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Monday, July 30, 2012

Remember when...

I don't feel all that old, but sometimes I think about how much things have changed since I was a kid, a teenager even, and decide that actually, maybe I am getting on a bit!

So this is a list those in their mid-thirties, or thereabouts, may appreciate.
  • There were only sales in January, not year-round.
  • No 'buy one get one free' or three for two offers.
  • No store loyalty cards.
  • No lottery.


  • I remember life before M&Ms and Skittles. And when Snickers were Marathons and Starbursts were Opal Fruits.
  • You could only really buy cheese and tomato pizzas in the supermarket.
  • And ice-cream was pretty much vanilla, strawberry, chocolate or mint.
  • As for crisps, it was ready salted, salt and vinegar, cheese and onion and beef. Pickled onion Monster Munch was very exciting!
  • The ring pulls on drinks cans came off.


  • Friends never hugged each other and certainly never kissed on greeting! I clearly recall seeing friends at college do this for the first time and was quite bemused!
  • The clatter of milk bottles as the milkfloat came down the street.
  • Collecting milk bottle tops and silver foil for the guide dogs.
  • I remember half pennies and the introduction of £1 coins. And when 5p, 10p and 50p coins used to be huge!
  • My bus fare to school was 10p...


  • I remember just having 3 TV channels.
  • Sometimes you had to wait for a programme to be on TV. That meant watching the test card screen with the girl and the clown.
  • If you missed a film at the cinema, you'd have to wait a couple of years for it to come out on video and even longer for it to be on TV.
  • Missing any programme on TV was annoying as it could be years before it was repeated.
  • Finding a space on a cassette or video tape to try and record the Top 10 or a TV programme. Constant forwarding and rewinding!
  • The record section in Woolies - the large LPs, in front of those were the 45s, then CDs were introduced and in front of those were cassette tapes.
  • The weather man sticking on clouds, sunshines, rain clouds etc in say, Scotland and them falling all the way down to the south of England! 


  • No soft play areas, just the occasional small ball pit.
  • No antibacterial hand gel. A day at the farm just meant washing hands with soap and water before lunch.
  • The introduction of phone cards for public pay phones seemed very modern and advanced!
  • Deciding what to take a photo of, as you didn't want to waste your 36 exposures. Then having to wait months to get around to developing them.
  • When doing a school project, having to go to the library to get an address, or maybe phone directory enquiries and write off for information, then waiting weeks for them to send back an info pack. No Internet in those days!
  • Of course, no mobile phones. I didn't have one until two years after I left university!
  • I remember life before we had a video recorder and a Microwave. I've still never used a dishwasher...

The world has certainly changed. Things change so quickly nowadays. What do you remember from growing up??

8 comments:

  1. Love this post and obviously remember it all :-)Sorry about the hugging and kissing ;-) xx

    Only thing I would say is that I am sure sales were twice a year end of August to allow them to bring in A/W stock and Jan sales...

    Oh and shops were shut on Sundays and closed early or half day on a Wednesday.

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  2. Ha ha, no worries! I'm getting used to the hugging and kissing... It's knowing what each friend does - hug? Kiss? Once? Twice? Once I remember I can cope with it!! Just remember the first time I saw friends do it, I was really shocked!

    Well, I was wondering about the August sales, but I couldn't remember if they came in later, but maybe you're right...

    Ooh yes, Wednesday closing and of course, no Sunday shopping!

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  3. Did you have a rag and bone man in your town? That is the big thing I remember from the 70s. Also, children weren't entertained by their parents and we just had the one cardboard box with toys, not a whole cupboard like mine have now. I love this post!

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    1. Ah, the rag and bone man! We actually still have one around here. You're right, not so many toys in those days! We all had fun though:)

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  4. I remember all of this! Also the council rent collector coming round each week, swimming with my friends in the river - with no adults around, eating crisps and drinking full fat fizzy pop every day. Staying out all day in the summer holidays and only coming home when it was dark. Happy happy days!

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    1. Oh that reminds me of making dens in the park and eating sweets and crisps, ice pops, jawbreakers, Nerds..!

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  5. It's kids tv shows that get me. Me and my friends always talk about the old tv shows (got a few on dvd just couldn't resist.)

    I remember buying my first peice of music- it was an LP from the local newsagent- who also sold sweets in jars and they weighed them out for you.

    Sitting poised to record that one song off the radio you wanted- only to have them talk over the end!I guess one day kids now will be doing this and remembering...but I don't think they'll have so many innocent memories, kids really need to be treated as kids, don't let them grow up too fast or they miss all the fun! I think technology has a lot to answer for.

    Speaking of, I remember the old spectrum computer, loading games from a tap[e, 3 of us pplaying one on joystick, 2 on keyboard and then the game crashing or being so impossibly hard you never complete it!

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  6. Oh yes, I remember we had a Commodore 64. Those games were so basic! Yeah, the old kids' programmes really take you back don't they?!

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