Could we all travel back to the old times?

Sola

I'd like to try it as an experiment but not if I had to work fulltime as well. Managing a house like that would be a fulltime job on its own.

Kimberley

Nice replies, i wonder though, what it would be like when we are all pensioners? I mean when we were kids, well most of us, we didn't have computers etc, all these gadgets have come about so quickly, so i wonder how far technology will have taken us when our kids have kids and we are stuck in a nursing home

SammyD_2

I would never want to go back in time - no antibiotics, no blood transfusions, no washing machines. While I feel in my 35 years things have changed a lot with computers (probably mainly the internet), I am not sure we will face the kind of revolution that my grandmother faced in her lifetime - born before aeroplanes were common but lived to see computers, space travel, the contraceptive pill and heart transplants.

I am really hoping that we see a cycle where more emphasis is put on family and communities. Real ones that is, not cyber ones.

soappie

SammyD wrote: »

I am really hoping that we see a cycle where more emphasis is put on family and communities. Real ones that is, not cyber ones.

Well said SammyD!

kippers

Just wanted to say this thread is soooo interesting...thanks

sammy_kaye18

um..............scuse me!!!! I am a yoof of today (im 23) and im home raising my little one whilst bf is out working then i do my weekend shifts whilst he takes over. Ive had my fair share of forces houses to know not to take anything for granted.

The first few houses we had didnt have kitchens so my mum bless her had to make do - it was just a room. never had any carpets in the first few we had, dont think we even had our first electric kettle till we left for germany! even then i remember no carpets, no car, and having paraffin heaters to heat our little flat, waking up with ice inside the windows and scared to go to the toilet in the night because i knew the heating wasnt on and for fear of being stuck to the toilet seat. Think every house after that we had a coal fire to heat us with and we didnt get our first family car until about 1989.

Great Grandparents always grew their own fruit and veg, Grandparents grow their own fruti and veg, My dad grows his own fruit and veg and now this year will be my turn to take up the greenfingered family gene! lol. In the little council flat we rent the gas is barely used to heat the hosue and thanks to MSE ive kept all the knowledge of the harder times my parents indured. Both me and my bf have fond but tryign memories of the forces and it reflects today. like i said heating is barely on, food is kept to a minimum (£100 a month for 2 adults, 1 3 year old and a dog), no carpets (except bedrooms where there is patches) bf cycles to work which is about 30 minutes and a 15 minute train ride through rain or shine. I only really had a washign machine when my son was born 3 years ago, other than that i had to make do with a bath tub and my sink to wash our clothes or rely on family members to do a load for me when they could but it still ment hiking it back form their houses.

i get teased by family members sayign im an old soul in a young body but my god shes saving me a fortune and keeping me and my family fed, watered adn clothed with her old ways then shes welcome to stay - id love to be regressed just to see if i was actualyl some 1920's housewife! lol

Kimberley

If say, you had to lose one of these 3 items, what would you choose?

Washing machine
Mobile Phone
Computer

I'd get rid of the Computer because i have a libruary just across the road anyway

I used to wash clothes by hand, so no way on this earth would i lose the washing machine.

Sola

I'd get rid of the mobile phone - no question; I harly use mine as it is. It'd be a hard choice between computer and washing-machine - I'd probably lose the washing-machine because so much of my relaxation time and organisation is dependent on the computer, and it'd be less of a time-impact going to a launderette. I could get the weekly wash done in 3 hours in a launderette at the weekend, but use the computer far more than that just in the evenings.

Kimberley

I think mobile phones should be banned, it's so annoying when the teens play their music really loud on buses and the drivers do nothing :mad: They play them walking down the street as well, i feel like grabbing it and then stamping on it

moanymoany

I remember my gran using a dolly tub and ponch to wash the clothes. The water was heated in a gas copper which was her luxery item and came with the council house.

What I do remember is none of this cissy 'clean clothes every day' thing. We wore things for a week, turned them inside out, beat off the solids and wore them for another week. Having to wash everything by hand sharpened the mind wonderfully when it came to things like that.

Who remembers moving from flat irons to the 'plug in the light socket' jobbie? Those irons had no thermostat, it was a real skill. All the ironing was sprayed with water, using the fingers, then rolled and put in the basket to wait its turn. We listened to the wireless while doing it.

The funny thing is, my gran (who I spent most of my time with) did everything by hand. But, in the afternoons she had time to sit and sew, knit or embroider while listening to the wireless. She had an active social life and went out two or three times a week to clubs. In 1960 she lived and kept house on £4.10shillings a week. It was very little even then, but she was never in debt. From time to time she took in lodgers. When the panto came to town she took in the actors - we got free tickets. I always think of her as my 'old style guru'.

Happy New year Everybody :beer: