Blast from the past - remind us of a thing

[DoctorX]

[Kuwahara]

witteringon said:

In the summer months, punnets of British strawberries being sold in roadside laybys, usually from the back of a car or van, in the days before they were available all the year round from any supermarket.

Loads of them up my way and also real free range eggs, have a great supplier of double Yolkers at the minute.

[DickyC]

There was a time when no one over the age of eight



would have been seen dead on one of these.

[dickymint]

DickyC said:

There was a time when no one over the age of eight



would have been seen dead on one of these.

I had a brake pedal on the back of mine - it was fking lethal

[nismocat]

DickyC said:

There was a time when no one over the age of eight



would have been seen dead on one of these.

I have a few friends that work in London and who drive these scooters. They all look like bellends and get very upset when you tell them that.

[nismocat]

Randy Winkman said:

witteringon said:

In the summer months, punnets of British strawberries being sold in roadside laybys, usually from the back of a car or van, in the days before they were available all the year round from any supermarket.

The county of Kent is still big on fruit in laybys. At the moment it's cherries but there will also be strawberries and later in the year it's Kentish Cobnuts. The A21 is the best place for all that. Currently you could buy cherries from about 10 different laybys in each direction.

Most of the PYO have closed due to health and safety. My mates had a few big farms in Cambs and the cost to get everything done that the council demanded outweighed any profit so they shut them all and just sell at the shop.

[nobrakes]

Steamer said:

jet_noise said:

MikeT66 said:

anonymoususer said:

Spirograph

Ha - was just talking about these the other week. Green pen was always st, and you'd just be getting to the end of hours of carefully created circles when...one slip or the plastic circle thing sticks and the whole 'picture' is fked.

IIRC not only were plastic gears & pens provided but also shiny paper.
Many a rainy family holiday was shortened by that toy coming along

There used to be some crazy-spiro-inspirations either on the back of the box, or in a leaflet inside (couldn't have been the internet... hello early 80s!)

Yet there was the other issue of the paper 'giving-up' due to too much ink / pressure and again the creation was ruined.

Etch-a-sketch was more my level back in that era.

Reminds me of a colouring book that was often just small triangles that were made into larger piece forming dragons etc. I’m sure there was a series of them. Art teacher aunt to thank for that.

[dickymint]

nobrakes said:

Reminds me of a colouring book that was often just small triangles that were made into larger piece forming dragons etc. I’m sure there was a series of them. Art teacher aunt to thank for that.

And painting with water was magic.............





And painting by numbers with those tiny tubs of oil paint.

[motco]

DickyC said:

There was a time when no one over the age of eight



would have been seen dead on one of these.

Nor would boys be seen wearing a hood once their mother was out of sight.

[Nethybridge]

Is cod liver oil still the standard remedy for most mild ailments of the under 10s ?

I can still mind the 'orrible taste 50 years on.

[nicanary]

Nethybridge said:

Is cod liver oil still the standard remedy for most mild ailments of the under 10s ?

I can still mind the 'orrible taste 50 years on.

At my grammar school the standard remedy for everything was a milk of magnesia tablet. Even for a chisel in the hand at woodwork lessons.

[Sticks.]

DoctorX said:

Loved these. I'd forgotten about the water paint too. I have a Rupert Annual somewhere which included it.

[bigpriest]

Nethybridge said:

Is cod liver oil still the standard remedy for most mild ailments of the under 10s ?

I can still mind the 'orrible taste 50 years on.

More likely Calpol which is an actual medicine and usually helps rather than bring on a vomit attack

[Wildcat45]

beagrizzly said:

Here's one that's just sprung into my mind after a long absence:

Air raid sirens being put up in towns and villages in the early 80s. I believe this was due to heightened Cold War tensions at around that time, but we weren't told then and I've not seen anything conclusive since (though I've not looked very hard to be fair).

Ours went up in the primary school I was attending at the time, just to really scare the st out of the kids

We had one in Ponteland near Northumberland in the 1970s. We kids aged about 7 knew nothing about it until one day it went off. It caused unproar in school. The siren was on a nearby building and it got set off by an electrical fault. It took them some time to stop it.

I also spent time with relatives in Wittering, Cambridgeshire. It’s an RAF base. Every day at around midday or 1PM it would sound. No idea why but it was the 1970s with the Cold War so maybe it was a daily test? Does anyone know if this was common practice at military bases at that time?

[nobrakes]

dickymint said:

nobrakes said:

Reminds me of a colouring book that was often just small triangles that were made into larger piece forming dragons etc. I’m sure there was a series of them. Art teacher aunt to thank for that.

And painting with water was magic.............





And painting by numbers with those tiny tubs of oil paint.

And poster paints of primary colours that taught you how to mix and make other colours from.

[DoctorX]

Wildcat45 said:

beagrizzly said:

Here's one that's just sprung into my mind after a long absence:

Air raid sirens being put up in towns and villages in the early 80s. I believe this was due to heightened Cold War tensions at around that time, but we weren't told then and I've not seen anything conclusive since (though I've not looked very hard to be fair).

Ours went up in the primary school I was attending at the time, just to really scare the st out of the kids

We had one in Ponteland near Northumberland in the 1970s. We kids aged about 7 knew nothing about it until one day it went off. It caused unproar in school. The siren was on a nearby building and it got set off by an electrical fault. It took them some time to stop it.

I also spent time with relatives in Wittering, Cambridgeshire. It’s an RAF base. Every day at around midday or 1PM it would sound. No idea why but it was the 1970s with the Cold War so maybe it was a daily test? Does anyone know if this was common practice at military bases at that time?

Still some around. e.g.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/9WxmYsXewMmK8Zom6?g_st=ic

[Doofus]

Here's one. When I was probably four or five, so fifty years ago, my cousin, who is 12 years older than me had some strange toy/thing.

What I remember is that you blew bubbles through a straw, but the liquid was dark green, and went hard, so essentially, you blew baubles.

The only other thing I remember is that the green liquid tasted fking horrible.

I have no idea if this was homemade, shop bought or 'foreign' (my cousin spent his early years in Kenya)

Any ideas?

[Stella Tortoise]

Trevatanus said:

beagrizzly said:

Here's one that's just sprung into my mind after a long absence:

Air raid sirens being put up in towns and villages in the early 80s. I believe this was due to heightened Cold War tensions at around that time, but we weren't told then and I've not seen anything conclusive since (though I've not looked very hard to be fair).

Ours went up in the primary school I was attending at the time, just to really scare the st out of the kids

Broadmoor had them until a couple of years ago, always tested them at 10am on Monday.
They stopped around the time the new Hospital opened.
It was setup in 1952 after an inmate escaped and killed a local schoolgirl, as none of the residents were aware that he was on the loose.

The sound of the suburbs.

[Strangely Brown]

Stella Tortoise said:

The sound of the suburbs.

Same old bring sunday morning,
Old man's out, washing the car.

[Super Sonic]

dickymint said:

And painting with water was magic.............





And painting by numbers with those tiny tubs of oil paint.

Led Zeppelin had an inner sleeve like that, In Through the Out Door iirc.
Friend of mine 'painted' it.