Years gone by

Davesnave

treliac wrote: »

Thanks, ash28, for portraying a broader picture. What all these people who generalise about baby boomers, or any other generation, forget is that there are widely varying discrepancies between different people, their fortunes, attitudes and lifestyles.

Totally agree. I'd like to thank ash28 for relating experiences similar to my own, but which I'm not brave enough to write down.:o

treliac

Davesnave wrote: »

I wonder if that aspect of teenage life is so very different?

I remember being a Mod, and although my own wardrobe was a bit limited, much of that scene was having the right gear to look smart, the new records as they were released and the money to spend in discos.:cool:

My wealthier (or working) friends rode scooters bedecked with totally useless chrome lights, mirrors, aerials and flags, all expensive stuff, paid for on the never-never. Poverty stricken sixth formers, like me, just prayed there would be enough free pillion space at weekends!

Naturally, we looked down upon the very uncool Greasers, with their oily motor bikes and unfashionable clothes; more like those of their Dad or Mum! They were most definitely yesterday's people....

Oh yes, we were very full of ourselves! :rotfl:

I'm sure you looked great and turned some heads.

T'was probably cheaper to be a hippy... fashionably scruffy clothes that could be bought at charity shops, rejection of capitalism and all it stood for..... even if it was only weekend hippyism.

treliac

Davesnave wrote: »

Totally agree. I'd like to thank ash28 for relating experiences similar to my own, but which I'm not brave enough to write down.:o

What ash28 (and the events of this week) also reminds us is that life is incredibly fragile and that our fortunes can change in an instant, which is something we would benefit from remembering!

Although I have my share of moans, I realise how wonderfully lucky I have been in so many respects so far. It helps to put our lives into perspective.

StevieJ

Davesnave wrote: »

Naturally, we looked down upon the very uncool Greasers, with their oily motor bikes and unfashionable clothes; more like those of their Dad or Mum! They were most definitely yesterday's people....

Oh yes, we were very full of ourselves! :rotfl:

Oh, I don't know, I think Fonda in Easy Rider was eminently cool and iconic as was like Steve Mcqueen in The Great Escape

SingleSue

Davesnave wrote: »

I wonder if that aspect of teenage life is so very different?

I remember being a Mod, and although my own wardrobe was a bit limited, much of that scene was having the right gear to look smart, the new records as they were released and the money to spend in discos.:cool:

My wealthier (or working) friends rode scooters bedecked with totally useless chrome lights, mirrors, aerials and flags, all expensive stuff, paid for on the never-never. Poverty stricken sixth formers, like me, just prayed there would be enough free pillion space at weekends!

Naturally, we looked down upon the very uncool Greasers, with their oily motor bikes and unfashionable clothes; more like those of their Dad or Mum! They were most definitely yesterday's people....

Oh yes, we were very full of ourselves! :rotfl:

My teens were spent buying market stall clothes and then adapting them to the latest fashions (all by hand sewing, sewing machines didn't like me back then just as they don't like me now!) for a fraction of the cost.

Going out I could do cheaply too......courtesy of a very short skirt, a sparkling personality and not looking too bad :rotfl:

My big outlay was on my bike, a decent helmet (£100 back in 1987!) and going to gigs.

Graham_Devon

If theres one thing about "back in the day", for me, it's that it all looked so innocent.

I mean, wood veneer on computers!

People in awe of 8 bit colour, after retuning their TV sets to tune into the computer unit which they inevitably have to set up each time as there is only one aerial socket, so end up laying on the floor playing the thing after waiting half an hour for a game to load, and having endured what can only be described as screaming mixed in with a bit of dial up modem.

Time seemed to be on peoples side, from what I see. Doesn't seem to be so much of it now with things lasting months, if you are lucky, and the excitement gone within a week. That wood veneer computer would have given 3 years of joyous gameplay, with simple games where the road moves instead of the car, which doesn't even look like a car, more a blob on the screen.

One remote control, if you were lucky, lovingly wrapped in seloptape...not 16 of the damn things.

The old days look brilliant, if you ask me!

purch

It is really easy to ramanticise the past, and really easy to forget the sacrifices people made, just to have a standard of living most/all wouldn't accept today.

My parents were basically 'forced' to buy a house in 1960, because the waiting list for a council house was too long in the area they lived and they had an extremely handsome and clever baby on the way, to go with their 2 year old and they only lived in very expensive rented 1 bed flat.

The council house waiting list being so long, was probably the best piece of luck they had, because at that time most peoples aspirations 'only' reached as far as a nice 3 bed council house for life.

But my Dad had to work 3 jobs to pay the mortgage, whilst my Mum went back to work as soon as I was 4 in school, and she had 2 jobs at certain times.

Times change rapidly, and I think looking back and trying to convince yourself things were somehow 'better' back then is self defeating, and will stop you facing and accepting the challenges of today.

Pobby

Glad I posted this.

I guess that buying a house by Mum and Dad in 1939 for £500 is a bit different from now. I had lots of aunts and uncles, different jobs. Sid was a school caretaker. Bill was a Co op manager, Aurther was a painter for the old Great Western Railways and my Dad was a charge hand for the same company in signal manufacturing. Not sure about Cyril, he was promoted to field captain in WW2 but I think he lost all his wealth on a bussiness failure. The only " proffesional " was Stan who was head of education supplies.

Lovely country house. The only one that had a full time working wife was Sid, my late God Father who had no kids. However, I would say that apart from Uncle Stan, none had a brill job.

I had an Auntie Gladys who was sadly widowed at 40. Well before I was born. She had to work and lived in a place with no bathroom and an outside lav. Oh the thought of using Izal toilet paper, lol.

However, to my mind there was stabilty and less dysfunction. I do remember a mate in the 60`s that still had gas light. No electrics, would joke about their gas powered television

Certainly I don`t recall financial sevices being touted about, the wonders of endowments, or failing pensions. My wife has about 4 pensions due next month. Not great but a help. One has a GAR applied to it. Wow, a couple of letters, fill this form in, fill the other in, else you will loose the GAR. Methinks that they are not happy giving out a GAR as the pot would buy nothing like it on standard money purchase.

Not sure where I am going with this, but I sure saw a lot of happier folk about. I can`t recall people fretting over jobs, relationships. I cannot remember such a thing as redundancy in those days.

How many today, with high mortgages are worried regarding their jobs. A good few I would guess.

Still we can take a lot of comfort that house prices are rising in Aberdeen. FREEDOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!