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.

I remember being surprised at seeing cheap radox. I am sure it did use to be expensive.

Room service! Then as an adult I ordered some food to my room, full of excitement, and had the depressing experience of eating a tepid burger on my bed.

We had a neighbour who was divorced and remarried, and did her housework in her bikini, scandalous in a neighbourhood populated by elderly Presbyterian ladies.
The second husband was a sales rep for a cigarette company, he had an estate car....other people had Ford Escorts or similar. Every Friday he bought her flowers in proper crinkly cellophane, and a box of chocolates with a picture on it. They had a pomeranian called Beaver.
I still aspire to flowers and chocolates every Friday!

My DH went to Eire on holiday in the 60's, and when he asked for cheese and tomato sandwiches he got a round of each!

My auntie made amazing tomato sandwiches with tomatoes from their conservatory. That was incredibly posh in Ireland in the 1970s!

I can remember when 4 French teenage boys came to stay (my sister and her friends had met them on a school trip to Nimes). It must have been about 1964. My mother had no idea what to feed them and the greengrocer showed her an aubergine ( they were virtually unknown in England then) and told her what it was called and it came from France. He didn't know how it should be cooked either. So, she bought it and bore it, triumphant, home and asked our guests how to cook it. They didn't know what it was either, apparently (assume they never visited their own kitchens). I can't recall that it was ever eaten. I also remember asking for a big bottle of cream soda for a birthday treat as we were rarely allowed fizzy drinks as they were expensive luxuries. I also remember the teeny single glasses of (tinned) orange juice. Horrible. We weren't allowed a tv as my dad said it was too expensive but said he would get one when they invented colour tv. A few years later they did and he didn't.

I've just remembered how wonderful I though yogurt was - Ski or Prize iirc. We didn't have a fridge when I was little so they were a rare treat.

And re aubergines - the colour 'aubergine' was very fashionable for a couple of years in the early 70s. Which was odd, as I'm pretty sure not many people in the U.K. had seen one (the reality is much darker than the cloth colour) let alone bought and ate them.

Just thought of something I wasnt allowed much of as a child and loved, not sure I thought it was fancy but I was told it was 'too expensive' and as an adult I understand several whole pounds for something thats gone in 4 small bites was too much but I loved a frufoo (think thats what they where called, pink goo inside chocolate with a little toy).

One of my cousins came to stay with us in the late 1970s when he was still a teenager. He lived in northern Spain and, in a complete reverse of everything on this thread, couldn’t understand why he couldn’t get freshly squeezed orange juice and bread straight from the oven at breakfast, and why we used corn oil instead of olive oil for cooking, and why you could get peppers from Waitrose, at a price, in any colour as long as it was red.

It’s relevant to point out that, while we thought him a spoiled brat at the time (and he was, rather; his life hasn’t been that wonderful since), DM and I are almost certain with hindsight that he’s also autistic, and this was why he found it so hard to get his head around our differences.

A soda stream when I was a teenager - my parents said no to that or slush puppies

My friend had a soda stream and I was so jealous and thought it very posh! 20 years later they gave me one as a wedding present as they knew it was the one thing I always wanted!

Haha mine too! I also wasn’t allowed a cabbage patch doll as they were a “craze”!

This has reminded me of the advert for Prize Yoghurts;'They're the good guys,they're the Prize guys'.

Going to restaurants - practically unheard of
Having a "proper" holiday, ie not in a rickety caravan in the rain
Having central heating - no heating at all upstairs

There is a lovely hotel in Northern Ireland , which was not for people like us. Gloria Hunniford was also envious of it as a child.
We weren't poor. I had coffee and a scone there a couple of years ago. It wasn't much dearer than a cafe. And very nice.

@eggandonion what is the hotel?

We had a coal fire(the only way to heat the water)and a couple of paraffin heaters.

My mother put one in the bathroom and the house almost burned down when some towels caught fire.

Slieve Donard in Newcastle was the hotel, I don't think it was even the cost of a pot of tea was the issue. It was more a class thing. I love hotels, possibly as a result.
I wish our fire heated water, we had a back boiler when i was a child. But no central heating.

@Toomuchtrouble4me the glue in the pot with the stick was Copydex and the gum in the pot with the red lid was Gloy gum. My mum was a nursery teacher so I have a life long passion for glue - and have just treated myself to a litre of clear PVA from
hobbycraft which to me seems like luxury!
I remember my Aunty having soap that came in a pearlescent box (pre Dove) which was the height of sophistication as well as 4711 perfume in a solid stick which you could rub on you if you were hot. We always had UHT milk at home as it was cheaper and lasted longer so real milk was always a treat. My mum had us all on the F plan diet as children so sugar was unheard of and as a treat we could have a packet of crisps that were made from wholemeal flour and water with a little bit of salt. My gran would sneak me a boiled sweet once a week and that was a treat.

Glue in a pot with a brush (promoted by pp)
A deli-style cheese board with a wire

WickedSerious Like you, we had a paraffin heater in the front room. I had to go down to the shop to get the paraffin. A coal fire now and again, the fire drawn with newspaper - and my Dad was an expert at making newspaper spills.

Bander copiers at school in the early 70's - one whiff of these things and you were high as a kite all week

I tried a soda stream at a friends birthday party. It was magical. I have wanted one ever since. Occasionally I flirt with the idea of buying myself one but aside from not drinking many fizzy drinks, I just don't want to spoil the mystery and magic of the soda stream.

Eating out is a restaurant - never did it except on holiday

cakes that weren’t ‘brown’ as my mum
bajed everything w wholemeal flour in the 70s and 80s

having a car

I was brought up oddly!!