Ask yer Granny!

Butterfly_Brain

I was talking to my sister yesterday and she is currently doing our family tree because she has all of Mum and Dads birth certificates etc.
My maternal Grandfather worked in an office in London but was never the same after he came back from WW1 severely shell shocked and he died at the age of 48. My maternal Grandmother never worked she was just expected to stay at home and look after the house, she lost a brother at the age of 17 in 1916 on the Somme ( Mametz), he had joined up because someone had sent him a white feather, she also lost a on at the age of 18 months old who died of pneumonia and my Grandfather died shortly after.

seajaxx

suzybloo wrote: »

the same area as JackieO and seajaxx's families, but a wee bit further south towards Kirriemuir

Small world suzybloo, my GGGrandmother was a Kirrie girl! I don't know what she worked at though. I have a lovely picture of her in front of an old fashioned range stove.

suzybloo wrote: »

When my grandad was older he moved out to the country - if I recall correctly to work in the mills along the river here, then going on to work in a dairy, and met my granny who's folk were off the travellers (Stewarts), this granny worked on the land too and then she worked in the local cannery (Smedleys). The fields round here are one of the best areas in Scotland for Tatties, rasps, strawberries and turnips so these were the mainstays in the diet. LOL!

And we have one of the best salmon rivers here for poaching! :rotfl: Have you read Sheila Stewart's books, or is that a silly question in that you're bound to have?

seajaxx

Re my last post about poaching. Not poaching as such, but I know for a fact my Grannies and Grandads used to live more "on the land" than we do now. Particularly the country ones, but some of the town ones too. My dad remembers going rabbiting on his bike up the sidlaws in Dundee to bring something back from the pot. All the grandads (unless they were living in flats) had beautifully kept kitchen gardens. Flowers at the front, veggies at the back. And a couple kept hens. Pigeon pie was a favourite as well, I understand.
Now, we have very easy access to game here, knowing a few people, but I don't tend to go and catch it/clean it/cook it myself. I can clean it and do cook it, but leave the catching up to someone else, and I think that's the key. People could do things, whether it was making clothes, gardening, that type of thing.
I recently wrote a post on another board about learning DIY. My dad, grandad, uncles (the older ones) could all go into a shed at the bottom of the garden and come out with everything from darning bobbins to tables. I suspect they learned the skills within the family and it was taken as read they would know these things. Now woodwork is a "subject" at school, it's a lot different. I, along side many of you I suspect, learned how to change a plug, wire a fuse etc etc at guides. Now, we're advised not to change plugs because of health and safety.
I think we've lost out on a lot of "home" skills because of it.

vl2588

3v3 wrote: »

.Granny did not tolerate food "fussy-ness" It was a case of "like it, or lump it!". Contemporary families have kow-towed to fussy eaters (that excludes those who have genuine food intolerances). Luxury is being able to pick and choose; reality is: eat it, or starve! So, "attitude" is the greatest money saver (or, conversely, the greatest money waster ) Rethink your eating! "Cut your coat according to your cloth"

Amazing post, thank-you 3v3! It almost makes me to cry to hear what my OH said in response to the above paragraph, which I read out to him.

OH: "Oh, does that mean eat what you like?"
Me: "No, it means eat good food, the purpose of which is to nourish you, and don't say you don't like something and will therefore not eat it".
OH: "I wouldn't eat brocolli or Brussels sprouts even if I was dying"

It goes on, but he will *not* admit that they are edible (same goes for 90% of vegetables and healthy food. *sigh*

Any advice at all to combat this stinking attitude is very welcome!

PixieDust

Both my maternal Nan and Grandad worked for Rolls Royce in some capacity until Grandad died (when my Mum was 10), and Nan was made redundant (maybe in her 50s?). Nan then went on to work at the Derby Royal Infirmary until she retired.

When crossing the road she would hold my hand and say "look left, look right and when a car comes, cross". Completely deadpan (though she had hold of my hand to keep me safe ) She was trying to teach me (and my cousins) to think for ourselves and not just follow the crowd or follow orders blindly.

"Never a borrower nor a lender be" was another of her favourites, along with "Never be ashamed of where you come from. Nobody is better than you.....but you are no better than anyone else"

As I said before, there were five of us cousins, and she was always fair to a fault. "I can't give one wi'out the other". I was youngest. We all got a pair of identical black corduroy trousers....and all were passed down to me....I was wearing black sodding corduroy flipping trousers for YEARS!!!! Ditto green dungarees!!! I seem to remember that the other four cousins each played a musical instrument, and so were bought folding music stands. I got one, too.....I played recorder for 20 minutes once a week Her best, though, was that she bought the other cousins a lovely swing for their gardens, and so naturally I got one too. I lived in a flat..........way to go Nanna

Bitsy_Beans

My G grandad started the first bus company in Stoke on Trent and as such made his money o I don't think my gran worked. She married my grandad who pre WWII no idea what he did but later on in life he worked in management at BT. Funny really my dad is of middle class stock and then trained as a mechanic......how very working class LOL
My other grandparents one was housewife and the other worked for Severn Trent water company. However further back on this line they were all milliners.......perhaps that's where the madness that is my family comes from LOL





For those not familiar the phrase mad as a hatter is from the mercury traditionally used by milliners no offence re mental illness intended.

deb68_2

My nana was from south wales she was a maid or downstairs girl.she married my gramps from Kettering area he was in the army had an affair had 3 more kids with this lady,but my nana took him back,
They worked for years i Uppingham for a very well to do family.
my nana was house keeper she would scrub an polish everything till it gleamed and did all the cooking,,i was allowed to go with her as they thought i was a funny little kid
I would get proper cross when my nana would courtsey, an i would tell her to stop it she was as good as them,i would run up the stairs an slid all the way down on the bannister i thought i was helping her so she didnt have to polish it,
The family were very kind to my grandparents looked after them well i still did not agree to my nana courtseing(sorry cant spell that)
an my grand dad was in charge of all her land he would tap his cap when they went past an say sir or mrs (surname)

he would plough the field with shire horses tend to the Kitchen garden look afer the horses he had a lovely potting shewd it smelt wonderful
i was very young when i 1st went to thier employers house i was amazed at the grandure how the other half lived
my nana an gramps would sit in the scullery an have a cup of tea or a piece of toast i would go an sit on the Ladys knee i dont think she knew what to say so would let me sit thier an i would tell her all about what i had been doing
My gramps was ment to keep the poachers off the land from shooting the rabbits/pigions/fish but he never had the heart to stop poorer people from catching food for thier families

My grandparents would come looking for me an tell me off saying wasnt allowed to sit in thier especially on the knee of the mistress
why i would ask she cant sit on my knee im to little

They really were kind to my grandparents they lived in 1 of thier houses down the lane

my dads parents my nain(nan) and taid(grandad) lived in North Wales
my Taid was in the army when he left he worked on fishing boats
he had it a lot easier than my gramps i think,he would go Salmon poaching an sell it he would collect moss an sell that to
my Nain worked in a shop when she was young she was a tweeny i think she called it
later in her life she started painting her pictures would be shown in art exhebitions she won a lot of prizes for them

they took people in through the summer months the front room or the parlour as she called it where just for the guests
the guests would also have the biggest 2 front bedrooms
they lived in a Prefab house
my Taid would grow all the veg an my nain would grow the flowers
they would give thier family an friends a lot of what they grew or what my Taid poached

my nain would tell me about having to put goose grease on my dads chest when he ws a young
an knitting him his swimming trunks but they would fall off when got wet

she hated having electric she kept her black range for many years the microwave that my aunt bought her was never used as she thought she would get radiation,

I used to love listening to all my grand parents stories both said they never whistled on a sunday as they believed it was calling the devil nor did they do washing on a sundaythey would stay up late saturdays to get any wshing done dont remember why

Everyones stories on this are wonderful
how amazing were our grandparents
thank you for starting this thread

deb

mishmogs

where did my grandfolks comes from?..... I know my ggm family came over from Ireland in the potato famine and stayed. My gran, who was one of 17, went into service until she met and married my grandad who was also one of 15, and worked in Manchester as a cabinet maker and then at Tatton Park in Knutsford. My mum was one of 13, 4 died shortly after birth and only two of my aunts are alive now. Mum went into service but wasnt strong enough as she nearly died when she was a nipper with pneumonia. Dad was again one of nine and they have now all died.

Am sure most of us picked up os ways from our folks, I know I did, and I also know many people of my age and younger, don't know or understand or want to know how to save money and live the os way.

Patchwork_Quilt

My Grandad was from a long line of Ship's Engineers. When he left the Merchant Navy, he went to work in a steelworks. My Gran just kept house, embroidered things and cooked chops for supper. They were relatively well off. However, she always made her own clothes and baked beautifully.

On the other side, my famous frugal Grandma had been in service before she was married because her family were too poor for her to continue her education and become a teacher. She had to help support all her step-brothers and sisters. Then she married Grandad, who was a Stoker in the Navy. After that, he became a Postman and she kept house.

One of the things that seems to have changed very much is that women now seem to work as a matter of course. I took several years off when we had children and was regarded as a peculiarity, if not a 'lazy housewife.' In Grandma's day, though, it was a matter of shame, in their area, if a man could not support his family. I wonder if having the extra money has raised our expectations of lifestyle too much, or whether everything just costs more as a result?

VJsmum

vl2588 wrote: »

Amazing post, thank-you 3v3! It almost makes me to cry to hear what my OH said in response to the above paragraph, which I read out to him.

OH: "Oh, does that mean eat what you like?"
Me: "No, it means eat good food, the purpose of which is to nourish you, and don't say you don't like something and will therefore not eat it".
OH: "I wouldn't eat brocolli or Brussels sprouts even if I was dying"

It goes on, but he will *not* admit that they are edible (same goes for 90% of vegetables and healthy food. *sigh*

Any advice at all to combat this stinking attitude is very welcome!

But to be fair part of the point now is that we don't have to eat things we don't like, and i'm sure our ancestors wouldn't either if they didn't have to. There are just some things i don't like and so i wouldn't eat them - tho obviously would if i were starving. My kids are encouraged to try everything but are not forced to eat stuff they clearly don't like.

My nan worked in service and granddad was a tallyman (debt collector). They met because granddad had served with nan's brother in WW1 and came to give condolences to the family when he was killed - tho it wasn't for some years after the war, and the great uncle was killed in 1916. Last year i went and visited his grave in Belgium, only the second of the family ever to do so. Before she died, i told mum i would go, tho she died before i went. It breaks my heart to know now that it was so close - only about an hour or so from Calais. Mum could easily have gone if we'd known. Nan and Granddad had 10 children tho they hadn't wanted any - they thought that if you just said you didn't want them then you wouldn't have them! Still they must have worked it out after the first one :rotfl:

Nan didn't know where the baby was going to come from until it did, and she was only ever in labour for about 10 minutes so it was all a bit of a shock. That first baby is now 85 but has seen 3 of her brothers and sisters go before her. Mum was born after nan had lost a lung (and nearly her life) with tuberculosis and shortly after lost her baby daughter who would have been 18 months or so older than mum. Mum [STRIKE]thinks[/STRIKE] thought her lifelong health problems stemmed from this sequence of events. I kind of hope so as that may make them less hereditary.

Mum's favourite job was blackleading the range when she was little.

I love this thread - thanks