Things you thought were normal if you grew up working class

[Anycrispsleft]

Inspired by that "thought it was posh, turns out it wasn't" thread, I wondered if anyone else remembers stuff from a working class childhood that you thought everyone did and actually no it was just us?

Mine is playing with stray dogs. I was an adult before I realised that approaching strange dogs is meant to be dangerous. In my estate there were two strays (and one owned dog that would escape his garden) and they would chum along with us when we were out playing. We'd feed them crisps. (Luckily for the dogs I think we figured that crisps were more appropriate food for dogs than chocolate, as they were more salty and a bit like meat.) It would never have occurred to us not to befriend any other creature of the street. There was precious little else to do, why wouldn't we add a dog or two into the pack?

@FizzyPink

I don’t understand the 50p for the electric meter or TV ones. How did that work? Does someone come and empty your TV of 50ps?

Yep - this is what my brother in law does for a living.

Calling pudding “afters”.
Calling grandma “nanny”.
Thinking processed food was “posh” (in the 60s).

Getting secong hand clothes off your posh cousins that smelt of fancy washing powder and had labels like St Michael-no idea where that was but they weren't market clothes.

Always having clothes and toys that were similar to the trendy ones but not the correct ones as they were from the cheaper shop.

Not asking for any school stuff like special folders or rulers as you'd be told you don't need them.

Not realising there were kids programmes on the BBC until I was about 11 as we only watched ITV.

The 'only having one' thing, one swimming costume, one pair of shoes, one coat etc is something that never left me. I still mostly 'have one', not deliberately, it's just kind of unintentionally stayed with me.

Market clothes! I’d forgotten about that.

Chicken- we only ate it once a year- at christmas. Far too expensive otherwise.
But I grew up in a home with no central heating, no phone, no fridge, no washing machine- this was in the UK.

The provident woman.

Sharing a bag of chips after going swimming

Going round the estate on bombfire night collecting everyone's old wood for our garden fire had to keep it burning as it was always a fun night whole family together no health and safety then adults getting drunk while us kids tried making jacket spuds and poking a hot fire.

One filling in a sandwich so cheese or ham. Even now making a cheese and ham sandwich just seems to much.

Ditto soup came with bread and butter. Still can’t get my head around people have a full sandwich with a bowl of soup.

@HalfBrick the brand St Michael was Marks&Spencer I believe back in the day !

Only having a couple of sets of non-school clothes (e.g 1 pair of jeans, 1 skirt), wellies and a pair of trainers. If had to go anywhere like Sunday school wore school shoes.
Jumpers knitted by Nan.

@Akire yes!

These posts are making me cry, half affection,half sadness. Had very similar upbringing, and have struggled even now feeding my own children at times. But we are happy, if that makes sense,?

Vegetables = carrots, peas, swede or baked beans

Going to the supermarket at 6pm and straight to the reduced to clear sections before hitting the bread aisles for the 5/10p loaves.

@00100001

Having jam with Yorkshire puddings for afters.

Saving up change in a jar, tipping it all out and counting it, to pay for holidays (week in a caravan in Cornwall, on a camping site)

Having potatoes of some form.at every meal. And buying a big sack of potatoes, for the week for the family of 6.

Golden syrup on our Yorkies 😁

Also the hand-me-downs and charity shop clothing. I had an aunt with 3 girls older than me, so by the time they got to me they'd been heavily used, but my younger sister had it worse!

@FizzyPink

I don’t understand the 50p for the electric meter or TV ones. How did that work? Does someone come and empty your TV of 50ps?

Yes, exactly that. We didn’t have a pay TV, but we did rent ours.

I always thought bread and butter with meals was just something that had gone out of fashion, rather than something from my poor childhood.

Selling stuff in trade-it to pay unexpected bills. My Dad bringing home road kill to feed the dogs and helping my mum to skin rabbits for them to eat too. Only being able to heat one room in the house as we had a single coal fire. Always being given the part of a 'reader' in any school play as my parents couldn't afford the costumes needed. No after school activities due to the cost / no transport. Knowing not to accept invites to friends houses for tea as you couldn't reciprocate.

We were working class, not poor, and that was the same for everyone where we lived so I wasn’t exposed to any middle class things really.

An exception was visiting the home of some of the children my mum minded. It was the first time I’d seen sanded floorboards and they had a real Christmas tree with red ribbons on it tied in bows (1980s). I was in a parallel universe!

We didn't have the rubber shower attachment thing we just washed our hair by using an old measuring jug to pour water over our heads!! We got a proper shower when I was about 14.

My parents didn't smoke but pretty much all of our extended family did. I remember whenever we visited my mum's sister or she visited us my brother and I used to fight over who blew the lighter flame out after she lit her cig.
When my cousins were born on my dad's side of the family about 8 years after my brother and I, my aunt and uncle insisted nobody smoke around them. My parents thought it was the height of precious, spoilt behaviour!!

OMG - most of these resonate with me. Thought everyone at the time grew up like this. They didn’t.

My dm and df both smoked and used to ‘bulk buy’ their cigarettes as it worked out cheaper. 200 a week between them.

I used to imagine the holidays we could have had with that money.

We didnt live really poor but few things we did , no home phone or car 7ntill i was in mid teens, we also did have same bath water no shower for 4 of us mum dad brother and me which i thought was normal till.moved out and also never had a roast dinner before went to my bf now husband parents house. They had sunday roast which i thought was posh!