Now we all like a survey....dont we?

Discussion in 'Off-Topic Discussion' started by capney, Aug 25, 2009.

  1. shiney

    shiney President, Grumpy Old Men's Club Staff Member

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    50p!!!! When I was a lad we could live like lords for a month on 50p :hehe: :rotfl: :flag: :old:
     
  2. Freddy

    Freddy Miserable git, well known for it

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    clueless1 said

    "soggy, undercooked greasy chips that were cooked in oil that was last changed several millenia ago, a greasy lump of batter with a fillet of minow in there, all covered in enough salt and vinegar to kill off the bubonic plague in one go, and to neutralise your taste buds immediately to prepare you for what you are about to consume"

    Yup, I love 'em :D
     
  3. Freddy

    Freddy Miserable git, well known for it

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  4. capney

    capney Head Gardener

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    That must have been it the fifeties then shiney !!
    1950s that is..
     
  5. music

    music Memories Are Made Of This.

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    KANDY, i started a thread on another site (what was your first wage?) it was rather interesting ,some of the answers .myself my first wage was £2.50 per week.that was back in 1955(OLD GIT!) joined the merchant navy at 16 years old ,wages about £5 a week.after the navy, joined the railway,as a fireman, wages £9 a week.worked in industries,/chemical/plastics/oil. by this time was earning, (BIG BUCKS) but you never forget the struggle you had ,at the start of your working /married life!!. MUSIC.
     
  6. Kandy

    Kandy Will be glad to see the sun again soon.....

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    Hi Music,Yes,I think most of us have had to struggle at one time or another especially with low wages and rising bills and I don't know about you but if you have to struggle at any time it never leaves you.We have on many occassions helped out family and friends when they are struggling and fallen on hard times and have done what we can to make their lives easier,they all think though that because there is only the two of us {couldnt have kid} they think we are rolling in it {I wish}:D

    It is interesting though to see how the wages have dropped so much since even I started work...

    If I had known when I was at school what I know now with hindsight I would have worked my socks off and got lots of qualifications and either got myself a good job or set up my own buisness,but in those days in the 70's there wasn't many good jobs out there for women apart from nursing or hairdressing etc and most of my friends just got married had families and worked part time in the evenings to bring in some extra money.We certainly wren't materialistic like the generations of today and they all seem to be in a rat race trying to keep up with each other:(

    It is a shame that this country has been erroded by bad politics and greedy people who are only intent on making themselves richer at the expense of the peasants in this country.All our industry has gone down the pan and we are swamped with foreign rubbish that are produced in third world countries by their peasants and made using cheap materials that only last until the gaurantee runs out before they break.It is about time we brought back British Industry,Apprenticeships Proper Education, Family Values,Decent Wages and Decent Fish and Chips:D

    There are a lot of Skilled people out there that have been chucked on the scrap heap through no fault of their own and it is a shame to see this country fall further into ruin because of greed.Sorry I will get off me soap box now:D

    PS,sorry for any bad spelling but I never had a good education and am now feeling the effects of brain cell deteriation due to getting :old:er:D
     
  7. music

    music Memories Are Made Of This.

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    yes i agree with you KANDY, this country is going to the dogs.we have no british industry,to speak of. in my area i have seen DRASTIC changes.we used to have shipbuilding(ALL GONE!). our docks were really busy ,with ships bringing in timber,from SCANDINAVIA and exporting goods all over the world.we had wood yards,stretching for miles with timbers ,stored in high stacks.we had a refinery which employed about 1200 men +women.it was so busy at 5 o clock when the horns went , for the workers finishing, there were hundreds of bicycles on the roads going home.
    the refinery has slashed there workforce.the timber yard(whats left of it) employs a handfull of employees.this in turn has a knock on effect, to all of the local community and local councils.
    this town was (at one time reffered to as a boom town!). it has blown up since then.its very sad for the youngsters,i would not like to be starting off with a young family NOW !. i have three daughters,living locally, actually they only live round the corner from us ,and when i see the struggle
    they have ,i say thank god i started with a family ,years ago.when jobs where plentyfull,and prices
    were realistic and quality goods could be purchased at M & S.!!. whatever happened to M & S.
    i purchased a pair of chinos ,for holiday .i am a 33 waist 32 leg.i did not try them on in the shop.
    as in the past M&S sizes where spot on.took them home tried them on!!!! they must have been 36 waist and 34 length!. i looked at the label (MADE IN MOROCCO). (big men in morocco!!)
    thanks, KANDY for the music video of KATIE MELUA.sorry but i have never heard of this singer.
    but i enjoyed it very much. must close now, as i smell the tea brewing. MUSIC.
     
  8. shiney

    shiney President, Grumpy Old Men's Club Staff Member

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    Vote for Kandy :hehe: :hehe:
     
  9. Kandy

    Kandy Will be glad to see the sun again soon.....

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    Don't be cheeky Shiney:D:D It's about time you wrote a little bit of History about yourself and I bet you earn't more than us peasants when you started work in the last Century:lollol:I always think that if you struggle when you are younger it makes you a better stronger person when you are older,lesss selfish or materalistic:)

    You have a good day as well:D
     
  10. shiney

    shiney President, Grumpy Old Men's Club Staff Member

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    Kandy :hehe: :hehe: :hehe:

    A potted history.

    Back in the last century when we were very little my parents, my sister and myself lived in a one bedroom flat in a rough part of London. Dad left school at 14 and worked hard to educate himself as they weren't doing much of a job of it at his school. By the time I was at school we had moved into a house - in Hackney (not the best area of London :hehe:).

    At the age of ten I was washing cars to make some pocket money as dad couldn't afford to give us any. At twelve I was getting up at 4 a.m. on Saturdays and Sundays to be taken to the market (Spitalfields) by my boss to buy the stuff (greengrocery) for our stalls in Roman Road market and Petticoat Lane market. (Yes, Robert, in the 50's). When I got home at 4 o'clock in the afternoon I continued to do my car washing. I can't remember how much I was paid or how much I charged for car cleaning :dh: :old:.

    By the time I went into the Merchant Navy in 1962 I was earning £18 per week - which I thought was pretty good - but that was for a 70 hour week. For the next 40 years I never did less than a 60 hour week but then dropped down to 45 hours until I retired :yho:

    We are now really enjoying our retirement :yho: :yho::yho: :yho: :yho:
     
  11. capney

    capney Head Gardener

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    Ok... here we go.
    I had a little job to do on my way to school.
    I had to feed some pigs. It was a case of bucketing the cooked food into the troughs and checking the water supply.
    You can imagine how sweet I smelt by the time I got to school !!!
    For that little task I got 2/6 week (12.5p)
    That was after doing an early morning paper round.
    Saturday and Sundays was the big paper day delivery because I had to try and collect the monies owed.
    Big papers, big bag of money, it was amazing how many people where not in Sunday mornings.
    Oh yes.. and no push bike.
    When I had time I used to help out with a bit of gardening for some of the elderly folk on my round, and then spend what time I could just wondering the woods and meadows around the area I lived.
    As a young lad I used to enjoy just sitting in proper wild meadows and just watch and listen.
    Its been a long time since I have done that..
    Nuff said for now. My soap box is creaking a bit.
    robert
     
  12. borrowers

    borrowers Gardener

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    Aaawww, this thread is lovely. First I was salivating now I'm smiling at the wage amounts!!

    Going back to fish & chips, I just don't think they're the same anymore. I also remember having my first pea fritter up here in the north east when I was on holiday up here. They arrived down the south but now you can't even get them up here anymore. I still think the chips from a chippie should be fat & greasy, lol - that's the law,:)

    Wages - well I started work in 1976 so not quite as far back as some of you. In 1978 I changed jobs and earned £30 a month which I thought was great! My friend got paid weekly so between us we subbed each other so we could go out, sometimes ending up walking to the pub & sharing a pineapple juice ha ha ha. Mum used to take a third of whatever my brother & I earned, but (I'm ashamed to say it now) I got most of it back as a 'lend', the sort of lend that your parents make ie never gets paid back.

    We weren't rich or well off by any means but we weren't poor and having experienced being poor later in life I must say I didn't like it. And yes I too think the kids of today have no idea how the real world is - they think they should get stuff for nothing. Oh dear, that was a generalisation wasn't it, sorry. I know there are good kids out there.

    Anyway, back to food, where I live (and it's only a small place) we have a fish & chip shop, 2 indian takeaways, 2 chinese takeaways and lately a sandwich/coffee shop. One of the indian takeaways does my favorite ever korma - just to die for, yum. We can't afford it very often as it costs about £15 for the 2 of us, but we do get 2 meals each out of it so not bad going really.

    Gosh I'm feeling hungry again, no I mean greedy,lol.

    cheers
     
  13. music

    music Memories Are Made Of This.

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    Beat this!. I have just found a pay off slip of my fathers, who was in the merchant navy. The heading is "empire bascobel" 16 th dec 1941.from the shipping federation in glasgow. It states he served on the vessel from 11th november to
    16th december 1941,(over a month). His pay off wage was (19/7d) nineteen shillings and seven pence. What would that buy you now????. Music.
     
  14. jjordie

    jjordie ex-mod

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    I love this thread too - haven't laughed so much for ages.

    Brings to mind when we were young. Parents were often very hard up and for tea we had lettuce sandwiches or tomato sandwiches or even just sugar sandwiches. During the war we moved to Wolverhampton and because we were strangers from "near London" we were considered foreigners and even bread and potatoes were rationed to us.

    Moved back to Norwich end of war and and when I left school (16) worked in a large grocery shop earning £2.7s 6d per week of which £2 for mother and 7s 6d for busfares and a pair of stockings every other week. When nylon stockings came on the scene we used to pay 1s. 6d to have each ladder mended so I can tell you we were very careful with them.
    We did manage to scrape enough together to go to speedway for home matches - walking 5 miles each way - and even 10 of absolutely cheapest cigarettes in a purple packet which we shared between the three of us - ugh! but it was cool or whatever we called it in those days, and wait a minute - there were also some other cigarettes called Passing Cloud - anybody remember them?

    1954 married and still very hard up. We lived in part furnished rooms and even had an orange box (nicely painted) to stand our shoes in as we couldn't afford anything else at that time. Odd bits of furniture were given from various members of the family who had no further need for them and we were very pleased to have them. As the years went by we replaced them with new but they were very useful at the time.

    55 years later we are fairly comfortable for a couple of old 'uns and not needing to splash the cash but still remember those very hard up times when the kids were little.

    Went to visit grandaugter and her 4 children this afternoon. They have just moved to a new address as previous house being demolished for rebuilding purposes. This is a very nice 3 bed house and the previous tenant went into retirement home so she left all carpets, curtains, bookcase, cupboards and three piece. All in very clean condition. Grandaughter has very little furniture of her own (except the obligatory laptop) but even so is very dismissive of having other people's left-offs. Doesn't realise how lucky she is - there are many people in this world, or indeed this country, who would be more than pleased. As has been said (some of) the young people of today do not realise what it's like to be really hard up do they?

    :old:


    Music said:His pay off wage was (19/7d) nineteen shillings and seven pence. What would that buy now?
    Not a lot!
     
  15. takemore02withit

    takemore02withit Gardener

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    Hi Music,

    Its a long time since Ive done this so someone please correct me if I wrong.

    0ne shilling then was the equivellent of 5p today

    5d .........2p

    2d approx 1 1/2p

    So if Im right the wage would have been a grand sum of 98 1/2 p s00k 02
     
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