RootsChat.Com
General => The Common Room => The Lighter Side => Topic started by: brigidmac on Thursday 16 March 17 06:22 GMT (UK)
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rootschatters ...I am now a fully fledged employed Laughter Facilitator
The care home loved the session on Sweet Memories.
the discussion about grandmother.s favourite chocolates was a big help when i decided what to purchase to accompany my presentation .
Thanks for suggestions ...In the end I didn't take any diabetic chocolate. ..Adding a flavour to 85% dark chocolate is a healthier option ....And for those who couldn't taste i had stickers songs and a prize ...A shortbread box (empty)in the shape of a Scottie dog.
Next month's theme is fashion of fifties and sixties .
I.m also booked by Leicester city council to do a humourous presentation about adoption 100 years ago based on my great grandmothers story ...So thanks to all who helped on that research too
And apologies to people in the chat box ...Because of eyestrain i write whole paragraphs without looking up ...Sometimes forget to check for predictive text errors ...and then miss posts from others so may seem to be rudely not replying ....I must say everyone is really tolerant and helpful on here and I am so grateful that i found this site ..
My confidence .computer skills and personal development have advanced along with my family tree.
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Well done Brigidmac! Good for you!! Keep on keeping on in your great work!
🌺🌺👏👏👍👍👍
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Congratulations Brigidmac!!!! Keep it up!!(http://yoursmiles.org/tsmile/flowers/t68081.gif) (http://yoursmiles.org/t-flowers.php?page=3)(http://yoursmiles.org/tsmile/rulez/t2015.gif) (http://yoursmiles.org/t-rulez.php)
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Thanks jay and silly
Also forgot the time when lovely Annie was available for me to test out my genealogy stand up skits over the phone
I.d love to go to a family history event and do interactive comedy with a bunch of you detectives
Why /where great grandfather was arrested in UK on 3 occasion s goes down well
Working on was great grandma an actress a waitress or a seamstress
And were Lottie and Leo social benefactors in 1906 or wicked criminals
In all cases audience get to decide true & modern verdicts and what appropriate punishment help was accorded and would be accorded today
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Diabetic chocolates are horrible.They taste funny and the sorbitol in them give you the runs 8) 8) 8)
My diabetic nurse said have any ordinary chocolates but in small quantities.....yeah right!
My mum could break a bar and eat just 2 squares per night. I find that hard! ;D
Carol
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Well done, Brigidmac. I'm sure you'll have fun with this. Fashions in the 1950s and 60s should be interesting, there was such a contrast between the two decades. Quite prim and proper in the 1950s, "teenagers" (although we weren't called that at the time) wearing clothes exactly like their mothers, then towards the end of the fifities teenagers were just being invented ::) the girls wearing full circular skirts with stiff petticoats, that we made stiffer by soaking them in sugar water. Then wearing them with stockings and your legs getting scratched and your stockings snagged, the opposite was wearing pedal pushers - 3/4 length tight trousers or jeans, which were called dungarees then. I remember my mother wouldn't let me have a pair of jeans she said they were only for workmen! Also the beehive hairdos, we had to back comb our hair to get it to stand up, although I didn't have my hair back combed very much.
Then the 60s came and everthing changed again, girls with long straight hair, wearing mini skirts which got shorter and shorter.
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Lovely summary Lizzie do you think mine now just choose one era and do the other later in the year
I have a lovely sticker book where you can dress men and women in different settings for the 50's
One lady told me she.d been on stage and worn the kind of dresses in the ballroom page ..So i.m hoping she.Ok be able to provide some photos too .It's a small circle so i can go round with a sticker book orig can be an activity for befor o after the official laughter session .The entertainments officer is very good .They have an in house magazine
Ken.s chocolate quizz will go in there .I don't know who Ken is but a rootschatt sent me a link to his quiz so i copied it
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;D ;D ;D. Beehive hairdos, yes, big hair - the teasing involved, the amount of stiff hairspray needed, then wrapping our head in toilet paper and fastening that with numerous dinkie clips before going to bed, so all was needed in the morning was to tidy it up, then flick it all back into place with the end of a tail comb, and add more hair spray! ::) ::). Other option was to wash it out, go to bed with wet hair in rollers, then get up really early the next morning in order to start it all again!!
Thank goodness for today's much easier hairdo's! And non sticky volumisers and lighter sprays! 👍👍
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And don't forget makeup! Max Factor's little duck-egg blue box of block mascara, with a tiny brush - you were supposed to spit on the brush, rub it on the block, then apply to eyelashes! Nail varnish either clear, "Natural" or very red.... powder compacts with a little mesh insert above the powder - I've still got one from my grandmother, and a rather snazzier one that was in a great-aunt's evening bag (I still use the bag - it's a beauty).
So glad it all went well.
And remember how make-up was "Fast" - my mum used to put on some lipstick, then almost entirely rub it off again, so that there was just a little more colour to her lips than before. Eyeshadow was even faster! Crude electric blue and jade green. There's a whole session in cosmetics and toiletries alone... remember toothpaste in a little tin, that you took the lid off and scrubbed at to use? Special salve for chilblains?
-And you know you'll have all those "Rootsisstants" ready to help.
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Red nails - "nice" girls didn't wear red nailpolish. I remember when I was about 15, some girls at school looked at me and said "You'll have to wear eyebrow pencil when you're older!" and that was an insult as people didn't wear eye makeup. Not sure why they said it because I had very dark eyebrows in any case.
Max Factor Creme Puff face powder was something most people used, just pat it all over your face and then as ThrelfallYorky says, rub it off again - and certainly no make up for school like today's girls.
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Well done Brigidmac.
If I ever end up in a Care Home I hope there is someone like you willing to give up their time to entertain me.
Memories of the early 60's ;D ;D Does anyone else remember "kiss curls". Had to twist our hair round at the side of our face and cellotape it overnight. Perfect in the morning with your hair backcombed and lots of hairspray.
I remember the starched petticoats too. Also sewing a hoop into the hem of a petticoat which was OK unless you sat down the wrong way and it lifted up showing suspenders and stockings.
Oh the good old days :'( :'(
Dorrie
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I had completely forgotten about "kiss curls" and the tape used to hold them so that they dried to shape. Not sure how we ever slept properly with tape, pins and rollers ::) Then all the prep in the morning with teasing and hair spray. Then the 20 minute walk to school in rainy, humid weather to spend another 15 - 20 minutes in the school washroom trying to repair the rain damage. Just have to laugh about it now ;D
sami
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Thanks for these memories i don't know if I can split them into 50's and 60's
I want to start with smells again ....
for a change the death/ blind lady will not be at a total disadvantage
Smells of 50's will be Yardley lavender and Brill cream if i can find any
I. Think Brut and Aqua. ? Orangey perfume may be typical 60','s or is that 70's ?
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What a lovely subject you've chosen and congratulations on your hard work and success.
I entered my teenage years at the start of the 1950s. That decade was when small "dress shops" disappeared and "boutiques" appeared. As already mentioned before there was no such thing as a "teenager" in those days. Shops didn't cater for them which meant that unless you measured the smallest "standard" size of 34" bust, 24" waist and 36" hips you either had to wear clothes designed for children or make your own (I still have all my dressmaking patterns from that era). Fashion followed what the film stars were wearing in the latest films, then dress manufacturers would quickly copy them and have them in the shops toute suite. The same with hairstyles - my first "grown up" hair style was circa 1952 and called "the pony look". I recall Audrey Hepburn's 1950s short "urchin cut" was a big favourite. The wide shouldered tailored look of the auster 1940s vanished overnight when the camel (coloured) coats appeared. Accessories were an important part of all the looks and I remember my pal chose to wear a red hat, red handbag, red leather gloves and red shoes with hers and my accessories were green. Shoe shops sold all the leather goods and if the shop didn't have a matching shade they'd actually dye the item for you. For instance, for my first ball my mother bought me a beautiful peacock blue ballerina length dance dress which I took to the shoe shop where I chose a pair of white satin high heel dance shoes and asked them to dye the shoes to match. That was the first and last time I took my mother to help teenage me choose an outfit because I spent the entire evening at the ball being a wallflower whilst all the other teenage girls and youths were dressed as teenagers and having the time of their lives :-\
Until Brigitte Bardot appeared in a 1955 film wearing a blue checked cotton gingham flared skirted dress with nipped in waist, this material had only ever been worn by little girls in the UK but with the addition of the net underskirts and white lace summer gloves it too became high fashion that year.
Every year had its own popular colour such as "shocking pink", salmon pink, african violets, mink, "coffee and cream" The '50s was the start of rock & roll in the UK and I joined the army of teenage girls wearing a white blouse and black taffeta full circular skirt with black flat heeled "ballet shoes", plus of coure the sugar starched net underskirts. I remember visiting my grandmother and described that I'd been "bebopping" that week. My grandmother always looked ancient to me and so I was surprised when she retorted "Don't think you're the only ones who've jived" :o. As she was born in the 1880s she probably enjoyed the 1920s "black bottom" 8)
I've got a 1956 photo of my teenage husband to be wearing a red cotton kerchief tied around his neck. We girls wore a kerchief too but they were made from very fine chiffon and I had several of them - my father scoffed that they wouldn't keep out the cold but was surprised when I laid one on his arm that it really did.
I remember hearing the name "Dior" for the first time, I probably wouldn't have bothered to make a note of the name excepting I liked his "H" line fashion and then his later "A" line.
I remember early 1960s fashion mainly for the introduction of the long fashionable umbrellas and the late 1950s tiny summer hats had dramatically changed shape having a high dome and brim. 1960s warm winter tartan patterned tights came into fashion, as did Mary Quant's mini skirts. one reason the short hemlines were worn across the ages was because clothing for adults was taxed but girls' skirts up to a certain length were tax free (can't recall how many inches now but think it was about 11"). As the decade moved on and the 1970s came into being skirt lengths got shorter and of course the proliferate small boutiques catered for the youngsters as they had the spending power, which meant middle aged and older ladies had a hard time finding something that didn't expose their ever growing derriers to the northerly winds.
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The 1950s perfume was "Evening In Paris" which was sold in little blue glass bottles. My grandmother and some other old ladies I knew didn't use pefume but afte doing the laundry or after washing pots would all use the same skin softener of glycerine and rose water, eg. into a cupped hand they'd pour a drop or two of glycerine and a small splash of rose water which they rubbed into the skin of their hands.
The favourite aftershave for men that I knew was "Old Spice".
1950s-1960s: My grandmother still used mothballs in her wardrobe but my mother and her sisters all had little lavender bags in theirs.
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And I remember wearing white crochet like gloves when I went out, as did my friends. I guess that must have come from someone wearing them in a film.
I never went to a ball, only "teenage hops" in the scout hall, but it was around 1956/57 when I was 15/16 that I started to go out, before that I was considered too young, apart from going to first brownies, and then guides.
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My mom used to use 4711 eau de cologne.......and buy it for me, yuk. Good for dabbing on a cold sore though.
White shoes, either high heels or flatties, wore them all the time. Even got away with the flatties for school. ;D
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There was a sort of orange-y perfume, quite cheap and nasty, I believe, called "Aquamanda" that was fashionable in the 1960s - I remember a cousin asking for it.
Tights were not available for all throughout the 1960s - short, with small feet and slim legs, I'd tried, but ended up turning them over coins at the top to try to avoid droopy wrinkles round the ankles (it didn't) - so I was subject to the tyranny of the suspender belt for a bit longer than most of my contemporaries! When I did find tights that fitted I was so delighted..... and patterned ones that fitted! Wonderful!
And boots! Yes, there was a time before fashion boots. Funny little black suede zip-up-the-front ones, about ankle high, by Morlands, very sensible if you had to plod to school through foul weather, but not exactly thrilling, when you'd rather have been wearing fashionable shoes. Do you remember the white plastic pseudo "Courreges" boots, later - discoloured to dingy yellowish quite quickly, and not very nice to wear?
Droopy brimmed hats in felt, with always a gauzy scarf tied round instead of a hat-ribbon?
Good heavens, the strange things we thought were high fashion - and that we thought actually suited us!
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Some other smells I remember from the 1950s was that we were still using strong smelling "Coal Tar Soap", which had replaced the roughly cut blocks of green or reddish coloured "Carbolic soap", both soaps acted as disinfectants - very important with respect to children's grazed knees. Without looking round you knew when a young lad had entered the room as he either smelled of sweat or coal tar soap. ;D "Palmolive Soap" was used as "best" soap. I remember when heavily perfumed, lovely smelling, "Lux" soap came out, which fascinated us because it produced so many bubbles but it really did dry our skin.
You can't beat the smell of newly baked bread. We were still making our own bread in the 1950s. My mother proved hers in the warm airing cupboard but other relatives still had the old fashioned black cast iron Yorkist fire ovens which had a warming cupboard.
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Love newly baked bread! My Mum always used to make bread at Easter and New Year!
I can actually smell bread baking as I type this ........it's in my breadmaker ;D ;D ;D 😄👍👍
A great invention!! I make my own bread all the time! Yum - it's nearly ready too!!
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Wish i could bottle smellnof fresh bread ! For me it's smeel of 60.'s collecting loaf & rolls from the back of the local baker's ..I don't know why my dad never used the front shop .
Yes it was aquamanda that I was trying to remember ....I did like it then .
Rena can i copy your description of 50's fashion please so evocative ...,
.My friend Mary Essinger wrote a book about work in the industry in Leicester in the 50's
..." In my fashion"
I.d like to read it to her.she still has a lot of style and says how accessories can carry off an outfit .
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What a brilliant description Rena. I could have done with someone like you when I was teaching and the 50s and 60s were part of the history curriculum for 11 year olds.
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I have a lovely sticker book where you can dress men and women in different settings for the 50's
Can I jump in , please, and ask your source for this? It sounds like a good item to use in Creative Reminiscence sessions.
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Rena can i copy your description of 50's fashion please so evocative ...,
.My friend Mary Essinger wrote a book about work in the industry in Leicester in the 50's
..." In my fashion"
I.d like to read it to her.she still has a lot of style and says how accessories can carry off an outfit .
Please feel free Brigid. I take it as a compliment that you wuld like to do that.
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What a brilliant description Rena. I could have done with someone like you when I was teaching and the 50s and 60s were part of the history curriculum for 11 year olds.
Thanks for the compliment groom. Teaching a class of 11 year old pupils when they're at the start of puberty, and their brains are being reorganised so an hour's concentration is hard, is something I wouldn't want to do. I suppose you're thankful that they weren't older and at the grunting stage ;D
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Remember Pan Stick foundation? hair lacquer refills poured into a squeezy bottle before the aerosols came out. Also roll on deodorant. My first perfume was In Love by Normal Hartnell I think and Coty in a pink bottle. A head full of rollers on Saturday afternoons ready for a night out....some would go shopping with the hair rollers under a headscarf knotted under the chin...I was allowed to leave the house with rollers in. Mary Quant and Twiggy were the fashion icons of the day much copied at the time. Bras of the day were those awful spiders web pattern that were stiff and scratchy and only came in black or white....then the prettier ones came into fashion thankfully. My sister wore her hair in the cottage loaf style but I wore mine long with one of wide stretchy Alice bands.
I also remember buying magazines that gave free iron transfer of Cliff Richard or Marty Wild et al. My first really smart shoes had Kitten heels before I graduated to stiletto heels... Cuban heels were also popular. Bath cubes added to the bath water and talcum power after you dried off.
Happy days.
Carol
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Several contributors have mentioned the smell of the perfumes on offer, which reminded me of my Uncle Fred, who after being demobbed from the army eventually set up in business with another man.
Rationing during and after the Second World War meant the ingredients for making perfumes were limited. The end of the war and the end of some rationing meant there was a whole new market for "luxuries" and when soap came off rationing in 1950 the men decided they'd make and sell perfumed soap. The family were eventually shown samples and I recall the soap's fragrance was of an English flower garden in summer. In those days people lived near their workplace and in close proxiity with other members of their family and the news was that Fred was doing so well that he could hardly keep up with the demands of his customers. In those days mid afternoon was cuppa tea time and my mother and her sisters accompanied by offspring had congregated at their mother's house to right the world when unexpectedly Fred walked in looking very dejected. Apparently he'd had a visit from the Ministry of Bowler Hats, Grey Suits, Weskits (waistcoats) and Briefcases :'( . In those days you had to pay for and register your business (which would be allocatd an official number) before trading. This, Fred and his partner had done and after a few weeks the applicaton had been passed by the Department of Officialdom, which had sent the partners documents to that effect. This particular day he was being accused of illegal trading without a licence. Protestations by Fred but the Bowler Hats stood firm and pointed out that he didn't have a licence to use Perfume in his soap. ??? This ingredient was scarce, still strictly regulated and a special licence was needed, which Fred's small business would not qualify for.
We're still on the subject of "smell" because Fred's next venture was to follow in his father's footsteps by opening his own fish and chip shop where he also made patties to his own recipe.... and if you're not from Hull or Yorkshire you won't know what a pattie is ;D
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Yes, I remember pan-stick! same blue colour of case that the mascara had - I found both, actually, fossilised in an ordinary make-up bag in the depths of a large metal "Leichner" stage makeup box, when I came upon it in the loft. "5&9", supposedly flesh tints ( sticks of varied shades of the same ready made up, also) "Spotlight" makeup to apply with a damp sponge, as a foundation.... large round greasy tins / plastic tubs of remover and tinted powder, complete with velour "puff" to apply latter ... a theatrical treasure chest! Drawers with crepe ( can't "do" a circumflex, sorry) hair, dried up spirit gum, all sorts of tatty stuff.
So I carefully put it all back.
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Yes, I remember pan-stick!
"Leichner" stage makeup box, when I came upon it in the loft. "5&9", supposedly flesh tints ( sticks of varied shades of the same ready made up, also)
Leichner was really expensive. In the 50s and 60s our department at work had a "didlum", to enable us girls to treat ourselves to makeup. Each week for twenty weeks we each put in one shilling ( = 5 new pence) and each week one girl would take a one pound (£1.00) "token" to one specific small town centre shop where she could choose from any of the shop's contents to the value of £1.00, plus cash for any ovespend. I bought liquid Leichner which lasted for ages. Thirty years later my 6ft son was buying the same product ;D ;D (he was a budding Olivier).
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What a lovely subject you've chosen and congratulations on your hard work and success.
I entered my teenage years at the start of the 1950s. That decade was when small "dress shops" disappeared and "boutiques" appeared. As already mentioned before there was no such thing as a "teenager" in those days. Shops didn't cater for them which meant that unless you measured the smallest "standard" size of 34" bust, 24" waist and 36" hips you either had to wear clothes designed for children or make your own (I still have all my dressmaking patterns from that era). Fashion followed what the film stars were wearing in the latest films, then dress manufacturers would quickly copy them and have them in the shops toute suite. The same with hairstyles - my first "grown up" hair style was circa 1952 and called "the pony look". I recall Audrey Hepburn's 1950s short "urchin cut" was a big favourite. The wide shouldered tailored look of the auster 1940s vanished overnight when the camel (coloured) coats appeared. Accessories were an important part of all the looks and I remember my pal chose to wear a red hat, red handbag, red leather gloves and red shoes with hers and my accessories were green. Shoe shops sold all the leather goods and if the shop didn't have a matching shade they'd actually dye the item for you. For instance, for my first ball my mother bought me a beautiful peacock blue ballerina length dance dress which I took to the shoe shop where I chose a pair of white satin high heel dance shoes and asked them to dye the shoes to match. That was the first and last time I took my mother to help teenage me choose an outfit because I spent the entire evening at the ball being a wallflower whilst all the other teenage girls and youths were dressed as teenagers and having the time of their lives :-\
Until Brigitte Bardot appeared in a 1955 film wearing a blue checked cotton gingham flared skirted dress with nipped in waist, this material had only ever been worn by little girls in the UK but with the addition of the net underskirts and white lace summer gloves it too became high fashion that year.
Every year had its own popular colour such as "shocking pink", salmon pink, african violets, mink, "coffee and cream" The '50s was the start of rock & roll in the UK and I joined the army of teenage girls wearing a white blouse and black taffeta full circular skirt with black flat heeled "ballet shoes", plus of coure the sugar starched net underskirts. I remember visiting my grandmother and described that I'd been "bebopping" that week. My grandmother always looked ancient to me and so I was surprised when she retorted "Don't think you're the only ones who've jived" :o. As she was born in the 1880s she probably enjoyed the 1920s "black bottom" 8)
I've got a 1956 photo of my teenage husband to be wearing a red cotton kerchief tied around his neck. We girls wore a kerchief too but they were made from very fine chiffon and I had several of them - my father scoffed that they wouldn't keep out the cold but was surprised when I laid one on his arm that it really did.
I remember hearing the name "Dior" for the first time, I probably wouldn't have bothered to make a note of the name excepting I liked his "H" line fashion and then his later "A" line.
I remember early 1960s fashion mainly for the introduction of the long fashionable umbrellas and the late 1950s tiny summer hats had dramatically changed shape having a high dome and brim. 1960s warm winter tartan patterned tights came into fashion, as did Mary Quant's mini skirts. one reason the short hemlines were worn across the ages was because clothing for adults was taxed but girls' skirts up to a certain length were tax free (can't recall how many inches now but think it was about 11"). As the decade moved on and the 1970s came into being skirt lengths got shorter and of course the proliferate small boutiques catered for the youngsters as they had the spending power, which meant middle aged and older ladies had a hard time finding something that didn't expose their ever growing derriers to the northerly winds.
I like the styles of Audrey Hepburn as well as Marilyn Monroe, especially their 50s hairstyles( actually I guess it is their homecoming hairstyles , such as the Barrel roll blow dried hair and Half up ponytail with bouffant). My class will have a historical show about 1950s, and I need to collect the 50s hairstyles and clothes, also learn the habits people have in that time.
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I like the styles of Audrey Hepburn as well as Marilyn Monroe, especially their 50s hairstyles( actually I guess it is their homecoming hairstyles , such as the Barrel roll blow dried hair and Half up ponytail with bouffant). My class will have a historical show about 1950s, and I need to collect the 50s hairstyles and clothes, also learn the habits people have in that time.
I can only speak about the habits of the people in the Yorkshire town that I grew up in.
Most old men smoked a pipe and the rest of them smoked cigarettes, which were sold in packs of 5 or 10; such as cheap "Woodbine" in a blue pack, "Parkdrive" in a red pack, or the more expensive "Players Please" or "Capstan", etc.
My two brothers were teenagers in the 1950s and never wore headgear even in the rain or snow, but older men usually wore a cap or a brimmed trilby hat, which were always taken off in the house and in church, whereas women kept their hats on in church and when visiting people the older ladies took off their coats but often kept their hats on.
My father's folk were from the west side of town and my mother's from the east side but their habits were the same. Meals were eaten at the table, sit up straight, put your shoulders back, dont slouch, don't talk with your mouth full and if you want something, ask for it - don't lean across the table to help yourself and always say "please" and "thankyou". Mid morning or mid afternoon refreshment meant children had to sit and eat/drink, they weren't allowed to walk about during those rituals.
There was a time and place for everything and that included the clothes you wore. In the 1950s women at home kept their clothes clean during housework and/or cooking by wearing aprons or pinnies, which would be taken off when their work was done. Women did wear trousers, called slacks, which were only worn for leisure.
Monday was always "washday" the only full day spent on washing a full week's dirty clothing, which in the early 1950s usually meant boiling a tub of water and using a dolly stick and posser to agitate the laundry, which then had to have the soapy water squeezed out by using a mangle and then rinsed before using the mangle again. Sheets on the bed meant each bottom sheet would be put in the wash and the top sheet would spend the next week covering the mattress. Dinner that day would probably consist of cold left over meat accompanied by hot vegetables and a milk pudding. Tuesday was spent labouring over an ironing board using either an old fashioned coal or electric "flat iron" or a more modern electric iron that heated itself.
We ate seasonal food and always had brain food twice a week, 'brain food' being fish.
As a child the most used phrase I heard was; "Go out and play". This phrase was also used when as a family we'd visit other members of the family and no sooner had we greeted the adults we'd hear "Now go out and play".
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Parkway ma and Rena can I quote you or let children read out your comments for the workshops please
There's a lovely cafe bar in Leicester called "the exchange" which will let me use their snug or their downstairs stage for free for events which is good cos I be never been paid much to run workshops
The ladies toilets is decorated with sewing and knitting patterns from the 50',s and 60.s. I love it
The Regency hotel halfway to Leicester from my town Oadby also lets me use their room for free it's mock Edwardian very appropriate when I do early 1900.'s
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Of course you can brigidmac, I used to love hearing accounts of when my own parents were young, so I imagine your audience will be the same. Although I doubt you will find and demonstrate the smell of "Evening In Paris" scent, which my mother always wore in the 1950s and the contrasting smell of the cold fire place first thing on a cold winter morning.