This is an old photo that I had posted a while back onto Flickr - I am on the left with the smaller pram, looking as though I am on a bank heist. No, I don't have these any more - these were second hand prams but oh how we loved them. We were 'proper' with our prams. Sadly I do not have the woollies either (not these particular ones....I do have some others..). Knitted by our mum and they would have been unravelled when they became too small and knitted into something else. I can feel those jumpers now - how they itched and how the head hole became far too small after one wash and your ears burnt trying to pull it off over your head. I have not so fond memories of being stuck in a jumper head hole - ears on fire and crying for my release!!! Mind you a COLOUR photo - our ship must have come in....
Behind us is the two up/two down that the seven of us lived in ...two to a single bed (not parents though!)...essentially a cottage in a field....lovely at that age....teenage years not so much.....might go back to the countryside one day...but not now. One day will write more of countryside tales...funny now...not funny then...I do not have a romantic view of country living. Without the trappings of 21st century (or indeed, for us, the trappings of most of the 20th century either!!!) we found being in the country hard work and *&&**!@ ruddy cold...all the time..ruddy cold. Getting dressed and undressed whilst remaining under the bed covers - mind you my father's generation was one of being sewn into clothes for the winter. Chilblains anyone?
I do not have a romantic view of Country Living either!!!!
I will end with the same snippet that I had posted onto Flickr with this photo - I am very fond of memorising poetry - all sorts old and new.
"I would give all the wealth that years have piled, the slow result of life's decay, to be once more a little child for one bright summers day...."
Despite the cold!
Aww...
PS - Our mother's cure for chilblains was boiling water....
Hello:
ReplyDeleteTo begin at the end, we too do not have a romantic view of 'Country Living', a subscription to which we were given as a gift for more years than we care to remember. How many 'antique dealer/interior designer' cottages, rescued from ruin, can there be featured without one becoming the teeniest bit bored?
How well we remember those hand knitted jerseys where, as you say, the neck hole shrank to a fraction of its original size on a second wash.
Where chilblains were concerned, your mother sounds to have been something of a martinet.
To Venice this coming weekend so we may be absent for a while!!
Dear Jane and Lance -
DeleteI think/hope our mother's 'treatments' were carried out with kindness - with no 'Google' to seek other advice boiling water must have been a logical option in order to counteract the cold...but....come to think of it!
I am quite sure that you will have a wonderful time no matter what mischief the water levels are having!
Have fun
Best wishes
Jenny
How I remember the itchy jumpers. My aunt turned them out for me and I'd get a parcel in the post everynow and then. How I adore all the soft yarns there are to knit with now. My favourite parcel from my aunt was a linen rag doll with two outfits, no itchy clothes for me and something beautiful to play with.
ReplyDeleteDespite the itchiness, the cold and everything else the pair of you do look adorable.
Our Rayburn died in March and then the back up boiler for hot water went in July. Finally have hot water again and just the woodburner for now. I was freezing as a kid and hated being in my room as it was the coldest in the house.
Indeed Bobo Bun - your lovely knits are a testament to wool progress over the years! I would love to see your rag doll (not a euphemism!!).
DeleteCold bedrooms - that was the worst of it I think. No matter what method I used I could never get above freezing point!
Best wishes
Jenny
Lovely prams - if only, huh!
ReplyDeleteAs for itchy, ear-assaulting, tear-inducing, hand-knitted jumpers....erm yes..well remembered but probably best forgotten.
Actually, I developed an even deeper hatred for those things when I was 11 and my Mum, whilst measuring the current WIP on me, prior to finishing it off, noticed my budding boobies and commented on them, causing me, who never wanted to grow up and become a young lady, to burst into tears. I ripped the offending garment off, dashed howling and shrieking from the room and refused point blank to wear the jumper when it was completed. After that I only agreed to wear bulky big jumpers that hid all signs of emerging womanhood.
Eh! Memories.
Oh dear wendz - that does indeed sound a trauma. At that time of life everything is so profound, meaningful and that desire not to have attention drawn to your own good self.
DeleteMemories indeed wendz
Best wishes
Jenny
Liberty Bodices. How I HATED them. I know they kept my chest warm, but they had nothing to do with Liberty=Freedom [years later, I discovered that they were named for Arthur Lazenby Liberty's store]
ReplyDeleteI loved my dolls' pram too. Mum gave it away to another deserving child when I was 10 [OK we were moving 200 miles to a much smaller house, but I was mighty upset at the time...]
I remember studying for O levels in my bedroom wearing a coat and woolly hat
Ah yes Angela - my older sisters had to suffer Liberty Bodices and have very similar feelings to yourself. I too recall wearing all outdoor clothes indoors in order to keep some body heat in!
DeleteOh dear!
Best wishes
Jenny
This is a lovely picture, and also strikes a chord. I grew up in a cottage with no central heating, and a very chilly bedroom (lovely though it was as my parents did lots of home decorating). At university, our shared house didn't have any heating, or hot water, we had to walk to the union for our baths and showers. Which is why, when my son recently mentioned the words 'student accommodation' and 'ensuite facilities' in the same breath, he got very short shrift from me!
ReplyDeleteDo you know I think that I would have to vote for central heating being the best invention in modern times! My parents never knew the wonderment of such devices but I certainly appreciate it. I am sure you son appreciates his ensuite! How times have changed!
DeleteBest wishes
Jenny
What a lovely picture ... two little cuties and their prams ... and a very funny post ... itchy jumpers and freezing cold ... not a great combo ... have a lovely toasty warm week ... Bee xx
ReplyDeleteDear Bee - I now think that having the central heating on - ALL DAY sometimes - is my biggest indulgence. I cannot stand being cold so will keep toasty as much as possible.
DeleteMany thanks
Jenny
What a delightful picture Jenny! Love the prams ... I always wanted a doll's pram, but never got one, sigh, very deprived child, haha. You made me laugh about the hand-knits ... I forgot all about ear burn! My Mam knit all our jumpers too, and unravelled them to reuse the wool. It was cold in the town too, I remember sitting in an icy bathroom having the weekly bath, shivering with cold or sitting in front of the fire in the too small baby bath, forsaking all dignity!
ReplyDeleteLovely, nostalgic post!
Claire xx
Of course Claire - bath time - an added dimension to the cold! I remember very clearly being washed down with cold water because my sister and I had indulged ourselves in an over lathering of soap...good times..!! The thing about open fires being the only source of heat was that only the front part of you ever got warm! Oh dear
DeleteBest wishes
Jenny
Great pic! I can remember actually being in one of those prams, I can remember how bouncy they were, if only we knew!
ReplyDeleteI can remember my mum knitting me a pink dress and cardigan, unfortunately it had a silver thread in it....so itchy!
We weren't in the country but we did have ice on the inside of the windows, I didn't have central heating until I got married, now I can't afford to have it on much! We've started using blankets and hot water bottles again! :)
I am thinking that urban heat was not too effective in the towns then? There was me having visions that in town everyone could trip around in the lightest of clothes. Though I love central heating it does go on late and goes off early - we too have a pile of crochet blankets (vintage of course..) to snuggle under so not too bad.
DeleteBest wishes
Jenny
Awww what a cute photo...being a child of the seventies there was no itchy wooly jumpers for me, Mum didn't knit.....but to this day I have a phobia of polo neck jumpers, being of that era, Nylon static producing, when pulled of at the end of the day left your hair standing on end for at least an hour, only to be replaced by a nice Nylon nightie,...mmmm! I could of lit up a light bulb :-) xx
ReplyDeletelovely post made me smile... we lived in the country and were freezing in winter too! x
This made me roar with laughter - oh yes the perils of nylon, such a blessing in the ironing department but the static...when taking off my nylon school blouse I would positively crackle!
DeleteBest wishes
Jenny
Awww look at you so sweet, yes if only, I can remember itchy jumpers, freezing bedrooms (with ice on the inside of the windows) chilblanes...and we lived in the suburbs!!
ReplyDeleteLovely post
Thea x
Dear Thea - I think that sometimes I have been a bit selective about my childhood - either too rosy or too bleak. Wish I could go back to check it out for real...
DeleteBest wishes
Jenny
Your photo made me smile and the poetry saids it all.
ReplyDeleteSarah x
Many thanks Sarah - I am a bit warmer nowadays!
DeleteBest wishes
Jenny
Ah I loved the poem. What a lovely nostalgic photo. I remember ice on the inside of windows and the whole house being cold with no central heating when I was a child even though we didnt live in the country. I remember piles of blankets and even coats on top of my bed in winter to try and keep warm.The winters always seemed far worse back then in the 60's.
ReplyDeleteYou are right Anne - the winters do seem longer and much, much colder then. Mind you I live further south now so snow is a rarity. Ah yes - piles of coats, in fact ANYTHING to get warm!
DeleteBest wishes
Jenny
Hi Jenny, I HATED the cold as a child,we had a real fire then and we'd huddle round it,we had hotties in bed and kicked them to the bottom of the bed in the night when they were stone cold!We had cold hard lino and I don't remember having slippers!and Jack Frost visited us and left ice on the inside of the windows.Thank goodness for central heating although with my hot flushes not always so good!I would swop a few months central heating for one day as a child in front of that real fire,it was Christmas day and Mum and Dad were having a LIE DOWN!and I had the fire and a chocolate log and T.V to myself,BLISS!!I feel teary now so will go.'bye for now Pam.
ReplyDeleteOh yes Pam - I am shuddering as I remember that feeling of accidentally putting your feet on the now cold water bottle - YUCK - a sharp kick to get out of the way. Oh and that lino too - in fact everything seemed to be designed to make you colder!! Aww - bless you with your memories Pam
DeleteBest wishes
Jenny
Also a child of the seventies no itchy jumpers but suffered from chilblains on every toe! We had a blue cream that when you rubbed it in it warmed your toes…it's now been taken of the market(!) I hate the cold! Love the prams though :)
ReplyDeleteGoodness knows what was in that blue cream then! My mother swore by Germolene as a cure all for most things - I had to Google it and you can still buy it! Who knew!
DeleteKeep warm
Best wishes
Jenny
Awww, you look so sweet pushing the doll carriage. What an adorable child you were! I never lived in the country, so I guess I do have a romantic view of it... not very realistic, eh? I had three sisters, so all our clothes were handed down from one to the next to the next. My mom knit all our sweaters too. She made me a lovely green one, with buttons down the front and a hood, that I LOVED!
ReplyDeleteDear Garden of Daisies
DeleteI think that living in the country would have been so much better had we a) had central heating and b) had a car - my dad had a motor bike and side car to take my mum shopping in - and there was about one bus a day to the nearest town and that was expensive so we stayed put most of the time. Up until about 14 that was fine and then the charm just wore off sadly.
Your sweater sounds a real cracker - buttons and a hood! Marvellous indeed - any photos I wonder?
Best wishes
Jenny
what a great picture and post, striking a cord yet again with us blogging ladies!
ReplyDeleteThose jumpers I remember indeed and I always got my big sisters handed down to me after mine had burnt my ears and was fit to dress a rabbit! ooh and don't get me on about the freezing windows and no heating, those were the days!
Leaving you with a smile as always, Jenny.
love Mariax
Dear Maria
DeleteI chortled at your rabbit imagery! I had forgotten about those freezing windows and actually I would spend quite a long time just looking at the patterns on the inside (not a lot else to do on a cold day)
Those were the days indeed Maria
Best wishes
Jenny
Yes yes yes. Was always dressed in scratchy hand knitted jumpers , kilts , woolly tights that had a crutch at my knees and pigtails. I had a school friend whose mum dressed her in swirly flowered crimpelene mini dresses, hot pants and flares in vivid colours and I was so envious. She "was"1975, and I was like a refugee from 1945, very fashionable now but detested at time ( think lumpy version of Lucy in the Lion, witch and the wardrobe illustration!) I loved your picture, thank you for sharing it.
ReplyDeleteOh this did make me laugh! Crutch at the knees - why was that? I don't remember any tights fitting properly! The advancement of nylons tights was only a marginal improvement as you always had to wear a pair additional knickers over them to keep them up! The torment for us girls. I too would have been very envious of your friend - oh for a mini dress and hot pants!
DeleteBest wishes
Jenny
Yes, I too had a dolly pram like yours! It was second hand of course and I can remember my dad painting it for me and mum making a new cover for it. I don't remember any of my jumpers being scratchy, but Mr VG does. His Grandma used to knit a matching set of four for her grandchildren and Mr VG has nightmares when he sees an arran jumper!
ReplyDeleteMany thanks for your memories here Gill. I seem to remember that the only way to combat the jumper itch was to wear something underneath but (pre-t-shirts) this would only add to the bulk and it would just get very uncomfortable. Mind you I would like to see one of those jumpers Gill
DeleteBest wishes
Jenny
I remember our first house being freezing too with ice on the inside of the windows in the morning, silver fish in the kitchen, MASSIVE spiders in the bedroom, and sitting in the old baby bath in front of the fire each evening. (I should just say we moved from there when I was five.) There were allotments and open fields behind us - now it is a massive housing estate. We moved from Hertfordshire to Kent because of my father's job but from then on I have always been a country girl with no regrets. Philippa xx
ReplyDeleteOh yes Phillipa - Massive spiders (they just don't make them like that anymore!) and yes the silver fish. I had quite forgotten about these and I used to think that they were some sort of magical creature because you only ever got a fleeting glimpse and they were gone. I have some baby bath in front of the fire photos...
DeleteMany thanks
Best wishes
Jenny
I rememeber the handknit jumpers too. People would pay a fortune now for something handmade like that, all I could think of at the time, was how unstylish they were. When you think how happy we were with so little in those days though, its a bit sad how much children have now.
ReplyDeleteIndeed Mum of all trades - I could have set myself up in a small business there! 'Stuff' does not always equate to happiness does it...
DeleteMany thanks
Best wishes
Jenny
I also hanker after my old toys, which are now long gone.
ReplyDelete