Retro toys/playground we had before health & safety stepped in General Chat

We still had sweet rationing when I was a kid. We were allowed 2 ounces of sweets a week, (cost 6 old pence = 2 1/2 p), plus a coupon from your ration book. During school holidays, (to keep us quiet), Mum would give us a twist of paper containing a mix of cocoa and sugar, which we ate by dipping and licking our fingers. Sometimes it was just sugar with a small stick of rhubarb out of the garden. The hard medical licorice sticks could be bought without coupons, and they lasted for ages. Some of the pieces could be dissolved in a medicine bottle of water to make a frothy drink. We also licked Oxo cubes, (Sold singly at one old penny each), so strong tasting they also lasted a long time.

Can't remember the Oxo cubes being sold singly - what we used to buy were Bonio dog biscuits for 1d sold from a big sack in the ironmongers. Quite tasty actually.

We rarely got a chance to have the rhubarb from our garden.My father told an old lady to help herself, and she came in every year and took the lot!

Many times plus we had tripe cooked in oven in melted cheese milk & vinegar (can't believe we ate it back then as I see it as dog food theses days) the other things we had for Sunday lunch was chitterlings (fried pig intestines) was a luxury for us kids back then, don't fancy eating them now.

I feel sick.

Mother had an uncle who lived in Winnepeg - I never did work out how he was related though, he was just "Uncle Harry from Canada". Anyhow, he used to send food parcels during the war [WWII] and wonder of wonder they had these things called "candies" in the parcels.

After the war, and until he died, he send Mother a Christmas cake in a tin.

Anyhow, he came over to England once after the war and gave Father a ball-point pen - the first one Father had ever seen. And when he went he gave twin and I one of those old white five pound notes - which Father promptly said he would look after. Never saw them or benefited from them again.

He was from Mother's paternal side of the family but as I say, I never did know in what way, or how he ended up in Canada.

Hate to admit it, but I still have crisp sandwiches and sauce sandwiches . Mind you, the crisps are ready salted not so no little blue bag to contend with.

We only really had the plain crisps with the blue bag of salt and we used to put vinegar on them too. Loved the gooey bits left in the bottom of the bag of the impromptu 'salt and vinegar' crisps

I love crisps, whether salted or not, - I often throw the blue bags away - but I don't like the taste of vinegar. Do sometimes use lemon or lime juice in it's place though. Ketchup is lovely spread on buttered toast.

Does anyone remember eating condensed milk from the tin with a teaspoon?

Oh YES! Luverly stuff.

I still do and have a tin in the cupboard yum yum, i also love it with bread and butter!
Love crisp sandwich with fry's cream .

Loved the hard liquorish sticks. Looked like twigs and lasted forever

I meant the black ones from the chemist, but yes, licorice, (or liquorice) root was good too. Used to go like a frayed rope!

Just has a fishfinger sandwich with ketchup it was so yummy can't remember last time I had a fishfinger sandwich think I am going to start eating the food we had in the 60's/70's [but not the tripe & clitterlings]

yeast on toast [veggie mite/marmite]
banana sandwiches
jam & cheese sandwiches
beans on toast
cheese triangles & brown sauce sandwiches
mash potato & peas sandwich [normally had these when dad had ran out of money]
Bubble & Squeak

Oh my list can go on & on

I nearly knocked myself out on my daughters pogo stick the other day. Bloody lethal lol

There's nothing like a fish finger sandwich - Soooo Yummy.
My OH has yeast spread sandwiches EVERY day for lunch. (He prefers Tesco own brand to Marmite).

Mmmm..... - marmite sandwiches with watercress.

And peanut butter with banana sandwiches.

In my part of the country it was always known as Spanish liquorice. I was forbidden to buy it because for some reason my mother got it the confused with Spanish Fly which is an aphrodisiac and now illegal!

My sister was born just before my 9th birthday and until she was about 18 months old I enjoyed being a big sister, but then she became an absolute pest because my mother would insist I had to take her with me when I went out with my friends which I thought was most unfair because she spoilt my fun.

One day when we were out and she was being a nuisance I bought a stick of the forbidden liquorice to shut her up then was filled with horror thinking I'd poisoned her. All I knew was that if you were poisoned you drank salty water to make you sick, so we used the twists of salt from our crisp packets and added it to some water that one of us had and made her drink it!

When I got home with a pale and squalling sister my mother wanted to know what I'd done to her and it was one of the few times I had my bottom thoroughly smacked!
.

Is your sister still speaking to you?!

I always was told eat liquorice if you can't go to toilet, so never eaten it I would refuse the sherbet fountain because it had liquorice stick in it.

Pontefract cakes - my dad's favourite