What normal things did you not have or not have in your house growing up?

[Fairypowder13]

We ran out of kitchen roll today and it got me thinking, growing up we never had kitchen roll in the house. I can remember visiting people who did and thinking that it was quite posh.

I grew up in a very poor home and we were always warm, clean, clothed and fed, but also lacking so many basic things. My parents always had money for cigarettes and alcohol though 🙄

I can remember having to have my hair washed with washing up liquid at times, I had very long hair and my mum never bought conditioner so you can imagine how knotty my hair would be. I did eventually get access to hair conditioner after begging my mum after I’d seen it advertised.

No cushions on the sofas.

No family holidays or day trips. Didn’t see the sea until I was 16.

No fabric softener for washing.

Never had a bed or mattress of my own, had one that was given to us until I was old enough to buy my own, it was all broken in the end but it didn’t occur to my parents to buy one.

No birthday cake or celebration, we’d get one small cheap present but nothing beyond that.

No stocking for Christmas. We’d put out one of our socks.

No winter coat, I had to wait to be given one by my older cousin.

Sorry to hear that OP. I had most of those things. No fabric softener then or now, I don't think it's needed. Plenty of hand me downs. We didn't have a lot of money but it felt like we had just about enough. And no TV then but have one now.

I grew up 50/60s and we had little.

Hair conditioner was unheard of.

No washing machine - it was handwashing or boiler.

No microwaves, no tumble dryers, no washing machines, no freezers.

coal fires - no heating. Freezing cold rooms.

We did have a week at the seaside.

Life was harder then. 🤷‍♀️

Yeah I mean I know some of them aren’t essential it’s just they were fairly basic things that I always saw as quite fancy.

I dot even think it was a case of not being able to afford them, my mum didn’t know about hair conditioner, it wouldn’t have occurred to her to buy a set of cushions.

We didn't have a fridge at first, so milk sat in a basin of cold water and frequently soured. We didn't have a phone either until I was 8. My dad learned to drive and we got a car when I was 10. I didn't consider myself poor but money was in short supply. My bike was second hand as was my first record player.

Kitchen roll, central heating, phone, answer phone.

We got all of the above later.

Shampoo and soap. I recall staying with my GPs every Christmas (Australia, so summer) and my mother made me and my sister wash under the outdoor tap without any soap. My cousin asked baffled why we did not wash in the actual shower with shampoo. My mother got all defensive and said we could have shampoo if we wanted, but we did'nt want to, it seemed. It's true that at home we usually used dishwashing liquid or laundry soap not actual shampoo.

I'm not 100% sure why. We were poor growing up, but it's only recently occurred to me that she may not have wanted us to wash inside the house at her parents place because as it turned out her father and older brother sexually abused her and her sisters growing up so she was maybe trying to take us out of that situation? Not sure.

I always thought of kitchen roll as posh too, tissues too. Door bells as well. The lack of bed/mattress/winter coat sounds quite neglectful though, how old are you out of interest?

I was 60s/70s but much the same, but all my friends were similar as far as I know. Never had a car, holiday, never went to the cinema, theatre or to a restaurant until I was in my own home. But we were always well fed and happy I think.

Early on (1985 and before) we had no:

• TV
• Washing machine (laundrette visits!)
• Phone
• fizzy drinks (my friends had those, I was jealous!)
• shower (bath with tap rubber shower attachment)
• Kitchen roll
• hot water on demand, without boiling the kettle

It seems like Bridget Phillipson calls this ‘poverty’. Which it really wasn’t. We went to school, got an education (of sorts), were well fed, warm, loved, supported by family etc. Had a brilliant happy childhood (I’m 50).

Ofc we have all of these things now. My kids go to private school and couldn’t imagine life without well, much I suppose.

.

I've never bought kitchen roll, just don't think I'd use it!

Nothing major was missing as such, just that we generally had a lot less stuff and we had a black and white tv until well after colour was the norm.

Yes proper tissues and doorbells seemed very fancy too. I’m early 40s so most of these things were pretty normal for most people I knew.

There was definitely some neglect (not because of kitchen roll of course) I would say, but I don’t think it was deliberate. More through ignorance and lack of life skills

A mother who showed any love.

We didn’t have a freezer or central heating or double glazing - but neither did most people - unless they were wealthy

lots of my clothes were homemade and we got one set of school uniform a year

No central heating, just one warm room with coal fire. Simple food but enough for all,of us.

Conditioner and a hair brush! My mum had poker straight, silky fine hair that she was always trying to get volume into (it was the 80’s) and she couldn’t seem to grasp that my frizzy knotty hair needed different treatment, so I suffered through her trying to yank the knots out of my hair with a comb for years. When I was about 8 I think I must have said something to my grandmother as she presented my mum with a bottle of conditioner and a brush to use on my hair. Utterly amazing (although I still hate having my hair touched!)

We had no heating upstairs, only downstairs and we were rarely allowed it on. But we had electric blankets. No double glazing. We did have a fridge a freezer and a washing machine but they always seemed to be breaking down.

Friends - we weren't allowed to have our friends round. If they called for me they were allowed in the door but no further.

No kitchen roll in the sixties that I can remember.

I had no hairbrush either, I’d forgotten that one.

Long knotty hair being gone through with a comb was no fun.

Kitchen roll here too.

Also a toaster - my parents always used the grill, and still do...even though they have a toaster that they keep in the cupboard.

Sounds very similar to me childhood. Mum used to put a bit of vinegar into our final rinsing water when washing hair. I remember Mum's old copper and her knob of blue to make the whites whiter. Everything got put through a mangle. We also got a week by the seaside each summer. No car so we went on the train. I never felt I was missing out though by because all my friends had the same as us. My Mum did eventually get a twin tub which was her pride and joy.

Also never had a new school shirt for each day, always wore them more than once.

Door bells were definitely posh!

I had a similar experience but it taught us to be more resourceful. We washed our hands with washing up liquid, we had cushions etc.
Sometimes I had to cut the top off a sock for a hair bobble.

I didn’t use conditioner until my teenage years. My kids don’t know they’re born in comparison but wouldn’t be well off, they have everything they need and a bit more.

No fridge (and even then only a tiny basic one) until I was 7. There was one shelf in the pantry made of marble called the "cold shelf."

A coal fire in the living room, a coke stove (anybody remember those?) in the kitchen/dining room combo. A bar heater on the wall of the bathroom.

I still know how to lay and light a coal fire; I keep wondering whether I'll ever get another chance to show off this esoteric skill!
We were middle class in some ways (one of the few families in my peer group at primary school to have a landline) but there were strong hints of genteel poverty.