born in the 40's,50's,60's or 70's?

zaraandmax · Post by **zaraandmax** » 11 Oct 2008, 17:31

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL MY FRIENDS WHO WERE BORN IN THE

1940's, 50's, 60's and 70's !

First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they carried us and lived in houses made of asbestos.

They took aspirin, ate blue cheese, raw egg products, loads of bacon and processed meat, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes or cervical cancer.

Then after that trauma, our baby cots were covered with bright coloured lead-based paints.

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets or shoes, not to mention, the risks we took hitchhiking.

As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags.

We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle.

Take away food was limited to fish and chips, no pizza shops, McDonalds, KFC, Subway or Nandos.

Even though all the shops closed at 6.00pm and didn't open on the weekends, somehow we didn't starve to death!

We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE actually died from this.

We could collect old drink bottles and cash them in at the corner store and buy Toffees, Gobstoppers, Bubble Gum and some bangers to blow up frogs with.

We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and drank soft drinks with sugar in it, but we weren't overweight because......

WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING!!

We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on.

No one was able to reach us all day. And we were O.K.??

We would spend hours building our go-carts out of old prams and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. We built tree houses and dens and played in river beds with matchbox cars.

We did not have Playstations, Nintendo Wii, X-boxes, no video games at all, no 999 channels on SKY,

no video/dvd films,

no mobile phones, no personal computers, no Internet or Internet chat rooms..........WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!

We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no
Lawsuits from these accidents.

Only girls had pierced ears!

?

We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever.

You could only buy Easter Eggs and Hot Cross Buns at Easter time...

We were given air guns and catapults for our 10th birthdays,

We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just yelled for them!

Mum didn't have to go to work to help dad make ends meet!

RUGBY and CRICKET had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!! Getting into the team was based on

MERIT

Our teachers used to hit us with canes and gym shoes and bully's?always ruled the playground at school.

The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of.

They actually sided with the law!

Our parents didn't invent stupid names for their kids like 'Kiora' and 'Blade' and 'Ridge' and 'Vanilla'

We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned HOW TO

DEAL WITH IT ALL!

And YOU are one of them!

CONGRATULATIONS!

You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up as kids, before the lawyers and the government regulated our lives for our own good.

And while you are at it, forward it to your kids so they will know how brave their parents were.

PS -The big type is because your eyes are not too good at your age anymore

jackie · Post by **jackie** » 11 Oct 2008, 19:03

Yep...God help them all nowadays

We were and are a tough bunch!
Jackie x

carolb · Post by **carolb** » 11 Oct 2008, 19:31

God that is all so true. Didn`t do us any harm did it. :)
Carol x.

bessiebunches · Post by **bessiebunches** » 11 Oct 2008, 22:10

I too was born in Heywood in the 50's. Do you remembner Whip and top and Hula Hoops. Not the eating kind :)

janhind · Post by **janhind** » 11 Oct 2008, 22:55

Brings back lots of happy memories. :)

jan xx

John · Post by **John** » 12 Oct 2008, 08:36

My dad gave me a pocket knife for my 8th birthday, and I never stabbed anyone.

We even played Conkers without safety glasses!!!

John :D

JM · Post by JM » 12 Oct 2008, 14:33

I've had penknives since I was about 6 - my friend and I used to sit and whittle sticks to make things with!! Wonderful! (and we were girls!)

And we used to go on 20 odd mile bike rides aged 7 or 8! Mind you the traffic wasn't as bad as now.

Jill

JoJo1 · Post by **JoJo1** » 12 Oct 2008, 17:35

All true! oh Happy times!! I loved building go-carts, dens, rope swings in the woods etc! I was a real tom-boy (I never hurt any frogs though, just collected the frogspawn and watched them grow!) What fun we had, and most of it didn't cost a penny and probably contributed to making us the decent adults we are today! :D
Jo x

Scot in exile · Post by **Scot in exile** » 12 Oct 2008, 18:49

Brings it all back - it really was a more innocent age.
Ethel

squeezylupin · Post by **squeezylupin** » 13 Oct 2008, 07:39

lol we also were scared of the police!! (even tho most of my family are in the police, dad, sister and brother) we did as we were told by them and also any passing adult. There was a pig in the field at the bottom of our street (now a housing estate), everyone would put their table scraps out for him and the kids in the street would go and play with him, no one ever hurt him and he never hurt anyone, he gave us rides and showed endless patience, he was in that field for years.