed Ovals, cans of Chappie, and Lassie?

Zebra Stove Polish, Brasso Metal Polish, Kiwi Boot Polish, Nugget Dubbin and Nugget Shoe Polish?

Swan Vestas? Vulcan matches? Stephen's Ink? Beecham's Pills? Ingersoll clocks?

Capstan, Senior Service, Players Navy Cut, Pasha, Wills Gold Flake, St Bruno's Flake, Warhorse Plug, Woodbine, Black Cat, Park Drive, Craven A ("Will Not Affect Your Throat" – yeah, right!)

The Hotspur, Rover, Wizard, Adventure, Schoolfriend, Girls Crystal, Dandy, Beano, Topper?

The Sunday Dispatch? The Sunday People? The Evening Citizen?

Raleigh, Hercules, and Flying Scot bicycles? Sturmey Archer 3-speed gears?

Morris Oxfords, Singer Sunbeams, Rovers, Ford Prefects, Ford Anglias, Sunbeam Alpines?

Duckham’s Oil, Redex?

What's the earliest childhood TV programs you can remember, and what was your favourite? There was Bill 'n Ben The Flowerpot Men (still on the go I believe!) and Sooty & Sweep, with Harry Corbett. My childhood favourite was Fabian of the Yard.

Remember hula hoops? Hen baskets? String bags?

Davy Crockett hats and cowboy sets?

Playing Cowboys and Indians, and Best Fall? Hide' n Seek? Free a Leash? Kick the can? KDRF? (Kick Door, Run Fast).

So, what can you recall from your childhood?...........

TAFKAM · Post by **TAFKAM** » Fri Sep 19, 2008 5:15 pm

Memories from my childhood - where do I start!

Ringos crisps that were the size of sideplates, almost.

Jubilee drinks, that you could drink with a straw or freeze - if you got a cola one, you were lucky! Very sought after, and tasted fab.

Wham bars, also made by McCowans (the toffee people!) - pink in colour, with golden crystals that fizzed in your mouth and REALLY brought your cheeks together!

People coming to your door selling "tablet 'n' macaroon!" very handy if you'd missed the Ice Cream van, which invariably came to my street at 19.15 each night.............!

Having competitions with your friends to see who could spot a brand new regsitration plate on the road first!

Having your favourite teacher in school (primary school especially) and being devastated at the end of term knowing it was your last day with them.

This could apply to any era I suppose - but playing football in the street with your friends, only going home for your tea and then again when it was too dark to see anymore!

Already mentioned before - but Dead Mans Fall - what a game! If you didn't go home with a sprain or bruise at least, you just weren't good enough! Or what about Kerby - another brilliant street game. The rules varied from street to street though, which often could result in inter-street tension............!

Crowding round the tv at your friends house to watch one of the very few LIVE football matches to be shown on one of the FOUR tv channels that existed - cooncil telly as it's called! Now -well, pick yer channel, pick yer night.

And the best one, well for me anyway - house parties at Hogmanay. They invariably lasted until 6 or 7am on January 1st, and if you'd been lucky, you might just have got a wee touch of shandy.

God, those were the days. What is it now, eh? Bills, Credit Crunch, crooked polititions, idiot bosses....................

apanderson · Post by **apanderson** » Fri Sep 19, 2008 5:27 pm

Creamola Foam and tiny wee biscuits topped with a swirl of hard coloured icing sugar (can't remember what they're called - iced gems??) - we got them as a treat when we were 'doon the water' at Millport for our holidays.

Steam train to Weymss Bay then the big ferry - those were the days - and I don't remember it raining once. The hamper had been sent along a few days ahead so it was waiting to be unpacked. Getting a new pail and spade and having to 'christen' them immediately . . . . . . Seaside Mission on the beach where we all sang songs and the highlight of the holiday - a knickerbocker glory before coming home.

Anne

WilmaM · Post by **WilmaM** » Fri Sep 19, 2008 10:13 pm

McGowans Penny Dainty's (They were HUGE -- and only a penny each!) and McGowan's Highland Toffee, too.

McCowans factory is still running in Larbert producing jaw sticking and teeth rotting concoctions for future generations!

ninatoo · Post by **ninatoo** » Fri Sep 19, 2008 11:38 pm

We still have an ice cream truck that comes to our street every Saturday in the warm months. It can cost me a fortune if we happen to have a houseful of kids, but I usually let them buy one because I remember the disappointment of not being allowed when I was young.

Pears soap is still on sale here in Australia, but I haven't used it for years. And I can remember those Fry's Five Boys bars, but I haven't seen them here for ages.

We have a similar thing to the jubilee drinks here, they come with names like Razz (Raspberry) Sunny Boy (Orange) and Glug (Cola). They are triangular. We nearly always bought them frozen, being a warmer climate here. The inside of the wrappers used to have a 'free' every now and then, and you could take the wrapper to the shop and get another one. So exciting to see that yellow writing!

Well they don't have 'frees' anymore - took the fun out of it the cheapskates!

Post by **AnneM** » Sat Sep 20, 2008 9:16 am

Anyone of my vintage remember the bubble gum with picture cards of The Man From Uncle inside the wrapper. I never chewed the gum, partly because my parents forbade it and partly because I never liked the stuff anyway. However the cards were carefully husbanded and traded, largely among the girls. One Ilya Kuryakin was worth several Napoleon Solos. I quite liked pictures of the older boss man whose name I can't remember. Obviously even at the age of 8 went for the older man!! Mind you, David McCallum at that age was soooo cuddly looking.

Anne

Post by **paddyscar** » Sat Sep 20, 2008 11:03 pm

David McCallum was easy on the eyes for sure, Anne.

Leo G. Carroll played the bossman - Alexander Waverly.

Frances

AnnieMack · Post by **AnnieMack** » Sun Sep 21, 2008 5:40 pm

Oh how I remember so many of the things in your list! My grandpa was a rag man and on a Sunday we always visited and I usually came away with a supply of bookies pens and slips to play wee schools with, but if I had been really good (and he was in a good mood) I got to go in the treasure chest that was his toys for his rag round. He had balloons that he would blow up and put on a stick or the wee multi coloured balls that I think were lengths of coloured string wound round a former of some description.

My granny would give me irn bru in a china cup and daiylea triangles on cream crackers, they both tasted like heaven! I am still addicted to irn bru yet, don't know if that is a good thing or a bad thing lol.

Fry's chocolate cream and peppermint cream are still available but the five centres disappeared a long time ago. Creamola foam is no more either, sadly, as we loved it and my boys did too.

I loved Chelsea Woppers and Country Bar which was chocolate with wee biscuits and raisins in it that came in a gingham wrapper.

Annie

Mairi · Post by **Mairi** » Mon Sep 22, 2008 12:34 am

Coal fires------back-breaking work but blissful warmth, at least most days they were lit.

The coalmen's delivery to the bunker in the back garden. (Fortunately accessed via the driveway at the side of the house, not through it.)

Watching from a distance the clouds of coal dust as each sack was tipped in. My great aunt counting the bags as each man's shadow passed the window (of thick 'lavatory' glass). (She was not going to be short-changed though she had known the firm and men for years!) Big chunks of coal, 'cobbles', and small pieces.

Making paper sticks from the big sheets of newspaper, trying to ensure the twists were just right so they did not unfold, acquiring black hands in the process.

Getting, either finding or buying, kindling wood and learning to use it sparingly.

Assembling the former in two layers, adding pieces of coal on top and lighting the paper, sometimes with our aunt's 'spills', sometimes with matches.

Being entrusted to light the fire just before our mother's arrival home from her part-time job, setting the table-- the other important task.

Abandoning the table-setting when the fire would not light. The paper 'catching' and burning away, sticks collapsing to the grate, damp coal, the wind howling up/down the chimney----rising tension as these happened singly or simultaneously.

Anxiously peering for flicker of flame and seeing nothing but smoke streaming upwards. Doing the forbidden----holding a big sheet of newspaper just below the chimney breast to increase the draught and trying to judge the moment to snatch it away before flames started to burn it. Concealing evidence of burnt newspaper but forgetting smell would give us away.

A blaze, then panic as the flames shot upwards and set fire to the chimney dust. Fiddling with the damper lever in a bid to control the under draught.

The satisfaction of the good days ( the well-judged efforts)---a crackling fire with small flames, coal with undersides glowing, spreading warmth, filled scuttle, clean hearth.

Red legs, red faces, blissful warmth, mesmerising flames, washing steaming on the 'horse', condensation on the windows behind the curtains, tackling homework, dreaming, irresistable urges to poke the coal, adding 'just two more bits' from the brass scuttle using the tongs, drinking mugs of hot chocolate.

Occasionally toasting bread using the old long-handled fork. Roasting chestnuts in autumn and scorching fingertips. Smelling the scent from logs ordered at Christmas or collected at the weekend on a ramble.

The dead, grey, grate in the morning, the cold. The rugs rolled back, the newspaper sheets spread in front. Cinders being rattled through the grate with the poker, fire bricks laid aside, ashes scooped to paper and wrapped up. The final brushing of grate and hearth. Dust in the air.

Chimney sweep days (once a year or was it twice?).

Carpets rolled to other side of rooms, our aunt's and ours, newspapers across the floor, old sheets over the furniture. Curtains tied back or removed, some pictures, ornaments, crockery stored away. Newspapers on every tread of the stair carpet, ladder set against loft hatch. Draughts from between the wooden floorboards and echoing noises.

Alarm clock ringing, early rise, quick wash, breakfast in bedroom (for this occasion) sweeps downstairs drinking first mugs of tea.

Watching one man spreading his sacks and brushing the lower part of the chimney. Hearing the shout of the top man ready to drop his brush with lead weight down the appropriate chimney pot. Watching the clouds of dust that then escaped the sack held over the living room fireplace.

Smudged faces of men, banter, sooty bootprints, black sacks, black caps.

The smell of bacon and eggs and black pudding as the sweeps tucked into breakfast. Being told to watch where we stepped and shooed off to school.

Those were the days. Health and safety? Not much.

(Was our aunt the only one in Scotland to give early workmen their breakfast?)

Mairi

anne · Post by **anne** » Mon Sep 22, 2008 1:32 am

So many memories in these posts.....
Milk being delivered by a cart powered by a horse - and the scramble by the local housewives for any manure thereby deposited in the street. I can see these ladies now with their shovels.
The Ragman came around from time to time. On one occasion my mother handed over my father's WW2 army uniform deciding that it might be worth a bob or two. That nearly caused a divorce when Dad got home and found he was sans regalia.
What about the "Onion Johnny"? A couple of times a year a bike-riding guy sporting a colourful stripey jumper, French beret and matching accent would appear bedecked by strings of onions. My Mum bought a string of onions from him every visit. Can't remember her ever using them in the food she produced for us though - she hung them in the kitchen as a decoration.
Anne