Ask yer Granny!

shelley_crow

I've learned a lot of family history that I never knew before, there are/have been several rifts in the family so unfortunately some of the finer details are missing.

My grandad (mom's dad) was born at the end of WW1. I only found out by accident while researching the family tree that his mother was a single mother. She managed to keep him one way or another and he had a normal childhood with her but he never had any brother or sisters. He joined the army and after the end of WW2 he got a job working in a factory. He never learned to drive, so he woud walk a 10 mile round trip to work and back. He had a workshop in the back garden to escape to, he could make anything out of wood and mend anything too. I remember being heartbroken when one of my toys broke when I was only about 4. He disappeared to his workshop and made me a wooden car, while cursing modern plastics! He too had a chair in front of the telly but he never minded me interuppting his viewing. I remember him telling that credit cards were a terrible idea, if you haven't got the money to buy something outright then you don't buy it! I have very fond memories of him but he passed away from cancer when I was 6.

My nan (on mom's side) had a harder time growing up, she was one of 8 and she lost her mother very young. Her dad remarried but the woman was horrible and treated them all badly. Her dad went on to have another few children with this woman and promptly forgot about his other kids. She met my grandad during the war and they married not long after, although he was 10 years older than her. She lost all of older brothers in the war and cut herself off from her stepmum. She was a very good cook and could conjure meals out of almost nothing. She used to shop everyday for meat veg, which was probably a habit. She detested the new style supermarket with a passion and always tried to support the local shops. She died when I was 18.

My dad's dad came from Latvia and lost all of his family in the war. His older brothers were made to fight for the Germans, he never saw them again. Luckily he was a born a few days after the cut off for being made to fight for the Nazis and instead he was made to move to Germany and live with Nazi sympthiser families as forced labour. He came over to this country after watching the Nurenberg trials, I can't imagine moving to a foreign country and being on my own! He trained as an engineer and did that until he retired.

My dad's mom is still alive, I don't know her very well but I hope to, she's super frugal too!

Both sets of grandparents wore their sunday best at their post War weddings, no flowers, no faff! I like it, as and when I get around to getting married, I think I might take a leaf out of their books!

I wonder what our grandparents would make of the world today?

EstherH

Both my Grandfathers had reserved occupations in the war so didn't have to go away and fight.
One was a train driver and the other worked for a company that was later taken over by British Aerospace.

My Greatgrandmother was a music teacher and great grandfather was an organist in a Cathedral but I have never inheritated the music talent. I think they were quite well to do but it didn't filter down to my grandparents. This was my maternal grandparents and my grandfathers parents. My grandmas father died when she was little and as I said earlier she lived with her mother in rooms.

suzybloo

I have read Sheilas books, seajaxx, she used to live round the street from us. If you like that type of book try Jess Smith or Betsy White, they are all tales of the area back in the 30's onwards, one that might interest those also who were from Irish descent is Famines Harvest, about the Irish coming over and settling in Perthshire, Angus, and Fife. They true stories in everyone of these books, and are a great insite of rural life back then,which many of our grandparents and great grandparents were part of.

Were any of your grannies superstitious? - my mums mum was and I still do a lot of the same things and believe the same folklore as she did. Go out the same door as you come in, never turn a gypsy away from your door, salt over your shoulder if you spill it, if the coal fire burns blue there is snow coming etc...... I panic if I only ever see one magpie, and I go loopy if anyone puts new shoes on the table!

3v3

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!

If those are the only two things he won't eat, then I'd let him off

Oh, hang on, you say 90% of veg??? Oh dear! So, the question is, which vegetables (and fruits!) *will* he eat?

I got my fussy X to eat carrots, beetroot, parsnip and swede ... eventually (he just didn't know it ) To be fair though, they were used as ingredients in cakes, breads and muffins - the things he would eat in abundance! Eventually "trained" him to eat chilli and once he'd got a taste for that, I could smuggle in pulses and lentils to bulk it out and he wasn't any the wiser.

VJsmum - take your point on not *having* to eat what we don't like in today's world. Sad fact is, as the poster I've just quoted has stated ... her OH won't eat 90% of vegetables "and healthly food". Now, to be equally fair, if someone is eating what they like, but rejecting foods with essential minerals and vitamins then that becomes a real health issue in the long run.

We only need to walk around the supermarket, or down the High Street, open a newspaper or turn on the TV these days to see how obesity is on the rise; that impacts on their loved ones and all tax payers pay the price in their health care. They may well be choosing to eat only the things they like, but we're all paying the price for that

seajaxx

Thank you for the book reccommendations suzybloo. I've read Jess Smith but not Betsy White. The Irish famine one sounds interesting too.

Superstitions- No white lilac in the house, means a death. Knock the bottom of your eggshell out after eating it in case a witch uses it to cross water in, Turn the mirrors round during a thunderstorm so not to reflect the lightning, Bad luck to have the womenfolk of the family at the graveside of a funeral. I'm sure I'll think of more. There were lots.

Deb68, I loved your post!

[Deleted User]

What a fantastic thread and how we have all benifitted from our ancestors frugality seajaxx would love to see some photos .
My Mums parents came from Glasgow and were a bit further up the social ladder than my Dad although by the time he met her he had a decent job as a chemist so that helped smooth the ways along.My late Mum was a buyer in the hat dept Copeland & Lylse(sp) in Glasgow but once she married my Dad in 1935 she had to stop working as married women rarely were allowed to work in the store then.Her Dad was a ships design engineer at John Browns shipyards so had a good job and their family were fairly well off. Mum was brilliant at her job as homemaker even though she had never set foot in the kitchen until she was married (they had a live-in cook at her Mother's house) and when they came down to London to live in 1938 she fell in love with the place and never wanted to go back to Scotland.We went there often on holidays though after WW2.Everything I have learned about 'making do & mend 'came from my tiny feisty little Scots Mum as 9 years of rationing tends to make you learn to streeetch things to almost breaking point .The only thing she would have nothing to do with was the 'black market 'If we didn't have what she needed indoors she would never buy it 'over the fence'.She was a straight as a die and to her 'blackmarket goods' were dishonest.I know some of our neighbours though she was daft but it was just the way she was brought up.
I wonder what our descendants will think about our ways of saving a bob or two.I have seven grandchildren and two of the eldest (Danny & Holly) are extremely good with cash My eldest granddaughter (Katie) though lets cash fly through her fingers at the moment but at 18 she has a lot to learn yet and she has only been at work a couple of months so having a wage is quite exciting for her .Her boyfriend Tom is the sensible one though so he won't let her go too silly.
My youngest grandchildren think its a hoot that we managed to grow up without t.v. or computers and to them the 1940s seem like the stone age

angeltreats

What a lovely thread

My grandparents unfortunately all died before I was born, but my parents are both in their seventies so probably as old as lots of the grandparents talked about on this thread! My dad's parents definitely weren't very well off and I don't think my mum's parents had much more. Neither of my parents had a TV till they got married and set up home together, and I don't think they had a fridge either. After they got married, they lived with my mum's sister for a year while they were on the waiting list for a council house and I don't know how they managed not to kill her, as she's incredibly difficult! My dad is 76 now and he knows how to darn his socks and how to mend (by hand) any rips in his clothing, loose buttons etc. We had very little money when I was a child but I wanted for absolutely nothing, my parents were great at thinking up free/very cheap entertainment, e.g. my dad once made me a fantastic kite out of leftover birthday wrapping paper which flew beautifully, and with some more of the same paper he turned an old cardboard box into a picnic basket, which my mum filled with sandwiches and we went off for a picnic in the local park. My dad also worked in a box factory (he did some sort of technical drawing work, before there was such a thing as autoCAD) and used to bring home some huge boxes which he would cut windows and doors in and they would become houses, cars, boats, you name it He was very arty and liked to do crafty activities with me, and every birthday and Christmas there would always be some sort of coloured pencils, paints or crafty supplies for me which I loved.

One thing my mum was (and still is) brilliant at was organising children's parties. Even with a very limited budget, she would invite half my class to our home and there would be all sorts of games with prizes, lots of food, cake, and a party bag for everyone with lots of little trinkets and bits and pieces - my parties were the best all through primary school and everyone wanted to be invited! My mum now has absolutely loads of great-nieces and great-nephews and she remembers every single birthday and goes along to the parties armed with prizes and organises games for the kids, who all absolutely adore her. I truly hope that when we have kids of our own, I will be able to entertain them and give them as lovely a childhood as my parents managed to do for me. I am forever grateful that my parents didn't rely on the television and expensive toys and instead gave me their time and imagination.

When I met my husband, I acquired a grandma-in-law who is his last surving grandparent. I absolutely adore her, she has treated me like her own grandchild ever since she first met me. I really wish I had met her husband who she tells me "eee, he'd have loved you!" as from all her stories he sounds like a wonderful man. The thing I have learned from Grandma is that there is no point in feeling sorry for yourself. She's been through cancer and all manner of health problems, and now (aged 83) is still very ill and walks bent over at almost 90º as her back is so bad, but she is always smiling and joking and cheerful, and the care assistants all seem to think she's like a breath of fresh air. Oh and I have also acquired the family parkin recipe, which goes back at least to Grandma's mother but is possibly even older, and it is the best parkin EVER

Sorry, this hasn't been a very useful post and I haven't shared any tips, but once you start getting a bit misty-eyed it's hard to stop isn't it?

vl2588

3v3 wrote: »

If those are the only two things he won't eat, then I'd let him off

Oh, hang on, you say 90% of veg??? Oh dear! So, the question is, which vegetables (and fruits!) *will* he eat?

I got my fussy X to eat carrots, beetroot, parsnip and swede ... eventually (he just didn't know it ) To be fair though, they were used as ingredients in cakes, breads and muffins - the things he would eat in abundance! Eventually "trained" him to eat chilli and once he'd got a taste for that, I could smuggle in pulses and lentils to bulk it out and he wasn't any the wiser.

Excellent idea, thanks! My mum had to it for me back in the day but then I became non-fussy (miraculously!). Shall try to hide things better

VJsmum

vl2588 wrote: »

Excellent idea, thanks! My mum had to it for me back in the day but then I became non-fussy (miraculously!). Shall try to hide things better

My DS who is quite fussy eats a whole manner of veg he doesn't know about. If you chop mushrooms really small in a mini chopper and add to mince, then they look like pale mince - add a beef oxo and he doesn't know the difference. I do the same with red pepper and tell him its tomato and with onion and if he finds it, it's garlic. I don't know that a grown man would be so easily fooled however :rotfl:

If i make him eat something he isn't fond of one day then i try to give him something he really likes the next.

vl2588

angeltreats wrote: »

Sorry, this hasn't been a very useful post and I haven't shared any tips, but once you start getting a bit misty-eyed it's hard to stop isn't it?

It was a lovely post