The Savvy Ways Of The 1950's – CouponMamaUK

Posted on April 15, 2015 | by couponmama

We can learn a lot from our older generation. I personally highly respect them, not just for their savvy ways but for how they appreciated the lesser things in life because nothing was ever handed to them on a plate, they had to work hard for it. Sadly I no longer have any grandparents so I have had to rely on my parents and friends to tell me their memories of what life was like back then.

I will be mostly focusing on the 1950’s as this is when my dad and aunt grew up and they have some amazing stories of their childhoods in post WWII London. From the famous rag and bone man to playing in what was left of building after the bombs hit. Childhood was a lot different back then but in my eyes a lot better! They made the best of what they had and were a lot more content.

Interview With My Dad (Terry Richards)

What luxuries did you have growing up?

My mum would make cakes on Sunday. Chocolate was rare back then maybe only once a week and we saw it as a real treat. My dad worked very hard and would save all year so we could have an annual holiday. (mostly Butlins)

Did you work as a child? What was your first Job?

A few of the kids in my street (including myself) helped the barrow boys (I lived next to a street market) minding the barrow and serving at times, my memory is that the barrow boys spent a lot of time in the pub. I also had a paper round early mornings and evenings. My first proper job was working for a local removal company. There was no job centres, back then we didn’t need them you could walk out of one job in the morning and into another the same afternoon.

What did you do for fun?

Played games in the street rounders, cricket etc. also there were many houses half bombed or condemned due to the Luftwaffe in WW2, these provided a ready-made adventure playground for us kids. We didn’t have expensive toys or video games back then we made our own fun and used our imaginations and of course it was free! There were no health and safety rules back then stopping us from having fun.

How much did it cost to go to the cinema?

Saturday morning cinema for kids was one shilling and sixpence, about seven or eight pence in today’s money, proper pictures (as it was called then) about half a crown. ( 25p)

Can you tell me more about the famous rag and bone man?

I can still remember the good old rag and bone man shouting out in the street ” Any ol iron lumber” they would walk the streets of London or come round on a horse and cart collecting any old bits people no longer needed or wanted. People who were hard up used to sell their clothes and such to him for a few pennies. The bone part actually means real bones I’m guessing animal bones as quite a few people would breed their own rabbits for meat. He would collect the bones and sell them to glue manufacturers.

What’s your best childhood memory?

At the end of each day a large van would tow all the barrows in line the length of our street to a storage yard, us kids called this the “Wagon Train” after a popular t.v. series (b&w then) anyway the barrow boys half-heartedly tried to chase us off from hanging on for a free ride using their two Alsatian dogs but the dogs knew us well and a broken biscuit solved that.

In the early 1950’s people were still celebrating the war being over, there were lots of street parties with bunting, big tables, music and enough food to feed the whole street. People pulled together as a community a lot more back then and were a lot more patriotic.

Other Ways People Saved

A sunday joint would also mean cold meat and veg or chips on a Monday and probably casserole/stew on another day. We would make the food last as long as we could.- Geraldine Richards

Most fresh fruit was rare especially things like pineapple. I was born in 1954 and never saw a fresh pineapple until well into the 60’s. If you could get it, it was very expensive.- Jackie Hunt

Everything was bought fresh, we made all meals from scratch. One joint of meat would probably last for two or three dinners plus sandwiches. The sandwich probably had dripping on instead of butter. We would also make hand-made cakes, biscuits puddings as much as we could as it was cheaper. We didn’t have much fruit it was too expensive. The more we could save on food the more money we had for other things.- Jan Byng

Most mums in the 50’s made their own and their children’s clothes. They knitted and crocheted a lot, most babies clothes were knitted. They also recycled clothes and most of us had hand me downs from relatives.-Geraldine Richards

My mum always had a long box with compartments in all labelled gas,electric etc which she put her money in each week so bills were covered. She told me sometimes she only had 2d left in her purse but knew all her bill money would be there when needed.- Pamela Hudspith

those with gas meters that took coins used to wait for the meter man to empty the meter he always left a rebate, another saving was empty pop and beer bottles returned to shop/pub for cash, fat from the butchers could be cut up and boiled to make dripping rabbit pie with a cup to hold up the pastry – Norman Dunkeld Senior

My Grandparents have always grown their own veg and my granddad would tidy up people’s gardens in exchange for a bag of cooking apples – Benita White

Not the 50s but my Gramps used to breed rabbits in the war as meat was rationed. The biggest thing back then was make do and mend – Sue Baunton

My Nan told me they used to collect the old parachutes for the silk to make dresses or little pinnies that went under the skirts – Lucy Lukins

A big thank you to everyone who helped me write this! The 1950’s continue to fascinate me. Life seems like it was a lot simpler back then. People never took things for granted and made the most of what they had without complaining and people worked hard!