When I was a kid........................................................

[waterfalls]

My mum often put my hair up with elastic bands and it hurt like hell getting them out....................and awful cheap plasters that became part of your skin, could only be forced of after a long soak in the bath while painfully peeling them off with a knife.

anyone else

foundintranslation - are you a fellow Somerset child? I can't believe 'elastics' was a national phenomenon!

We played elastics in Gloucestershire!

England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, inside,outside, inside, on. - Then you progressed on to kneesys, thighsys, bumsys and wasitys!!

We used to play elastics in South wales. For some unknown reason they were called 'american 'lastics'

We also used to play 'two balls' against the wall (oh er missus!)

I think elastics is a global phenomenom - we played it in scotland, but were also shown the game by some russian girls in mozambique!

Striped flanelette sheets and pillowcases.
Patterned frost on windows in winter as we had no central heating and house being freezing until coal fire got going.
Getting washed in front of fire stood in a bowl.
Getting hair washed once a week then dad drying it in front of fire.
Mum doing washing with twin tub and brandishing those big wooden tongs with wet washing in them.
Proper chips made with fresh potato in chip frying pan.
Television finishing completely at midnight, all you got what that white dot.
Going to launderette with Mum to wash bedding and all the ladies helping each other to fold their sheets.
Going everywhere by train and bus as we had no car.
Going to Skegness for holidays and not being allowed a cornetto because the price was an extortionate 50p!!

I could go on all day!!

I always wanted a "Simon" but my Mum couldn't afford it because it was £50!!!

oooohhhh i love this thread, i have read the whole thing going omg i forgot that, and oh yes that was me!
I always had a new party dress twice a year
no school uniform in primary school
smash hits
getting dressed in the front room by the two bar fire
picnics on the green outside the houses
Quees silver jubliee street party
charles and di wedding, house decorated up with posters from the news papers in the windows
going to thee sea side in the boot of an estate car
i could go on forever.

we used to have the luxury of flanelette sheets! Do you remember nylon sheets?

flanelette sheets, they were lovely ours were bright orange, with electric blankets. we had nylon nighties - very static! no central heating, blimey forgot about that, it was sooo cold.

Bri-nylon sheets and nighties all at the same time.

You could light up the bedroom with sparks just by sliding between the sheets.

We played elastics too in the Yorkshire Dales. But for some reason it was called French Skipping. Ankle-ies, knees-ies, hips-ies, waist-ies. Then the elastic would break and sting your legs as it pinged back.

Anyone catch the series on BBC2 Saturday nights? "Summer of ...". Bringing back some great memories.

The first one was 1967 - the year I was born.
Then 1976 - very memorable summer for anyone who was around then.
Then 1989 - the year I married.

I joked to DH that the next one would be 1997 - the year DS1 was born, as the series seems to be mapping my memorable years.

Guess which year they are doing tonight?

Martianbishop - you must be about same age as me coz I remember all the who-ha about Aberffan disaster too when I was in infants.

We called it French elastic too.

They were talking about it on some kids programme or other recently (Blue Peter maybe?)

Doh, French Skipping I mean.

Loads of playground games kids aren't allowed to play now.

British Bulldog anyone?

we always had banana sandwiches for tea on a saturday, while the football results were being read.and we were allowed to stay up and watch starsky and hutch.Dad would always go to the pub for last orders and bring home crisps for us and a bottle of babycham for my mum.The crisps always smelt really smoky and exotic.
what about nylon socks with pictures on the side? I had some with 'pete's dragon' on them.
and yes-duvets were 'continental quilts' and quite posh.
we used to go to the shop with 10p and i always bought a betta bar which was like rice crispies glued together with toffee stuff.

I just remembered Caramac bars. Really sickly.

I use to play on building sites with a gang, we called ouselves 'the centre street mob' we used to make dens out of breeze blocks - classy!! The girls den even had carpet and cushions. Teenage boys used to give us some money so they could go in there with their girlfriends!!!!
Our mums would let us go to the local flea pit every Tuesday for the afternoon matinee. I used to get 50p to spend usually on tomato flavoured snaps - a snip at 2p and a fizz bang lolly for 10p.
Also had discos in the garage dancing to Boney M and Donna Summer. Every Tuesday I would listen to the top 40 countdown and record it on my tape recorder.
The girls would put on shows for our neighbours usually miming to Abba and with a fab dance routine - would give pans people a run for their money.
Long before car boot sales our neighbours would have yard sales and us children would swap records, trump cards etc.
I had the best of the best childhood and had an enormous amount of freedom. Back then we certainly knew how to make our own entertainment.

That's vomit not envy.

Caramac were disgusting.

Chocolate tools. it was really cheap nasty chocolate though. Very disappointing.

And apple tarts - boiled sweets apparently made with pure acid. My mouth is going all dribbly now just remembering them

every november all the kids in the neighbour hood would build an enormous bonfire on the patch of ground at the end of our road ( which everyone called 'the bottom')the teenage boys were in charge and would build it while us little kids had to go and collect wood.it would be dark (cos november) and we would be knocking on peoples doors asking if they had any wood and they would invite us into their back yards to collect old doors and stuff.There is no way we would let our kids do that now!!! it always got too big and the fire brigade would invariably come and put it out!

Dad always had to have kippers for sunday breakfast and mum used to open all the windows to try and stop the house smelling. The house would stink until Wednesday though.

Acid Drops! God I loved them. You could cut the top of your mouth open eating them but still want more.

Droooooool

i still eat caramac yum!