Before plastic?

[Chocolala]

I’ve been thinking a lot recently about the environment and throwaway society, and this has led me to wonder what we did about various products before we had plastic. I assume we must have had alternatives, but what were they?

How were teeth brushed/cleaned? Did we eat yoghurt and if yes, how did we contain it? How did we get meat home from the shop/farm/wherever? What about strawberries?

Those are the ones that spring to mind, though there will be more. Anyone know the answers?

If you wanted mince, you just put your leftover meat through the metal spong mincer. Anyone remember those?

If you wanted mince, you just put your leftover meat through the metal spong mincer. Anyone remember those?
That was more for making things like shepherd's pie from left over roast lamb, I think? My mum used to mince raw meat from the butcher's as well

Just discussing school dinners with dd. She asked me ' Did you have plates?' We had proper plates and knives and forks. It's all plastic and polystyrine at her school.

Yes, the mincer was more for using up left overs from the Sunday joint, fresh mince would be bought at the butchers for things like mince and dumplings.

I was born in the 60's I remember Mum had a big wicker basket that the green grocer put the veg in loose. Small stuff like grapes, cherry tomatoes etc were put in a paper bag. Sweets by the ounce also went in paper bags. You could get fresh eggs that would be put in a paper bag too, suprisingly they used to make it home.
I remember taking the glass bottles from Stardrops cleaner back to the shop for the deposit back.
Fish and meat went in paper, We bought Daz washing detergent in a carboard box, Ajax cleaning powder in cardboard with a metal sprinkling top on.
The milkman brought milk in glass, he had cream in small glass jars too. We had a shop my Nan called the Dairy, they used to fill your own container with cream, milk whatever they sold, but you had to bring your own jar or jug.
She also used to buy beer for Grandad from the pub, she took a stoneware jug in and they would fill it, and she'd carry it home. (only up the road, not far)
Everyone seemed to have those cotton net bags as they folded up very small to fit in handbags, but had lots of stretch so held a lot of stuff. Nan used to collect the clean paperbags she'd bring home, had a box of them in the kitchen, she'd use them to send stuff home with me, or take things to friends houses.

I think the one non plastic thing I wouldn't want to go back to is shapoo bottles, I remember them being glass, nothing was kept out on the bath edge like nowdays, if you dropped the bottle it could chip the tub of break.
I remember my mother coming home with a bottle of squash in plastic for the first time. In the TV ad the man dropped it and it bounced. She was so excited she said it won't break, dropped it and it shattered, we had about 4 pints of squash on the kitchen floor, it actually stained the floor tiles for years.

shampoo not shapoo

We still get most of our milk in glass bottles. There is a fish van but I don't use him although I know many here do. The market uses paper bags for fruit and veg, but I also remember punnets that were like the material egg boxes were made of - so pulped paper.

I also remember glass pop bottles from the pop man in his van and yoghurt being delivered in plastic buckets (no I mean proper bucket sized) but these were washed and reused. I also spent alot of the late 70s making yoghurt in a yoghurt maker with glass pots - it really is very easy to make your own although getting the recipe right was an art!

I remember grandmothers mincing cooked beef for shep pie and also growing your own fruit and veg and podding peas in the height of summer on the back step

We used to be sent shopping with the trolley basket and a couple of cloth bags.

Same as a pp one of us went for ice cream after dinner was finished but only on a Sunday

All glass was brought back for a refund or to the bottle bank, apart from milk bottles.

Paper bags only in the supermarket.

Tinned fruit and veg if you couldn't afford fresh or wanted them for convenience.

Vim for scouring everything.

Harpic for the loo

Both in cardboard tubes

In Ireland the plastic bag levy was introduced in the early 2000s, it was amazing how quickly we changed, even now after all these years I kick myself if I don't have a bag with me and try stuff my handbag and pockets and stack stuff jenga like so I don't have too pay for a bag, and I'm not the only one

The fuckers aren't getting another cent out of me

My dad used to use the key from the sardines tin for the toothpaste tube.

Not sure if it’s been mentioned yet but yoghurt would probably have been made at home, I know my granny used to make it in glass jars on the aga

We also consumed a damn site less back then. Even clothes etc....... things were made to last. Not used a few times and replaced