"Back when I was a kid"....
this is the phrase that stops my children in their tracks. Fear plastered all over their faces, rolling of the eyes (in the case of teenage girls)....and the dread that this signifies the start of a long and boring tale of woe. They have heard all the stories before and have quite decided that growing up in the 'olden times' was barbaric - albeit only the 1970's.
For those of us who did grow up in the 1970's, it was the time of our lives!!
So what prompted this stroll down memory lane today you ask? Well, Miss Aimee was telling me about a boy at school whose mum makes toffee cakes in patty pans. After some further investigation it appears this politically incorrect mum (God love her) is making fete toffees. At first, it was a moment of Deja Vu, having just discussed these with Kylie from 'A bite of Country cupcakes' only a week or so ago.
Do you remember these?
Then hubby and I launched into a discussion on what toffees were the best. Depending on who made them, toffees could be hard as a rock so you had to suck on them for days on end OR they were the chewy kind that you clenched between your teeth and then pulled out as far as your arm would reach....mmmmmm. What a sugar high!!!!
Discussion on what we termed 'fete food' led to talk of how we would watch the fairy floss stall spinning the fairy floss. I don't think my kids have ever seen this. They have only ever had fairy floss in a bag.
After that the memories just kept on coming - do you remember Spider drinks? I have made these for my kids, but back in the 70's these were a real treat. My favourite was raspberry or lime lemonade with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Do you remember fish'n'chips wrapped in newspaper? As a young teen, my friends and I would gather our spare change between us and buy hot chips from the Fish'n'Chip shop, rip the top of the bag open like an envelope and dip our hands in to retrieve the salty, oily, hot chips. Gosh life was simple back then.
I think the only story my kids like is the one about the mixed lolly (candy) counter at the Milk Bar (general store), where you could pick and choose you own lollies.
The lollies (candy) were all in individual jars or boxes and cost only 1, 2 or 5 cents each. In some cases, you could buy for eg, 2 milk buddies for one cent. A 20 cent bag of mixed lollies would last a whole afternoon and a 50 cent bag was guaranteed to make you sick. The fact that we could buy lollies for one or two cents amazes my kids because we no longer have these coins as currency...no wonder they think of my childhood as the 'olden days'...LOL
On hot days we cooled down sucking on a Sunny Boy, Glug or Razz. I was a Sunny Boy (orange flavour) girl. Hubby preferred Glugs (Cola flavour). If my memory is correct, in the early 70's when I was in primary school they cost just five cents each.
As my kids cringe and try to sneak away, hubby and I stroll down memory lane remembering when ....kids could entertain themselves - and it didn't cost anything!! We played backyard cricket in summer and Aussie rules footy in winter. We would leave home in the mornings on our Malvern Star or Dragster bikes and play all day, as long as we were home by dinner time. No one was able to reach us on mobile phones - unthinkable!!! I always had small change knotted into a hankie, in my pocket so I could phone my mum in an emergency from a phone booth. Of course this was back in the days when phone booths were on every other corner and they were not vandalised...and yes, my mun was one of those over protective mums. I copped heaps of flak from the other kids over the phone money.
And... if I think my kids sound ungrateful....
I'm quick to remind then that when I was a kid we didn't have remote controls - we had to get up and change the channel...
ON THE BLACK & WHITE TV!!!
True.... we didn't get a colour TV until 1976. TV shows improved a lot when watched in colour. So what were you watching? Do you remember Happy Days - Fonzie was so cool!! Then there was the Brady Bunch, Mork and Mindy, Mash and Hey Hey it is Saturday (Australia). If like me you were born in the 60's then you were old enough to stay up for Charlies Angels, Cop Shop (Australia) and Dallas.
On the music scene ABBA was huge. As teens in the 70's we turned up the volume on our cassette decks, so we could listen to Bruce Springsteen, The Rolling Stones, Skyhooks (I was in love with Shirl), The Beach Boys, Linda Rondstadt and Rod Stewart.
By the late 70's Disco had taken over and fashion underwent a big change too. Out went the chunky platform shoes, polyester and denim in favour of the new disco glam. Oh...and don't forget the Farrah Fawcett hair!!!.
That's just a few of our memories from our technology free lifestyle of the
'Good old days',
when life was simple and carefree!!