Remember when?

[Nooj]

You'd reach into a muddy gutter for a penny

Still do.

[Samray]

What about cigarette vending machines in the street,

5 Park Drive, 10 No10, 10 No6, Players, senior service

how long would they last now.




Gary

Were the Woodbines and Weights before your time?

[D-Rider]

My Grandad wasn't supposed to smoke but I remember quite a few times when I was a kid he'd send me up to the shops to buy him a packet of Woodbines.

[kneescratch]

What about cigarette vending machines in the street,

5 Park Drive, 10 No10, 10 No6, Players, senior service

how long would they last now.




Gary

Were the Woodbines and Weights before your time?

I remember Craven A, and Gold Leaf too.

Also from the local corner shop you could buy single fags.

And just an interesting point, the guy that owned the corner shop was the guy from the St.Bruno advert.


Gary

[T.C.]

I remember getting our first colour TV around 1968/9 and 18 inch Pye we got from Radio Rentalls. To see Blue Peter and Thunderbirds in full colour was amazing.

Then we got out first video recorder. We went Betamax whilst everyone else went VHS, what a mistake that was, but to be able to record and play back your missed favourites was pretty cool.

And what about the early video games? Anyone remember the telly Tennis? Little controler with the knobs to make the bats go up and down. Now that was high Tec

[kneescratch]

We had a T.V from Radio Rentals and it was coin operated with a slot meter at the back.

Frustrating getting halfway through Crackerjack and running out of money



Gary

[D-Rider]

I remember we got our first TV when I was about 4 ... it could only get one channel (BBC) - I occasionally saw ITV when I went next door.

A bit later we got a set that could get both channels - it was one of those with an oil filled lens on the front to magnify the image ... maybe as big as 9 or 10 inches.

We were one of the late adopters of colour ... it involved my dad spending some money .....

[HowardQ]

Sadly I remember them all!
I'll just put my slippers on and relax in the rockin' chair, whilst the memories come flooding back.

I paid 1 shilling and 4 pence for 10 Park Drive and
paid 1 shilling and 8 pence for pint of "Best" bitter.
And before you all think how brilliant that would be,
I only earned - £3 15s 6d per week as an apprentice steelworks chemist.
Paid 30 bob in board to my mum and dad.
Paid 30 bob for the finance on my Matchless G12 CSR 650.
You won't believe this but the rest was all mine, yeh the grand sum of 75p in today's money to pay for petrol, insurance, tax, fags and my entertainment for the week.
Aye they were good old days.
Now where's the wife put me pipe?
I sure I left it in me slippers.

(Deadly serious about the prices)

I know, I should have been put down years ago!

[T.C.]

You talk about wages (and I know I am probably younger than you ) but my monthly pay packet used to be about £30 although I was 16 a police cadet and therefore my accomodation was paid for, and then I joined the regulars at 18 and my salary rocketed to about £125 per month and I thought I was wealthy (although it still got spent) and then Edmund Davies report got us our main pay rise and I leapt to about £400 per month (so I was really rich ) plus rent allowance which was usually more than my mortgage.

Hard to believe that my pension now is more than my basic salary used to be

My first big bike after passing my test at 17 was a Suzuki GT380 triple which was about 18 months old and cost me about £300 and fully comp insurance was about £15 a year.

[BikerGran]

My first pay packet for working on a farm was £6 - I paid 30 shillings (£1.50) for my keep, and out of the other £4 I bought presents for my mum, my dad and my brother, and clothes for myself!


Speaking of vending machines - remember the ones on railway stations that sold 2 sorts of chocolate, one was Frys 5 Boys - and I can't remember the name of the other, it was like a sandwich with milk choc top and bottom and dark choc in the middle.

[snapdragon]

my first pay packet was £24.12.6 a month, half of which went as keep of course.

../.Speaking of vending machines - remember the ones on railway stations that sold 2 sorts of chocolate, one was Frys 5 Boys - and I can't remember the name of the other, it was like a sandwich with milk choc top and bottom and dark choc in the middle.

Triple?
and Tiffin in our choc machine too

[snapdragon]

What about cigarette vending machines in the street,

5 Park Drive, 10 No10, 10 No6, Players, senior service

how long would they last now.

Gary

Were the Woodbines and Weights before your time?

and Players Full Strength - and then the 'new' Cadets?

[BikerGran]

Used to nick my Dad's Senior Service and smoke them behind the garage - remember untipped cigarettes?

[Falcorob]

I remember playing 'Kerbie' on the main road outside our house.

I remember Penny Lollies from my Dad's shop.

I remember Sticklebacks and flocks of sparrows.

I remember Clackers. And going to Rhyl for a holiday and having fun.

I remember getting chased off by adults for being cheeky and not daring to tell my mum.

I remember getting caught scrumping by the local Bobby and being taken to the landowners door to apologise. And then having to go home to face my mum.

And I remember the cane, the board ruler, the chalk, the duster, the back of the hand, and the Fifth Form bully. So it wasn't all sweetness and light. Until I got big enough to make the bullies think twice.

But most of all I remember the lack of pressure. The open doors. Having half a dozen friends cluttering up the kitchen because it was raining. Eating the home made biscuits and knowing that the worst that could happen in a fight was that I got a bloody nose or a sore hand.

They were good days. But if I went back I would lose all that I have now. My wife, my kids, my grandkids, and my memories. So I'm happy to stay an old duffer thanks.