Long Drops- Tin Baths and Cast Iron Ranges.

[Ianw]

Originally Posted by Kiki

Carbolic might of helped then?:spider: :spider: :spider: :spider:

Yes we had carbolic soap, scented soap was not available the nearest we got to 'kind' soap was "Doctor Lovelaces Floating Soap", this was made in Clayton Le Moors on the canal bank near the main road bridge. This soap was a luxury item only used on Sunday to make us smell better for church, kid today dont know how well off they are.

[Mancie]

Jesus! you don't know.. tin baths? that was for posh bods from up street..my dad used to kick me all over back yard for my bath.. supper? my older bruv used to kick me all over back yard.. that was my supper..but the worst was havin to listen to frank Ifeild ontu gramaphone.. didn't even get a good kickin for mi supper!

[James Pickering]

I am amazed at the connections from generation to generation -- the march of events and the disappearance of elements of daily living. For instance, my grandma Baldwin remembered Queen Victoria's funeral and Abraham Lincoln's assassination. My mother remembered the first airplane flight and the sinking of the Titanic.

Here are some of my immediate remembrances of an older Burnley:

Trams -- I used to like watching the conductors switch the the electricity connector links using long poles, at St. James St. Centre and the Mitre -- lots of sparks and smell of ozone-- added fun when a Bobby caught his bicycle tires in the tram lines and fell off.

The gas lamps in my Grandma Baldwin's terrace house on lower Duckett Terrace -- adjusting the mantle so it burned bright white. Listening to the Relay radio. Going up the alley to the back door of the General Havelock on Accrington Rd. to fetch beer in one of those Parrot jugs with a saucer on top to prevent spilling (my Grandma ran a tab) -- I always took a sip on the way back. Using a taper to light the way up stairs to go to bed when I stayed at her house. My Mum Donkey stoning Grandma's front step when she got old.

The Salvation Army band playing at the top of Plumbe St. on Sunday morning during the early 1930 Depression years -- my Grandpa Pickering used to take me on the bus to the top of Brunshaw (or was it Pike Hill?) -- we walked though Agg Wood to the Labor Party cottage at Roggeram.

Saturday Morning matinees at the Colesseum Cinema in Rosegrove -- later at the Odeon in Burnley (Mickey Mouse Club) -- cartoons; Jungle Jim serial (Johnny Weissmuller); two Cowboy films (Buck Jones, Ken Maynard, Tim McCoy) -- no singing like the later "sissy" cowboys -- the only thing they kissed were their horses; A Charlie Chan serial.

"Dandy" and "Beano" comics -- Jimmy "Schnozzle" Durante, Harold Lloyd, Laurel & Hardy, Arthur Askey and "Stinker" Murdoch, etc.

World War 2 breaking out -- Sunday, 3 September, 1939. I was walking home from Sunday school (St. Stephens) up Rock Lane. When I stopped at the level crossing at Towneley Station to train spot the signal box man yelled out "t 'wars started lad!". When I got home my Mum was crying because my Dad was talking about joining up -- "The Great War all over again" she said.

I know we will all come up with many more memories, keyed by each other's posts.

James

[Ianw]

james pickering, I know we will all come up with many more memories, keyed by each other's posts.

You surelly are a blast from the past 'James' how refreshing to have you on Burnley & Pendle more power to your well used elbow,Ian.:please:

[James Pickering]

Originally Posted by Ianw

You surelly are a blast from the past 'James' how refreshing to have you on Burnley & Pendle more power to your well used elbow,Ian.:please:

Thanks, Ian. When I was a young boy I used to sit and listen ("children should be seen and not heard!" - remember?) to my grandparents and their friends reminisce about the old days --and share their latest illnesses and operations.

I used to think a lot of it was boring, but I did learn a lot - including some juicy secrets along the way, even though they lowered their voices ("little pigs have big ears") when divulging them. Now I treasure those stories - they are part of the fabric of my life.

Of course back then I could never imagine that I would see the year 2000 or be alive and kicking when I was almost 80! Life is so very short -- I try to live every day to the max -- swapping anecdotes, yarns and stories about the "old days" is, to me, a great thing to do. I hope many others chime in here on this. Every contribution enriches our lives and reveals much about the rich history of Burnley itsef -- still my favorite town!

James

[Magpi 47]

Yes, I am one of those older folks too......I remember that the only time we had a fire in the bedroom was if someone was ill....and then it was usually a shovelful of hot coals from the fire in the kitchen.
Friday night was bath night. The range was filled up with cold water and it heated up during the afternoon...the Slaxone copper boiler was lit (I used to dread being asked to do this as it nearly always backfired and singed your eyebrows off)....the tin bath was hauled in from out of the back yard and swilled with a kettle full of boiling water.
In our house the cleanest were bathed first....that meant the babies...and me.....being the only girl. The mucky lads were the last.

I remember being asked to take the bath outside to empty it.......it was freezing outside and rather than take the bath out to the grate, me and my eldest brother tipped the contents of the bath down the back steps. That night there was a very heavy frost and the water froze. My mum used to go out to her cleaning job at 5am......and she went A over T down the icy steps......we got a right leathering for that misdemeanor.

It was so cold in the bedrooms that we made ice lollies on the window bottom inside the bedroom. Good old Days...No I don't think so!

[Ianw]

magpi47 someone keeps moving the letter on my keyboard

I have the same problem, usually after 3 glasses of Merlot, good to see another 'Claytoner' on B&P magpi47, no taking things for granted with our generation brought up on rationing and no central heating.
Didn't the winters seem colder and longer?
:bedtime:

[snowy]

I remember those times,and although they seem rough on looking back,I would not change my upbringing because it taught you to value the things we have today and appreciate it all the more.. a few of my memories....
Most of the above from the older folks on here with a few additions.
All we needed in those days for enjoyment were a football,cricket ball and bat and a rope for skipping..do you remember....
Dripping butties
Pobbies(milk and bread)
Toasting bread on the fire with toasting fork
Pendle bottoms at easter
Bobby chasing you off the street if you were playing football or cricket
Getting chased when you broke a window
Going round asking people if they had any empty bottles you could take back for money for the pictures.
Newspaper was your tablecloth.
Going to gas place on saturday morning for a bag of coke (coal rationing)
I remeber when I was small,my mother used to wash us in a tin basin on the table.At the same time every night when she was doing this,she always had the radio on to family favourites.The theme tune was (With a song in my heart). Every time I hear that song,it reminds me of having soap up my nose.
The good old days? I think so.

[Kiki]

How things have changed!

[James Pickering]

Good to hear from everyone who contributes to this thread. I guess reflection always makes the past seem great and wonderful -- nostalgia is a magical elixer as you grow older.

However, I do think today's kids are missing so much of the fun that we experienced -- the simplicity of everyday living as it was when I was a young boy -- I enjoyed the journeys of my youth: now it seems everyone is more interested in getting to the destination -- the final destination will come very quickly -- no need to hurry it along.

I reflect on the way our grandchildren and great-grandchildren are growing up -- I swear none of them are as happy and joyous as we were. Today it is all about "being cool" and maintaining the proper image -- I just wish they would laugh out loud more often! I think I did pretty well with my youth, after all, I did survive the Great Depression -- and WW2.

James

[Kiki]

It is a shame alot of old stuff is far superior to the tat about now. I was born in the early fifty,s so do partly remember what you are all on about. We did have a bathroom , but lived in a victorian house where birds fell down the chimney. All the kids around had a good time playing out with Towneley Park and the fields to play in. We used to jump the stream . and play out most of the day .

[Magpi 47]

My mother constantly apologises for my childhood.....like not being able to provide what the kids of today get. I keep trying to tell her that my past has made me the resilient person that I am. I have been poor, and though I am not rich now bt any means, I value the things that I have earned. My background has taught me to pay as I go....if you can't pay then you can't go.
Although we never had fancy toys or posh clothes, we had more time with our parents.....fishing in streams for tiddlers....home made fishing nets.... a bit of wire and the foot of an old stocking.
I liked dripping toast too...especially just before bed with a mug of steaming hot cocoa. No they weren't the good Old days...but they were my past.

[Kiki]

My Mum used to say the same to me but i had her time when she was there and although my Dad was ill she coped and made us three children laugh. She struggled and never showed it and made me stronger through this.