Make do and Mend

[Chulla 4,946]

At the Rise Park Association's 1940's 'do' yesterday (it was excellent) there were some of the old wartime posters on display, one of which was Make do and Mend. Being of a certain age this reminded me of the days when this was a common, everyday mantra, during the war years and for some time after. It was nothing like today's throw-away society where practically nothing gets mended - often costs more to mend than to replace. During the 1940s there was often no choice; it had to be mended, a replacement didn't exist. This was relatively easy when it came to clothes, which could also be altered to a different fit or re-modelled.

During the war I lived with my grandparents and remember grandma making rugs. These were made from strips of cloth material (virtually anything would suffice), about half an inch wide, pulled through a hessian base. They looked lovely when completed but quickly became flattened and the retainer of much dirt and dust.

There were shortages of just about everything during the war; razor blades were one such commodity. Granddad used to revive the edge on his 7 O'clock blades. He would put a few drops of water into a tumbler and then push the blade on to the inside surface of the tumbler with his thumb and rub it to and fro. How this restored an edge to the blade I'll never know. One of my workmates told that he sometimes had to take a jam jar to the pub at night because there was a shortage of beer glasses.

Electrical equipment was very robust; if the wireless broke down it was usually put right by the fitment of a new Mullard valve.

Post-war and into the 1950s and 1960s there were still many pre-war cars and motorbikes on the road. These required lots of work to keep them going. Parts, if they could be found, were in car junkyards, or, in the case of the latter at such wonderful places as Gaggs and Bob's Spares. The introduction of the MOT test put paid to much of this routine. As for me, I was just the same, and still am. If I can mend it I will. Only if it is beyond by skill will I give up.

Anyone else got any stories of how their family used to make do?

Darkazana (below). I remember those mushroom-shaped things that you pushed inside the sock to hold it firmly while it was darned. Another fairly common sight was a hobbling iron, to mend shoes with. Some people would cut old bike tyres up to nail on to the soles.

[darkazana 1,736]

Tips I remember picked up from my Mum who lived through those times are

When sheets are wearing thin, cut down the middle then sew outside edges together using a French seam (flat seam)

Cleaning teeth, and cooker and fridge, using bicarbonate of soda (Mum still cleans her oven and fridge using it)

And of course darning holes in socks, jumpers etc, infact this was a skill taught in Brownies when I was young, don't think it's included in your sewing badge now.

Which leads on to making new clothes out of old.......

[littlebro 234]

Yes, darning socks is an art that has gone, as have repairing shoes on a cobblers last.

[darkazana 1,736]

Also nail varnish or soap on a run in your tights, though in Mums day you couldn't afford or find nylons so you drew a line up the back of your legs for the stocking seam!

[katyjay 5,091]

Good thread, I'll have to put me thinking cap on, I'm sure I can come up wi summat. Oh I know. Tuffees were in short supply as a kid, so sugar mixed with cocoa powder, lick yer finger and dip in for a quick treat. Unpicking jumpers, washing the crinkly wool to straighten it, and reknitting. If you had to throw out a clothing article you didn't do so till it was canibalized. I.e, take off the buttons and anything else reusable. I think that's why grandmas always had a big button tin. Rag and bone man got anything that was left. Shirt collars were removed after they got worn, and turned over and resewn on. My mother in law still did 'sides-to-middle' with all her sheets, right up to the 60's. Old habits die hard.

[Ayupmeducks 1,730]

Most electronics are unrepairable, cost is the biggest problem, the screen of a modern flat screen TV is nearly as much as a brand new tv. Replacing surface mount components needs an extremely steady hand and a bench magnifying glass, steady hand is my problem!!

I used to darn my socks and repair my own overalls.

I do try to repair most things unless I think it's a waste of time and energy, some things require very expensive test equipment. (electronics)

[banjo48 928]

My gran used to make the cloth strip rugs too, she had this tool you pushed through the hession and clipped on the rag strip and pulled it through somehow.

Dad used to cobble his shoes with leather in the shed, and mum had a sock darning thingy like a wood mushroom.

Dont know if I was lucky or not but mum made and repaired most of our clothes as she was a dressmaker/seamstress.

She was an ardent knitter and was always knitting, she went to see a recording of a "new" tv show at the tv studios in Nottm and took her knitting and got into bother for knitting whilst they were filming ! Leslie Crowther comes to mind, but not sure.

As also mentioned before here somewhere, gran used to make mittens and slippers from rabbit skins that dad had grown for meat.

Nothing was wasted in our house I can assure you. As a kid I also remember mum saving all the veg scraps to go into her runner bean trench in the garden for next years crop.

When she died in 2005 she had two small freezers full of veggies she had grown still at 86, she never bought veg as if it wasn't grown in the garden we didn't eat it !

[Bubblewrap 3,815]

I think this is a problem with today.

That people are only to ready to throw something away & buy new rather than attempt to repair it.

[Ayupmeducks 1,730]

If you look around your modern home, I doubt you'll find very much that can be repaired, take your shoes and boot, most have the uppers moulded into the soles, so once worn out, usually the uppers theses days, they are throw away.

TV's DVD players, almost impossible to get new parts after two years old, manufacturers only support most products for around18 months!!

How many TV/radio repair shops do you see nowadays??? There used to be one within a mile or so of every city dwellers home.

Now if you have an old vacuum tube stereo, it can be repaired easily and fairly cheaply, AND, it could be worth a fortune!!

Has anyone noticed how long elastic in undies lasts these days?? Not as long as when we were kids!!

Problem with todays electronics is, it's out of date after we buy it, technology is moving at an ever increasing pace, it's not a matter of keeping up with the "Joneses" It's just a fact.

Take your computer as an example, an old 286 with a 40Mb hard drive, there's nothing wrong with it, BUT, most software we use today won't run on it, and the hard drive isn't big enough to take most software today.

I've had to upgrade several times because 1/ the CPU isn't fast enough to run some programs, 2/ not enough memory, 3/hardrive was too small, 4/ other functional reasons.

There used to be a time I'd put a desktop or mid tower together for a friend who couldn't afford a computer, it's almost impossible today as all parts, Mother Board etc are out of date, and won't run new software without errors.

I was employed as a maintenance electrician, so had to repair and keep equipment running for a living, some equipment went back to the 1920's!!!! But was still servicable with regular maintenance.

[mercurydancer 1,104]

chulla, although I am a Nottinghamian and proud of it, I often visit Beamish Museum near Durham. I adore the place, They actually sell courses for "proggy mat making" which is basically making rugs out of rags! Same technique as you describe, but you pay 65 quid for a half a day to learn to make one!

[Chulla 4,946]

mercurydancer.

65 quid! - strewth! You would get the hang of it in a few minutes if somebody showed you. That said, don't bother; they are the biggest collecters of dirt that I have ever seen.

[plantfit 7,626]

If the bottoms of my trousers get too worn or the knees show signs of wear I cut them down to just below the knee and sew the hem up using my sewing machine, this turns them into shorts that I seem to wear all the time now although off to a managers meeting in Rugby tommorrow so will have to wear trousers for that

Rog

[tomlinson 879]

chulla, although I am a Nottinghamian and proud of it, I often visit Beamish Museum near Durham. I adore the place, They actually sell courses for "proggy mat making" which is basically making rugs out of rags! Same technique as you describe, but you pay 65 quid for a half a day to learn to make one!

I remember helping make rugs out of hessian and rags late 40s early fifties. The tool used to do the job was a clothes peg, not the rough wood one but the smooth manufactured item. As I remember it, you put the bit of rag in the fork of the peg, then push it through the hessian so the two rag ends stick up. No charge for the info'.

[Blondie 1,392]

I can remember my sister and myself unpicking last years jumpers and cardigans, winding the wool around a toilet roll holder, then washed and straightened...........My mum then used the wool to make hats, scarves and mittons (there was 4 children) - She had a treadle sewing machine and was brill at running up a garment at short notice out of pieces of material................. She could sew, knit and make a delicious meal appear out of almost nothing,...................She made cough syrup with butter, sugar and vinegar warmed up in the oven, it worked - I never knew how she could do the things she did............Clothes, (coats, dresses, skirts) altered and handed down, worn and worn until threadbare...... Rag and bone Man then took it off your hands, a bag for sixpence..........Old sheets made into tea towels, an old pillow case made a superb vacuum cleaner bag which lasted forever..................My great Aunts made rag rugs and rag dolls and were experts at darning socks and elbows...............Nail varnish stopped ladders in stockings..............and the list goes on..........Oh happy days..........

[FLY2 10,109]

I mentioned elsewhere about inserting a duck egg into the leaky radiator of my Land Rover and still running it for a couple of years.

Well in the 60's I had an old Vauxhall and only put minimum petrol in to cover the week.

However one Saturday I noticed that the gauge had gone down dramatically. I looked under the tank for a leak, and noticed that the offside of the tank had rotted and wasn't attached to anything. I carefully jacked to tank up to its normal height and secured it with old electrical cable. It was fine for ages until I sold it.

[FLY2 10,109]

Another gem was in the 70's returning home with the caravan after a summer holiday in Cornwall. My Citroen ID19 started blowing from the exhaust. I pulled in to a lay-by near Cullompton . You could raise the height of those big Cits by the hydraulic system.

It was just a break due to rot, so s quick repair was carried out by cutting up a Skol lager can with scissors, wrapping it around the two offending pipe ends, and securing with two Jubilee clips. Simples !

[davep5491 360]

Fly The first 3 years of my apprenticeship was at Citroen dealers Siddon's garage Mansfield Road.

Worked on Light fifteens, ID19, DS21 and Deux Chevaux (2CV) Loved them! Cars so advanced for the times in 1960 - 63

[FLY2 10,109]

The ID 19 was absolutely fantastic, although Bristol St Motors on Mansfield Rd were absolute rob dogs. They quoted me £106 for a full exhaust . I got a non Cit part from a Castle Blvd outlet for £53. This was about 1971 for Gods Sake.

It was the best car I ever had. I actually broke the speedo by thrashing it up the M1 from Leicester late one night. The needle actually snapped off. I was in the Citroen Car Club and often picked up bits and tips. Andalou Blue. Awesome.

[FLY2 10,109]

MDF 170 F..... Loved it.