What products do you miss?

[Deleted User]

We had codlive oil & malt at school before we had our third of a pint of milk in the morning.teacher lined us all up in alphabetical order and walked down the line sticking one spoonful in each open mouth.It was the one spoon in the class,so if someone had a runny nose or a bad cold it ended up getting passed down the line to the next unfortunate child I was lucky that my surname began with a 'B' so was only second one down .I always felt sorry for the poor blighters called Smith or Thomas.There was one little boy who seemed to suffer from permanant 'candles' from his nose bless him I would have hated to been after him.Why we only had one spoon between 42 children in our class I will never know.There were only 4 classes in the whole school and every one was crowded.I have a school photo from 1952 and I counted how many we had in there and it was 42, and I can still remember most of their names.In 2002 I went to a school reunion and a complete stranger walked up and said hello Jackie how are you,you haven't changed a bit.Bearing in mind I was then nine and as skinny as a rake and had very long pigtails I certainly didn't think I looked the same 50 years later.but perhaps my face hadn't changed much.I couldn't for the life of me think who she was until she said 'It's Olivia Varley' (Olivia my backside !, it was Olive in 1952 :)) but she had prospered and become quite 'posh' by then :):) Sad to see how many of the 'boys' had lost not only their hair, but their waistlines as well:):):)
At some point in the 50s the big jar of codliver oil & malt dissappeared and we were given a small gold capsule instead.I made the mistake of biting it one morning and everything tasted fishy (including my morning milk) for ages afterwards it was disgusting :)put me off of drinking milk for years.
Scotts Emision was revolting but even worse was my Dad's black bottle .Being a chemist he had devised a cure-all for childhood ailments that tasted disgusting and if you said you felt poorly you were dosed up with this stuff.It was thick, like treacle, but tasted of bits of wood and old socks and smell horrible.Its amazing how well you became when Dad said 'Give her a dose of the black bottle' .I would recover almost instantly and beg to go to school :):)
Today teachers can't even put a plaster on without filling out forms and asking parents first.I fell over once in the classroom,it was my own fault I had been sliding with new shoes on and hit my chin on a desk.My teacher Mr Rhodes took me to the local hospital where I had three stitches put in and then back to school to carry on lessons.Whilst waiting to be stitched he taught me the 9 times table which I never forgot(took my mind of the blood dripping down my front I suppose).The headmistress Miss Knott looked at my chin and said 'Well that will teach you not to slide in the class room won't it,get on with your work now you've missed half the morning already'
No mollycoddling in those days.When I got home and told my Mum she said 'well don't go sliding in those new shoes you will take the soles off them' not a lot of sympathy from her either.You just had to get on with it :):I still have the small scar on my chin ,but I never have forgotten my 9 times table either :):)

TravellingAbuela

I used to love Virol and would have happily eaten the whole jar! I can almost taste it now. I was also force-fed something called Minadex, anyone remember that? I recall it as being in a tall bottle, the liquid was a green colour but it tasted vaguely of oranges. My mum used to buy these at the Child Health Clinic and at the back of my mind I can hear one of the nurses saying "She doesn't need these now Mrs J". I think they were meant to help build up your appetite and I certainly didn't need "building up" when I look back on my photos at that age!

Editing my post as I have just googled Minadex and apparently it is STILL available! Fortunately these days I don't need "building up"!!!

VJsmum

TudorRose wrote: »

I used to love the cheesecakes that JackieO mentioned. They were lovely with thick, coarse cut coconut. Think they must be a London area thing.

I loved those too, we used to have them for school puddings - I am a Kent girl too. I think they were called cheesecakes cos the coconut looked like grated cheese. I was around 18 before I knew what a "real" cheesecake was.

Money_maker wrote: »

You could get a few pennies back as kids from returning the glass corona bottle.

We kids used to go round the back of the grocery shop where they kept the already returned bottles and nick one or two from the crates and take them back again

As a Kent girl, I am also familiar with Gypsy tart - I have
Tried to make it once or twice and it has always been a disaster.

I am loving this thread.

I can still smell the grocery vans that used to come round

My mum used to listen to Waggoners Walk, but never the archers - which is strange now as I am an avid archers listener.

I turned 50 quite recently and i still call the TV programmes of my youth - the Double Deckers, Champion the wonder horse, little house on the prairie, The Partridge Family and the Brady Bunch.

Does anyone remember a kind of ice cream called "chillo" with its strap line "you cook an hour in the fridg-a". It came as a powder you mixed with milk, put in a shallow dish and it set like ice cream but in the fridge. We didnt have a freezer for years and years so this was amazing for us to be able to have "ice cream" for Sunday tea.

I hanker after one of those gadgets that you put a. Peeled potato in, press the handle down and it made chips. Yes, I know you can just cut them, but I loved that gadget

[Deleted User]

TravellingAbuela wrote: »

I used to love Virol and would have happily eaten the whole jar! I can almost taste it now. I was also force-fed something called Minadex, anyone remember that? I recall it as being in a tall bottle, the liquid green

Oh yes Minadex also Metatone which my Dad brought home from work I was a stick-like creature in those days I wish I was now more of a weeble shape now :rotfl:I loved the OJ that you used to be able to buy from the clinic for babies it cost 1/- a bottle (5p) and was very concentrated OJ but gorgeous :)
I too still listen to The Archers ,apparently the actress who plays Peggie Woolley has won an award.She has worked for the BBC for 70 odd years and is 93 !!! I remember listening to it when Grace Archer died in a stable fire and Phil was crying heartbrokenly.Old Walter Gabriel with his "Me old pal, me old beauty".folk actually sent floral tributes to the BBC after that episode they were convinced it was reality. Every Sunday morning I listen to the Omnibus programme as I am prepping the veg for the week, I have done for years.

mummygems

I miss the green van that used to come round and my mum would buy her fruit and veg from it (and occasionally as a treat popcorn kernals to pop at home). Sometimes I can still smell that van.

Original soda stream drink (vampire juice springs to mind lol). We didnt have fizzy drinks unless it was christmas or a weekend from the soda stream.

I also miss the greengrocer/butchers/baker stores. Mum would go to each one on a saturday to get all she needed and the staff were always lovely and helpful and would sometimes throw in a little extra as mum was a regular customer etc. We have very few and far things like this now which is such a shame. The last time I used a greengrocer they were rude, overpriced and their food was all on the turn!

I tried the Burtons Fish & Chips crisps from asda and although they were nice they are not as I remember. I miss the original jelly (cubes) that isnt the same now and nor is the pear soap which I used to smell all the time at my grandparents house!

We have the pink germolene still (although its in a tube). I held on to the empty tin of germolene from my childhood for years and years lol I always grab the germolene first when my kids have a cut knee etc.

I mostly miss Worcestershire sauce flavour twiglets (they were around 7-8yrs ago). I even emailed jacobs to find out why they stopped them lol.

Im 35 this year and I had a very happy childhood even though we didnt have much. My mum worked 3 jobs when my dad left just so she could feed & clothe me and my brother (not her!).

Our sunday puddings were always jelly with tinned fruit in and tip top cream (or just tinned fruit). My nan used to make "milk jelly" which I usually had a few times a month when my tonsilitus was bad. It was basically jelly mixed with evaporated milk but my god it was lovely (now I might have to go and make some now!). I also had lucozade in the glass bottle during my sick days with tonsilitus and that was always a treat (I used lucozade - in a plastic bottle - when I was pregnant to stop the morning sickness too lol).

juliettet

The Wonder of Woolies, a diluted orange drink at the tea bar. Ladybird dressing gowns with ladybird buttons. Wearing ladybird pyjamas until they fell apart. Buying biscuits by weight and the lady gave you a broken one. Evette make up. I was so sad when they closed.

ArtDecoGirly

When I was a teenager I used to spend my pocket money on Toners and Shaders, scented nail varnish, a perfumed shampoo that was light purple and I loved the smell (might have been by VO5 or Sunsilk) and Smitty perfume. I later "moved up" to another perfume and I'm convinced it was called Audacity, though no search results come up for it so now I'm not so sure!

shetitasatic

My husband and I both remember that if we were REALLY ill and had to stay in bed, we would have a fire lit in the fireplace in the bedroom. this was a very rare occurrence.
I remember listening to Radio Luxembourg ( the Stargazers are on the air!!)kneeling in front of my Mum while she towel dried my hair. It was washed with Evelyn Williams shampoo, which was a powder which came in a packet and had to be mixed up with water before use.
My Nan used to give us Sunny Spread. This was a honey type spread which came in a glass jar with 'bobbles' on it - I think it was meant to be like a hive?
In the 60's I used to work in Woolworths as a Saturday girl. I started off at Christmas, on the Christmas card counter. Cards were sold individually, at one and a halfpenny o,ne and three farthings etc and the till could only ring up the final total. As people bought masses of cards, this did wonders for my mental arithmetic.
My favourite was the sweet counter. Most of the sweets were loose and had to be weighed out. Eating any was strictly forbidden. The only time we could eat any was at Easter with broken Easter eggs.
The ones that usually got broken were the foil wrapped Woolworth own make ones, and the chocolate was not as good as Cadburys. The novelty soon wore off and after a while I couldn't bear to eat any!
We also sold hot roasted peanuts, sold in a big glass container with a light and a heater underneath. We weighed these out into greaseproof paper bags. They were very popular with people buying one pound (weight) at a time!
I can still do the Pick and mix and weigh 4ozs accurately. The best bit was 'spinning 'the paper bag to do it up!
From the make up counter I remember Pond's natural lipstick, Miner's block mascara, and Lady Manhattan perfume in the skyscraper box.
At the end of the day 2 Saturday girls had to sweep the oiled wood floors with a 3ft wide brush - one in each aisle. The shop was still open and we used to race each other - if people got in the way you just swept over (and into) their shoes!!
Happy days!!!

candlelight_2013

Oh how I loved the hot peanuts and cashew nuts in Woollies. I used to go into town on a Saturday afternoon and buy 2oz. Cashew nuts were more expensive so it depended how much pocket money I had in my purse. The nuts were weighed out into a cone bag and usually I had eaten them before I reached home.

Happy days

Candlelight x

candlelight_2013

Do you remember if you bought a light bulb in Woollies they always tested it first before selling it to you?

Candlelight x