Past Recessions - what were your experiences?

[Deleted User]

I read this book a few weeks ago and could not put it down

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Austerity-Britain-1945-1951-Tales-Jerusalem/dp/0747599238/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1230126662&sr=1-1

we had 3 tiny children and a new mortgage in the early 70s so life was incredibly tough. However everyone was in the same boat and we didn`t have any other debt. Many men and women could make do and mend and children were happy to be out and about in handmade clothes and with homemade toys (still). We basically lived on a vegetarian diet and put the monthly salary into envelopes.

The big difference today is level of debt and expectations of having it all and the lost art of making things

Together with austerity came satisfaction and a simpler, better way of living

drbeat

Generali wrote: »

I think the unions thought they were about to start a socialist paradise. Instead they got 11 years of Thatcher plus 7 of John Major. Possibly not what they had in mind.

LOL! :rotfl:

bo_drinker

Thatcher......... Just the sound of that womans name makes me cringe. I remember Major eating peas on Spitting Image, meanwhile he was seeing to Edwina the sly fox. :eek:

neverdespairgirl

wymondham wrote: »

More predictions this will be a bad one:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financetopics/recession/3919026/UK-Recession-will-be-worst-since-1947.html

any of our older readers recall this one at all ???

My Granny used to talk about the winter of 1947 to 1948, it was a horrific time. Her husband had come back from the Far East and been discharged from the Navy at the beginning of 1947, and during the following winter was very ill with malaria. Her son, aged 4, had broken both his legs trying to jump down all the stairs at once. My mother was a newborn baby, born at the end of October 1947, and it had been a difficult birth, at home. It was freezing cold, and coal or wood was very hard to get hold of, and she was terrified my mother would freeze to death. So she spent most of the winter carrying my mother around all the time in a sling, to make sure she was OK. Food rationing was severe, and they spent a lot of time cut off by snow drifts and ice (NW England).

It made her shudder decades later.

Generali

neverdespairgirl wrote: »

My Granny used to talk about the winter of 1947 to 1948, it was a horrific time. Her husband had come back from the Far East and been discharged from the Navy at the beginning of 1947, and during the following winter was very ill with malaria. Her son, aged 4, had broken both his legs trying to jump down all the stairs at once. My mother was a newborn baby, born at the end of October 1947, and it had been a difficult birth, at home. It was freezing cold, and coal or wood was very hard to get hold of, and she was terrified my mother would freeze to death. So she spent most of the winter carrying my mother around all the time in a sling, to make sure she was OK. Food rationing was severe, and they spent a lot of time cut off by snow drifts and ice (NW England).

It made her shudder decades later.

'47 was horrible by all accounts I've seen. It sounds like your family had it tough.

On the plus side, in '47 much wealth (houses, roads, factories, railways, docks etc) had been destroyed or left with reduced capacity, not a problem now.

On the minus side, in '47 the UK could pretty much feed itself. In 2008 about 1/3rd of the food consumed by UK-ers is grown in the UK. If international trade breaks down as a result of the bank/credit thing going on then things will get really bad, really fast for the UK.

Happy Christmas, but?

Fred1_2

bo_drinker wrote: »

Thatcher......... Just the sound of that womans name makes me cringe.

There won't be a sober person in Wales the day that !!!!! dies.

tuggy12

Fred1 wrote: »

There won't be a sober person in Wales the day that !!!!! dies.

Just like any other day then:rotfl:

kaflinkle

I was born 1969 and whilst too young to appreciate the 1970's recessions, I do remember there being a lot of strikes. I also remember the smell of 1976 where the bin men went on strike and the incredible hot summer making things a bit smelly....

The 80's recession didn't affect me much either, can't remember if I was in a recession proof job or drunk a lot (possibly both).

I've already been made redundant once this year from an Investment Bank but found another job in the same industry and up until a week ago, was going to lose a second one in a year! Got a last minute save thankg god.

My father was made redundant from the print but saw it coming so did the knowledge so he didn't feel any pain as such.

The point I'm trying to make is that this recession is affecting me more but it's probably due to the industry I'm in....not a good time to work in the financial sector.

tonygee_3

I must admit the late eighties and nineties were the best time of my life,its how you deal with the setbacks and how you learn from them.This thread is full of redundancies,unemployment and repossessions I would urge anyone who hasnt already done so to prepare for the tough times ahead but enjoy life as well.
Merry XMAS to all

drbeat

bo_drinker wrote: »

Thatcher......... Just the sound of that womans name makes me cringe. I remember Major eating peas on Spitting Image, meanwhile he was seeing to Edwina the sly fox. :eek:

I'm sure it's because Thatcher was a woman!

You do know that it wasn't really Major on spitting image? It was actually a puppet.

And don't all Politicians usually see to someone? Male or female?