am i old? - Page 2

katex · 17-12-2007, 21:33

Quote:

Originally Posted by cashman

ya got a friend for life.

though by cashy logic 50 is an official owd fart, n 60 is a coffin dodger,which i will shortly be.

Here comes the sympathy trip

WillowTheWhisp · 17-12-2007, 22:55

I feel old when I see things from my childhood in museums!

jambutty · 18-12-2007, 18:04

Speaking as a septuagenarian I KNOW I am old. But I don’t care because I have one major advantage over younger folk. If I croak today I will have lived 70 years. If the younger people croaked today they will not have.

I was born in the last millennium.
I played 78’s on a wind-up gramophone as a kid.
Our wireless had an accumulator (battery) that had to be taken to a local shop to be charged once in a while.
We had gas lighting.
We had a coal fire to heat the whole house. But it was great for making toast with real bread that tasted like bread. It didn’t stay fresh for very long though. But that didn’t matter because the confectionary shop was a short walk away.
If we wanted hot water it had to be heated on the gas stove in kettles or saucepans.
In winter there was ice on the INSIDE of the bedroom windows.
The invention of the rubber hot water bottle was a boon to cold feet.

We didn’t have all the gadgets that there are today so we were forced to use our brains and imagination in play.

I’m glad that I lived then and I’m equally glad that I’m alive today to sample the technology around.

WillowTheWhisp · 18-12-2007, 19:10

I loved toast toasted on an open fire on the end of a long toasting fork. It tasted so different from toaster or grill toast.

jambutty · 18-12-2007, 19:17

Quote:

Originally Posted by WillowTheWhisp

I loved toast toasted on an open fire on the end of a long toasting fork. It tasted so different from toaster or grill toast.

That was down to the bread and not so much the method of toasting although it probably did add something to the toast.

You just wouldn’t get the modern bread to stick on a toasting fork. It’s too full of air.

yerself · 18-12-2007, 19:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jambutty

It’s too full of air.

Sorry about this but I can't resist.

It takes one to know one.

WillowTheWhisp · 18-12-2007, 19:22

I remember the same loaf being used under t'grill and o'er t'fire and the latter always tasted better.

ossylass · 18-12-2007, 19:43

If we're talking REALLY old, I can remember hearing the air-raid sirens and my father carrying me into the nearest shelter wrapped in a blanket. I also remember walking to junior school in Rishton with my gas mask in a case on my shoulder. Our next door neighbour used to give me a farthing for running errands (that was a quarter of an old penny).

Eric · 18-12-2007, 19:56

I think there is a point to be made that all the changes that have taken place are not really all that significant. It's all periphery stuff, a lot of it junk basically, even tho' it is a lot of fun. What doesn't seem to be changing in any real way is the human animal. If we get too hung up on the techno change, and imagine that it is altering our world ... and I don't mean the externals, I mean what makes us human and what makes a society .... we miss the point that the real problems are still out there and that they are immune to a techno solution.

By the way, does anyone remember tossing spuds into the embers of the fire and then taking them out (carefully), scraping the black stuff off and eating them. Or sharing a boiled egg with mom and dad, 'cause there was only one egg, and no ration coupons or money for any more.

West Ender · 18-12-2007, 21:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eric

By the way, does anyone remember tossing spuds into the embers of the fire and then taking them out (carefully), scraping the black stuff off and eating them.

My dad's Big Treat on Bonfire Night! They were always awful, burnt skins and raw insides and they tasted foul. Only my mum's treacle toffee and my aunt's Parkin made up for them.

Eric · 19-12-2007, 00:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by West Ender

My dad's Big Treat on Bonfire Night! They were always awful, burnt skins and raw insides and they tasted foul. Only my mum's treacle toffee and my aunt's Parkin made up for them.

And the peas that tasted like s**t until you put vinegar on them.

I remember that the spud thing usually happened on the night befor my dad got paid. That was probably all we had to eat ... but it was fun, and sometimes there was a little marg to go on them.