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.

My 15 yr old brother worked on a fruit stall in the late 50s so we always had fruit even if it was the wouldn’t last till Monday type!

1973/4 in the three day week period? There was a plan so you knew when your power would be off for a few hours, we used to arrange to visit friends and they came to us when it was our turn! It was the reason we went to work abroad in 1974.

Tea cakes and hot cross buns are far nicer if toasted under the grill!

Wow no offence but it sounds like Britain was far more depressing and deprived in the 70s and 80s than I'd realised! I grew up in Canada (born in early 80s) and my parents weren't wealthy but we had everything people here have listed. Several TVs, and the toilet paper was pink!

we had carpets that didn’t reach to the walls.
stair carpeting that only covered the middle of the stairs.
only had pure orange juice at Christmas
used loo roll instead of tissues.
never had pork chops as they were too expensive.

Some of these posts have been sad to read. It makes me appreciate how fortunate I was (and still am) to have such a comfortable life.

My parents didn't have a lot of money when I was young, but we always had enough to eat, enough clean clothes, a warm bed, and plenty of attention. I was dressed in hand-me-downs, second-hand clothing, and home-sewn clothes through most of my childhood, but everything was in decent condition and fit well enough (if not, it was passed along for someone else to try). Same for toys and books. Many were used, but still perfectly good, but we had no shortage of things to play with, and my parents made sure that Christmas and birthdays were special occasions, whatever their budget.

I remember making the conscious choice not to ask for anything that I thought would be deemed too expensive, and we were taught not to waste things (food, hygiene products, electricity), but I never felt we were poor—just frugal.

my husabnd and I greew up quite poor. He still wont buyt tissues and used loo roll.

He has stayed incredibly miserly and it broke me down with the stress of it and I went into psychosis

We didn’t have tissues, either. I can’t remember anyone using them, and my social circle was quite varied. My own grandmother used cotton handkerchiefs always, which I recoiled from.

I made the same concious choice not to ask my single parent mum for things - my sister was quite the opposite.

the tragic thing for me is that this stayed with me in adult hood and I couldnt even ask my husabnd for thigns I needed - and thought of our money as his money. i didnt ned to ask him - it was my money too. I ended up in psychosis from stress when I didnt have thigns I desperately needed to finish my PhD.

The letting fresh bread get stale thing, I think came from the war. It might have been presented then as a healthier option. Bread bought unsliced was (is) very difficult to slice thinly and can produce a lot of waste in the form of crumbs. Its much easier to slice if its kept for a day or so so the loaf goes further. This was particularly true of the National Loaf. Bakers were actually not allowed to sell it on the day it had been baked. https://www.farmersgirlkitchen.co.uk/ration-book-cooking-tuesday-6th-november/

Yes. I worked in an independent high street chemist's (not part of a chain) and my boss rigged up a car battery and headlight to illuminate the shop. The till, of course, was manual; so we could still trade.

Rereading through this thread and it seems those of us growing up in the 60's/70's experienced similar upbringings. Lack of modern day comforts and hygiene products was, with hindsight, difficult as a growing teen.

All this has made we wonder how we all are now. Are we more resilient? Resourceful? How did we do career wise?

I went on to university and had a professional job. Own my own home etc. I am however, resilient and hate to waste food. I repair our clothes if possible and batch cook to save food waste.

Kitchen roll is pretty unnecessary, we grew up with it but then I wondered why I don't just use a teatowel to mop up spillages then wash it. I keep some kitchen roll in, but only for very occasional things like wiping oil etc

I used to love a pork chop with a piece of kidney still attached until 'they' banned them. Before we moved the butcher we used would always keep some 'under the counter' for those of us who liked them and wouldn't report him! That was probably in the late 1990s.

Just checked, it was 1993 they were banned!

And chickens with giblets!

Agree, for spillages of water and Juice etc I just use a washable cloth.

Why have chops with kidney been banned? After all, you can still buy both of them separately.

apparently now unbanned! https://www.bramblebeefarms.co.uk/products/pork-chops-with-kidneys?srsltid=AfmBOoqKtUAw2rQHaUxLBYW89e0f_Uw2_xNDJnbC0z8VCGoJ26uhMpSw
I guess after brexit?

The most useful reply I have ever received, thank you!

No bathroom and the loo half way down the garden until early 70's.

Sadly they are out of stock but brilliant to know.

I grew up in the 80s/ early 90s and have realised reading this thread just how privileged my life was, but i didn't know it at the time. My parents weren't loaded, but the only thing we really went without was expensive gifts and expensive clothes. I remember vividly being bullied at school because I didn't have the expensive trainers everyone else had, but what I had was clean and functional. And when I wanted a games console, the whole family clubbed together to pay for it and it was my only gift - which was absolutely fine with me! No bank of mum and dad. My dad loaned me the money for my first car and I paid back every last penny. We always had one long holiday abroad, and some weekends away too. Both my parents are from very working class backgrounds, left school at 15, but we never really wanted for anything. We weren't allowed TVs or tech in our bedrooms, but we each had a sink in our bedrooms (me and my 2 sisters) because my dad built our house.

I don't recall ever having any kitchen roll.