Scorf
Gen X
Anthony1
Too young to be old
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Baby Boomer (1950)
Not allowed to wear jeans on a Sunday
Not allowed to go out the front gate on a Sunday
Nothing open on a Sunday.
Short trousers until I was 12
1d bus ride to Saturday cinema which cost 6d.
Travelled by steam trains or buses everywhere
Long walk to school bus stop, in shorts, in the snow. Long walk bag, aged 6+ alone.
1 packet of fruit gums a week
First bicycle cost £1.10s
No tv
No central heating (internal frost on windows)
No car
No fitted carpets
No casual clothes, went on holiday in school uniform
Woolen swimming trunks
Not allowed to wear jeans on a Sunday
Not allowed to go out the front gate on a Sunday
Nothing open on a Sunday.
Short trousers until I was 12
1d bus ride to Saturday cinema which cost 6d.
Travelled by steam trains or buses everywhere
Long walk to school bus stop, in shorts, in the snow. Long walk bag, aged 6+ alone.
1 packet of fruit gums a week
First bicycle cost £1.10s
No tv
No central heating (internal frost on windows)
No car
No fitted carpets
No casual clothes, went on holiday in school uniform
Woolen swimming trunks
Borris
Super Poster
VIP Member
Yep, that was the 1950's I remember except we were posh. We had a car. Well actually it was a battered old green ex GPO (General Post Office ) Telephone van with bald tyres and rubber wings. My father put windows in it and seats in the back. We had to have it because my mum had contracted Polio. It was all the rage in the fifties. After a spell in an iron lung she recovered enough to get about a bit but not without various aids and help. It was because of that that we had to move from our new council house to a "bungalow" called a Prefab. Prefabs were the post war version of these cardboard houses they are throwing up everywhere today. They were built to meet the lack of housing at that time. They were a quick fix and were made from ex WW2 aluminium scrap. They weren't a bad design but had next to no insulation and no central heating that I can recall. They were bloody freezing in winter.
At the end of the road was the council tip with all access down our street. In the summer it was wall to wall flies. Behind our house was a disused brickworks. That was an amazing playground but full of danger. There were deep uncovered holes, kilns and places to hide and build camps. It makes me shudder to think about it now. If we got bored with that there was always the army training ground which was strictly off limits but that never stopped us. It was amazing the stuff the army left lying around!!!!
Every day the slow lumbering twin engined, car carrying Bristol Freighters used to pass over head going to and from Southend. Once I can even recall seeing a flight of six huge American B36 Peacemaker nuclear bombers fly overhead. These aircraft each had ten engines and only one purpose. Those six aircraft made a colossal racket and everything in the house rattled and vibrated. I googled it recently and apparently they had been visiting Mildenhall USAF base in Suffolk.
Other notable things that we lucky baby boomers have enjoyed:
Corporal punishment
Spam
Sunday school
NHS orange juice
Jamboree bags
Cap guns
Policemen that would tick you off for riding on the pavement.
Small pox
School milk
Esso blue
The fifties that I remember were not the "horn of plenty" that us Boomers are supposed to have enjoyed.
CaliDave
B
Boomer
slushf
Lifetime VIP Member
Baby Boomer
Spending the summer hols outside 12 hours a day getting into all sorts of mischief....
Kerbie - where you two of you stand on either side of the road and the aim is to throw a football to the other side so it rebounds off the kerb. Extra points for kick rather than throw and throwing the ball over a car.
Knock Down Ginger - where you knock on someone's front door then run away and hide where you can see them come to the door and giggle.
Scrumping - Stealing fruit off trees in other peoples gardens.
Penny for the Guy - so as to obtain cash for Bangers (the firework variety) which you'd then light and throw at your mates! Then building a huge bonfire in the park to send him on his way.
Conkering - gathering the fruit of the horse-chestnut tree. Back then conkers were almost a currency and you would never see one on the ground. We used to used to chuck sticks into the tree to dislodge them. I used to gather hundreds each year and they'd go mouldy in my cupboard. My dear old mum, god rest her, would clip my ear big time.
Bob a Job - knocking on peoples doors (again!) but this time in the scout uniform and doing jobs for the householder liker running errands for a shilling (5 pence) to give to the Scout Association.
Yep I was a complete sod, not a penny to rub together then, but it all turned out ok..
Spending the summer hols outside 12 hours a day getting into all sorts of mischief....
Kerbie - where you two of you stand on either side of the road and the aim is to throw a football to the other side so it rebounds off the kerb. Extra points for kick rather than throw and throwing the ball over a car.
Knock Down Ginger - where you knock on someone's front door then run away and hide where you can see them come to the door and giggle.
Scrumping - Stealing fruit off trees in other peoples gardens.
Penny for the Guy - so as to obtain cash for Bangers (the firework variety) which you'd then light and throw at your mates! Then building a huge bonfire in the park to send him on his way.
Conkering - gathering the fruit of the horse-chestnut tree. Back then conkers were almost a currency and you would never see one on the ground. We used to used to chuck sticks into the tree to dislodge them. I used to gather hundreds each year and they'd go mouldy in my cupboard. My dear old mum, god rest her, would clip my ear big time.
Bob a Job - knocking on peoples doors (again!) but this time in the scout uniform and doing jobs for the householder liker running errands for a shilling (5 pence) to give to the Scout Association.
Yep I was a complete sod, not a penny to rub together then, but it all turned out ok..
Kenb17
VIP Member
Boomer,
This research builds on work looking back to the 1600’s and indicating cycles through history of 4 generational types - all in all very interesting and may indicate what the future holds.
For those interested the book The Fourth Turning by Straus and Howe may be of interest.
Agree re categorising folk but there is some interesting trends identified.
Cheers,
Ken
This research builds on work looking back to the 1600’s and indicating cycles through history of 4 generational types - all in all very interesting and may indicate what the future holds.
For those interested the book The Fourth Turning by Straus and Howe may be of interest.
Agree re categorising folk but there is some interesting trends identified.
Cheers,
Ken
Calimili
Generation seX.
Joker 1299
Every generation thinks they are the first to invent sex.
HectorPascal
Lifetime VIP Member
The Missus and I are ‘boomers’ I just entered my seventh decade (not as bad as I thought), she is three years, three months and three days younger. Amazingly we both look twenty years younger.
I remember gay sunny days (always sunny) when mum told us to be back at tea-time and off we went. Freedom and fields. Buttecups and butterflies. We made dungeons and dens; got scratched and cut and frightened and filthy. Along the way we learned that even blunt penknives are sharp and that lots of things hurt in the absence of forethought. We learned without even one lesson, the glories of nature and our place in it.
As we matured, our reach, experience and ambitions matured too. At thirteen we’d tire ourselves to the marrow in the Yorkshire Dales. At 14 we once cycled coast to coast (E to W) in a day - just two friends, parents many miles away and no doubt concerned but also concerned not to be over-concerned.
We read books - occasionally voraciously - and the greater part of our education had nothing to do with school. Phones had long curly wires and were expensive and elders, for the most part had respect. The ones that didn’t, didn’t deserve it and we knew the difference.
The world for other generations on either side was undoubtedly very different and, for the generations of earlier decades, unimaginably harder at times. More recently, different challenges have presented themselves. I have no doubt that whatever dramas are coming - and I there are some pretty big ones - humans will prevail and prosper, learn and adapt.
I remember gay sunny days (always sunny) when mum told us to be back at tea-time and off we went. Freedom and fields. Buttecups and butterflies. We made dungeons and dens; got scratched and cut and frightened and filthy. Along the way we learned that even blunt penknives are sharp and that lots of things hurt in the absence of forethought. We learned without even one lesson, the glories of nature and our place in it.
As we matured, our reach, experience and ambitions matured too. At thirteen we’d tire ourselves to the marrow in the Yorkshire Dales. At 14 we once cycled coast to coast (E to W) in a day - just two friends, parents many miles away and no doubt concerned but also concerned not to be over-concerned.
We read books - occasionally voraciously - and the greater part of our education had nothing to do with school. Phones had long curly wires and were expensive and elders, for the most part had respect. The ones that didn’t, didn’t deserve it and we knew the difference.
The world for other generations on either side was undoubtedly very different and, for the generations of earlier decades, unimaginably harder at times. More recently, different challenges have presented themselves. I have no doubt that whatever dramas are coming - and I there are some pretty big ones - humans will prevail and prosper, learn and adapt.
BikerGran
Growing old disgracefully
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VIP Member
I'm a boomer, just slipped in there as born 1947. But I don't recognise their description at all.
"They grew up in a time of prosperity and an absence of world wars. "
I remember the shadow of WW2 being always there during my childhood, then there was the Suez crisis, then there was the Cold War.
My mother taught me how to feed a family well but economically. I remember eating wild rabbit (pre-myxy) and sheep's head, and never cutting a loaf of bread till the next day as it was too tempting to eat lots when it was fresh. Bread and dripping for lunch. Walking 2 miles to the shops to save the bus fare. Making kindling out of rolled up sheets of newspaper, which we also used when we ran out of toilet paper. Jack frost on the windows in the morning - no heating in the house apart from an open fire in the living room.
Lots of good things too of course, visiting the gypsy camp in the woods, wandering about the village and woods and fields on my own or with other kids. Riding my bike (brother's old bike).
"They grew up in a time of prosperity and an absence of world wars. "
I remember the shadow of WW2 being always there during my childhood, then there was the Suez crisis, then there was the Cold War.
My mother taught me how to feed a family well but economically. I remember eating wild rabbit (pre-myxy) and sheep's head, and never cutting a loaf of bread till the next day as it was too tempting to eat lots when it was fresh. Bread and dripping for lunch. Walking 2 miles to the shops to save the bus fare. Making kindling out of rolled up sheets of newspaper, which we also used when we ran out of toilet paper. Jack frost on the windows in the morning - no heating in the house apart from an open fire in the living room.
Lots of good things too of course, visiting the gypsy camp in the woods, wandering about the village and woods and fields on my own or with other kids. Riding my bike (brother's old bike).
Christine Kirk
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well son we were evicted from our cardboard box on the central reservation of the M1. etc!You were lucky. I lived in a cardboard box and had to walk seventy five miles to school, each way, bare foot.....................but we were happy.
Paulfwb
I like this post but I am not sure whether you can say, "Baby Boomers were the first generation to experience...".
When I was two I could hardly have experienced "The assassination of Martin Luther King" although it did happen during my childhood. However, I do remember the death of Elvis being announced, the first moon landing, the crushing of the miners in the UK and the arrest of criminally insane Peter Sutcliffe.
Karlos
Cardboard, what a luxury!!!
WelshGas
Retired after 42 yrs and enjoying Life.
Super Poster
Lifetime VIP Member
Karlos
Bob a Job, just struck me how many cubs and scouts actually passed all of their cash back. I'm trying to remember if the householder had to fill in a card? I do remember knocking at a large house in our village and they asked me to weed their path, took all day and what did they give me, yep 5 pence.
Knock down Ginger, we called Knock & Run.
EuropeanVanderlust
We are both GenX and Xennials, as we fall into those overlapping years....but have always considered ourselves GenX....however quite different as I am GenX American....and my better half is GenX Slovak.
In America I remember growing up in the Regan years, the Berlin Wall coming down, Gulf War (I had friends whose older brother fought- I remember her crying when she knew he was going), Women moving into the work force in mass, Divorce Rates soaring, the demise of Sundays as sacred days, rise of the shopping mall, Yuppies, Aerobics/Jane Fonda/Jazzercise, Riding my BMX bike, staying out playing with my friends until the street lights came on, Microwaves and VCRs changing the way we ate and entertained....and also growing up too poor to have our own for quite some time, Cable TV/MTV yes....but again not having at our house and hanging out at friends houses to watch MTV and Nickelodeon. My husband does not have the same experiences.
In America I remember growing up in the Regan years, the Berlin Wall coming down, Gulf War (I had friends whose older brother fought- I remember her crying when she knew he was going), Women moving into the work force in mass, Divorce Rates soaring, the demise of Sundays as sacred days, rise of the shopping mall, Yuppies, Aerobics/Jane Fonda/Jazzercise, Riding my BMX bike, staying out playing with my friends until the street lights came on, Microwaves and VCRs changing the way we ate and entertained....and also growing up too poor to have our own for quite some time, Cable TV/MTV yes....but again not having at our house and hanging out at friends houses to watch MTV and Nickelodeon. My husband does not have the same experiences.
W
Wannabecamperman
Generation X (Baby Bust)
WelshGas
Retired after 42 yrs and enjoying Life.
Super Poster
Lifetime VIP Member
Which link are you referring to?PSA - please dont click on the link above. It's an external link that is highly suspect and likely contains malware or similar.
I've reported to admins, who'll be able to make a more informed decision and/or remove - but just incase anyone is tempted....dont
CamperFam
VIP Member
I'm assumning it got deleted, but my post didnt
Was a new account with 3 posts all referencing gaming and having nigh on zero relation to the thread, with a hyperlink to an external site. My cyber training kicked in - Deleted my post now to avoid confusing people unecessarily!
V
Vagophile
Top Poster
Lifetime VIP Member
This thread had disappeared by the time I became a member, but now it has been resurrected it has made interesting reading on a wet Tuesday and brought back some great and not so great memories of the Boomer generation, but with not quite the benefits described.
I grew up in rural Northumberland, two miles away from the nearest bus stop.
Bucket and chuck it toilet twenty yards from our house until age twelve. Same distance to external cold water tap, with galvanised bath in front of the fire once a week (cleanest first).
Accompanying my father who was an expert butcher when he was called to kill a neighbour's pig; my job was to collect the pig's blood in a large clay pot after the poor animal had been stunned and had it's throat cut. This happened about three times a year as pigs were reared at staggered intervals. (Absolutely no possibility of me doing this now!)
Never saw a banana until I was ten, but no shortage of milk, butter, cheese, bacon, ham and beef!
Conkering: fell out of a conker tree from some height at age eleven, four days in hospital, four months with torso encased in plaster.
Learning to swim by being thrown into a deep scour hole in the local river (not recommended).
Knock down Ginger: never really knew the game by this name, but gave up playing for good after a group of us were peppered with wheat grain from a shotgun weilded by an unwilling participant in the game.
From the age of four I attended the local C of E primary school, walking two miles each way to be taught by two spinster sisters who gave me (and the other thirty three pupils) an educational grounding that couldn't have been bettered.
In the 50's the education route for plebs like me was primary, 11+, Grammar or Secondary Modern school. Myself and four classmates took the 11+, four passed and the fifth was passed after interview. So, I was on my way courtesy of the state system at the time and I'm still a believer.
During the 60's, as a schoolboy, university student or graduate, I always felt that it was possible to find employment either temporary or permanent very easily in contrast to the situation now.
I am pleased to have lived over the Boomer period, I don't think that I would want it any other way.
I grew up in rural Northumberland, two miles away from the nearest bus stop.
Bucket and chuck it toilet twenty yards from our house until age twelve. Same distance to external cold water tap, with galvanised bath in front of the fire once a week (cleanest first).
Accompanying my father who was an expert butcher when he was called to kill a neighbour's pig; my job was to collect the pig's blood in a large clay pot after the poor animal had been stunned and had it's throat cut. This happened about three times a year as pigs were reared at staggered intervals. (Absolutely no possibility of me doing this now!)
Never saw a banana until I was ten, but no shortage of milk, butter, cheese, bacon, ham and beef!
Conkering: fell out of a conker tree from some height at age eleven, four days in hospital, four months with torso encased in plaster.
Learning to swim by being thrown into a deep scour hole in the local river (not recommended).
Knock down Ginger: never really knew the game by this name, but gave up playing for good after a group of us were peppered with wheat grain from a shotgun weilded by an unwilling participant in the game.
From the age of four I attended the local C of E primary school, walking two miles each way to be taught by two spinster sisters who gave me (and the other thirty three pupils) an educational grounding that couldn't have been bettered.
In the 50's the education route for plebs like me was primary, 11+, Grammar or Secondary Modern school. Myself and four classmates took the 11+, four passed and the fifth was passed after interview. So, I was on my way courtesy of the state system at the time and I'm still a believer.
During the 60's, as a schoolboy, university student or graduate, I always felt that it was possible to find employment either temporary or permanent very easily in contrast to the situation now.
I am pleased to have lived over the Boomer period, I don't think that I would want it any other way.
WelshGas
Retired after 42 yrs and enjoying Life.
Super Poster
Lifetime VIP Member
I thought you meant my YouTube link as I hadn’t seen the post you mentioned.I'm assumning it got deleted, but my post didnt
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