How have things changed since you were a kid? I don't mean the obvious, but something that really sticks in your memory.
For example, as a kid, everyone in our neighbourhood knew everyone, from our house down to the next corner about 8 houses away, and around to the other side of that block, and most nights after we'd all had dinner (about 6pm) all the neighbourhood kids would get together and play Brandy - sometimes as many as 40 of us. Someone would throw a tennis ball at someone to deliberately hit them, and then that person became It and chased the rest of us around until someone else became It. Now the thing is that we'd sometimes stay out until 9 o'clock at night, playing in the dark. None of us ever came to any harm, our parents only knew that we were somewhere in the vicinity of the block but they also knew we would be fine, and we had such a ton of fun! By the way, this was not in some safe little country town, but in a city. Times change though, and sometimes not for the better.
What's your most memorable memory as a kid?
-- Edited by Romy5152 on Monday 18th of July 2011 10:19:50 PM
milo said
10:18 PM Jul 18, 2011
for me it was living on a couple achers , riding motor bikes n horses, working out in the yard, now theres none of that, also we could go away for the day and leave our house unlocked no problems, you cant today..
-- Edited by milo on Tuesday 19th of July 2011 12:19:02 AM
Cruising Granny said
10:19 PM Jul 18, 2011
Riding my bike around the paddocks on the farm, and mushrooming with a bucket and a knife. Feeding the chooks and collecting the eggs. Filling the wood box for the wood stove on which our meals were cooked. These days the kids aren't allowed to have knives. I had cousins on the farm, but no close neighbourhood kids.
Romy5152 said
10:34 PM Jul 18, 2011
I know what you mean - the country life is the best. After my Mum divorced, she applied for a job as a cook on a large cattle station, eventually re-married, and that's where I ended up growing up. I can remember one day my cousins and I accompanied the men out to the back of the property to do some fencing. We were various ages, from 8 - 12, so my step-uncle drove the old Bedford truck out loaded up with wire, steel posts, wooden strainers and some of us kids, and my step-father drove the Toyota out with the rest of us on board. We played more than helped for most of the day, and when it came time to come home, we begged the men to let us kids drive the old Bedford home. We had all grown up in the country, all of us knew how to drive, and we were on private property anyway, so eventually whingeing and whining won out, and we were given the key with strict instructions to take it easy. Now the thing is, the Bedford most often didn't have brakes! Sometimes they could be pumped up, but most of the time, they didn't work! Well, we were like pigs in muck - and we had such a great time getting that beautiful old truck home. Well, there were 5 gates between where we'd been fencing and home, so every time we lumbered up to a gate, one of us kids had to jump off the back of the truck to open the gate while the driver circled the truck until they could drive it through! Then they'd circle it on the other side until the gate was shut and the kid could jump back on, and away we went again! Mum cracked a real mental when we got home and found out what the men had let us do, but in hindsight, what a ride! lol
Cruising Granny said
11:22 PM Jul 18, 2011
And no kid was hurt in the gate operating procedures. Amazing what we did, and if we grazed a knee or broke a bone, it was fixed and away we'd go again, wiser for our experience. I usually got a little bit injured and a lot punished. That's how we learned our capabilities and our limits, and the rules. No one over-protected us from falling out of the tree or off the bike. The first bike I learned to balance and then ride on was 28 inch 2 wheeler. We even drank milk straight out of the cow.
Wombat 280 said
11:27 PM Jul 18, 2011
Riding an old WW11 Harley Davidson along the beach between Mosman and Port Douglas it was easier than the road especially during the wet. When the vehicles couldn't get through Dad and I would ride the horses . My best trip ever was from Port Douglas to the tip to pick up an old Tiger Moth that had a fuel problem and was forced down on one of the many sandy beaches in the area, we carted fuel in in 4 gallon tins and cleaned out the fuel system turned the horses lose and dad flew it back to Carins , I could fly a plane and navigate before I could get a car licence Back then to go to the tip was barely a track through the bush and you lived off the land out out of the ocean depending on the time of the year it could take several weeks to get there
Helena said
07:07 AM Jul 19, 2011
Taking sandwiches with me and riding my bike to the forest picking bluebells bringing them home on the back of the bike the object of all of us kids was to see who could pick the most bluebells still remember the scent of them and being filthy dirty on tghe way home and mum's face when she saw how many she had to find vases for. Helena.
Romy5152 said
07:35 AM Jul 19, 2011
That's right Granny - overprotection doesn't do us any favours most of the time. Because I work at a primary school, most of the time the kids who hurt themselves (and just have a small scratch that only really needs a dust off and a "You'll be right") would prefer to simply get up and walk away too, but things being the way they are now with rules and regulations, duty of care, AND lawsuits, we HAVE to follow it through with a thorough and proper clean up, sometimes parent notification depending on the circumstances, and recording in a book. Amazing how the world changes.
Wombat and Helena, the good old days hey! Wombat, just reading about your exploits on the Harley with your Dad reminded me of another incident on our property, and again with the same cousins! (Gees, we got up to some stuff! lol) A creek ran past our old homestead, and littered along the top of a section of very steep banks were various rusting relics of days gone by. One of them was an old post-war motorbike. You know the type - heavy as all get out and straight handlebars. One day, when the adults were all busy, us kids were looking for something to do - read looking for some mischief to get into! We decided to go for a walk along the creek, and came across the old motorbike laying on it side. To us kids, it was like finding a huge nugget of gold. Between us all, we heaved it up into a standing position, and to our surprise and excitement, we found that, while everything was rusted, the wheels still turned around. Yep, you guessed it, someone decided it would be fun for one of us to climb on board and the rest of us would push the bike off the steep bank! For the next few hours, that's what we did - all of taking turns in riding it down the bank, and then helping to push the blessed thing back up to the top of the bank again. How at least one of didn't hurt ourselves that day, I don't know! If we'd fallen off on our downward journey at any time and the bike had fallen on top of us, we'd have been seriously hurt at the very least. But you just don't think of things like that happening when you're a kid, do you?
Romy5152 said
07:38 AM Jul 19, 2011
I love bluebells Helena! We only get the tiny little ones growing around here and they don't have a perfume, but they make a perfect photography subject with a bit of subtle camera blurring of the background. They're so delicate and such a pretty blue.
And Milo, you're right about not being able to leave the house without locking it up these days. I live in a small country town, and I still lock up when I go out. But my Granny never used to years ago - and she lived in the city, the same city where us kids used to play Brandy after dark. I think it's such a shame. Kids these days would have had a ball back then. When I used to tell my kids what I (and their father) got up to as kids, they always wished they could go back in time and have a go at the things we used to!
-- Edited by Romy5152 on Tuesday 19th of July 2011 07:45:22 AM
sandsmere said
07:52 AM Jul 19, 2011
Milk shakes . Fish and chips wrapped in newspaper .
The first wrapped icecreams . They were made by Peters . Vanilla icecream coated in chocolate , wrapped in silver & green paper , and were called " chocolate coated icecreams " . No stick to hold them , just icecream and paper . After a year or so you got a small , flat stick to use as a spoon .
Romy5152 said
07:59 AM Jul 19, 2011
Hi Sandsmere, now there's a trip down memory lane too! Fish and chips in newspaper - I remember them well. Wouldn't the health dept have a field day with that one now. Talking about ice-creams too - do you or anyone else remember Twin Pats? The were one choc-coated ice-cream, but with a furrow in the middle and two sticks. You could break them apart in the furrow and share with someone - each having a stick with which to hold it.
sandsmere said
08:10 AM Jul 19, 2011
Billy carts
rabbit traps
slug guns
wash boards
long-drop toilets
fresh milk and fresh cream
cream seperators
butter churns
Coolgardie safes
ice chests
coppers ( for boiling water ) .
Memories , and more memories . . . . . . Yes Romy , I remember twin pats .
-- Edited by sandsmere on Tuesday 19th of July 2011 08:14:01 AM
Dreamcaster51 said
09:40 AM Jul 19, 2011
My wife and I were talking the other day about the old baker and his horse who which would just walk up the road towing his van, if he (the baker that is) got too far in front of he horse he would just whistle and the old Clydsdale would pick up the pace. The milky was the same, remember blue tops or yellow tops left on the verandah and the birds used to peck the tops for the cream hell the do gooders of the world would have a bloody fit if that was allowed today. Are we really any better off today? Sadly I think not
Dunco said
10:28 AM Jul 19, 2011
My most memorable memory ?
Being kicked up the arse by the cops and taken home to Mum for another belt
Worked wonders for me
Ma said
01:41 PM Jul 19, 2011
My Dad was one of those old fashioned coppers Dunco, saved a kot of kids from going down the wrong track by a size 13 up the a...e
Cupie said
02:32 PM Jul 19, 2011
A typical weekend day ...
Push bikes & shangi's .. off for the day in the scrub .. short rides on any horses we came across (rope halter) ... cook up birds for lunch .. swim in river .. mud fights .. pinch whatever fruit was in season .. look out for saltpetre from shotguns ...
Jobs ..
Deliver bulk milk in two local streets weekdays early AM
Sell papers at local Railway Workshops after school weekdays (100 in 15min) Count pennies & reconcile with papers sold.
Sat Morning milk run till lunch. (then off to hockey)
On the way home, play kelly pool with 'drunks' after their pub session (good money)
Late Saturday paper run around a couple of suburbs, on pushbike of course. Rolled up papers in cut down sugar bag pouches across frame & another attached by strong wire rods into the upturned handle bars. Had to roll the papers with rubber bands before starting. Throw them onto the roof of those we didn't like
Occasionally take bike & half axe up the railway spur line into bush & get clothes props to sell round the neighbourhood. Sometimes set a few bird traps to catch double bars and finches.
Delivered ice for a bit .. filling in for a mate ... squares of bag over hands instead of gloves. Boss had large tonges
Collect all the beer bottles around the neighbourhood, in a push cart. Sell back to local pub. The butcher & corner shop paid for bundles of newspapers too.
Jobs at home ..
Help Dad saw logs with double ended cross cut saw (still got it too)
Chop wood, large, middle or second wood, and chips. Keep wood boxes full. (still got the old axe too & several scars across the left hand where I missed).
Cut grass with reaping hook.
Water vege garden (bloody squashes & silver beet mainly - that I hated)
Feed the chooks .. help kill & dress the c o c k rels on special occasions.
Better stop there least I bore you. The more I write the more memories come back.
( I have a small notebook that I write up with memories, as the mood takes me)
-- Edited by Cupie on Tuesday 19th of July 2011 02:35:18 PM
-- Edited by Cupie on Tuesday 19th of July 2011 02:38:28 PM
Happywanderer said
02:56 PM Jul 19, 2011
What a thread, so many memories and amazing how a lot of us have similiar memories. I think its because towns were smaller, the population was smaller and so many of us lived out in the country where we made our own fun. They certainly have taken the fun out of living with all the rules and regulations of today.
Romy5152 said
04:50 PM Jul 19, 2011
Keep them coming! I don't think any of us will ever be bored with reading about all our memories. I know I won't be bored, because I can associate with many of them and it brings back even more memories for me. They were indeed the good old days - really! That's not to say that we can't have any special memories attached to our lives today, but back then, the pace of life was definitely slower, and sometimes I think the simple things of life have been largely forgotten.
I can also remember shaving my Mum's legs with an old-fashioned, proper whisker brush and soap and razor, for 2 bob - which I would then go and spend on a BIG (and I mean B-I-G) bag of lollies! lol
Cupie said
05:41 PM Jul 19, 2011
Romy5152 wrote:
I can also remember shaving my Mum's legs with an old-fashioned, proper whisker brush and soap and razor, for 2 bob - which I would then go and spend on a BIG (and I mean B-I-G) bag of lollies! lol
The lasting memory that I have of the old fashioned razor, is of the Cut Throat Razor Strop. That big leather strap that was use for maintaing the razor's edge.
At our place it was used a a disciplining instrument .. round the back of the legs .. made you hop. If you ran away you had to come back and get it again.
Corporal punishment was the go in those days...
I can recall lining up outside the Head Masters office for 6 of the best.
He used a piece of lawyer cane. We would sometimes rub resin into our hands to make the cane break. Not sure if it did.
The worst was when he would get you on the way down & then straight back up again on the knuckles.
(didn't work .. still can't spell)
Romy5152 said
06:27 PM Jul 19, 2011
I can remember getting the frypan cord around my legs, Cupie!
Before we headed out into the country to live, I was about 7 years old, and when the carnival and sideshows were in town one year, I was told that I was not to wander into the showgrounds under any circumstances, but to come straight home from school every afternoon. Of course, it was too much of a temptation, I did wander in one afternoon, and I did cop the frypan cord when I eventually got home. I don't know why I didn't think Mum would twig. She knew how long it took me to walk home from school, but as I said before, kids don't think of that sort of thing at the time! I only stayed for about half an hour, but as I was walking home, I remember thinking that I would probably get a hiding when I got home. Sure enough Mum was waiting behind the door. As soon as I walked in, Whack, Whack, around the legs. It hurt at the time, but I never was tempted again while they were in town! lol I understood the danger when I grew up, but at the time . . .
I'll be away from the computer for the next 3 days, but please everyone, continue our trip down memory lane. It all makes such great reading!
-- Edited by Romy5152 on Tuesday 19th of July 2011 06:29:08 PM
sandsmere said
06:28 PM Jul 19, 2011
Butcher shops with sawdust on the floor .
Cracker night .
Chopping blocks .
Gerty Dancer said
10:34 PM Jul 19, 2011
We were kids on a farm about 16 miles from town, so travelled by school bus for an hour each morning and each afternoon. I remember when we were young, the road was corrugated and the old bone-shaker would rattle along, then when the road was eventually sealed we were able to have a conversation. Our whole social life was on that bus!
The weather could be pretty extreme out Finley way, and while riding our bikes to meet the bus, we had to put up with dark early mornings, frosts, or rain, then in the afternoons it could be so hot in summer. Todays little darlings get driven to school in air-conditioned vehicles!
The mailman would deliver our bread to our bus stop, and it was our job to bring it home with us... often it arrived partly eaten.
Romy5152 said
05:30 PM Jul 21, 2011
Back at home again - earlier than we thought. Hubby was in too much pain to stay another night - he just wanted to come home, so I drove him home. (He had his second pterygium operation yesterday, and although his eye is very sore, he's okay.)
When we owned our cattle property and every time it rained too much to drive, I remember as a child accompanying Mum to walk a mile or so down to the railway siding to pick up our mail that was dropped off there every time the train came through. Black soil and rain don't mix as far as getting anywhere goes, so it was a tiring slog to walk there and back again. Black soil is like glue and just packs up on your shoes and becomes so heavy! Sometimes, when we got down there, there was no mail, and we had to walk back empty-handed. That was disappointing and very frustrating! Occasionally, my stepfather would drive the tractor down if we were expecting boxes of groceries or other supplies, and I would stand on the drawboard at the back. I think that would be very frowned-upon these days from a safety aspect.
My stepgrandfather, who was in his 70's at the time, was a renowned dingo catcher in the area back when I was a kid. Back then we used to run sheep, and the losses to dingoes were terrible. He had this big Sunshine powdered milk tin and used to keep his 'secret lure' in it. For a couple of nights, he would pee into the tin until it was half full, and then he'd put some of the innards of the last dingo he'd caught into the tin with the pee. The lid went on, and the tin was left in the sun for a couple of weeks. Sometimes, the build up of gas inside the tin would make the lid blow off it! The smell was terrible! Someone then had to race outside and jam the lid back on while holding their nose, before it permeated the whole area! So, you can imagine the smell when he took the lid off after 2 weeks, but after he'd set his traps, he'd sprinkle some of this horrible smelling 'juice' around, and it wasn't very often that he didn't catch one. I absolutely abhor the use of dingo traps, but back then, it was standard practice.
-- Edited by Romy5152 on Thursday 21st of July 2011 05:33:25 PM
jules47 said
07:22 PM Jul 21, 2011
Re the baker and the milkman - my brother did his baking apprenticeship in our small (then) Mornington Peninsula (Vic) town - another brother was a butcher, another a pastry cook - the baker bought fresh bread home every morning for us - sometimes brown and whit emixed together and formed into elephants and ducks - the milko used to come and we would go our with our billy to fill it - the iceman just came in the back door and put ice in your icebox on the back porch, and the local grocer used to deliver - he was our cousin, and he sometimes even put it away for mum.
But some places and kids these days still do old fashioned things - my grandsons are fishing mad, and they have been going to a local creek, on a local property, to fish since Christmas, the fish have been washed out of our local dam, and now can't get back, so they are congregating in and around the small weirs on the creek. The boys are 11 and 13, and are pretty responsible when fishing, the owner of the property checks on them, and they sometimes ask him if he wants one of the large bass they catch - sometimes he joins them on the bank, and they clean a fish, light a fire and cook it for lunch.
They are having a ball, learning a lot, and staying out of trouble (they release most of the fish they catch - just occasionally take one home).
Ma said
07:28 PM Jul 21, 2011
Where on the Mornington Peninsular did you grown up jules
Romy5152 said
07:29 PM Jul 21, 2011
Hi Jules, I know what you mean. The world doesn't always revolve around x boxes and computer games - although I must admit, I loved to play Nintendo 64 Mario Kart with my son and daughter when they were young! I always used to come last in the races of course, but I still loved to play it! However, I think a lot of fun can still be had outside the home - as your grandsons are. There's something about being out in the bush that really soothes the soul. Most of the time it's very quiet, and you can really relax and drink in the beauty of it all. I'm a bush girl at heart and always will be.
jules47 said
07:30 PM Jul 21, 2011
Was in Sorrento till I was about 8 - then moved to Cairns, down to Brissy - back to Melbourne (Aspendale) - but my friend is descendend from the Watts family - first settlers at Sullivans Cove in Sorrento. Did you come from down there?
Ma said
07:45 PM Jul 21, 2011
Blues family did. They were related to the McQueens that lived there for donkeys years
jules47 said
08:45 PM Jul 21, 2011
Can't say I remember the name - will ask my brother - he lived there longer, and as an adult. Knew the Keegans, Spunners, Watts, Stewarts.
How have things changed since you were a kid? I don't mean the obvious, but something that really sticks in your memory.
For example, as a kid, everyone in our neighbourhood knew everyone, from our house down to the next corner about 8 houses away, and around to the other side of that block, and most nights after we'd all had dinner (about 6pm) all the neighbourhood kids would get together and play Brandy - sometimes as many as 40 of us. Someone would throw a tennis ball at someone to deliberately hit them, and then that person became It and chased the rest of us around until someone else became It. Now the thing is that we'd sometimes stay out until 9 o'clock at night, playing in the dark. None of us ever came to any harm, our parents only knew that we were somewhere in the vicinity of the block but they also knew we would be fine, and we had such a ton of fun! By the way, this was not in some safe little country town, but in a city. Times change though, and sometimes not for the better.
What's your most memorable memory as a kid?
-- Edited by Romy5152 on Monday 18th of July 2011 10:19:50 PM
for me it was living on a couple achers , riding motor bikes n horses, working out in
the yard, now theres none of that, also we could go away for the day and leave our house unlocked no problems, you cant today..
-- Edited by milo on Tuesday 19th of July 2011 12:19:02 AM
These days the kids aren't allowed to have knives.
I had cousins on the farm, but no close neighbourhood kids.
Well, there were 5 gates between where we'd been fencing and home, so every time we lumbered up to a gate, one of us kids had to jump off the back of the truck to open the gate while the driver circled the truck until they could drive it through!
Amazing what we did, and if we grazed a knee or broke a bone, it was fixed and away we'd go again, wiser for our experience.
I usually got a little bit injured and a lot punished.
That's how we learned our capabilities and our limits, and the rules. No one over-protected us from falling out of the tree or off the bike.
The first bike I learned to balance and then ride on was 28 inch 2 wheeler.
We even drank milk straight out of the cow.
Wombat and Helena, the good old days hey! Wombat, just reading about your exploits on the Harley with your Dad reminded me of another incident on our property, and again with the same cousins! (Gees, we got up to some stuff! lol) A creek ran past our old homestead, and littered along the top of a section of very steep banks were various rusting relics of days gone by. One of them was an old post-war motorbike. You know the type - heavy as all get out and straight handlebars. One day, when the adults were all busy, us kids were looking for something to do - read looking for some mischief to get into! We decided to go for a walk along the creek, and came across the old motorbike laying on it side. To us kids, it was like finding a huge nugget of gold. Between us all, we heaved it up into a standing position, and to our surprise and excitement, we found that, while everything was rusted, the wheels still turned around. Yep, you guessed it, someone decided it would be fun for one of us to climb on board and the rest of us would push the bike off the steep bank! For the next few hours, that's what we did - all of taking turns in riding it down the bank, and then helping to push the blessed thing back up to the top of the bank again. How at least one of didn't hurt ourselves that day, I don't know! If we'd fallen off on our downward journey at any time and the bike had fallen on top of us, we'd have been seriously hurt at the very least. But you just don't think of things like that happening when you're a kid, do you?
I love bluebells Helena! We only get the tiny little ones growing around here and they don't have a perfume, but they make a perfect photography subject with a bit of subtle camera blurring of the background. They're so delicate and such a pretty blue.
And Milo, you're right about not being able to leave the house without locking it up these days. I live in a small country town, and I still lock up when I go out. But my Granny never used to years ago - and she lived in the city, the same city where us kids used to play Brandy after dark. I think it's such a shame. Kids these days would have had a ball back then. When I used to tell my kids what I (and their father) got up to as kids, they always wished they could go back in time and have a go at the things we used to!
-- Edited by Romy5152 on Tuesday 19th of July 2011 07:45:22 AM
Milk shakes . Fish and chips wrapped in newspaper .
The first wrapped icecreams . They were made by Peters . Vanilla icecream coated in chocolate , wrapped in silver & green paper , and were called " chocolate coated icecreams " . No stick to hold them , just icecream and paper . After a year or so you got a small , flat stick to use as a spoon .
Talking about ice-creams too - do you or anyone else remember Twin Pats? The were one choc-coated ice-cream, but with a furrow in the middle and two sticks. You could break them apart in the furrow and share with someone - each having a stick with which to hold it.
Billy carts
rabbit traps
slug guns
wash boards
long-drop toilets
fresh milk and fresh cream
cream seperators
butter churns
Coolgardie safes
ice chests
coppers ( for boiling water ) .
Memories , and more memories . . . . . . Yes Romy , I remember twin pats .
-- Edited by sandsmere on Tuesday 19th of July 2011 08:14:01 AM
Are we really any better off today?
Sadly I think not
My most memorable memory ?
Being kicked up the arse by the cops and taken home to Mum for another belt
Worked wonders for me
My Dad was one of those old fashioned coppers Dunco, saved a kot of kids from going down the wrong track by a size 13 up the a...e
A typical weekend day ...
Push bikes & shangi's .. off for the day in the scrub .. short rides on any horses we came across (rope halter) ... cook up birds for lunch .. swim in river .. mud fights .. pinch whatever fruit was in season .. look out for saltpetre from shotguns ...
Jobs ..
Deliver bulk milk in two local streets weekdays early AM
Sell papers at local Railway Workshops after school weekdays (100 in 15min) Count pennies & reconcile with papers sold.
Sat Morning milk run till lunch. (then off to hockey)
On the way home, play kelly pool with 'drunks' after their pub session (good money)
Late Saturday paper run around a couple of suburbs, on pushbike of course. Rolled up papers in cut down sugar bag pouches across frame & another attached by strong wire rods into the upturned handle bars. Had to roll the papers with rubber bands before starting. Throw them onto the roof of those we didn't like
Occasionally take bike & half axe up the railway spur line into bush & get clothes props to sell round the neighbourhood. Sometimes set a few bird traps to catch double bars and finches.
Delivered ice for a bit .. filling in for a mate ... squares of bag over hands instead of gloves. Boss had large tonges
Collect all the beer bottles around the neighbourhood, in a push cart. Sell back to local pub. The butcher & corner shop paid for bundles of newspapers too.
Jobs at home ..
Help Dad saw logs with double ended cross cut saw (still got it too)
Chop wood, large, middle or second wood, and chips. Keep wood boxes full. (still got the old axe too & several scars across the left hand where I missed).
Cut grass with reaping hook.
Water vege garden (bloody squashes & silver beet mainly - that I hated)
Feed the chooks .. help kill & dress the c o c k rels on special occasions.
Better stop there least I bore you. The more I write the more memories come back.
( I have a small notebook that I write up with memories, as the mood takes me)
-- Edited by Cupie on Tuesday 19th of July 2011 02:35:18 PM
-- Edited by Cupie on Tuesday 19th of July 2011 02:38:28 PM
They certainly have taken the fun out of living with all the rules and regulations of today.
I can also remember shaving my Mum's legs with an old-fashioned, proper whisker brush and soap and razor, for 2 bob - which I would then go and spend on a BIG (and I mean B-I-G) bag of lollies! lol
The lasting memory that I have of the old fashioned razor, is of the Cut Throat Razor Strop. That big leather strap that was use for maintaing the razor's edge.
At our place it was used a a disciplining instrument .. round the back of the legs .. made you hop. If you ran away you had to come back and get it again.
Corporal punishment was the go in those days...
I can recall lining up outside the Head Masters office for 6 of the best.
He used a piece of lawyer cane. We would sometimes rub resin into our hands to make the cane break. Not sure if it did.
The worst was when he would get you on the way down & then straight back up again on the knuckles.
(didn't work .. still can't spell)
I can remember getting the frypan cord around my legs, Cupie!
I understood the danger when I grew up, but at the time . . . 
Before we headed out into the country to live, I was about 7 years old, and when the carnival and sideshows were in town one year, I was told that I was not to wander into the showgrounds under any circumstances, but to come straight home from school every afternoon. Of course, it was too much of a temptation, I did wander in one afternoon, and I did cop the frypan cord when I eventually got home. I don't know why I didn't think Mum would twig. She knew how long it took me to walk home from school, but as I said before, kids don't think of that sort of thing at the time! I only stayed for about half an hour, but as I was walking home, I remember thinking that I would probably get a hiding when I got home. Sure enough Mum was waiting behind the door. As soon as I walked in, Whack, Whack, around the legs. It hurt at the time, but I never was tempted again while they were in town! lol
I'll be away from the computer for the next 3 days, but please everyone, continue our trip down memory lane. It all makes such great reading!
-- Edited by Romy5152 on Tuesday 19th of July 2011 06:29:08 PM
Butcher shops with sawdust on the floor .
Cracker night .
Chopping blocks .
We were kids on a farm about 16 miles from town, so travelled by school bus for an hour each morning and each afternoon. I remember when we were young, the road was corrugated and the old bone-shaker would rattle along, then when the road was eventually sealed we were able to have a conversation. Our whole social life was on that bus!
The weather could be pretty extreme out Finley way, and while riding our bikes to meet the bus, we had to put up with dark early mornings, frosts, or rain, then in the afternoons it could be so hot in summer. Todays little darlings get driven to school in air-conditioned vehicles!
The mailman would deliver our bread to our bus stop, and it was our job to bring it home with us... often it arrived partly eaten.
Back at home again - earlier than we thought. Hubby was in too much pain to stay another night - he just wanted to come home, so I drove him home. (He had his second pterygium operation yesterday, and although his eye is very sore, he's okay.)
Someone then had to race outside and jam the lid back on while holding their nose, before it permeated the whole area! So, you can imagine the smell when he took the lid off after 2 weeks, but after he'd set his traps, he'd sprinkle some of this horrible smelling 'juice' around, and it wasn't very often that he didn't catch one. I absolutely abhor the use of dingo traps, but back then, it was standard practice.
When we owned our cattle property and every time it rained too much to drive, I remember as a child accompanying Mum to walk a mile or so down to the railway siding to pick up our mail that was dropped off there every time the train came through. Black soil and rain don't mix as far as getting anywhere goes, so it was a tiring slog to walk there and back again. Black soil is like glue and just packs up on your shoes and becomes so heavy! Sometimes, when we got down there, there was no mail, and we had to walk back empty-handed. That was disappointing and very frustrating! Occasionally, my stepfather would drive the tractor down if we were expecting boxes of groceries or other supplies, and I would stand on the drawboard at the back. I think that would be very frowned-upon these days from a safety aspect.
My stepgrandfather, who was in his 70's at the time, was a renowned dingo catcher in the area back when I was a kid. Back then we used to run sheep, and the losses to dingoes were terrible. He had this big Sunshine powdered milk tin and used to keep his 'secret lure' in it. For a couple of nights, he would pee into the tin until it was half full, and then he'd put some of the innards of the last dingo he'd caught into the tin with the pee. The lid went on, and the tin was left in the sun for a couple of weeks. Sometimes, the build up of gas inside the tin would make the lid blow off it! The smell was terrible!
-- Edited by Romy5152 on Thursday 21st of July 2011 05:33:25 PM
But some places and kids these days still do old fashioned things - my grandsons are fishing mad, and they have been going to a local creek, on a local property, to fish since Christmas, the fish have been washed out of our local dam, and now can't get back, so they are congregating in and around the small weirs on the creek. The boys are 11 and 13, and are pretty responsible when fishing, the owner of the property checks on them, and they sometimes ask him if he wants one of the large bass they catch - sometimes he joins them on the bank, and they clean a fish, light a fire and cook it for lunch.
They are having a ball, learning a lot, and staying out of trouble (they release most of the fish they catch - just occasionally take one home).
Where on the Mornington Peninsular did you grown up jules
Blues family did. They were related to the McQueens that lived there for donkeys years