Odd things - do you remember your mum doing these in the 60s?

[Waltons]

Putting a drop of water on a tin can before opening it, because if an air bubble came up through the water, the can might be blown? (I think that was the reason?)

The only bottle of olive oil in the house was absolutely TINY, and labelled "Olive Oil. BP". I think it cost a fortune, and was kept in the first aid cupboard. For earaches, perhaps?

[DressageNut]

Yes to the olive oil for medicinal purposes only. Mine also had a tin of kaolin which was heated up in a saucepan and the paste applied on some cloth as a poultice if you ever got a wound which looked septic (it seemed to work brilliantly, or maybe I was just lucky).

She also had a pressure cooker. It was a terrifying implement which needed careful handling and filled the kitchen with noise and hissing steam without seeming to cook the veg any quicker or do whatever it was supposed to.

Oh and styes on your eye were always rubbed with my grandmother's gold wedding ring.

[Squeegle]

I was born in mid 60s, I remember all the ladies had head scarfs. I had a trouser suit when I was about 5 - oh so up to date and trendy!

[tararabumdeay]

Ha, yes I remember the spaghetti for the first time, but it wasn't the foot long packet you get now. It was about three feet, almost as long as I was tall and came in a blue paper packet.

'How can we cook that?'
It was like magic the way it spiralled into the saucepan.

Then there was the sack of dirty potatoes in the garage - being sent, with the pan, to get 'big ones' in the pitch dark.

[NonnoMum]

I worked in a chemist in the later 80s and Olive Oil (small bottles) were much sought after. Three different sizes, too. Fancy!

[MrsPeelyWally]

My aunt had one of those wall mounted tin openers

we had one strategically placed on a wall to knock my bastard dad senseless every time he stood up from the table for my mum to easily use in our very small kitchen.

[MrsPeelyWally]

Shhhhh, my dh is still partial to a vesta

When one of my kids was studying in the UK he stayed with a family for a few months - one day he phoned me and asked what kind of an animal a Vesta was

[Freyanna]

We had the malt extract, cod liver oil and Haliborange tablets to stop us getting colds. If we caught one it was Vick on the chest with a warmed flannel and 'butterballs' (little pieces of butter rolled in sugar).

We had the Vesta meals too, I can still remember the Chow Mein with crispy noodles.

[Niggit]

Oh, what a brilliant thread!!

I remember the little bottle of olive oil too.

We had a bottle of kaolin and morphine for upset stomachs - you were only supposed to have a teaspoon or two at a time, but my Dad was a nurse and used to feed us tablespoonsful!

Vesta curries - oh yes!

Big blocks of carbolic soap with its distinctive smell.

Twin tub washing and spin drying machines, with the wooden tongs for transferring the clothes - I remember the smell of hot wet wood.

Watching the wrestling on a Saturday afternoon - Giant Haystacks, Big Daddy, Mick McManus...

The gadget that Mum used to push the runner beans through.

I could go on. And on. My mum is in hospital and I don't think I'll have her much longer. Thanks for the memories.

[DramaAlpaca]

My DM had a pressure cooker too, it had a heavy weight on the lid which had the scary habit of flying off occasionally and hitting the ceiling.

Squeegle my DM would never go out without her headscarf on. It was quite the fashion thing back then.

[PitilessYank]

I grew up in the US, but we likewise had a wall-mounted can opener. We also had a wall-mounted pencil sharpener with a rotating handle and a bid barrel to collect the shavings.

[PitilessYank]

bid>>>big

[Witchend]

We still use dripping. It's the best thing to grease the Yorkshire pudding dish, and the children have toast and dripping for a treat.

[ExcuseMyEyebrows]

Yes to olive oil only available from chemists. My gran used to warm a saucerful in the oven to massage her sore knees with.

And we had to buy orange juice from the clinic - it came in a small flattish bottle and we were given a spoonful every day along with cod liver oil. That was probably in the 50s though. We also had neat rosehip syrup for vitamin c, no wonder I had a mouthful of fillings before I went to secondary school!

[Chaotica]

My parents solved the bulk meat buying boredom by getting half a pig, and half a lamb, and 1/4 cow... Buying just one animal seems odd. We had dripping as well. (Wonder why I'm a veggie now.)

But my parents were also exotic weirdos -- they knew about pasta and garlic and Indian food. They could even cook it.

[HopperBusTicket]

Yes green Fairy soap next to the sink for scrubbing collars! My grandparents also had yellow coal tar soap in the bathroom.

I don't remember olive oil in small bottles from childhood but when I had my first son (in 2010) the midwife who gave him his first bath slathered him in Samaritans olive oil and gave us the bottle to take home. We used it religiously. She said she shouldn't use the bottle I'd bought from the supermarket.

We had a packet of blancmange in the cupboard and it took me years to work out it was the same stuff we ate called blo-monje.

My grandma (other grandma) had a spin dryer she'd put clothes in to dry. It was a bit like the swimming costume spinner at Center Parcs. She also kept a marrow in the kitchen under a tee towel. But I don't ever remember eating marrow at their house.

I'm only 41 but the above makes it sound like I grew up in the 1890s!

[healthyheart]

I swear by Fairy green soap it's the best for rubbing in to stains!

[Chaotica]

My dad used to bulk buy olive oil in gallon cannisters from Greek shops in London and bring them hundreds of miles home on the train. The little chemist bottles clearly weren't enough.

[HopperBusTicket]

Oh yes Big Daddy and Giant Haystacks! None of this WWE rubbish.

I still watch Bullseye on Challenge if I catch it because it reminds me of my grandad.

[PowerPantsRule]

Anyone remember pig fry? Think it was a northern thing in the 60s/70s, lots of different bits of big, like kidneys and liver and then you cooked it all up. The only yoghurt was Ski, and that was viewed as a REAL treat.

There weren't any 'proper' supermarkets in the late 60s/early 70s, just what would know be known as a large corner shop. There was no choice - only about five breakfast cereals for example and bread came in brown or white.

Did anyone have a stereogram to play records? They were the size of a large coffin, in some sort of Formica disguised as wood, with a turntable one side and a radio and a space to put records. I remember playing Hot Legs by Rod Stewart on it, along with loads of Abba songs.

[ratspeaker]

Can anyone else remember a saucer of water was always placed next to the gas fire?

Those electric fires with the flame effect?

[Doyouthinktheysaurus]

The sack of potatoes in the garage made me smile, that was always the children's job on our hours. Out to the garage with the spiders, saucepan in hand. Stick your arm in and there was always a rotten one which felt disgusting.

We didn't have pasta until they he 80's but it was always spaghetti and served with the sauce blobbed in the middle, like the yolk of a fried egg!

Our can opener was wall mounted and had a lifetime of crud stuck to it, complete health hazard but we had the constitution of oxes.

Dripping on toast was a common lunchtime delicacy, with lashings of salt and pepper.

[purpleporpoise]

Wall mounted tin openers...I used to beg to open tins!
DM had wall mounted weighing scales. They were awesome

DN had a gravy jug in the fridge that was used to make the next nights gravy then leftovers were put back in the fridge

[TheWoollybacksWife]

Early 70's rather than 60's but remember the little bottles of olive oil for earache. I think DM still has it in a cupboard. Everything else was treated with liberal doses of Lourdes water

We also had fairy soap and a twin tub and I can agree with Niggit about the smell of the wet wooden tongs.

Fruit, veg and eggs were delivered by a van on a Friday from a local farm. We ate organic before it became expensive. I suspect we didn't benefit from it as DM cooked veg all afternoon in the pressure cooker with a liberal spoonful of bicarb to keep the greens green

[purpleporpoise]

Oh and the tiny bottle of olive oil BP

[DramaAlpaca]

Oh yes, Ski yoghurt. I remember that as being delicious. It came in tall pots that were wider at the bottom than at the top, IIRC.

My grandad loved the wrestling on the telly, you've just reminded me of him.

We used to get given a drink of rosehip syrup every day for vitamin C. DM diluted it like squash, so my teeth survived.