NOSTALGIA

Our trip down memory lane continues as readers share their memories of the things that have disappeared from our lives without a goodbye.

Remember when milk, bread, fruit and vegetables and ice were delivered, the insurance man called monthly collecting premiums, the dunny man and the garbage man came to the house to empty bins, and the salesman from Rawleighs opened his case of potions?

Remember Bex powders, Vincent’s APC powders, Californian Poppy hair oil, curry combs, hat pins, McRobertson’s Snack chocolates and Small’s Club chocolates?

What about when backyards had an incinerator and an outhouse, and cars had dipper switches on the floor, bench seats, external sun visors and the driver indicated by putting an arm out the wind-up window? Thanks to Gwen Shipp, Vivienne Ferguson, Jan Lever, Carmel Harris, Noel and Maxina Williams, Christine Thelander and Eloise Rowe for their memories. If these have whet your appetite, email editor@yourtimemagazine.com.au

In the kitchen: kith

Wood stove, dripping jar, glass tube of junket tablets stoppered with cotton wool and a cork, pressure cooker, flyspray atomiser, ribbon fly catchers.

Lounge: TV lamp, magazine rack, ashtray stand, kerosene heater, religious pictures hanging on the walls.

Laundry: Concrete tubs downstairs and outside, a copper, Reckitt’s blue, box of starch, bar of Sunlight soap, wooden scrubbing board, Lux Flakes, Persil, Rinso, rag bag on a hook.

Bedroom:

Mosquito nets, frilly bag to hold pyjamas, highboy and lowboy (wardrobes), dressing table with a main mirror and 2 side mirrors, kidney shaped dressing table with curtains, quilted nylon bedspread.

Dining:

Distasteful: Brains, rabbit, lamb’s fry, chokoes, chicken giblets, liver and bacon, turnips Favourite: Junket, pineapple or lemon sago, tapioca, stewed rhubarb, stewed prunes, instant puddings, Spanish cream, jelly, lemon delicious.

Christmas:

Roast chicken, 3d or 6d in Christmas pudding, cracking nuts, lining up at the phone to speak to interstate relatives.

Grocery shopping:

The corner store, string bags, frozen food was ice cream in cardboard box called a family brick, Dad picked up the order from the corner shop in a cardboard box, handing your list to the grocer and standing at the counter while he got everything, the grocer weighing sugar, flour, biscuits and nuts, broken biscuits sold at half price.

Expressions: “It’s snowing down south” (petticoat showing), “Strike a light”, “wait until your father gets home”, “woe betide”, “I’m off to bash my back” (have a nap).