What was it like growing up in the 50’s/60’s?

[WhyBeDennyDifferent]

I’m feeling a bit nostalgic about my mum and have been pondering what her childhood was like growing up in the 50s/60s in Northern Ireland.
Would anyone care to share their experiences? Even just daft things like what sort of dinners you had, how far you had to walk to school etc. What was expected of you as a child? How did your parents bring you up?

I’m aware everyone’s experiences will vary, I was just looking for a general idea.

Thank you

Anyone?

Well ... not from NI, but born in 1954 so think I can offer some insights. For a start, life was much simpler. No internet of course, homes with telephones were the exception rather than the rule (in our town anyway) and televisions were all black and white - if you had one. Our shops were all specialist shops and we shopped at them all, getting our vegetables from the green grocers, meat from the butcher, bread from the baker etc. I can clearly recall the opening of the first "supermarket" in our town: it was greeted with a great deal of scepticism and many mutterings of "That'll never last".

I walked to school from the day I started at infants, which took me about 20 minutes. Although we owned a car, being taken to, collected from, school was something of a talking point and only happened in emergencies or on special occasions.

When we were ill, the doctor came out to us, and my mum made a special effort to tidy up if the doctor was coming (not that our house was messy by any standards). My gran lived close to use and going to see her was expected every Sunday. She had a room in her house which was her "best" room, with the "good" furniture, and it was only used at Christmas or on "best" occasions. Similarly, she had a set of crockery and a huge canteen of cutlery which were only used for Christmas (I still have the cutlery!).

On Sundays my brother and I went to Sunday school after lunch and we had to be very ill or actually away on holiday to get out of it.

My dad was in the licence trade and he sold beer out of barrels in his shop - people would bring in their own bottles to be filled. Other soft brinks were all sold in glass bottles and they were subject to a deposit repayment when returned to the shop. He always wore a shirt and tie, which was the norm at the time, and my mum always wore a dress, or a skirt and top. I can't recall her wearing trousers until I was in my teens.

Just a few musings .....

Born 57 ...was abroad till 63 returned to England at end of the very harsh winter . Rag and bone men with horse drawn carts, knife sharpener man would come round every few months and set up a whetting wheel at the top of the road .
Most adults had been through the war and it was the main topic of conversation it seemed , also lots of people who had important roles in the Empire but then retired or de mobbed and so still very hierarchical class structure in place .
Remember hearing the Beatles and the Stones on dansette record players as adults complained bitterly about lack of national service . So much more ...

Okay I'll go.

Spent my first few years in a terraced house on a cobbled street in a big northern city. The toilet was down the street and was shared by four other households. There was a gazunder for going during the night.

We ate usually the same thing every week. A proper Sunday dinner, then like many people, tinned salmon and salad followed by tinned fruit at tea time. Monday - leftover meat plus veg and jacket spuds. Tuesday broth. Wednesday sausage and mash. Thursday usually mince, stew or corned beef hash. Friday fish and chips. Saturday salad with chips. Towards the 70s fish fingers and the like started making an appearance on the table.

We didn't have a telly until I was 3. We had no telephone until I was 18. No one in our family had a car until after I left home.

As I grew up I had jobs to do like keeping my room tidy, washing up, running errands etc. School was a short walk, a massive old building with outside toilets.

We moved to a council flat when I was a bit older. It was good to have a bathroom and a twin tub for washing rather than going to the bagwash and using a mangle.

I learned very early on to be self-reliant - I could change a plug at age 8 for instance. This was thanks to my Dad who was very strict but usually fair, and who was very modern for his time in that he believed that housework was not women's work and if there was a job to be done or a meal to be made whoever was available just needed to get on with it. He encouraged me to do stuff on my own and I'm still benefiting from those lessons now - I always have a holiday abroad on my own every year [I don't have an OH] as well as going with friends.

I had to be in at 11:00 pm from mid teens until I got married - nobody could collect you and we never used taxis except in dire emergency. Pubs closed at 10:30 pm. Going out for a meal was a Big Thing.

We understood that we couldn't have 'stuff'. We knew what not being able to afford meant. We did get a 'holiday' every year, usually a few days at a relative's house.

I was very happy.

I was born in 1960, in England (mainly lived in Nottinghamshire, then the north east.
I was the oldest girl out of 5 children, my Dad was a professional but we were still quite poor as my Mum didn't go out to work until my youngest sister went to school, about 1970.
Life was pretty basic really, plain simple food, very few clothes, my Mum worked very hard to keep us fed, clean and tidy. I can remember doing things like home baking, polishing her brass and silver ornaments, mending clothes, things that I rarely do nowadays (well I do sew buttons on and mend little holes in my clothes but I don't do the other things).
Sometimes my Mum met us from school, sometimes we walked home. We did have loads of freedom from a very young age. In the summer we used to go to the park all day long.
On the down side, I can remember always feeling cold in the winter. We didn't have central heating or double glazing so there was ice on the inside of the window. We also had to wear skirts instead of trousers, usually with knee socks. I can't remember ever having nice cosy boots, so I always make sure my daughter has a nice pair every winter.

I was born in 1944 so grew up in the fifties - youngest of 4 girls into a catholic family. Our family life was very harmonious - I never heard my mom or dad raise their voice let alone quarrel. There was enough money for essentials, but no car or labour saving devices in the kitchen. We had a week at Colwyn Bay (Wales) every year - went on a coach and we were hugely excited by it and I used to cry when we had to go home!

Life was uneventful I suppose, mostly centred around school, church and occasional visits from aunts. As kids we mostly played outside - I don't recall us going into each other's houses - we "called for them" by knocking on their door as they all lived locally. We played in each other's gardens, but mostly just any patch of land or wide pavement. We played hopscotch (squares drawn in chalk on the pavement and you kicked a stone around keeping off the lines. We played with balls throwing and catching, hide and seek, chasing each other called "tick" and made up games of all sorts. I hated Sundays when we weren't allowed to call for anyone in case they had guests!

We walked to school though got the bus back home (it was about 5 miles) and bus to church. We did quite well for clothes as my mom was keen on new clothes and there was always a new summer dress or winter coat, though being the youngest I mostly had "hand me downs" which I resented.

As someone else said life was simple compared to today and meals were very much like someone above said, though we didn't have tinned salmon and even tinned fruit was a rare treat. Mom shopped every day I think and that must have been a chore but she never complained. And fish and chips were never from the chipshop - they were home made. Mom cooked a fruit cake every week and that was it - shop bought cakes were only for birthday parties.

When I was a teenager I went around with 3 other girls - mostly in the park or the catholic youth club, sometimes the cinema and best of all rock and roll and jazz dances.

I consider I had a very happy childhood compared to today's kids. I have 2 sons and the both have families and the one family has a house stacked with toys so I couldn't buy them anything just give them the money. I can only remember a few toys in our house but we never felt deprived.

Hope that helps

I was born in 1948 and the whole post-war mentality was central to my childhood - never wasting anything; every scrap of food had to be cleared from your plate; slippers received stick-a-soles when they wore out etc. And I can remember rationing - mainly for sweets. We had NHS orange juice doled out and cod liver oil by the bucketload - yuk!

Shops were individual as someone else has said - no supermarkets. And certainly no carrier bags. Butter cut to order and wrapped in greaseproof paper.

I remember a small dress shop that serviced our small town - there was a fascinating system whereby a cashier sat in a sort of crow's nest and money paid by customers was put in a little canister and whizzed to the cashier on a pulley system, which whizzed it back with a hand written receipt and your change - very quaint!

Winters were cold - seriously cold. No central heating and no carpets - you had to scrape the ice off the inside of the bedroom window in the morning to see what the weather was doing; and to brave the cold linoleum of the landing to get to the toilet at night.

When I was 5 I went to my first school which was a bus ride away, with a walk at either end and roads to be crossed. After the first day, I did it on my own, and even chaperoned a younger child on the journey after a few weeks. No-one batted an eyelid at this. Babies were left in prams outside shops - everyone did it.

All children went to Sunday School - they were shoved out of the door regardless - I think this is when siblings were conceived!

And Saturday morning children's cinema was a riot - a proper riot with sweets being hurled around and boys scrapping in the aisles. The worst place to sit was in the stalls under the balcony as you would get bombarded with litter (and worse!) - the film was an irrelevance - it was a bit of freedom.

In my teens I was sent off to the church youth club where folk huddled round the walls with nothing to say to each other.

We were let out of the house in the mornings from the age of about 4 and made our way to the "rec" where we would play with our mates all day. There was the odd weird bloke around but we just ignored the willy waving. We just had to be home in time for tea.

It was a very different world so please forgive your parents and in-laws if they seem surprised by present-day child-rearing!

This is starting to sound like the Monty Python sketch where the old men exaggerate the hardships of their childhood!

There were so many things we take for granted that we didn't have then. Washing machines were not automatic, ours was filled from the tap via a hose and the outlet hose drained into the sink (both put away after use). No central heating, ice inside the (single glazed) windows on winter mornings. I wore bedsocks, mittens and a bed jacket in bed to keep warm.
We did have a phone as my dad was on call on the electricity lines - it was in the hall.
No fridge - milk was kept in the sink in summer to try to keep it cool.
Small black and white TV with 2 channels - BBC and ITV.
Eggs delivered every week, as was meat.
The Co-op delivered your order of food too.
Walked to school on my own from age 5, about 15 minutes, crossing roads.
Played out in summer until we were hungry/mealtimes, mum had no idea where we were (that was completely normal round us).
One car per family if you were lucky and often the wife didn't drive - and rarely worked outside the home on my estate.
Hand-me-down clothes were the norm.
Very different from today!

I was born in the 60's two kids, council house, Dad left so just us three. We had to usual roast on Sunday, that meat lasted till Wednesday. after than things like fishfingers or a rubbery burger for tea. Main meals all week were at school, proper meat and two veg with a pudding. We never had snacks between meals. Usually we'd have a pack of sweets at some point in the week. Spent one night a week at grans, so mum went out.
Mum worked two jobs and saved a lot, she'd take us on a two week holiday to Majorca every year, we didn't know any better as we'd only been abroad. It was important to her so we did it.

Have you seen the “Back in time for Dinner/Tea” serieses of bbc2 OP? They give a really good feel for that kind of domestic and social history. Back In Time for Tea is definitely currently on iPlayer.

Back in Time for Tea is exactly like my 60s/70s childhood.

We had a gas fridge! - little pilot light underneath it to keep it going.

I was born into a middle class family and I grew up in England during the 60s. My mother had a daily cleaner whom we children adored. We were lucky, I think I knew even then, because we had our own bedrooms, central heating and holidays abroad - and this was when package holidays were in their infancy.
I remember lots of talk about WW2. I seem to remember my mother doing a lot of baking, she once told me that everyone had to bake because there weren't many things in the shops like sausage rolls or jam tarts (2 of her favourite baking things) .

Coal boiler for hot water, no central heating. There would be fireplaces which would sometimes have fires.
No duvets but sheets, several blankets and an eiderdown and a very cold bedroom. It would take quite a long time to make your bed well every morning.

Washing by hand, or at a laundrette. Few washing machines,

Women wore elastic girdles, so even though they might wear a tight straight skirt their bottoms looked modest underneath. Women wore suspenders and stockings. Tights came in in about the mid 1960s but most people were still wearing suspenders so they must have cost a lot.
Women teachers would always wear a suit or matching dress and jacket.

At children's parties there would be jelly and cake and simple games like pass the parcel, or musical chairs. Presents would be modest.

Little boys always had to wear shorts however cold it was.

At school every morning began with prayers and hymns. It seemed enjoyable to sing these.Children read a lot.
At primary school you mostly did reading, writing and maths. You would read and learn poetry too. There would also be some art and games. You would learn some sewing. Music lessons might come from the BBC radio and the children would have a booklet to follow and learn particular songs over the term. There was also music movement and mime organised by the BBC. The teacher would turn on the radio and the children would follow the instruction to be a tree waving in the wind, say, wearing their vests and knickers.

When you got home from school there would be a story read on the radio.

There was a good children's magazine called Look and Learn. Girls would get comics called Bunty or Judy with girls' stories in like "The Four Marys" about girls who were at a boarding school. Girls were like young girls till much older.

People had fewer possessions. Houses did not look so smart. Few fitted carpets - there might be lino on the floor. Bathrooms were basic. Many people did not even have a television, washing machine, telephone or car. If you had a telephone you used it sparingly. Calls abroad were very very expensive. Holidays were rare and unlikely to be abroad. It was common to have a family picnic for fun.

But not many mothers worked and somehow people did not feel completely poor because of it - whereas now most families could not manage if only one worked. On the other hand mothers had an enormous amount to do at home, and as well as cooking, cleaning, and laundry would knit and sew clothes, and write letters.

You always had meals sitting down. On Sundays there was often a big family meal, "Sunday Lunch" with a roast and a nice pudding. There was no take away food except fish and chips. Frozen TV dinners were rare and began in the form of Vesta curry as far as I can recall, in about the mid 1960s. There were fish singers. Some of the worst food I recall is tinned (soggy) spaghetti hoops on toast with a vile tasting margarine on it!

Lots of people went to the cinema every weekend and this was enormously pleasurable.

If you had a television popular programmes were Coronation Street, Top of the Pops, Robin Hood, The High Chaparral, Bewitched, The Frost Programme, then in the later 60s Thunderbirds and The Avengers, The Munsters,.

Everyone was mad for the Beatles and The Rolling Stones, but there were lots of other good singers like Lulu and Billy Fury and it was the age for pop music. No one wanted to miss Top of the Pops.

You could get a quarter pound of sweets chosen from a jar in a sweet shop and these were put in a small paper bag. But drinks like coke or lemonade were treats. So were crisps. There were no bumper bags of anything.

School dinners were proper meals of meat and two vegetables with a pudding such as tapioca pudding with a spoonful of jam in the middle.

In the 1950s and early 1960s you could wear pretty dresses with a petticoat underneath. Then in the 1960s straight styles came in.

People grew up much faster. When I look back on friends' dads I can now see they were really very young by todays standards - maybe about 24 when they married - and had a lot of responsibility.

In the winter of 1963 you could skate on canals.

At the cinema the National Anthem would be played and everyone had to stand up. At school of a teacher came into the room you had to stand up.

Shops closed early and were never open on a Sunday. It was very rare to go out to eat. Ice cream was very bad, more like an odd kind of cold, sweet, chalky butter.There was not the choice of food there is now, no olive oil for example.

There were many good aspects, it was wonderful to be born then long enough after the war for there to be hope. Prosperity grew, all sorts of freedoms and reforms came in. We had so many years of peace (if not in Ireland, if our dads were not in a war abroad). But there was a dark side in how little choice women had especially once they had children. Children could get smacked including at school. Where abuse happened people tried to cover it up. If you had an unwanted pregnancy it was terribly upsetting and difficult.

I forgot to say that at school you also got milk every day as well as the proper dinner. Babies were given orange juice and rose hip syrup for vitamins. Probably children as a whole, rich or poor, were never been healthier in the general sense especially with all the natural exercise of walking to and from school and playing out which others have described.

Children were seen, but not heard. Woe betide you if you interrupted an adult talking. Monday was laundry day. Sunday no shops open and you had Sunday roast and for tea doorstop bread and jam and cakes. The meat left from Sunday you had in either a stew, cold with chips or minced for shepherds pie for a few days. Always same food same day. Saturday fried breakfast then weekly shopping.
You had to say please and thankyou, go to church on Sunday and you had to walk to school even in a foot of snow. ( we had outside toilets at school which froze in the winter). We played for hours hopscotch, made our own gocarts out of fruit crates and old pram wheels, went out for the day in the summer holidays with mates, sandwiches and homemade pop and came home teatime.
If you were naughty you got the cane at school and you would get a thick ear off the local bobby if he caught you doing things you shouldn't. You might have got the belt at home for punishment.
That was in London.

True toomanymiles sweets were real treats. 8 blackjacks for a penny! Aniseed balls and liquoirice!.

Thank you, this is all really interesting. I think I’ve just always taken for granted how easy life can be these days. My mum would speak about how tough life could be when she was a child but I was a self centred teenager and didn’t take much in Now she’s gone I can’t help but wonder what made her who she was if you know what I mean.

Seems like food and machines have made the biggest difference!

Born 1958.
No tv, no fridge, no car, washing machine had a mangle.
Food was very plain, definitely never had a take away.
No alcohol in the house, wine with a meal was unheard of!
It was all very "war time austerity"...although it was several years post war, the ethics certainly lived on.
All our furniture was from auction rooms (I longed for a matching three piece suite!) and we never had a fitted kitchen.
If you watched "Back in time for tea" my childhood was stuck in the 40's.
But I was thoroughly loved and perfectly happy!
We learnt lots of poetry and music (I had piano lessons from age 4)

Oh and the house I was born in had a bathroom but no hot water...it had to be heated on the cooker and carried upstairs!

If you could choose, would you live how we live now, or go back to how it was?
I like the sound of the simplicity and less waste. Not sure I could cope with scraping ice off the window though!

I was born in 1959. I was lucky, compared to many, as my parents were clearly middle class. However, that didn't mean that we had a lot of money! In the early days of their marriage, my dad used to send his cheque for the Gas Board (as it used to be!) to the Electricity Board, and vice versa, to earn him a few extra days before they were cashed, but also to stop anyone from cutting him off.

My mum was at home with us until we went to school, and then she went back to work as a teacher, and we had a 'housekeeper' - basically a glorified cleaner who would also cook for us and be with us until one of the parents got home from school. Teachers in those days did a lot less, and my parents were both generally at home from around 4.30pm

I used to go shopping with my mum, which involved separate trips to the green grocer, the butcher, the baker and the general grocer.

I remember before we got central heating, which would have been around 1965, and it was fairly routine to wake up to Jack Frost - ice patterns on the inside of our windows.

We moved in the early 70s, to a bigger house which had full central heating - a real luxury! - and remember getting colour television. There were only 3 channels - BBC1, BBC2 and ITV. And there wasn't generally anything on until late afternoon. Children's TV was fairly basic, and was Blue Peter (or Magpie if you watched ITV!).

On rare occasions we might have ice cream for pudding (a "brick" of Neapolitan - vanilla, strawberry and chocolate thirds -was the height of loveliness) which meant someone had to run down the road to the corner shop half way through the meal - no freezers!

How did the shops keep the ice cream?

I was a child in the 70s but some of these posts have brought back memories. I was always cold in winter and had chilblains and chapped backs of knees- ouch!

Girls would get comics called Bunty or Judy with girls' stories in like "The Four Marys" about girls who were at a boarding school.

Getting a letter published in Bunty was the highlight of my childhood!