Friends

29 August 2019

WE WAS BRUNG UP PROPER!

YES, WE WAS BRUNG UP PROPER!

Congratulations to all who were born in the 1930s, 40s, 50s, 60s and early 70s!

First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they carried us and lived in houses made of asbestos. They took aspirin, ate blue cheese, raw egg products, loads of bacon and processed meat, tuna from a can, and didn’t get tested for diabetes or cervical cancer.

Then, after that trauma, our baby cots were covered with brightly coloured lead-based paints.

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles or childproof doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes we had no helmets or shoes, not to mention the risks we took hitch-hiking.

As children we would ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags. We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle. Takeaway food was limited to fish and chips, no pizza shops, McDonalds, KFC, curry shops or Subway.

Even though all shops closed at 6pm and didn’t open at weekends, somehow we didn’t starve to death! We shared soft drink with four friends from one bottle and no-one actually died from this.

We would collect old drink bottles and cash them in at the corner shop to buy toffees, gobstoppers, bubble gum and some bangers. We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and drank soft drinks with sugar in them, but we weren’t overweight because WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING.

We would leave home in the morning and play all day as long as we were back when the street lights came on. No-one was able to reach us all day, and we were okay. We would spend hours building our go-karts out of old prams and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. We built tree houses and dens and played in river beds with Matchbox cars. We did not have play stations, Nintenda, Wii, X-boxes, no video games at all, no 999 channels on Sky, no video/DVD films, no mobile phones, personal computers or internet chat rooms.

We had friends and we went outside and found them.

We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents. Only girls had pierced ears! We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt and the worms did not live in us forever!

You could only buy Easter eggs and hot cross buns at Easter time!

We were given air guns and catapults for our 19th birthdays. We cycled or walked to a friend’s house and knocked on the door or rang the bell – or just yelled for them.

Mum didn’t have to go to work to help Dad make ends meet.

Rugby and cricket had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn’t had to learn how to deal with disappointment. Imagine that! Getting into the team was based on merit.

Our teachers used to hit us with canes and gym shoes and bullies always ruled the playground at school. The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of… if they did it was an embarrassment.  Anyway, mostly they actually sided with the law.

Our parents didn’t invent names for their kids, like Kiora, Blade, Ridge or Vanilla.

We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility and we learned how to deal with it all.

And you are one of them .. CONGRATULATIONS.

You might want to share this with others who had the luck to grow up as kids before lawyers and the Government regulated our lives for our own good.

And while you’re at it, show it to your kids so they know how brave their parents were.

22 comments:

  1. Brilliant post! Born in 1945 I did all these things as a kid and survived. Life today leaves me speechless and the situation in the UK at the moment is beyond belief. I live in Italy now and can only wonder what the future may hold for our grandchildren. Very sad prospects.

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    1. Hello and welcome. I was a 1934 child - life was certainly different when we were youngsters. Like you, I am unhappy about the UK - as you say, it is beyond belief. I always wanted to live in Italy. Loved that country.

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  2. Valerie, I LOVED this!

    You know, I often say that I am so happy (and grateful) that I was born in the 50's because in SO MANY WAYS it prepared me to live in today's world.

    Don't get me wrong, there are many things I enjoy about the world as it is today, technology for one. However, being born in 50's taught me to find a balance in using technology.

    In many way's the 50's were tougher, but I wouldn't ever want to trade it because it gave me strength and resilience.

    "We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility and we learned how to deal with it all."

    A-MEN!

    Great post, my friend! Enjoy the rest of your week!

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    1. Gosh, Ron, I was married in the early fifties!!! Like you, I was kinda glad to be born in the thirties even though I can't remember much about it, haha.

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  3. Oh, Valerie, those were the good old days. I was born in the 30s so I lived through all of that.. surely brought back memories of fun times.

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    1. Yes, they were fun times as well as stricter ones. Thanks for your comment.

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  4. Much of those things are sorely missing today...a whole bunch are better forgotten, just because we survived them does not make it good, (though it may have made us better, so I do get your drift.) I would like to see more kids at the door asking "Can Johnny come out and play" and less solitary TV and I-Pad play for sure.

    Nice trip down memory lane!

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    1. Like you, Joe, I think there are lots of things better forgotten. I wish there was less TV, for starters.

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  5. The good old days really do sound like the good old days. Super post Valerie. "Can I have two penny worth of chips wrapped up in newspaper please?"

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    1. Sure, Dave, just stand aside while I dish up.

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  6. Reading all this kind of made me shudder. I don't have good memories of my childhood. Being adopted at 2 weeks old and then having a mentally ill mother meant a great deal of the things mentioned I didn't do. I think I prefer now but yes at least I survived!

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    1. Hope I didn't rake up too many harsh memories for you, Joe. My aim was to make people smile.

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  7. Yes, those certainly were the good times, Valerie, only now can we look back and see that. I can remember and identify with so many things in this post and I was so excited to get the money from returning soda bottles at the corner store and playing outdoors with friends.

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    1. Ah yes, I do remember carting umpteen bottles back to the shop just to get the pennies, and buying sweets with them.

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  8. Valerie, this is all absolutely true and I can identify with so much of it. I am eternally thankful that I grew up in an era that was NORMAL and SANE - - unlike the complete insanity nowadays.
    Thanks for this post!

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    1. Hi Jon, I only thought it normal and sane after reading the opinions of youngsters today. I would hate to be young again!

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  9. An enjoyable read Valerie and thank you for the reminder of the good old days :)

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    1. You are welcome, Denise, although I have to say I wouldn't like to go back to those days of war and fighting.

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  10. Your post made me smile thinking about the good old days. Thanks Val.

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  11. Ah yes, Matt, the good old day!

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  12. Boy,isn't that the truth! I'd forgotten I did a lot of that stuff ;)

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