Forums Forums Wirral History : Chasing the Past Wirral History Was it really better ?

All good clean fun eh granny! My folks had an Aladdin paraffin heater in the hall that was supposed to heat the upstairs rooms! Oh yeh ?? The whole house had that whiff of paraffin which maybe gave the illusion of warmth.

It was no big deal to scratch a smal hole in the frost on the inside of the bedroom window to look out. It just "happened" in the winter didn't it!

When the fire was bright red, if you forgot to shut the damper, the back boiler would throw a wobbler and cough and fa*t. You then had to run off surplus (brown) scalding water out of the tap!

Mmmm. times have changed.

Oh Lord yes, many a rusty bath. Can you imagine this present generation getting into a bath full of rusty water?

What about the "Flit Gun" for the flies. We used to chase each other round the house spraying each other with DDT and now it is supposed to be dangerous. Failing that there were the fly papers with loads and loads of dead flies on them, especially in the greengrocers shops. Reminds me of the joke, "how much are your wasps mrs?", We don't sell wasps. "Well you've got 2 in the window."

Saw Bruce Forsyth at the Empire in panto during the fifties (very early sixties?). Bugger is still around and still just as annoying.

Yes, and look at the state of you now.

There's probably a lot of truth in that CK but I'm still here, like bloody Bruce Forsyth, now him I would've flit gunned.

Hardly see a fly now, what does that tell us?

Tells us that we don't see many flies, Bert.

Hitch Hiking. There was plenty of that going on in 60' and 70's.

1970 HITCH HIKERS GUIDE TO THE NORTH WEST.
WHAT NOT TO DO.
1)Don't get up on a Sunday morning in late September and decide to go hitch hiking to the Lake District that day
2)Don't set off at 3pm the same day in the pooring rain
3)Don't think you're doing well when you have arrived at Preston by 9.30pm
4)Don't get so wet that you need to get your clothes and boots dry before the laundrette closes at 10pm.
5)Don't go to the nearest pub at last orders to ask someone where you can pitch a tent for the night
6)Don't pretend you can see in the dark when all the lights are out and everyone is snug in bed ,take a torch it helps when pitching a tent.
7)Don't put yourself in a situation when you will hear "Stand By Your Beds"
the following morning when the tent flap flys open, and there in your face is a Bobby with one of those big hats.
8)Don't most definitely Don't burst out laughing when you are told to move because you have parked in someones back garden.
7)On arriving at your destination that same day Don't go swimming in Lake Windermere (no clothes) at midnight ...it's bloody cold.

The good old days eh!

What happened to carbolic soap? My gran was still using that in the 70'S.

Carbolic soap has been banned!!!! I kid you not. Ffs! Only recently, I tried to get some Lifebuoy Soap. The bog standard pink/red bars - not the poncy toilet soap stuff. No shop has it, so via Mr Google it transpired that the braindead of Brussels banned it a few years ago because it contained Phenols !!

Jeez, I and about 50 million other folk (at least) were washed and scrubbed with the stuff for years! Apart from a third ear under my left armpit and my mouth is now under my chin - it didn't do me any harm!!

DON'T get me going about the nanny state - just DON'T.

Oh, by the way. There is a site that claims to sell the stuff now. Don't be fooled. The stuff is made somewhere desparately foreign and of course it doesn't contain the original goodies. It's just lookalike poncy Lifebuoy "style" toilet soap and another thing.... if I remember rightly, it costs silly money!

Rant susended - for now.

lol

weve got big bellies !!!!!!!

Lol @ Pinz,down with the Brussels mob,i say!

I miss the smell,strange i know.

An ear under your armpit is a bonus i would have thought!

Off to google Phenols!!

Yes, I rather liked the smell too. I "think" it was the phenols that was in the disinfectant that they used to dampen the old platforms with, using a watering can, at Hamilton Square and James St. stations. Always remember that smell as a kid when you got out of the lifts or subway.

Oh dear, rambling again. It's obviously the effect of the phenols !!!!!!!!!