Sunday 3 November 2013

A post from my dad

Well it isn't really.  Dad would not know what a blog is.  He did, however, discover email a few years ago and I randomly get some funny emails sent to me.  You know, mostly those that people like my Hubby would groan at - yes, the obvious ones.  This isn't one of the obvious ones and in some places I learnt something new.
 
In my defence, I find a lot of things funny and the more obvious the better - it is, after all, good to laugh and if some quarters are to be believed extends your life.
 
So here, without further ado is my dads post.......
 
Eating in the UK in the 1950's.
 
For those of you who are old enough to remember, for the rest - it's a history lesson!! 
 
Time and memory has taken its toll. Have things really changed this much in our time?
 
  • Pasta had not been invented.
  • Curry was a surname.
  • A takeaway was a mathematical problem.
  • A pizza was something to do with a leaning tower.
  • Bananas and oranges only appeared at Christmas time.
  • All crisps were plain; the only choice we had was whether to put the salt on or not.
  • A Chinese chippy was a foreign carpenter.
  • Rice was a milk pudding and never ever part of our dinner.
  • A Big Mac was what we wore when it was raining.
  • Brown bread was something only poor people ate.
  • Oil was for lubricating, fat was for cooking.
  • Tea was made in a teapot using tea leaves and never green.
  • Coffee was Camp, and came in a bottle. (I can only assume this is the name of the only coffee available at the time).
  • Cubed sugar was regarded as posh.
  • Only Heinz made beans.
  • Fish didn't have fingers in those days.
  • Eating raw fish was called poverty, not sushi.
  • None of us had ever heard of yoghurt.
  • Healthy food consisted of anything edible.
  • People who didn't peel potatoes were regarded as lazy.
  • Indian restaurants were only found in India.
  • Cooking outside was called camping.
  • Seaweed was not a recognised food.
  • "Kebab" was not even a word never mind a food.
  • Sugar enjoyed a good press in those days, and was regarded as being white gold. (This think this is because it was still rationed in the early 50's)
  • Prunes were medicinal.
  • Surprisingly muesli was readily available, it was called cattle feed.  (Still should be in my opinion).
  • Pineapples came in chunks in a tin; we had only ever seen a picture of a real one.
  • Water came out of the tap, if someone had suggested bottling it and charging more than petrol for it they would have become a laughing stock.   
  •  I am guessing this was originally written before the price of petrol started rocketing.  There aren't may bottles of water more than the price of a litre of petrol these days.
  • The one thing that we never ever had on our table in the fifties .. was elbows! (Or in my mum's house add shoes to the list because apparently it meant bad luck).
So there you go folks, evidence that not only have opinions changed but also that people are much lazier and the free market has enriched our diet by fetching an array of food from around the world.  

 I laughed loudest at "Eating raw fish was called poverty, not sushi."  What about you guys, what did you find funniest and/or what was new to you?

 

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