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!

A bottle of Tizer to share on Sunday. 1960s
Watching Sunday Night at the London Palladium on our black & white TV

My treat was going to the local shop on a Saturday evening when I stayed with my nan and gramp and getting a packet of Golden Wonder Salt and Vinegar Crisps, a small packet of Iced Gems and a can of fizzy drink. Seemed like the best thing in the world then, don't think today's kids would be so impressed by it!

The “flying” game, which I’ve mentioned on other threads, and was only done on special occasions such as birthdays or Christmas. In turn, we children were blindfolded so we couldn’t see a thing, taken into the garden, sat in a chair, which was then lifted up, and we were told we were flying, with the tiny scenery below described. We were only a few inches up, but we didn’t know that, because we couldn’t see! It really felt like flying.

Yes! Grew up in Wales in the 80s and my mum was given some spaghetti as a gift by someone who had been to Italy on holiday! We had never seen such a thing (it was the super long kind so looked exciting).
She was too scared to cook it for about a year until we begged her then she had to find a recipe for new fangled “spaghetti bolognese”, we thought it was ultimate sophistication

I love how often Vienetta's coming up. My granddad would rave about how delicious they were. I quite liked them, still would I daresay (ice cream, what's not to like) but I remember that very thin chocolate could go into shards sharp enough to occasionally cut your mouth. Insufficient defrosting? But leave it til the chocolate was softer and the ice cream would have been melted....?

Lots of stuff here bringing up memories of stuff I didn't much like (evap mixing with the juice from tinned fruit, ick) but it wouldn't have entered my head to not eat it anyway. And I wasn't ever punished for not clearing my plate or anything like that. But it was just how it was then, at home and school - sometimes you got what you liked, sometimes you didn't. And you'd just go ugh, fish fingers (or whatever) - and eat them. I don't remember protesting or feeling hard done by or anything - that was just how life was. Food you didn't much like was like having to do homework or go to the dentist or rain when you wanted to be out playing - that's life, sometimes you don't get what you want. So getting what you did like was the "treat".

Waiting for the crusty end of the baguette when my mum cut the bread up. Tough and inedible, but such a treat.

Also Gen X - the Wimpy bar!

I remember now also - as a kid i used to know exactly which teaspoon was the right size to use to nick the cream out of the top of a milk bottle 🤣

Massive treat but a sneaky one. I had to time it right. I'd get in trouble if caught!

When us kids went to our grandparents we got those fondant fancies and Battenberg cake. They were bright pink/yellow and I thought they were the height of sophistication .

My grandparents died a few years ago and I did buy them afterwards. They were so sweet! I can’t believe I ate them.

My mum's uncle owned a butchers shop and it was considered a great treat to go and visit the shop and see him making mince.

An even bigger treat was getting to go into the deep freeze & see the sides of beef hanging up.

We were easy pleased.

Artic roll with bananas and cream

A spoonful of malt extract after dinner.

Not a treat as such but a daily routine and it was brilliant watching my mum dip and twirl the spoon, loading it up for us. Four spoons for me and my siblings and she mixed up the order so you didn't know if you would be served first, last or in the middle. Simple times and happy memories.

We had £1 on a Thursday when my dad got paid to buy all our treats for the week. I used to buy yoghurt and butterscotch angel delight.
I didn't eat chocolate so I bought grapes.
I had to hide the lot from older siblings.

Yep.

In the 80s me and my best mate used to make a cup of tea each in wimpys (Ealing broadway) last a whole rainy sunday afternoon! People watching in the window seats.

50p i think. Usually paid for in small change.

A penguin chocolate bar on a Sunday!

Watching TV when we stayed at our grandparents' as we weren't allowed a TV.

Any sort of fizzy pop.
Ice cream from the ice cream van.
A bottle of coke and a packet of crisps bought from the pub when mum and dad left after a night out.
A duvet instead of blankets.
Bubble bath.
A warm, waterproof coat.

Heinz ketchup in my stocking.

A few more...

Being allowed to stick the Green Shield Stamps in the book

Going to Saturday morning cinema and collecting the alphabet badges

My dad bringing home large conkers. He came home very early from a night shift and would collect them from the ground under the big tree on the corner. In those days we were allowed to play conkers at school.

Someone giving you a penny for the Guy you'd spent weeks making, when you were eventually allowed to wheel it round the neighbourhood in a wheelbarrow

Helping mum push bits of cooked meat through the mincer that screwed onto the edge of the counter top, and being allowed to turn the handle

Being taken to the Co-op cafe by my grandma. It only happened a handful of times. My parents never took us to any cafe and we never ate out.

I used to sneak cat treats. There used to be these cheesy ones and they were really nice. My dad caught me once and I tried to say I was checking they were in date 😭

Our pick and mix was in the post office. Mine didn't last me an hour though.
I can't even describe how happy a few cheap sweets made me. 😀
Good days PoliteSquid.

Angel delight or a ski yoghurt

Also - going in my grandads car with no seat belt… I used to love it but now as a mum I would go fucking mental!

“Fairy pasta” which was pasta with beet sauce. Idk what else was in the sauce but it was obviously bright pink and my mum used to say it was made by fairies and I would just eat loads of it.

Bubble Bath. We used to get a bottle of Miss Matey or Santa Matey (that one isn't around any more) in our Christmas stockings and it was so exciting. We didn't get to use bubble bath any other time of year unless an auntie gave a bath set for a birthday etc.

For several years I did the Matey tradition with my kids but gave up a couple of years ago as realised it was quite "meh" - there is always bubble bath in the house, it just gets ordered with the Tesco shop.

Coca cola, only on special occasions like a birthday. We usually gave some in the house and my kids can take it or leave it, usually preferring water!

This is an odd one - if we were good at the dentist and he said we were looking after our teeth nicely, our mum would take us to the shop afterwards and let us choose ten penny sweets. I was an adult before I realised the strange nature of this gesture. It was a real treat though as we didn't get sweets routinely. Some of the "penny sweets" were actually half pence so if you planned carefully you could get more than ten!