I am a child of the 1950's, which makes me pretty old - although my granddaughter was keen to reassure me that she has got one teacher at school "who is even older than you, Gran". I am of the generation which lived in a house with an outside loo, and was often totally delighted by the incredibly beautiful patterns which Jack Frost had left on the inside of my bedroom window, no central heating, having to obey the rule of Silence in the public library, a place of books and no computers, and who could forget those small bottles of milk which we were expected to drink at morning playtime.
Different times, but I remember them fondly, no doubt my memories are enhanced by selective amnesia. Everything changed anyway when I was seven years old, we moved to Hong Kong and the memories from there are all filmed in a totally different colour scheme and temperature.
Our telephone number back then was Insert name of town-4223, the telephone was a huge black bakelite model, rather like this. As I recall, I often used to sing "Nellie the Elephant" down it, though to whom, and why, is lost to the mists of time.
Image borrowed from telephonelines. net
I also have another mobile phone, a much smarter one, which used to belong to one of my sons, it doesn't have a sim card fitted, though it could, I use it for the camera function - it fits nicely into my jeans pocket, unlike my nice but bulky cameras. At Christmas I was given an ipad, which has an even better camera function, can't fit it into my pocket, alas!
Betwixt and between all of these devices, I somehow manage to cobble together my posts. It gets complicated and I am aware that it could all be made much simpler if only I would agree to update and modernise, but I hate the way information gets shared or stored in the cloud, whisked off hither and thither.
I most definitely do not want to be contactable at all times, or to be made aware of each and every message as it arrives, have my every move posted on Fb, etc. Besides, that would mean taking my specs so that I could read what was on the screen, yet more stuff to carry about.
On the plus side, by making use of all these devices, and having to learn how to transfer information from phones and computers of assorted makes and generations, I reckon I am giving my brain a great fitness and agility session.
x
ps Lest you think I am a complete dinosaur let me assure that I once even took a 'selfie' then nearly collapsed on the spot when I viewed it and saw my late 92 year old aunt looking back at me, every wrinkle deeply etched in her face, deep bags under her tired eyes and when did her hair get to be that white and her teeth so, well, yellow? Hit the delete button quickly, trouble is, somehow that file got shared to my brain and it seems to be protected, delete doesn't work.
Snap your not the only child of the Fifties, your a boomer like me. Remember all those things you mentioned though we never had a phone till I got one in the 1960s and it was ivory. I have an iPhone bit like yours but only a year or so old, I use it as a phone and do not have FB or twitter on it, I like the way it takes neat photos as well but one thing is for sure those SD cards wont fit you have in the photo, they use Micro SD's. Personally I'd dump the clamshell phone and get a new iPhone they are much more useful. Nothing wrong with taking a selfie, be happy with how you look
ReplyDeleteHi Bill, You are right, the SD cards are there to represent the three cameras, which I also use (two were passed along the line by my son) but I forgot to mention them. Have you watched any of the Black Mirror series? Modern communication, social media and technology taken to some scary extremes, but fascinating all the same.
DeleteAnother child of the 50's here, your post resonates with me, though I love all my new technology, I'm only limited by my budget, otherwise I'd have the most whizz bang phone available.
ReplyDeleteI think, perhaps, I am afraid that were I to put all these things into one device I would become like so many people I see, phone grafted onto my hand; constantly checking on things - a criticism of me, not anyone else. The sun is shining, there is a cold wind blowing and I am about to head off to walk the fields in blissful isolation, apart from the dog, which is another failing of mine. I need time with just my thoughts in order to be able to cope with the demands of life. ps I hope that phone becomes a reality for you.
DeleteI am a sixties child but my memories are exactly the same as yours. I lived in a house with an outside loo until I was 21 but no one under 40 believes me!
ReplyDeleteHello Wanda, Lovely to meet you. Outside loo, and then there was the toilet paper, often it would just be squares of old newspaper hanging from a string loop or that horrible scratchy Izal roll. Ah, youngsters today don't know the half of it! I remember our bath was in the kitchen, a proper bath, not just a tub, which would have been nicer because it could have been used in front of the fire. Some things have definitely changed for the better.
DeleteYes! Our bath was in the kitchen too. It was considered a vast improvement over the tin bath. No running hot water of course. There was a primitive gas boiler that was filled from a cold tap then a gas ring was lit directly underneath.
DeleteWhile you were actually having a bath, it was Liberty Hall! The neighbours thought nothing of walking through the kitchen, merely averting their eyes and singing ‘it’s alright, it’s only meee!’
As for the loo, constant vigilance was required at this time of year, to keep the paraffin heater working so that the pipe didn’t burst which meant carting buckets of water back and forth to flush with.
It all sounds archaic doesn’t it, in this age of en-suite bathrooms etc. Yet it was such a short time ago.
There aren’t many nights, when I wake up and have to pop to the bathroom, that I don’t thank my lucky stars that it’s indoors now! :-)
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ReplyDeleteNot many people believe me about the bath being in the kitchen. Good to know that we were not the only ones.
ReplyDeleteWhen we moved here, 12/13 years ago, the crumbling old privvy building was in the garden, supported by many decades of ivy growth. Inside we found that it was a twin-seater, so at least you could have company on a cold, dark night!
In the early 1960s when my husband was in 'digs' (young people unless very wealthy didn't live in flats/apartments in those days, and who under 50 knows that 'digs' are!) his landlady had a bath in the kitchen; this was normal, I think, when old properties had baths installed, they had to be installed where there was water and perhaps an Ascot (gas water heater) for the bath. It had a wooden top that was used as an extra work surface when not in use as a bath. But to some having a bath was itself a luxury, whether in the kitchen or not!
DeleteMargaret P
Hi, Elaine,
ReplyDeleteI am pre-baby-boom era, I'm a child of the 1940s! OK, I did most of my growing up in the 1950s, but I am one of those rare people now who can remember singing God Save the KING, not the QUEEN. I can remember the fuss being made of the Festival of Britain in 1951 (but we didn't go as my parents were in business in Devon and London was on another planet in those days) and I can remember the death of the King and also his mother, Queen Mary. I can remember food rationing and how Mum used to buy liver at the butchers to eek out our ration. Thankfully, I'd no idea what it was (that would surely have put me off!) but I did enjoy it with gravy and mashed potatoes! We did have an indoor loo, but when my parents bought their shop in 1951 it was old and run down and had no bathroom, so I was washed in the sink in the scullery (calling it a kitchen would have elevated it beyond its station) until a bathroom was installed. No central heating and I don't know anyone who had that luxury in those days, not a fridge, nor a washing machine. How lucky we are today with warm houses, indoor loos and baths and showers, fridges and so forth. We really don't know we're born. Even when we married in 1964 we went without a fridge for a year and a washing machine for four years. I even washed blankets in the bath! No duvets in 1964!
Margaret P
Hello Margaret, We are truly fortunate to have all these machines and gadgets to help us through our daily chores and oh the luxury of good plumbing and lots of hot water on tap.
DeleteAlthough I don't eat meat these days I do have very fond memories of the way my mother would cook liver and make it taste so delicious, unlike school dinners, when it was cooked to the texture of shoe leather and would often end up half-chewed in my apron pocket, the better to avoid being told off by the dinner ladies. Last year we attended a 'Battle of Britain' dance revue, strange though that sounds. Towards the end of the performances the National Anthem was played, so we stood, along with a handful of other oldies, much to the amusement of the younger generation who remained firmly seated.
Oh yes, the National Anthem was played at the end of film performances, too, and a lot of people, sometimes ourselves included, made a dash for the Exit so as not to stand to attention! But if you were in the middle of a row and couldn't 'escape' you simply stood, respectfully, to attention.
DeleteMargaret P
Born in 50 and spent early years in the Philippine Islands. We did have running water and inside bathrooms. Never saw a tv until we returned to US in late 50s. I love the computer and email but like you I don't want it with me all the time. No iPhone for me. I have a "pay as you go" phone too that I use for calls or texts on an as needed basis. Not on FB and never will be. Don't post photos of the grandkids because daughters don't want their faces online. I consider myself a fairly private person so I don't blog about my troubles and tribulations and rarely about the celebrations either.
ReplyDeleteHello Marcia, In this day and age a little privacy is a good thing. It is lovely to connect and chat to people, but there have to be boundaries and where those are drawn will be different for different people. My mother was a prolific letter writer, the postman was kept busy delivering mail to our house. I still have a box full of her letters, I count them among my treasures. Somehow I don't think electronic mail can ever be as personal.
DeleteOh my goodness! My favorite post!! I grew up in the 50's! Weren't we lucky? I long for those wonderful days. And, I do remember when we dialed four numbers to call someone on the phone and remember too, party lines. Pick the phone up to call someone and the neighbor would be on the line talking. Life was simple back then. I laughed at your story about the selfie. When I look at myself in a picture, I see my late elderly mother. I am always shocked at how I've changed...and so quickly!
ReplyDeleteHello Henny Penny, Indeed we were lucky! That selfie was terrible - completely shattered my illusion that my healthy diet and good skincare were helping to hold back the years!!
DeleteFor the first 5 years of married life we didn't have a phone. We used to have to use the public one in the village, even when I was going into labour with our first child, my husband had to leave me and go and phone the hospital. Having a small gadget with which we could phone anywhere in the world would seem out of science fiction to us in 1969.
DeleteMargaret P
I was born in 1965, but in the early 70s lived in a house that had the loo in the yard and a tin bath that we got into one after the other on a Sunday night. The hot water was heated by a little heater on the wall in the kitchen. My great aunt and uncle died in 1994 and 1995, and still lived in a house like that!
ReplyDeleteI fought against having a smart phone, but am appreciative of mine now. It's only a cheap thing, but it means I can show things online to my Mum when I visit.
Hello Scarlet, You are just a slip of a girl, you lucky thing! So many changes in a relatively short period of time - and not only in plumbing. I know that one of these days I will give in and update to a smart phone, just not right now.
DeleteI hope you are feeling a lot better now.x
During the fifties we lived in a rented cottage on a market garden. The loo was in the old dairy down the cobbled yard. A plank with a hole and newspaper squares. We had a coal fire in both the kitchen and front room. No phone at home so wa walked down to the farmers office to use his big Bakelite phone. No mod cons such as a bathroom. Our bath was fitted under the kitchen worktop! Still we had an orchard to play in and could stay out until dark in summer. We had such a happy childhood.
ReplyDeletePS try an iPhone. Amazing!
Hello Catherine, It all sounds pretty perfect me, though i imagine that winter could be a challenge. Childhood memories of playing outside until darkness fell, the smell of hay in the fields and the fact that we were safe - wonderful times for children. As for the iPhone, the day will come, but I will resist for a while longer.
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