Making ends meet


Recommended Posts

During the post World War II period many of us experienced life in the "Make do and mend" era. This was a difficult time for all ordinary working people, where money was tight and goods scarce. Many will remember the daily shopping expedition down to the local greengrocer, grocer and newsagent for essential supplies such as 2lbs of potatoes, a few carrots and perhaps a cabbage - you get the picture. In that period, from the end of the war though until the mid-1960s there was no such thing as a supermarket and all food was bought at either the local shop or the town market. In Nottingham we were lucky to have the Central Market, where farm produce was available alongside fresh fish; although many could only afford the fish as an occasional treat.

Cars were few and far between and family holidays tended to be either the odd day out to Trentham Gardens, Alton Towers (Before the white knuckle rides were invented), Dudley & Twycross Zoos, Newstead Abbey, Edwinstowe for the Major Oak or if lucky, Skeggy or one of the other East coast resorts. Travel to these places was mostly by bus or train. I think most trips in my younger days were taken on 'Skills' coaches and sometimes the train from Daybrook Station. Local parks, such as Wollaton, held occasional fairs and events too. Towards the end of summer and into autumn the travelling fairs became the focus of attention, with the Goose Fair being the highlight of the season followed by numerous local "Wakes" such as Basford, Heanor, Ilkeston, Arnold, Hucknall, etc..

However, I digress; the memories I am trying to convey are those of having little in the way of material possessions and mothers attempting to make a small wage feed a family - remember, there was no benefit system like we have today, you worked or got your pittance of a dole and nothing else but a few pence family allowance for your second and subsequent children. In order to accomplish this they had to shop daily, making every penny count - and by gum, they did anorl! I clearly recall going down to the shops armed with a tanner (6d or 2½p for those who are too young to remember old money) for some spuds and veg! As for health, had it not been for the advent of the NHS in 1948 many more of us would not have survived to tell the tale.

I think my own parents had a big struggle but in my opinion, they did a great job and I wish they were still alive today so that I could tell them so.....

  • Upvote 18
Link to post
Share on other sites
  • Replies 93
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Top Posters In This Topic

Popular Posts

Yes, trips to the cobblers as a boy and watching my shoes being repaired, then polished on the leather belt driven buffing machine. Borrowing my uncle's hobbing iron and nailing Blakeys (sp) into the

Done my bit too........Ounce of Yeast  Mrs Williams ? Pound of Dried Peas.......Mrs Griffiths ? Half pound of Tub Butter......Mrs Carling ? Qtr of Potted Meat..........Mrs Robinson ?

Even during the fifties things were still pretty tight.  I remember going to the individual shops with me mam.  My dad got called back into the navy because of the Korean war.  So my mam worked aftern

Very prophetic Compo. Everything is too easy these days. It makes me pee when I'm at Morrisons or Tesco. The amount of people who need a taxi to return home with a couple of bags. Ludicrous.

  • Upvote 2
Link to post
Share on other sites

I agree Compo, people were much fitter as well, no cars only a pedal bike or walk everywhere.

Mrs Catfan relates how she & her two sisters walked from Radford to Bulwell Cemetery or to her grandad's allotment on Western Boulevard, walk there & bus back or walk there there have an ice-cream then walk back too. Couldn't have both. Her grandad was a salt of the earth coal miner all his working life until serious injury & lung problems eventually killed him off.

Good old days in some respects but I would not wish those days to return. Working class people were kept in their place, they only had the means to scrape an existence as you say a "make do & mend" era.

Good post !

  • Upvote 5
Link to post
Share on other sites

Compo, thanks for reminding me about Dudley Zoo. We went there on a Sunday School trip. Parents came too and I still have the photo my mum took of the polar bear. I thought the bear was wonderful. My grandfather lived with us and when he was ill we could not go away on holiday so we had days out on "Skills for thrills"! Lots of travel sick tablets and lots of fun. Families stuck together and did the best they could.

  • Upvote 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

I used to love going to Dudley Zoo many years ago (once).

Took Mrs Catfan a couple of years ago, dear oh dear oh dear, the place is ran down, a real crying shame.

Suppose the big white knuckle ride parks killed it off just about.

Fortunately another worthwhile place just down the road is The Black Country Museum, absolutely brilliant place to visit.

Just understanding the local lingo is the problem hellothere

  • Upvote 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

My Father was one of only 3 on the street that owned a car,window shopping was also a day out!

Food though was good..but no wastefulness, no pop allowed.. PLJ...yuk!!

When I did ask for something, I'd get the comment Do what they do in Russia- Go without!!

Link to post
Share on other sites

Black Country Museum Dudley and Blists Hill Victorian Town Nr Ironbridge are both great places if you want a day out. Take plenty of dosh though; you will need it.

I only started going to Dudley Zoo in the 1970s when my children were small, it was then that I realised how much it upset me to see the animals caged or in small compounds.

I remember in particular the Polar Bear. It used to just walk a few steps one way, turn and do the same back, just shaking its head slowly from side to side,over and over again. Bilborough Shirley, I know what you mean, through the eyes of a child, the Polar Bear was wonderful, my kids would stand at the rail watching for ages.

We also have the West Mids Safari Park just a few miles away. Now, I can recommend a visit there. Again, take plenty of dosh or a good picnic. A lot of what you see can depend on the luck of the day. Some times we go and all the animals are out and another day they might all be hiding in their dens or sleeping. But once in, you can drive round as many times as you like. The animals seem a lot more content than in a zoo.

My Score................................Oile Giv It Foive. :biggrin:

  • Upvote 4
Link to post
Share on other sites

My mini conked out in the middle of Woburn Safari Park once upon a time! Fortunately we weren't in the Lion Enclosure but in the Camel and Giraffe area but it was still a bit unnerving. I had to leap out of the car, open the boot and fiddle with the battery leads as there was a loose connection, it had happened before so I knew what to do.

Sorry to go off topic but I WAS making ends meet as it happened!

  • Upvote 9
Link to post
Share on other sites

Oh, a nice double entendre there Lizzie, good one that.LOL

Link to post
Share on other sites

Which is best Michael? ..... I know, both.

I love it when my step daughters dog jumps on me and wrestles me to the floor . Brilliant, but it certainly makes me pong a bit.

  • Upvote 3
Link to post
Share on other sites

Just after the war, when there was still rationing, my mum used to mix a ration of butter together with a little milk in a bowl, to make the butter go further for spreading. I thought that that was just what you did with butter! A few years later I asked her why she no longer did that and she told me there was no need to do it anymore..

Mum used to make all my dresses (and matching knickers!!) from some of her old dresses that she 'cut down'. She said lots of people used to say how nice they looked...

I also remember mum buying a sheep's head for our little dog. She boiled it in a large saucepan and it smelled awful. There was some tinned dog food available but I only remember Chappie and that smelled horrible as well. I think our dog rolled in it when it was put on a plate for him! Most of the time, the dog was just fed scraps from our table.

Is that still classed as 'make do and mend'?

  • Upvote 2
Link to post
Share on other sites

My Mum used to make one of those wartime recipes for dinner. (I used to come home from school for 'dinner' or 'lunch' as we call it since we got posh..)

It was basically sliced spuds, layered up with a bit of grated cheese, and maybe slices of boiled egg. The assembled dish was topped up with milk and baked in the oven.

I loved it and have made it a few times since, though nowadays I can afford a bit more cheese.

Col

  • Upvote 2
Link to post
Share on other sites

My mum used to use up 'bits and bobs' that had lingered in the larder a the end of the month and produced some very tasty dishes, two of which I often requested: she slow-cooked a pork pie in a pyrex bowl filled with two tins of baked beans - the jelly dissolved, the pastry was soft and tasty and the beans were tangy. With chips it was heaven! The other was another tinned concoction: she mixed a tin of baked beans with a tin of stewing steak and a tin of corned beef in a large deep dish, covered the mixture in mashed potato and cooked in the oven with a grating of cheese on top. I don't suppose either meal could ever be construed as 'healthy eating' but for two ravenous boys in their young teens coming in from having been out playing footie or riding our bikes, it was gourmet stuff!

  • Upvote 7
Link to post
Share on other sites

I loved dinner on a Monday, as it was invariably slices of cold beef, bubble &squeak, which normally had loads of sprouts and carrots in it and mum used to almost burn it in the frying pan. Then....... Loads of McConachies Pan Yan Pickle. Beautiful.

  • Upvote 8
Link to post
Share on other sites

That is beautiful FLY2; still happens at this end and always has done, sometimes with corned beef cubes in the wok also. The only thing to beat a plate of that is two plates.

  • Upvote 3
Link to post
Share on other sites

I have just taken a look at the Link and I was not surprised. That just about shows how interesting Dudley Town center is in reality. No Zoo on show at all, and it is just off the main drag. They would have done more for Tourism, if they had put the Eye a few yards down the road, overlooking The Black Country Museum and the Zoo which more or less back on to each other. What have we got instead......Rooftops!

  • Upvote 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

I'll bet Bulwell enterpreneur James Mellors got something to do with that wheel.

Dudley is much better to see underground by the barge trips from the Black Country Museum !

  • Upvote 2
Link to post
Share on other sites
  • Cliff Ton changed the title to Making ends meet

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...