Things from your childhood that feel like ancient history now

[Echobelly]

• 3 TV channels
• Everything shut on Sunday (and local shops often shut Wednesday afternoons for some reason?)
• 1/2 pennies
• Only asking 'What does your dad do?'
• A lot of people having black and white tellies
• Holiday brochures

These are some of the things that I think will seem inexplicable to my kids!

All the kids in the street skipping whilst a couple of mothers turned the rope. Having london lights on bonfire night ages about 6..they were like matches and the flame was either green or red. Grannys knitted bathing costumes she used to make me! The boys playing catchy kiss with the girls in play yard.

Soaps being a big talking point of people's lives. I know they are still on now but back in the day when the latest major Eastenders/Cori/Brookside storyline was a big deal! Plus the characters being big household names. I couldn't tell you who's in Eastenders now beyond any older classic characters.

The tiny little black/white corner triangle that came on tv screen which meant the program was getting close to ending. My df thought he had true insider knowledge knowing this fact and would take joy in telling those who didn’t know!

Buying chips from the chip shop, and getting little wooden forks...You had to pay extra for white plastic forks.
Novelty shaped soaps from the Body Shop, and I think Avon too.
Babysitting from age 11... This seems insane to me now.
Ice lolly sticks having little jokes printed on them.
No homework in primary school, up until the last term of Year 6.

Did anyone else learn to read with ITA? I think it stood for Initial Teaching Alphabet. I remember learning a for apple and æ for angel, curly C and kicking K. I don't remember the transition from ITA to the normal alphabet, though. I started school in 1971.

Oh gosh yes, the sawdust in the butcher's! The smell!

Smoking everywhere. Even in planes.

My mum had a little Toyota van and used to ferry 12+ kids in the back, all sat on duvets with no seats or belts.

Being sent round all the neighbors to get change of 50p coins for the electric metre. I remember when we got our first phone when I was in junior school. Central heating as a teenager. Growing up on family credit with free school meals - this resulted in us getting boxes and boxes of free butter because of a 'butter mountain'(?) in the 80s. I remember visiting the benefits office with mum for her to pick up her money.

Walking to and from junior school without parents.

Post office used to have separate queues for each teller and you'd queue hop to try and get served quicker.

Sunday's were so bloody dull. Nothing open, nothing on TV.

I also recall a b&w TV in my parents bedroom that you had to tune in using a dial. We did have a colour one downstairs. Also had an outside loo (but also an inside bathroom).

Also, I remember the National Lottery being launched and it seemed like everyone cared about what Mystic Meg predicted . You used to be able to get little keyrings to help you choose your lottery numbers.
I remember buying cans of Silly String from the market
Also bought Silly Putty which came in a red, plastic egg shaped container, I think.

@ilovepixie

Smoking everywhere. Even in planes.

Yes! And the smoking side of the cinema

hamble was evil-didnt know they changed her what year was that

@Twenty2, I remember curly cu and kicking ker! I also remember learning joined up writing quite young too and we had to do weird capital T’s which were similar to the weird F’s

Listening to Radio Luxembourg under the bed covers.
Jackie magazine
All of us piling into Dad's Ford Cortina, baby in a carry cot on the bag shelf!
Sitting outside pubs in the car with cousins, drinking coke and eating crisps whilst our parents were in the pub, after a long day out at the seaside.
Watching Blue Peter and craving a badge.
Drinking Cresta (it's frothy man!)
Starsky and Hutch.

Experimenting with various concoctions in the soda stream (I.e. milk)

Going to bed in a long nylon nightie with wet hair, with a hot water bottle and sheets and blankets on the bed

Annuals

All Creatures Great and Small / Upstairs Downstairs

Everyone watched That’s Life and talked about it on the Monday

Butterscotch instant whip with hundreds and thousands

Watery soup in a plastic cup from the vending machine after swimming

Mini pretzels and twiglets at ‘grownup’ parties and blancmange from a mould in the shape of a rabbit

Boob tubes

Yahtzee

Cabbage Patch Dolls

And

Garbage Pail kid Stickers

Crossroads! I was terrified of Benny 😂

The Blue Parrot Cafe kids range in Sainsbury’s. Someone mentioned it on Reddit recently and I had a macaroni cheese flashback.

The nit shampoo that absolutely stank too! I think some of those chemicals have been banned now.

Battersea Adventure Playground. Not the safe one now this was a child only zone we went wild the playground was made up of anything no longer needed we could climb/swing/hang from. Always came out filthy with splinters and grazes and often a child would break their arm/leg. We absolutely loved it

No central heating it was freezing in the hallway

No breakfast TV I can remember the first show I think Frank and Selina

Children playing out with no adult supervision we played on old building sites

I remember bbc and ITV going head to head with the morning slots fighting for the viewers in the 80s

My parents refused to watch morning tv so I missed out on Roland Rat or the Green Goddess completely. They only liked Terry Wogan or radio four!

I still find it almost impossible to believe that, for many years of my life, if you missed a TV programme and it wasn't repeated (far fewer channels and opportunities to do so and obviously no +1 channels), or you or a friend hadn't deliberately recorded it, you would never, ever be able to see it another time and would have missed it forever.

@RichardMarxisinnocent they use brightly coloured plastic divided trays, like in prison. I hate them, along with those God awful school dining tables with attached stools. Terrible for a child’s posture and they can’t adjust the position.

Great thread.

Yes to the big telly at primary school - we watched Middle English, How we used to Live and Science Workshop. Schools and colleges programmes were preceded by a countdown clock with dots that would disappear. When I was home from school ill, I’d watch all the S+C programmes including The English Programme. Followed by Rainbow then The Sullivans.

No national curriculum - the class teacher chose various topics him/herself. We learnt about the Sargasso Sea, the Gulf Stream and Trintan da Cuhna in Year 5.

Everyone played jacks at break time in the early 80s. Or huge skipping games, you would queue for your turn to jump in.

Dome shaped climbing frame consisting of triangular bars.

Really nice school dinners - roast on a Wednesday, sometimes ‘salad’ which was grated carrot, grated cheese served with chips! Mince meat pie with lovely pastry. Chocolate sponge and custard.

Saturday morning TV was Swap Shop or Tiswas. Later on - Saturday Superstore and No. 73

Getting the bus for a flat rate of 5p for children (London). Early 80s.