Things in living memory which seem very anachronistic now

[GordonT]

"Postage Due" stamps which the post office affixed to mailed items found to have insufficient value of postage stamps.

 

[dangie]

Getting the cane or ruler at school (some teachers had other forms of torture) but not telling your mum when you got home as she would have said you must have deserved it so she’d give you another one.

 

[D6130]

But they are a rare and dying institution, more's the pity.

They still have them on the lake in Shibden Park outside of Halifax....both rowing boats and pedaloes shaped and painted like swans. I took my nephew and neice on one of the rowing boats last Summer.

Royal Mail that delivered almost everything the next day. Sorting through my mother's papers, I found a letter from her cousin written in about 1938 explaining that mum (at what was then a sleepy country town in Hertfordshire) should post a letter before about 4pm if she wanted it to be delivered in Manchester first post next day - if she left it to the last collection it wouldn't get to Manchester until the second delivery! And all before the days of automated anything!

Those were the days when most long distance mail was carried by rail. Nowadays you risk delays due to long tailbacks on the motorways....caused by either accidents or roadworks.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 29 Nov 2024 ==

Getting the cane or ruler at school (some teachers had other forms of torture) but not telling your mum when you got home as she would have said you must have deserved it so she’d give you another one.

....or the belt/leather strap in Scotland - in which case it would be painfully obvious to your parents due to your red, swollen, throbbing hands!

 

[Benters]

I remember Marc Bolan making one of his comebacks towards the end of his career in the mid -70s, literally riding on the back of a large polystyrene swan miming 'Ride A White Swan ' on the ITV show 'Supersonic'.

 

[AM9]

I remember Marc Bolan making one of his comebacks towards the end of his career in the mid -70s, literally riding on the back of a large polystyrene swan miming 'Ride A White Swan ' on the ITV show 'Supersonic'.

Was Supersonic the itv pop music programme where Mike Mansfield, a prominent person in the industry at the time, sat at a control desk and called: "cue the music/artist/studio effect/etc" before each act?

 

[GordonT]

When the vast majority of grandparents "looked the part" of being elderly in age and appearance and in the main were not expected to be on tap for very regular child care duties.

 

[Sun Chariot]

When the vast majority of grandparents "looked the part" of being elderly in age

Or, in my part of the UK:
When the vast majority of grandparents were actually aged over forty"...

 

[GordonT]

Ships which were largely dedicated to the provision of school cruises. Such ships included the Dunera, the Devonia, the Nevasa and the Uganda.

 

[Trackman]

Getting the cane or ruler at school (some teachers had other forms of torture) but not telling your mum when you got home as she would have said you must have deserved it so she’d give you another one.

I was in the school council in high school, there was a vote to end corporal punishment. Out of about 25 of us, only about 5 voting against. The chair asked us why? We said most of the classes we represent voted against in our weekly meeting. Basically, it's better to have corporal punishment than stay behind when school finishes. A girl scowled at me and said it was wrong to inflict pain on children- I said I agree, and it will be made illegal one day, but at the moment it's what pupils want that rather than spend time in school after the last bell. This was of course, academic- as the Headmaster had power of veto on anything we're voting for, and used his veto a lot!

I remember Marc Bolan making one of his comebacks towards the end of his career in the mid -70s, literally riding on the back of a large polystyrene swan miming 'Ride A White Swan ' on the ITV show 'Supersonic'.

Did Marc Bolan have another show on ITV (Granada production, I think) called Marc? Think it was a kids thing.

 

[pdq]

Just been watching a Hubnut YouTube video about a Hustler wooden kit car from the 80s.

The idea of building your own car with a donated chassis is definitely a thing of the past.

 

[GusB]

Just been watching a Hubnut YouTube video about a Hustler wooden kit car from the 80s.

The idea of building your own car with a donated chassis is definitely a thing of the past.

I watched that video yesterday. The one in the video has an A-series engine, but there was a version that had a Jaguar V12. Imagine the splinters when that went horribly wrong...

 

[BAFRA77]

Luncheon Vouchers

 

[D6130]

Car rugs.

Picnic hampers.

 

[GordonT]

When 2200 was the norm for pub chucking out time.

 

[jfollows]

When 2200 was the norm for pub chucking out time.

We thought it was 2300 “in London” and we were generally right, other than for the City of London which started from 1900 or earlier.
As students we tried to be conscientious and agreed to go for a last pint, so we set out for a change from our place in Ravenscourt Park to the west. Horror, it turned out that closing time in Chiswick was 2200, so we legged it back towards Hammersmith in time for a last pint before 2300 closing.
It was all very confusing! 1982/3.
And, yes, it was generally 2200 in my experience then in the UK apart from London.

 

[PeterC]

We thought it was 2300 “in London” and we were generally right, other than for the City of London which started from 1900 or earlier.
As students we tried to be conscientious and agreed to go for a last pint, so we set out for a change from our place in Ravenscourt Park to the west. Horror, it turned out that closing time in Chiswick was 2200, so we legged it back towards Hammersmith in time for a last pint before 2300 closing.
It was all very confusing! 1982/3.
And, yes, it was generally 2200 in my experience then in the UK apart from London.

My memory from the late 60s in Essex was 22:30 except Fridays and Saturdays when it was 23:00. I went to Aberystwyth in 1970 and the closing time was 22:30 with Sunday dry.

 

[BingMan]

Getting the cane or ruler at school (some teachers had other forms of torture)

Blackboard rubbers thrown at inattentive pupils was aanother one

 

[AM9]

Blackboard rubbers thrown at inattentive pupils was aanother one

Well that would coincide with tighter laws on teachers dishing out punishment that might be considered 'corporal'.

 

[GordonT]

Ironically it tends to be the most frequent "victims" of corporal punishment who are most vocal in lamenting its demise as they reminisce about how richly they deserved it.

 

[AM9]

Ironically it tends to be the most frequent "victims" of corporal punishment who are most vocal in lamenting its demise as they reminisce about how richly they deserved it.

Or in some cases got some pleasure from it.

 

[GordonT]

Or in some cases got some pleasure from it.

But enough about MPs.

 

[AM9]

You

But enough about MPs.

You missed ' ' out.

 

[Sun Chariot]

Blackboard rubbers thrown at inattentive pupils was aanother one

That taught me excellent hand-eye reactions, which helped me in my cricketing teen years.

 

[GordonT]

When the potential for a fault in a motor car to be "the electrics" was comparitively small.

 

[philthetube]

Ships which were largely dedicated to the provision of school cruises. Such ships included the Dunera, the Devonia, the Nevasa and the Uganda.

And the Canberra, until the Falklands war, after which the government paid for a refurb.

 

[75A]

That taught me excellent hand-eye reactions, which helped me in my cricketing teen years.

Hope you didn't do what I did one day, I threw it back, which led me to the Principals Office and 6 of the best, which were on the palm of my hand not my backside.
Needless to say I didn't tell my Parents.

 

[D6130]

Needless to say I didn't tell my Parents.

Surely they must have noticed?

 

[Sun Chariot]

Hope you didn't do what I did one day, I threw it back, which led me to the Principals Office and 6 of the best, which were on the palm of my hand not my backside.
Needless to say I didn't tell my Parents.

Ouch! No, much as I wanted to throw the board rubber back, I always wussed out and took it back on foot.

 

[75A]

Surely they must have noticed?

They probably did, but nothing was ever said.

 

[AM9]

And the Canberra, until the Falklands war, after which the government paid for a refurb.

The Canberra was originally an ocean liner built for the UK to Australia emigration service (hence the name). She replaced the largest of the P&O & Orient lines RMS Orion, which was a major 'ten quid Pom' boat.