PowerSwitch

Having been born right at the end of the Swinging Sixties (literally...in December 1969), I remember lots of things being different growing up in the 70s. Presumably, if there's a slow descent, things will regress somewhat until we're living a lifestyle more reminiscent of then than now (though hopefully without the horrendous fashion crimes).

I don't eat chocolate often, but I just got the urge for a chocolate bar after lunch and went to buy a Snickers (Marathon that was), from the canteen. As I was eating it I starting thinking, "I remember when chocolate bars and sweets all came in paper wrappers, and Sainsburys had those brown paper bags to put your shopping in..."

Will we see a return to less use of plastic packaging, putting out fruit and veg in brown paper bags? Will more shops begin to sell loose goods, as in grocers of old? Will Spangles make a comeback ?

I also remember when comics were printed on non-shiny paper...ah, those were the days...

Hehe don't start Pip . . . I was born in March 1970 so a very similar vintage to yourself!

Rice paper 'flying saucers' with sherbet inside . . . Bazooka Joe bubblegum . . . ah yes, nostalgia isn't as good as it used to be is it!!

My folks' house used to be oil-heated, they used to have an enormous steel oil tank out the back which they got rid of years ago when they changed to gas. I was saying to them the other day how it was a shame they had got rid of it, as they could have used it for 'aquaponics' (fish farming plus hydroponic vegetable growing in a closed system).

Pip Tiddlepip wrote:Will we see a return to less use of plastic packaging, putting out fruit and veg in brown paper bags? Will more shops begin to sell loose goods, as in grocers of old?

It sounds like you're going to the wrong shops...

Crikey, that just took me back. My grandparents still had a bit concrete coal bunker out the back, to which my grandad would make a trip a couple of times a day or more with a coal scuttle and shovel...

Off topic (kind of), my grandparents lived in a council house in Moulsecoombe, now notorious as one of the roughest areas of Brighton. When they lived there, people took care of their properties and gardens, and I vividly remember a neighbour having a damson tree right next to their door, which produced the most fabulous fruits. The railings outside were painted a shiny black, and across the road was a small wooded area that was well kept. I enjoyed going there as a child.

I dropped a friend off there a few months ago and my heart nearly broke. The small corner shop was now a flooring distributors' office. The houses all had that scruffy, scuffed-up, uncared-for look. The wooded area was full of dog shit, and the railings were plain grey metal.

I wonder if, when there are less resources, people will be more inclined to treasure what they do have?

Pip Tiddlepip wrote:Will we see a return to less use of plastic packaging, putting out fruit and veg in brown paper bags? Will more shops begin to sell loose goods, as in grocers of old?

Grocers? haven't seen one them for donkeys. Our 'local' grocer is a lovely Tesco superstore.

Nostalgic memories can be very selective. Just as you cannot really remember pain, neither can you remember properly the bad old days. I grew up in the 1950's in a house without a bathroom, nor hot water and can even remember rationing. Those were bleak days I have no wish to return to. Luckily time marches on and the future will never resemble the past no matter how poor we become. There will be just a new reality that people will adjust to.

I'm the same age as you two. A summer child (July) of 1970.

My fondest memories are being able to cycle on A and B roads with my mates at the age of about six. I wouldn't cycle on some of the roads round here myself these days, let alone alow my kids to cycle on them!!!!!

I also remember the really hot summer of 76, and making fruit ice lollys. I remember the simplicity of the cars, and the stink of the exhausts. I remember books at school (instead of digital white boards), and propper blackboards.

Do you remember putting a clothes peg and playing cards in the back wheel of your bike and pretending to be CHiPS?

I remember my Mum being around all the time. A family could afford to have only one parent working then!

WE THE OVER FORTIES ARE THE SURVIVORS !
ACCORDING TO TODAYS HEALTH AND SAFETY EXPERTS WE SHOULD NOT HAVE SURVIVED, BUT WE DID!

Our toys and cribs were painted with lead paint
We walked or cycled for miles, without hinderance or parental concern
We climbed trees, and fell and hurt ourselves, but no one sued
We lived in homes that had never been inspected
We carried small pocket knives without fear of misuse, or arrest
We cycled without safety hats
Cats and dogs slept on our beds
We swam in the sea without the presence of a lifegaurd
We used cars without seat belts or air bags
We used gas light and coal fires
We new not the meaning of C.O.S.H. nor O.S.H.A. nor N.E.C.
A few remember life before the R.E.A. or the T.V.A.
We worked for employers without a written safety policy
We used outhouses that were outside
We knew not the meaning of P.P.E. nor G.F.C.I.
We survived bereavement without counseling
We used electricity from un-earthed outlets
Some of us survived winter without central heating
Others survived summer without A/C
We did our own wiring and plumbing without permit or inspection
We remember life before internet or cellphones
Some remember the days before television

WE SHOULD NOT HAVE SURVIVED BUT WE DID!

O.S.H.A.= occupational safety and health administration (USA)
C.O.S.H.=control of substances hazardous to health (UK and USA
N.E.C.= national electrical code (USA)
T.V.A.=tennesee valley authority (USA)
R.E.A.= rural electrification authority (UK and USA)
P.P.E.= personel protective equipment (UK and USA)
G.F.C.I.= ground fault circuit interupt, USA term for RCD.

Edited to add list of acronyms.

Do you remember when all TV's had wooden casings? Car dashboards were wood. In fact plastic hadn't yet found its way into our lives! Everything was china, glass, tin, wood, rubber or bakerlite (what was that?)

SunnyJim wrote:Do you remember when all TV's had wooden casings? Car dashboards were wood. In fact plastic hadn't yet found its way into our lives! Everything was china, glass, tin, wood, rubber or bakerlite (what was that?)

I dont quite remember those days, but nearly.

Bakelite was a type of rubber. Natural rubber is a very soft sticky substance of limited use in it raw state.
It was discovered that rubber could be vulcanised by a proccess innvolving sulphur, this produced a tougher, non sticky but still reslient material, useful for weather proof clothing, electrical insulation, tyres, hosepipes etc.
It was then discovered that by modifying/increasing the vulcanising process, a hard rigid insulating material could be produced, heat resisting to a degree, and non-flammable, and moudable to complex shapes. This was bakelite, and was much favoured for the manufacture of electrical equipment.

Yeah, I remember bakerlite switches and plugs/sockets etc. We lived in an old house.

Twisted cord electrical cable! All this in the mid seventies!

dont forget dodgy leaky single glazed windows, no attic insulation , no wall insulation.

I've been thinking about my attitude to health and safety issues, as we are expecting our first baby next month.

I recognise most of adam2's list (although I'm not sure what all the acronyms mean).

I have an instinctive reaction against anyone who says something's being done for H & S. Two weeks ago I was at an event attended by the public at Arnold Circus (a public square in east London). Before the event, the organisers wrapped that bright stripy tape around all the railings "for health and safety". I couldn't quite see that the tape was going to reduce the risk of any likely accident. At the same time, the steps were quite slippery from growth of algae (it had been raining). We almost slipped on them during the prep for the event.



What struck me from this case was that we have lost the ability to look at risk and make an intelligent judgement about where the risks lie.

It is perfectly valid and sensible to do a health and safety assessment before an event like this one but we don't seem to be very at doing it effectively or intelligently.

SunnyJim wrote:Do you remember when all TV's had wooden casings?

Not only do i remember TVs with wooden casings, I remember when we actually had to get up off our arses when we wanted to change the channel! Not that you had to do it all that often, with only three channels to choose from. No videos, no DVDs.

I too remember the long hot summer of 1976. The lawn took forever to recover! My mum thought it had died completely.[/i]

Pip Tiddlepip wrote:

SunnyJim wrote:Do you remember when all TV's had wooden casings?

I remember my mum's Triumph Herald had a walnut dash.

Now olde houses...we borrowed one once between sale and purchase...hell it was cool (in both senses of the word). If it had CH, it didn't work. But who cared, when it had electric BELLS, that still WORKED, that you could press and they'd ring in the downstairs kitchen and you could pretend to be posh people, or Sherlock Holmes, or spies... though to be fair, someone had disconnected the one you could reach from the bath! Yeah twin cables (with cloth insulation!), bakelite switches, shellac'ed floorboards, proper fireplaces (with fires) and a stream in the garden. Number 13. They don't even allow that now. What a place. They demolished it after we left.