If you were born late 60s/early 70s please could you help me...

[ChickenNugget86]

I know this is really random but I'm at a point in my life where I'd love to find out about life growing up for my mum in the late 60s early 70s.

She was born in 1967 and unfortunately she passed away suddenly aged 42 when I was still living at home age 18. My family totally broke down from it and never talk about her, which really upsets me.

When I got married I asked about her wedding got nothing back. Had my first child they wouldn't speak about my mums labour to help paint a picture etc....

I understand people grieve in different ways but it's been over 10 years now and no one will talk about her which makes me sad. I often wonder what it would have been like being a child during these times - foods, hobbies, school life, toys etc...

Her parents are still alive and refuse to acknowledge she died. I know it must be horrible to lose a child but id love some answers about her life. My dad's family don't speak to me and I no longer have a relationship with my dad. (they were married when she died)

Her friends and work colleagues have told me bits but it's mainly things I already know.

I feel silly for asking but was hoping some people could share their experiences, might help me to get a picture??

My sister was born in the early 80s and my mum only stayed in a few days. She was her third, though.

I was an older mum than OP's mum and had mine in the noughties. I did end up spending 2 weeks in with my first as I was pretty ill.

Sorry OP that you lost your mum so young, I did too but have family and her friends to talk to about her.
Have you visited places she knew? Her previous homes, schools? I find that comforting.

1971 here. Agree with PP. Dig out the "Back in Time for". Dinner/School/Corner shop series. DH (also 1971) and I both recognised sooo many bits of the 1970s and 80s episodes..a real social history insight. The programmes aren't just about what food/lessons etc were around at the time but also how families lived/shopped/ worked etc

That's good advice about looking for more distant family members to talk to. I have done a bit of family research from time to time and my best informants have been the 90-something mum of my second cousin (I was in touch with cousin in Facebook) and random Canadian relatives who emigrated from the UK in the 50s but love family trees.

Also join local facebook groups. Our local one is "x past and present" Loads of old photos are published and people commenting on them.

With the caveat that it's different for different people. I'm describing a fairly middle class but not frantically well off unbringing a long way from London.
No central heating in most houses. We had an open fire in the living room with coal. Coal got brought round in lorries and delivered in sacks by the coal men who were covered in coal dust. We had a coal bunker, which made of concrete slabs with a cover at the top front to put the coal into. The coal bunker was great fun to climb up on suppose the top was about 5 ft above ground.
There was no maternity leave, to mum had to give up work when I was on the way.. She went back full time when my little brother started school but did some part time maternity cover before then. This was relatively unusual I think, but she had some particular training and qualifications which were in short supply locally. Granny came and looked after my brother on those days.
We were a one car family, which was quite usual in our road. Seat belts didn't come as standard. My parents were unusual for having a car seat and a seat belt with adjustable bits for me and the non-baby - who was me. Mum saw a lot of severely injured children in her professional capacity.
Working in offices on Saturday mornings was more usual, and Dad did.
Friends parents and parents friend were called Auntie and uncle. Parents of friends who I met after I started school were callled Mr Smith or Mrs Smith.
Grown up ladies were a collection of knees from a 2 year old height.
Having tiny children play in the garden with no clothes on was considered health and preventing rickets. (in summer) The fish van came round on Thursday. I had mumps measles and chickenpox the same year I started school, which was pretty typical for the time.
Teacher had a copy of the reading book that seemed enormous nearly as tall as me and pointed to the words.
We had these things called colour factors which were meant to help with learning arithmetic.
Some people said sexist, racist things, (known to me as one kind of thing that was wrong and nasty) but lots of people also didn't. I guess my parents were quite strict on removing such influences from around me. They might be considered wrong today though for not telling me off for cultural appropriation when I said I wanted to wear a saree when I grew up. Still do, but know I can't!
Shops didn't open on Sunday, except the newsagents briefly I think. Small shops had half day closing and closed for the afternoon during the week, to make up for the people in them having to work Saturday mornings. Neighbouring towns had different half days, so if you worked in a shop and wanted to buy something, you could go to the next town on your afternoon off.
There were 47 kids in my class.
People ate out a lot less.

Lovely thread!

I remember having more responsibility as a child than I’d expect of my own children - responsibility for ourselves and others. My little brother was hit and injured by a car when he was about 4. I don’t remember anyone asking why he was playing out without an adult, and my older brother and I felt it was our fault for losing track of him.

Older brother was 8, and I was 7 — but we were ‘the big ones’ who should have been in charge.

The playing out still continued after his accident (I think the view was that he’d be sure to be more careful now!) and was a huge feature of all our childhoods. We had ‘gangs’ that met up and made felt badges and dens.

On a smaller scale, my multiple pets were my responsibility, and occasionally one got pregnant, which was wildly exciting, or died because 7-year-olds aren’t great at vet stuff.

We also spent most of the 70s all wearing the same green or blue tracksuit with stripes on the leg, of old photos are to be believed.

So sorry about your mum.

I was born in 1960, so slightly older than she would have been. I was born at home in a mining village. My parents were white-collar. We didn't have much but we were very happy. We didn't even have BBC 2 (I wasn't "allowed" ITV as it was considered a bit vulgar and lowbrow).

I was 17 when we had central heating installed. We had no phone and no car (this was common). The arrival of the spin dryer was s great event.

I was expected to wash and iron my own clothes from the age of 12.

Childhood was great. Everyone knew everyone else and you lived in fear of being caught doing something naughty by other adults. Everyone was an aunt or uncle. There was a feeling of belonging to the neighbourhood, and most people seemed to be related to each other.

We had lots of freedom and scant regard for health and safety. Playing out on Sundays was not allowed. Many kids still went to chapel or church.

Casual sexism was the norm and accepted as part of life. My mother worked school hours but still cooked for my father, who never did anything around the house. This was also completely normal.

Food was simple and plain. Macaroni cheese was a real treat. Later on, we had crispy pancakes and Angel Delight. There was no snacking and no eating between meals.

Telly was Blue Peter, Vision On and cartoons like Wacky Races. On Saturdays it was Banana Splits and Tinker and Taylor. I used to watch documentaries such as World in Action, Man Alive and Panorama (nothing like its modern dumbed-down counterpart). I remember being freaked out by the Cold War and the nuclear button. I also remember Aberfan (just).

70s music was fantastic and fun, as were the fashions. Aged 15 we would visit our local city on the train, have a Wimpy and wander around Chelsea Girl whilst Barry White was blasting out.

I went to a grammar school and it was strict. We sat in our duffle coats during the miners' strike as there was no heating.

Society was rough and ready in the 1970s. There was lots of hooliganism and being s skinhead was a thing. It was easy to get alcohol and cigarettes, but I never did drugs.

I was allowed a bath/wash hair twice a week. The Charts came out on a Tuesday lunchtime, and were played on Sunday nights.

Everyone seemed to be proud. My mother judged others by how clean their houses were and whether their milk bottles were washed before placing on the doorstep for collection. I'm the same. .

Great times.

I was born a couple of years earlier in the 60’s So a few things I remember.
No central heating. Coal man delivered coal to the coal bunker in the garden. When money run out for coal then you burnt newspaper and any old wooden furniture you had and when that was gone you just got cold.
No double glazing and Ice on the inside of windows and my mum and dads coat over me in bed for extra warmth.
No duvets And fitted sheets but lovely heavy blankets And flat sheets than were mended and patched when a hole appeared.
No fitted carpets just a large rug
3 tv channels and no 24 hour tv
No DVD’s and the richer kids had large tape decks that they recorded music from the radio on to make play lists. You could hear family life going on in the background as mum called you to tea or your sibling made a noise.
Limited choice on where to buy clothes. No cheap supermarket clothes and you only had what you needed which were handed down the family until they fell apart.
School milk
Walking to school alone even at primary age
Sitting in the car outside the pub with a bag of crisps whilst parents were inside.
A real treat only obtained after my parents divorce was him taking us to wimpy. I had no idea what a wimpy was the first time I was taken to one in the early 70’s.
Girls only wore skirts to school. You didn’t have the option of trousers.
My parents divorced in the early 70’s when divorce was still stigmatised and my mum seen as some sort of fallen woman.
No CSA, no tax credits, and very little in the way of benefits.
Property meant my mum only cooked for me and sibling. She would eat if we left anything otherwise she had a slice of bread.
Mums shoes were repaired with cardboard and I only had one pair of school shoes per year which were bought by my grandparents as my birthday present.
Played alone in the park from primary age
Baby sitting circle where mums would baby sit for each other for points then cash in those points when they needed a babysitter.
No such thing as a play date for younger kids. You were either old enough to go out to play or not.
Lot less cars. My dad had one but he was in the motor trade but after the divorce we had no transport until mum remarried several years later.
Drink driving was normal
No holidays abroad or weekends away. If you were lucky the whole extended family pitched in and you went camping or to pontins.
No one checked so a 2 bed chalet would house around 12 people.

Parenting was not neglectful in the 60s/70s. And not all fathers spent time in the pub, and women were definitely in pubs too if they wanted.

I speak as a parent in the 70s. We even went into pubs in the 60s too, although there were some funny things, one pub wouldn't serve ladies with pints, but they would serve two halves simultaneously! Another place would serve pints but not in a handled glass, only straight sided glasses.
We weren't 'neglectful' either, that may be a judgement made on current practices, which many of we grandparents find hilarious. Remember, your children will be parents some day and they'll do things you disagree with.
I made clothes for them, Clothkits were amazing, the choice of children's clothes in shops was very limited, think Mothercare, I also cooked most of their food when they were weaned, I can hardly look at an ice-cube tray without They would be out playing woth friends locally for a couple of hours at 7 or 8, usually in someone's eyesight.
Our children were less helicoptered, they had more freedom than children today seem to have, we didn't feel the need to involve ourselves 100% of the time, we even went to the loo without our baby strapped to us.

Were our children better for it? I don't know but they're now the ones who now think their child can't be put down!
Don't worry that your grandparents can't discuss your mother's labour with you, I never would have dreamed of telling my parents or anyone anything about mine, yuk!
Good luck with your baby, go with your guts and you'll be fine.

I was born late 1965 Op. there have been some great replies here that have really summed up life in the 70s and 80s, for a young girl/woman. In the 70s, children played more toys and boxed games, than they do now. Christmas was really the only time of year that most children got toys or gifts, or on their birthday. As people have said, only three channels on TV and they would all close around 11pm I seem to remember, or earlier. People have described so well the dolls that were around in the 70s and it bought back many memories for me. Your mum might have had a dolls house too, I remember I used to yearn for a Barbie doll house, but I never got one.

Food wise, my mum used to cook a lot from scratch as in the 70s especially, there wasn't really any convenience foods. In the early 80s more were introduced as people became more confident and adventurous with their home cooking. People tended to eat out less and more for special occasions. I know my own parents had dinner parties at home for their friends in the late 70s, early 80s. If you ever get the chance, look at 'Abbygail's Party' it was a 'cult' drama play on TV from about 1975/6 and showcases the style of decor in many homes of that era. I remember as a 12/13 old buying 'Jackie' magazine, which a lot of girls my age bought, there used to be a free gift on the front and it was usually some sweet, gloopy lip balm, that we'd all put on, on the bus to school thinking we were very grown up. Jackie magazine also used to have pop star images of groups or lead singers that used to go on bedroom walls and ruin the wallpaper.

Tv on a Saturday around late 70s to early 80s was very popular as there was 'Multi coloured swap shop' on BBC1, or 'Tiswas' on in the mornings for about 3 hours. Tiswas was a bit more chaotic and slapstick. I would think your mum would have probably watched either of those as they were so popular. As a 16 year old, I remember getting a radio cassette player for a gift and it was stereo. They were so covered at that time and I think another poster has said, you used to record the top 20 which was always played every Sunday evening and then I'd play it back during the week. More than likely, your mum may have done similar as it was a 'thing' at that time.

I hope this helps in some way.

1968. My mother told me that giving birth was ok to do at home or hospital. She had me at home because she said that hospital was so traumatic when she had her ds in 1967 with bossy midwives - one that she'd seen slapping a woman 'making too much noise'! I was apparently bottle fed cows milk from birth - advised by midwife! I was also named after this midwife - very weird as they only met her once. Growing up - everyone was slapped, my house wasn't as slappy as friends I visited, this was normal. And children roamed everywhere, (no mobile phones see). Home cooked food every day, no McDonald's as they weren't born yet. Chips occasionally from the chippy wrapped in newspaper. I remember having a plug in TV game which was like a tennis game- literally a ball dot pinging across the screen, does anyone else remember this,? And also playing space invaders at the local launderette where they had a machine I also was bought drinks in local pub as a 16 year old by my history teacher one weekend. Also bought fags for 5p each when still at school. Once was sent to get some for my teacher. Standards were very different! Its very sad that you have no contact with your dad's side of the family - this must make grieving more difficult I imagine.

I was born in 1971, with a brother who was born in 1968. I remember so much that previous posters have said.

On weekends or school holidays, we literally were out all day from breakfast to dusk. We'd take our bikes and go knocking on friends' doors to see who was coming out. Anything went. We'd go and play in the nearby fields, explore the woods, paddle in the streams, even played on a nearby building site once. Summer was particularly exciting as the farmers would burn the stubble in the fields after harvest. A nearby plume of black smoke on the outskirts of town would be a signal for us all to grab our bikes and peddle off so we could watch from the side of the field.

If we found old, glass lemonade bottles in the woods and bushes we'd take them back to the paper shop round the corner and get the deposits back which we'd immediately spend on sweets.

The phone was screwed to the wall in the hallway, so if you wanted to meet up with your friends, you'd phone their home. If they were out, their parents would usually tell you where they were last heading, so you'd get on your bike and go searching, often bumping into other friends along the way.

We'd have to be back home for tea by a certain time, but no one had a watch so I don't know how we managed it. We were allowed out again after tea, but there were restrictions on how far we could go when it started to get dark. My mum would start calling us in when it was dark, but that's when negotiations to stay out a few more minutes would start.

We had a black and white rented television for years and when we finally got a colour one, I was amazed at how Bagpuss and the Clangers were actually pink. There were only 3 channels, and my mum banned ITV where all the best programmes seemed to be which just left BBC1 and BBC2.

Songs of Praise was on BBC1 on Sunday evenings and had the most terrifying theme music played on a pipe organ with all the stops pulled out. That really did signal the end of the weekend, particularly if you hadn't done your homework that was due in the next morning. To this day, I still get a "Songs of Praise" feeling on Sunday evenings.

My dad didn't often go to the pub but when he did, he'd ask my brother and I if we wanted to come. On the one hand, it meant we'd get a coke and a bag of crisps each. On the other it meant that we'd be sat outside in the beer garden with just each other's company until my dad came out and peered into the darkness to try and find us.

Life did seem so much simpler in those days, but I'm pretty sure I'd not be impressed if my children told me they'd played on a building site!

Born in 74, after the neighbours had been to fetch my dad as they were the only ones in our street with a phone.

Food was all home made. No microwave dinners. No microwave!

Played out every day on the wasteland behind our row of houses.

Out on roller skates and bike all the time
4 years old, with a watch, told to come in at bedtime.

Walked to most places. School. Shops. Grandparents house in next village.
Collecting wild blackberries on the way.
In Tupperware pots, putting them under my little sisters buggy.

No school uniform.

Going to the working mens club every sunday morning with my dad. While mum cooked sunday dinner. For some reason, my dads friends didnt like being beaten at cards by a 6 year old...?

Day trips to the seaside on a coach. All the adults paid £5 to go. Kids were free and got £1 to spend.

Home made clothes. Knitted jumpers. Cotton dresses. Things were looked after, mended. Handed on.

Dinner was meat, potatoes and veg. Or pie and chips. Or soup.
Pasta was in the Italian restaurant. A rare birthday treat!

There was not much technology. Or much in the way of plastic toys. Most people had the same type of stuff. A radio and a black and white tv. We were the first family in the village to have 2 cars. Dad used our family car to get to work and college. Mum had a car as she had a brief stint as a driving instructor.

I remember going to work with my mum a few times. Sometimes I got to help out. Depending on what job it was. Other times,I sat in the corner of her office colouring in.

rare for dads to be allowed into the delivery suite. My mum was just with hospital staff, and the family don’t know much about my birth as they weren’t there. Also rare to talk about it. Dad would have been horrified to have known any details. He was at home having tea, cooked by his parents when I finally was born.

this is so dependant on where you were.
I was born in 1967.
My Dad was at my birth, as he had been at the births of my brothers previously.
Loads of things on this thread I really don't recognise, as my parents were really modern. Both parents were involved with us, no 'dad down the pub' in our family. Dad cooked sometimes (rarely, but he did). Both my parents worked, and Mum taught evening classes, so Dad had to do bedtime. At one point Mum left early in mornings and he had to learn to do my hair.

We had lots more freedom, but they were there in the background keeping an eye out. We used to go off on bikes and play out, but Mum had to know roughly where we were, we had boundaries as to where we could go.

We had central heating, and no open fires. We had a washing machine from when I was a baby, Mum didn't have one when my older brothers were babies. We also had a dishwasher from 1970, when we moved house and they decided to get on (no-one else we knew had one)

we used to go to France on holiday, camping. My parents worked out that they could do it for the same price as a UK holiday. But it meant catching the cheap ferry which left at 4am. One year we drove to West coast of france with 5 of us and all our camping stuff in a Citreon Dianne!

Some is so family dependant.
I remember on a thread on here I said all our food was cook from scratch, and pretty healthy, eg shepherd's pie, pork chops mash and 2 veg etc. Bit other people came on and said that their diet wasn't like that at all, eg they had psam fritters and angel delight.

So very different family by family.

spaghettie bolognese was unusual, (bit fancy) my mum was a bit radical in that she experimented with stuff like that. Most food was meat potatoes and 2 veg. Portions were smaller. Very very little packaged food and no ready meals.

whoops that shoudl say SPAM fritters

When the Rubik's cube came out I begged my parents for ages to get me one but they wouldn't, so I was fully prepared to wait for my birthday. Got home from school one random day and it was sitting there waiting for me. I still remember the thrill of it. At registration each day we used to line up to show the teacher how far we had got! (This was before anyone had solved it and written a book).
If you go to the V&A museum of childhood in Bethnal Green there are loads of toys and games from the era. Always strikes me that compared to nowadays everything was in a huge box.

Thank you everyone! It was so lovely waking up this morning with so many comments, I wasn't expecting it! It's just what I was after.

I think the reason I want to know is that I recently had my first baby born during lockdown and I'm really missing her. I know lots about her life from around 17/18 years plus but not much before then.

She did used to talk about her childhood, but I feel like I don't know anything. I've had lots of therapy after her death and was encouraged to make a memory box. I do have a few photos but family seem reluctant to share information. When it would have been her 50th birthday I suggested a meal out to celebrate and it was shot down. I've kind of given up asking anymore as it seems to upset my grandparents and uncle.

My nan was one of 12 children but the youngest so unfortunately my mums aunt's/uncles have passed away many years ago. My mum had 1 younger brother and he moved away some time ago. I've messaged him before and he just said he feels uncomfortable talking about her so just have to respect his wishes.
My grandad does have a few sisters so might be worth trying talking to them, they might feel more comfortable. I know my mum would have had cousins but I don't really know them.

My dad had a breakdown after she died and my dad's family were good at sharing stories about her as a teenager. I've always got on well with all my dad's side but after my Nan died (dad's mum) the family had lots of fall outs over the will and its no longer the same. I'm no longer close to my aunt/uncle which is very sad.

My younger cousins remember my mum a lot and talk about her being a great fun auntie. It's lovely to hear but I just want to bang people's heads together and let them open up to me. They are the people who have the answers and it's very upsetting that they won't tell me so I have to imagine what it would have been like.

My mums friends who I'm in touch with are people she went to college with or worked with over the years. I don't really know any of her school friends unfortunately. I have thought of asking on some local fb pages but thought I'd look silly maybe.

Some bits I can remember her telling me:

Collecting football stickers/cards. She supported Liverpool but then swapped sides to Spurs as she fancied Ray Clemence and he moved!

She watched top of the pops at her friends house as her dad didn't like those type of shows.

Her parents cooked meat, 2 veg type meals. She told me when she went to a friend's house and had spag bol it blew her mind.

She had a CB radio think it was called and often spoke to random people who had code names! When I went on MSN as a teen, she said that is what it was like in her day.

Did lots of chores around the house like brushing doorstep and skirting boards, where as her brother would go fishing with dad etc...

Told me about going to Manchester for a McDonald's for the first time. It is around 40 miles from where I live and was the nearest city that had one. Sounds like it would have been a mission! Something about if you didn't get a burger within a time frame you'd get a free one or money back? Not 100% sure.

Collecting glass bottles and taking somewhere to get money.

When I asked for Ghd hair straighteners she told me about ironing her hair!

She loved me reading Biff and Chip books at primary school as she said they were more exciting then Janet and John books.

She was a bit of a tom boy and really wanted a chopper bike but wasn't allowed one as she was a girl.

She met my dad when she was around 14/15 and liked him as he went to the rival high school and was a Mod with a scooter.

Really enjoyed black jacks and fruit salad sweets.

Thank you everyone for the stories, comments it's really useful and is helping me.

You will not look silly if you ask around on local FB pages. I am sure there will be someone out there very happy to share their childhood memories of your mum with you.

Oh and I forgot to mention during my labour I was mainly on my own as my DH couldn't be with me until I was in active labour.
I gave birth in the same place I was born. My midwife became my birthing partner really and she told me what it was like in the 90s when I was born as she qualified late 80s. It was lovely to hear but I'd give anything to ask my mum about it.

1966 here, simple life.

Playing out lots in the street and the fields.
Camping in the garden
Food was all meat and two veg
My party dress was an M&S nightie
Party gifts were a bottle of bubble bath or a bar of chocolate and a pair of knickers
I holiday a year in the Lakes or Butlins
No one was overweight
Parents put a lock on the telephone to keep you off it
Girls or boys grammar school if you passed the 11+ mixed secondary modern if you didn’t
Starting work we had amazing drunken office parties in between taking phone calls
People smoked at their desk
1980s fashion as a teenager and early twenties, those curly perms and big gold earrings and padded shoulders
First restaurant I went to was a local hotel age 17 with my BF where we had a very tough steak, chips and veg
Chelsea Girl
AIDS

Sorry for your loss, your lovely mum would have had a ball in her shirt life I’m sure 💐

The parties were at Christmas BTW not every Friday lol 😂

I was born in 1968.
Grew up on the East Coast of Scotland
We had no TV so I only got to watch that at my Grandparents. So rarely watched it as they lived in Essex and The Midlands.
We played out a huge amount - our estate was incredibly child friendly in design with houses facing onto green spaces and 'hills' before each road so we couldn't run out - we had to go up and over a hill first. I remember scooting round and round the estate or biking.
I walked into the village to get 'messages' on my own from a very early age and often disappeared to the beach alone too.
I loved reading The Bunty and The Beano which I got every week as well as a quarter of sweets - floral gums and cherry lips were favourites because you got loads but I also loved bon bons and sometimes I got a mix up of penny chews.
I went to an all girls school - very strict uniform and NO trousers.
I played with Sindy (Oh how I coveted a Barbie!) and Pippa Dolls. I had a dolls house and loads of Lego.
I used to enjoy palying board games with my parents (only child)
My Mum made a lot of my clothes - I used to love going to bed at night and coming through in the morning to find a new item draped over the chair waiting for me. I had far fewer clothes than my children do. I loved wearing a long dress to parties - it seemed the height of sophistication to me! I still adore a long dress these days!
My mum used a twin tub washing machine for years!
We baked regularly - I made jam tarts with her most weeks and I always had a fairy cake in my lunch box that she had made on a Sunday afternoon.
Food was always home cooked. We had the Mumsnet chicken on a Sunday so left overs Monday, then soup made from the carcass on Tuesday. I also remember eating Rice and Peas with the tiniest scraps of chicken in. Another dish was a weird dish with rice, sweetcorn, cubes of spam and some sort of sweet, sticky sauce. We ALWAYS had a pudding - sponge and custard or rice pudding etc
We rarely had fizzy drinks but the Barr lorry came round and we sometimes got a couple of bottles as a treat.
We always had the radio o or music palying. The Archers was sacrosanct and we had to sit in silence around the table to listen.
My Dad loved music so we had a very eclectic selection.

I went to Brownies and did ballet. I also had a pony so would spend hours at the weekend riding, on my own, around the local area. Always wore a hat but usually rode in jeans and wellies. My hat was so battered and scuffed from all the trees I hit my head on!

We had a tiny camper van and I remember no seat belts in the back. Often I would sit on the work surface that separated the front from the back and slide from side to side as we went round corners!

I married late though and had my children in my mid 30s so my experience of marriage and childbirth would have been very different to your mum's OP

Black and white tv with buttons down the side, ie no remote. You tended to all sit in the sitting room watching one programme together. Benny Hill, the two Ronnie's, that sort of thing. No central heating. You did as you were told, no debating with parents, you had respect for everyone older than you. Children didnt chat to adults or they got talked about.

The word disabled didnt exist, you were a "cripple" and shops had charity boxes with statues of kids with calipers on and signs saying "give money for the cripples or spastic society". You got called a "mong" at school if you didnt have kicker shoes or a green mod coat.

We went out a lot, walks everywhere, picnics in the Countryside. Kids not allowed in pubs but you could sit in pub gardens and share a shandy. Smoking everywhere. You could take corona bottles back and get pennies for the bottle. Crisps were 8p a bag. Growing up, cheese fondue became popular as did fizz machines to make fizzy drinks. Platform shoes and flares were in. When older, shell suits came in, hated them, people looked like they were walking round in parachute material. Everyone got a perm.