Wartime recipes, substitutions and other related austerity hints

elsien

mardatha wrote: »

I used to have terrible chilblains!

I still do, even in the days of central heating. A combination of odd shaped feet and Reynauds syndrome. Lord knows what they'd be like without a warm home.

Eenymeeny

You can still get Snowfire ointment in a push up stick from Boyes.
We used to call them 'corned beef legs' and we were threatened with getting them if we sat too close to the fire!
Talking about sitting in front of the fire. Can anyone remember getting the best seat when we'd had our bath and had to dry our long hair! My sister and I took turns and we were cautioned about drying our spines if we sat too close! (Of course we'd shared a bath too, fresh water for both us would have been so decadent!)
The mention of cold and boots reminds me of the biting cold on your toes when you wore wellies in the snow, and the chafing on the backs of your legs when your socks had migrated into a painful lump in the foot part!

fuddle

Eenymeeny you made me chuckle. When stuff went bang financially for us, we moved to a new area with very little money. I had to walk my youngest to school in the next village,with my youngest in the pushchair. The winter of 2010 happened (I think, might have been 2011) and the temps that snowy day didn't get above - 10. I was right at the beginning of my OS learning and stubborn as I am I decided I wouldn't be like my Mam wearing boots not at all appropriate for the weather with carrier bags! I'd be sensible and wear wellies! Walking in the snow in - 10 I soon realised that wellies were not at all sensible footwear for the snow!

The sad thing was I was 30 at the time. Deary me.

TravellingAbuela

I was another chilblain sufferer way back in the early 60's. Self inflicted, sadly, because I was too vain to wear sensible boots or shoes in winter! I would rather totter off in my stilletoes and suffer. It wasn't long before I learned my lesson and I haven't suffered from them now for years!

Eeenymeeny we always called them Corned beef legs too! Thankfully I never suffered from those!

Brambling

Eenymeeny I use to complain about dirty bath water as I was the youngest and had two older sisters living at home and was told to consider myself lucky as my older siblings had a tin bath infront of the fire, i was 18mths when we moved to a council house with a bathroom.

One bath a week on a Sunday evening, early enough to ensure we didn't go to bed with wet hair but had to be a hour after eating. My dad would dry our hair in front of the fire and as he had spent most of his working life as a farm labour, there was a lot of power in his hands and arms. We love it when someone gave us a big pink hairdryer in the 70s. My older sister had one where you put a cap over your head and it pumped in warm air, you wore it over the shoulder with a strap, i think the advertising was probably a women doing the housework as her hair dried :cool: well as far as the cord would let her!

mardatha

I never thought of what you called Tartan Legs down south... corned beef does fit though

Fortune_Favour

Fantastic thread. Genuinely enjoying all of the posts.

My son, 12, suffers from chilblains. He gets them when he walks barefooted on our tiled or wooden floors. He has had them on and off every winter for the last three years. They are generally better if he remembers his slippers, but that takes constant reminders.
We have just moved to an older house (1912, only partial double glazing but we do have central heating) and they've already flared up so I hope he doesn't suffer too badly this year.

More stories please :j

monnagran

Fortune Favour, you know not what you are saying. Some of us don't need any encouragement.

Fortunately for you I am tired and just off to bed so you are spared for another day.

Mrs_Salad_Dodger

Just decided to read this thread & I would like to thank you all so much for sharing your stories :T

I will be 60 this year but am another one who uses the butter/margarine wrappers to grease cake tins - learnt from my mum.
I was a grammar school girl - one term of cookery & one term of sewing & no typing (still a one fingered typist :rotfl:) - we were all supposed to go to university & get a profession Presumably we were also all supposed to hire people to cook & sew :rotfl:
My paternal grandmother & mum taught me to knit. Mum used to make clothes for me & my 6 years younger DSis - matching outfits much to my chagrin :rotfl: & knitted all our jumpers (for DB & dad as well). I well remember when we had outgrown them they would be unpicked & we were used as wool winders :rotfl: In the way of mums she never knitted for herself - I think she thought it was too extravagant

I have upset myself now so will sign off

MrsSD

mardatha

I was the same Mrs SD - one term of cookery, one of sewing, and one of "housekeeping". Then onto better things! I'm 70 at Christmas and I still can't cook :rotfl: