I have had so many lovely comments responding to my Changes Since the 50s post. Thank you all! So I’ve decided to post another one. A simple list again, brief, no pictures. I hope it rings some bells.
Cars had no seat belts or reversing lights. They had three gears and you had to pull the choke out in order to start the engine – then remember to push it in again.
Most people smoked (80% of men and 40% of women in the early 1950s) and you could smoke anywhere. In cinemas, on trains and buses, in hospitals, cafes and restaurants.
Peaches, pineapples, salmon and cream came mostly in tins.
Nobody wore helmets when cycling.
Suitcases didn’t have wheels.
You answered the telephone with a greeting, your exchange and your number e.g. “Hello, Somewhereton 456”.
All children had ‘hobbies’.
Everyone wore vests, winter and summer.
The word vegetarian was rarely heard. Likewise vegan.
Most people did the football pools weekly.
You used encyclopaedias to look things up. A home set if you had one, in the library if not.
Childhood Memories of growing up in the 1950s and 1960s. 
The ladies who did smoke usually did so indoors. It was considered definitely un-ladylike to be seen smoking in the street. And I don’t recall many teenaged girls smoking at all.
Also considered un-ladylike was for ladies to drink beer outside of the home. Even in the home, it wasn’t very popular with them. PIMMs, dry martinis and G&Ts seemed to the thing, while sherry was popular with older ladies.
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The sherry favoured by older ladies was usually Harvey’s Bristol Cream I seem to remember.
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YES thats so true only 1 tv channel until Feb 1956 when the Litchfield transmitter came on air giving us ATV Mon to Fri London Weekend Sat and Sun . Sunday night at the London Palladium. Here in Youlgreave we were on the fringe of the transmitter aera a snowy picture but watchable
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I remember snowy pictures so well! Our whole family loved Sunday Night at the London Palladium and my grandmother particularly liked The Good Old Days.
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Thanks, but a few comments:
Very few people had telephones! 2. Cars also had little arms as indicators; they often got stuck! 3. Many people did the pools but I doubt if it was most. Have you any figures or is it just conjecture? 4. Liberty bodices rather than vests in many cases, thankfully not in our family. 5. And while we’re on underwear, girls’ knickers often had a pocket for a hanky. 6. Joan the Wad ads (at least in the Daily Mirror)! 7. Libraries had only books, not DVDs, CDs & computers; they were staffed by professionals; silence was the norm; even small branches were open at least 5 and half days a week, in those I used 10 am – 7 pm. Best wishes Patricia Fairey
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Courtesy of Wikipedia. ‘By 1947, pools revenue had increased to £70 million a year, with over 90% being spent with Littlewoods, Vernon’s, Sherman’s and Cope’s. It accounted for almost 15 million postal packets each week through the post office. By the 1950s, 100,000 people were working in the industry.’
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In 1947 the population of the UK was 50 million, of which 15 million is 30%, so nowhere near âalmost allâ. Patricia
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Yes, I recall Harvey’s Bristol Cream was very popular.
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I remember most of these! We had the World Book Encylopedia with the yearly supplement to keep the information up-to-date.
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It always pleases me when I find there are shared memories across the continents.
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It is fun to see what we have in common and where we differ.
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Cars did not have turn signal lights; instead, an illuminated arm flipped out of the side to indicate the side to which you were turning. A man on our street had a VW and it had indicator lights instead of the arms; he said VW was the first car in Britain to offer this.
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I remember seeing old models driving around with the orange triang
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