What did you/your family consider a treat growing up that really wasn’t?

[ClassicStripe]

I’ve just randomly remembered that when I was younger me and my sister thought it was the most amazing treat to have our mum’s bath water after she was finished with it. She didn’t even use bubble bath so it was literally just lukewarm water but we absolutely loved it. This was in the early 90’s and we had regular hot warm bubble baths which makes it even stranger that we were so pleased by using mum’s old water!

oh agree, a pomegranate was a treat

A mint vienetta or any pudding on a Sunday after dinner

Fresh orange juice, tinned fruit cocktail.

Defrost!! What the fresh hell. I swear we ate them frozen. My mind is blown.

Because it was considered so expensive! I mean, proper orange juice isn’t exactly cheap even now, but back then even the watered down pasteurised stuff was seen as a luxury because of the disproportionate expense.

I think it came from the notion that it was a ‘rich’ thing to do, to pulp loads of fruit and drink the juice, rather than just eating an orange.

It was such a widespread norm that a small glass of orange juice often featured as a starter in restaurants, even into the 80s. Alongside that other great ‘treat’, half a grapefruit 😂

A pomegranate from the greengrocer

I flipping love Vienetta, and so do the DC-they pick it whenever it’s available over any other ice cream variety.

Caramac from vending machine after swimming
Chocolate biscuits - we were allowed 2 plain biscuits or 1 chocolate biscuit a few times a week
About three times a year we would go to a dept store cafe in the school hols
Arctic roll & supermousse
Half a mars bar on a Friday
Fish & chips on a Friday

We never ate out & I remember my friends Mum took a few of us for a Chinese. We thought that was a real treat - it was 1989 & I can still remember it.

My Mum refused to buy sliced bread so we always had a fresh loaf - but by the third day for sandwiches it wasn’t great & I was jealous of people with sliced bread. She also refused to buy margarine & we always had butter. I can see now that butter is better for you.

I think we valued small treats far more. Younger people don’t understand the concept of waiting for or not actually having what they consider every day items.

Butterscotch Angel Delight. Spectacular.

oh caramac after swimming - a treat i started with my dc

a chocolate bar was a treat, crunchie was my favourite

Oh god yeah I remember Ice Magic. Wasn’t that the chocolate sauce that you used to squeeze onto ice cream and it set instantly? I used to have a bowl of ice cream and pour that over it on a Friday afternoon after school, watching Different Strokes.

i still dont really know how to eat a pomegranate
do you spit out the seeds like i did as a child?

Thank you for the reminder about lay-bys! I think councils have closed a lot down because of fly tipping and littering and drug dealing and dogging...

And of course, it was where you'd stop for an emergency pee, doors discreetly opened to shield your shame...

Coke float in very hot weather.

Berries! Strawberries particularly were a huge treat. Now I can eat a punnet to myself while putting away the rest of the groceries. 😂

Oh god, this. I bloody loathe it. But it was definitely seen as a treat when I was a kid. I'm not even sure that I really like it that much then.

Melba toast at Christmas. It felt so special at the time, no idea why, it's just a thinner than normal piece of toast!
I spent months in hospital about 20 years ago and a few times a week we got 'fresh' orange juice. Everyone loved it, saying it was just like the one you got as a starter in restaurants as a child. We used to see the nurses making it up, it was in a packet and had to be diluted with water.

My Grandma’s ‘home made’ trifle that we were allowed to put the sprinkles on. Many years later found out it was ‘just’ a Birds Eye packet! Nice though.

Some have been mentioned already. We didn’t have a lot of money growing up so lots of things were huge treats esp when in primary

Vienetta
icecream from ice cream van: it was like 15p😂
mcdonald’s
KFC : it tasted so different then! it was a real big treat like once every few years. Those little wipes in a packet too
Magazine delivery; twinkle, bunty then smash hits etc
Grandma making us bread and jam.
Holidays: we only went on a handful growing up, seaside, Butlins and then when we got more cash…. centre parcs ( i doubt it was as as expensive as now!)
Visiting Blackpool…. was too expensive so we went to other places.

Having a toasted tea cake in Cole brothers restaurant, when we went to Sheffield in the bus in school hols with our mum. Late 70s

Bloody hell you are rich now cos berries are expensive! I buy em frozen these days… can’t eat those putting the shop away 😂

Chicken, most fruits,yogurt, jam, cake, butter, bag of chips from the chippie.

😂

The skin off the rice pudding.

Granny making blancmange.