Things you thought were posh/exciting/unattainable as a child that are actually everyday items

[AlternativelyWired]

I'm just searching for scotch tape on Amazon ready for Christmas. It got me thinking how double sided sticky tape was but a dream back when I was little. Blue Peter used it all the time but it was something I'd never have. The same with play dough. I only ever had plasticine. Scotch tape was fancy too, we only ever had yellow sellotape. Ribera. I'm sure I'll think of others.

Oh, and in the 80s McDonald's, only for the rich.

Most things! We were poor growing up.

On your stationery theme, print stick and Blutack. Other things like fizzy drinks, orange juice, fruit other than apples, takeaway food, eating out, getting a taxi...all stuff we take for granted now.

Warburtons bread and fresh milk. We always has the no frills brand bread from kwick save and long life milk, if you can remember that!!

My friend always has warbies bread and real milk and I loved going to her house even though she was a complete bitch 😂

Terry's Chocolate oranges.
Squash.
Crisps.

And yes to plain paper - my dad used to bring home paper from the work computers that had been printed on one side with green ink. Which was an upgrade from the computer paper with holes in when I was really little.

Second the grapes.

Oddly lucozade as well.

Oh the OJ as starter thing is so interesting... when did that stop do you reckon? I'll appreciate it more now!

It probably stopped once the only way of getting OJ wasn't to squeeze it out of oranges - which weren't always very juicy. One orange would yield about half an inch of juice in a glass. Then frozen Florida orange concentrate came in - little cans to be diluted, expensive and obviously you needed a freezer. (We didn't have a fridge till I was about 10). You could get sachets of dried OJ (also other citrus eg grapefruit) which you mixed with water to make something more or less like juice. Rise and Shine, it was called. Probably contained added sugar.

*pritt stick not print stick

I would have been amazed you thought "squash" was posh until I went up to university up North, and hardly anyone who was from the Midlands upwards regularly drank it.

Oddly lucozade as well.

That definitely was only for when you were poorly.

Oh my goodness yes! I have such a clear memory of going to my granny's office @Veganuaryborn and the lovely secretary gave me tonnes of paper - so much paper that my granny protested because she didn't want to spoil me!

But it was alright, because the paper had apparently 'been through the Roneo machine' so it was scrap paper.

I must suggest to DS that having a ream of paper in the house means he's spoiled...

Muller Corners. Still feel fancy as hell when I eat one!

Viscount biscuits, the adverts always made them look so posh. Same as After Eights, I specifically thought you couldn’t eat them before 8pm when I was about 6 so to me staying up late to eat chocolates was the height of fancy.

Cheese planes (to slice cheese not to fly). Dh was very amused at how I marveled at his when I first went to his house!

Fizzy pop and ‘children’s’ food. My mum and dad are both good cooks and we always ate really well. Lots of variety and everything made from scratch, never had eg pasta sauce out of a jar, everything was homemade. They never had in freezer food like nuggets / crispy pancakes, etc.

I went to a friends house for tea when I was about 7 and was blown away that we got fish fingers, chips and beans! And a can of Coke!! I thought she was living a life of absolute luxury 🤣 Even now as an adult I feel posh when I get a can of Coke out of the fridge.

Looking back I absolutely see that my parents were doing an amazing job, but as a child I wanted what the other kids were having. I still remember having the piss ripped out of me when I had a chunk of baguette in my packed lunch, everyone else had white sliced 😞

Fizzy drinks and Andrew toilet paper. My mum bought Andrew toilet paper as a one off once and I was so excited 😆

Paper kitchen towels. I knew they existed but we just never had any. I assumed they were too expensive or too wasteful (which isn't that wrong from an environment point of view, I guess). As a student in shared accommodation my flatmates and I used toilet rolls.

It was heaven when I first realised that they actually aren't that expensive and I could have them ALWAYS!!

Wet wipes. We were all always super thrilled to get wet wipes after a meal on the plane.

Now I'm trying to cut down on my use of wet wipes and kitchen towels and waste in general but I so wish I could just use them with careless abandon..they are so convenient.

Bin liners. We always used plastic carrier bags, I think.

Paper kitchen towels. I knew they existed but we just never had any. I assumed they were too expensive or too wasteful (which isn't that wrong from an environment point of view, I guess). As a student in shared accommodation my flatmates and I used toilet rolls.

It was heaven when I first realised that they actually aren't that expensive and I could have them ALWAYS!!

Wet wipes. We were all always super thrilled to get wet wipes after a meal on the plane.

Now I'm trying to cut down on my use of wet wipes and kitchen towels and waste in general but I so wish I could just use them with careless abandon..they are so convenient.

Bin liners. We always used plastic carrier bags, I think.

I used to think my Dads pager was amazing. Imagine being solo important at work that you had a special device you could be contacted on anywhere you were.

Fastforward a mere 5 years....

Viennetta!

We’d go to a caff for lunch on the occasional Saturday, and to a Beefeater for birthdays and the like. But we would only ever be allowed 1 drink, so more than that is luxury to me.

Dimmer switches.

Having fizzy juice in glass bottles delivered by the Barr's lorry in crates every week. SO super jealous of my friends who had this at their house.

My dad only had roasted and salted Cashew nuts at Christmas. I don’t recall seeing them on sale in the 60s/70s during the rest of the year.

Food from m&s! For a very rare treat we'd get a pack of m&s cornish pasties.

I was thinking about this and got me it was a shower! I always thought that people who had showers were rich lol. And I grew up in the late 80s!!

Born in 1972. I thought an onyx lighter and ashtray set were the epitome of glamour and sophistication and promised myself I would buy some when I got my own house. Now have my own home but don't smoke and think they're revoltingly tacky!