Mike Priestley: Who's Counting?

We baby boomers enjoyed the sense of relief that followed the ending of the war. As we grew, so did prosperity, symbolised by the way people covered their floors.

Our grandparents' lino gave way to our parents' carpet squares, which were eventually replaced by fitted carpeting throughout. Outside lavatories and tin baths became a rarity as the back-to-back houses came down.

As the 1950s blossomed, so did the consumer society. Life was optimistic and fun as it emerged from the drabness of the years of austerity. Jobs were plentiful, if not well paid. Society was still well ordered, with more or less everyone knowing their place. Issues were simple and clear cut. The complications of political correctness and multi-culturalism were decades into the future.

The general feeling was that the worst was behind us and things could only get better (although the Bomb was a bit of a worry). Growing up in the 1950s was a real privilege. It truly was The Best of Times, which is the title of a wonderful new book compiled by Alison Pressley and published by Michael O'Mara Books at £9.99.

It's a magnificent time machine, packed with images from that era (many of them advertisements for products like chemistry sets, Dinky cars, Bile Beans, Bayko and Toni Home Perms) and recollections from people like us who were there at the time - some of them celebrities, most not. Here is a selection of them.

"I REMEMBER how a Mars Bar, which cost fourpence, was a fantastic treat, and we had to share it between the four of us. The knife used to slice through the bar with such precision, in four equal parts. You got about an inch of Mars Bar each."

"ALL MOTHERS in those days carried handkerchiefs. And the minute you had the tiniest speck of dirt on your face, out would come your mother's hankie, on would go her spit, and your face would be rubbed vigorously with this horrible scenty-breathy-smelling thing. It really was an objectionable habit."

"ADULT MEN all spat in those days, although 'Spitting prohibited' notices were beginning to appear in public places. My grandfather once famously spat into the ear of a passing girl, and had to give her half a crown."

"THE POP MAN would come every Thursday. He had bottles with those great big contraptions on the top that would take your eye out if you weren't careful. Our favourites were dandelion and burdock and American cream soda."

"LIBERTY BODICES were the bane of my childhood. The rubber buttons were so incredibly difficult for a child's hands to do and undo, especially on a winter's day when your fingers were frozen stiff. And if the day grew warm, you steamed gently inside them like a loaf in an oven."

"FRIDAY NIGHTS were bath night, and the tin bath would be brought in from the outside and filled with kettles of water. You had to get out of the tub on the coal fire side, because if you got out on the non-fire side you would simply die of cold.

"ILLNESS in the fifties always meant staying in bed and having the doctor visit you, and having a fire lit in the bedroom. A wonderful aura of calm and quietness, with all day to lie and read or listen to the wireless or colour things in.

"WE WERE GIVEN something called the Children's Newspaper which was extremely tedious. Terrible. We wanted Dandy and Beano, but we weren't allowed to have them."

"I MET my first love at the church youth club. That was the best thing about going to Sunday School: eventually, it turned into the youth club and you met boys and started snogging."

"I HAD an old wind-up record player from my grandmother, with all the old 78s. things like 'The Laughing Policeman', old music-hall stuff. I played them non-stop."

I Don't Believe It!

Here's a bit of a novelty for this column - a complaint from a young person on behalf of older people. Sharon Ellis of Fairweather Green is 21 and thinks seniors aren't getting the respect they deserve. She writes:

"I am writing with a question which I find I am asking myself more and more frequently. What is happening to our respect for the elderly?

"It seems that wherever I go, I am seeing examples of this lack of respect. On buses it seems there is no longer any guarantee that there will be someone aboard who has the courtesy to give up their seat for an elderly person. In the city centre, I have seen people barge past them because they are not walking fast enough for their liking. There are even doctors who don't give them their full attention just because they are elderly.

"It seems that we no longer make any time for them, but we should. These are the people who have fought for our country and our independence and have lost fathers, sons, husbands and their homes in the process. Many have worked in appalling conditions in factories and mills for hardly any wage and have lived harder lives than the majority of us ever will.

"In their lifetimes they have done more than their fair share for society. It is time that society showed them the respect and thanks that are their due."

Thank you for your concern, Sharon, on behalf of the many older readers of this column who will no doubt now be muttering "Hear, hear!"

Personally, I haven't yet reached the stage when I expect people to stand up for me on buses, but I'll get there soon enough. And as for being barged past in the street.... Well, I barge back. But there'll come a time when I won't be able to.

So your caring attitude is much appreciated. Let's hope its infectious too.

If you have a gripe about anything, drop a line to me, Hector Mildew, c/o Newsroom, T&A, Hall Ings, Bradford BD1 1JR, email me or leave any messages for me with Mike Priestley on (44) 0 1274 729511. If you've already sent in a grumble and it hasn't appeared yet, don't worry - it will do.

Yours Expectantly,

Hector Mildew

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Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.