Hard Times

[PLUMPUDDING]

People moaning about the cut-backs and recession just now should have a look at some old women's magazines I've just found dated April 1945 and two for 1948.

The 1945 Stitchcraft magazine had a patern for a bolero made from "an old coat or skirt that was too worn to repair in the 6th year of the war" it also said that if you made it in bright red or green it would make you feel gay whatever you wore it with!

Purchase tax (VAT) was 50% on a food safe (pre-fridge) and a lot of the adverts were apologising for their products being in short supply or even not available. Lux wasn't available and Horlicks was all going to hospitals and convalescent homes. There was even an advert for shoes that said that they could not sell them in this country until they had met their export quotas and were inviting buyers from abroad to place orders. It even said how many ration coupons you needed to buy things.

It makes you realise that the steps our government is making just now are only playing at balancing the books and we could really feel the sting if they tackled it in ernest.

[Primrose]

I think Plum Pudding is right. In many ways, despite today's difficult times most of us are still in clover. For anybody who wants an in-depth nostalgic look back at those times, “Austerity Britain, 1945-51” by David Kynaston is well worth a read. Can probably be borrowed though your local library (if you still have one which remains open anywhere!)

[Marigold]

Here in Ireland many have become accustomed to a very high standard of living and the old ways have largely died. Huge new houses and the "gardens" are adorned with great rocks...

We who grow food are far less common that in the last generations and Irish folk keep saying that they will have to go back to that. It is said as if that is a bad way to live. Somehow retrograde.

We are old enough to remember rationing and thrifty ways and still use and reuse everything so nothing will daunt us. But this seems rare now?

[Primrose]

The sad thing is that as a result of recent years of prosperity, a lot of people will have no idea how to return to the "old" ways because a generation of well-off parents have forgotten the skills of their parents and haven't passed them on to today's young people either. So a lot of people don't know how to grow vegetables, make stock for soups, bake cakes or some of the other basic 'make do & mend' techniques. I've heard of people sowing tomato seeds outdoors in February for example, and expecting to grow a successful crop.

I guess if people become sufficiently hard up they will have to start learning these skills again but in previous generations they were handed down from parent to child as part of their growing-up education.

It's like this country's manufacturing industry. A whole raft of skills have been lost through redundancies and industries shutting down and moving abroad. Rebuilding any skill base from scratch is a very hard thing to do and most of the consumer commodities we now buy are manufacturered abroad in the Far East which is a disgrace when this country needs the employment, and the tax revenue it would generate.

[snooky]

At least this Government haven't as yet resurrected Maggie Thatchers abominable Youth Training Scheme where the Youth unemployment figures were hidden from the public.
16 to 24 year olds were sent out on a"training scheme"for 3 months and paid an extra £10 a week to cover their expenses on top of their dole money.A cruel scheme into which so many hopefuls came only to be dashed as they were shown the door after their time was up,to be passed on the way in by the next hopeful.
I have never met or heard of anyone getting a job via this scheme and there were some good,keen lads on it in the factory in which I worked at that time.

[PLUMPUDDING]

People can't be so hard up if they are willing to pay for packaged peeled, and chopped up vegetables at silly prices, and where does the money come from for children to buy all the crisps, chocolates and pop they seem to consume instead of breakfast?

My son told me that his friend's wife had bought a new microwave as her old one was too dirty to warm the baby's bottle in! I'm sure there are a lot of people who are short of money, but as you've said there is a generation who have been brought up to just throw perfectly good things away when something new comes out or they are tired of them, and all the skills to mend, build or re-use have disappeared along with how to grow and cook their food.

The government and schools have a lot to answer for, and instead of crowing about how children are achieving better exam results every year and all the league tables they should be teaching all children useful practical skills as well to give them a balanced education. They could also raise the standard of the exams too while they are about it. We were taught things for 'O' level G.C.E. (G.C.S.E.) that had been moved to 'A' level when my sons took the exams. Talk about dumbing down and instead of separate subjects for Chemistry, Physics and Biology they had all been lumped together as Science so were nowhere near as detailed.

Sorry I'm going into a rant. So I'll shut up.

One interesting thing - for smokers anyway - I found in the 1945 magazine was how to grow your own HEALTHY herbal (tobacco) to roll your own cigarettes. "Smoking herbs is beneficial to health as they have therapeutic qualities" -Quote from the magazine.
It comprised of three parts dried coltsfoot leaves (to ease the breathing passages), 1 part rosemary (a nervine and good to clear a headache), 1 part thyme (to ease sore throats and convulsive coughs), 1 part wood betony flowers (nervine), 1 part eyebright using the whole plant except the roots (tonic and astringent). These were all dried and crumbled and mixed together, adjusting the mixture to your own taste and could be mixed with tobacco if wanted. I think this moistened it up a bit especially for pipe smokers. I haven't tried it because I don't smoke, but I should think it smells rather pleasant.

[alan refail]

I think we are so wrapped into our Western ways of thinking that progress in technology and wealth is an automatic right that we forget that in 2005 1.37 billion people worldwide had an income of less than US$ 1.25 per day. That's about twice the total population of Europe; US$ 1.25 per day is less than £300 a year. Now that's really "hard times"!

Incidentally, the total numbers in poverty decreased from 1990 figures largely due to half a billion in China moving above the US$ 1.25 threshold. Makes you think.

[peter]

Part of the trouble is that so many items are not made to be repairable, one circuit board in a case, no spares available, cost of repair exceeds replacement cost, etc.

[Geoff]

There's no recession until a mobile phone company hits hard times. I simply do not understand why it seems to have become a necessity to spend £35+ a month on wittering. If times are hard just shut up, give everybody else some peace and quite and spend what you save on something useful.

[glallotments]

The problem is that just because many people are still able to waste their money the fact remains that there are people who are struggling to make ends meet and having to decide whether to keep warm or keep adequately well fed. They are not spending money on unnecessary items or luxuries.

It annoys me that such a great deal of money is either being spent outside of our country or on things like the Olympics ( I know someone will say this brings in revenue to the country but I still feel that too much is being thrown at it). Meanwhile we can't look after people in our own country who are struggling, instead we just make them feel that they are a burden.

[oldherbaceous]

I had a lovely tax bill come through the post today...
They do like to send them just before the festivities.

[Primrose]

Dear OH, Stop complaining! It proves somebody still loves you that they remember to send you a communication in time for Christmas!

They love me too because I also got one. I've written out the cheque but I'm darned if I'm going to post it until the middle of January!

[glallotments]

I had a lovely tax bill come through the post today...
They do like to send them just before the festivities.

I got one too that said nothing to pay!!

[Stephen]

I agree that there is a world of difference between the 1940s and '50s and the current day.
My parents were of the generation young at that time and the thrift they developed then never left them. So I was brought up to be economical and thrifty, to repair and reuse things whenever possible, to put on a jumper if/when I am cold and such like.
I have developed some more extravagant habits (I own two cars for example) and am aware when stuff is unrepairable or not worth the time, trouble or difficulty of repairing (so often the case can not be opened without damage which really annoys me).

BTW: HMRC send out your tax bill before Christmas so that there are still some funds in your account!

[PLUMPUDDING]

I dread to think how much the Olympics is going to cost with all the extra security guards and now they're using the army as well. Didn't the Olympics more or less bankrupt Greece when they last held it? It doesn't bode well.

Sheffield is still paying for the World Student Games it hosted over 20 years ago. We did get some good sports facilities out of it though.