Eating in the 50's

[mike H 456]

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.

 

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.

 

Prunes were medicinal.

 

Surprisingly, muesli was readily available, it was called  "Cattle Feed "

 

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.

 

The only thing that we never ever had on our table in the fifties ... was Elbows !!!

 

Found this in my village paper today.

 

I know it's all true because I was there.  

 

PS  I was told by my mother that I cut my teeth on Dogs Biscuits, it's true as I remember doing it.

 

Regards Mike

 

 

 

 

[ddavid 149]

Good catch, Mike - remember it well!

Cheers - Dai.

[rob16584 42]

Good post mike

[MyPC8MyBrain 273]

Good one

[mike H 456]

Thanks Guys, they were the good old days of props at Heathrow with the odd Comet or two.

 

Cheers Mike

[hurricanemk1c 195]

Talking of props and things (although at Manchester)

 

http://www.vickersviscount.net/Pages_Photos/Photos_CNGalleryLarge.aspx

[mutley 4,495]

Not so sure about good but I remember them well and you have it the nail on the head there Mike, great post!

[britfrog 180]

ok as we are going back in time

you will see a small boy at the top of the stairs

now at the bottom

 

 

yep thats me nearly 60 years ago landing back in the Bahamas after hols in the UK

 

and the plane is??????

check out the amount of people wearing caps and full dress even the engineers

 

and not a pair of jeans in sight, just Sunday best clothes as it should be!!

[hurricanemk1c 195]

Boeing 377 Stratocruiser - you can see the 'Strato' bit behind the stairs

[allardjd 1,853]

That fold in the fuselage side is pretty distinctive.

John

[hifly 925]

Fantastic Nigel, no doubt these images were from an 8mm movie film too. Must have been a noisy adventure flying in those days. 

[britfrog 180]

yeah it was a strat, that wa seasy but it never ceases to amaze me how the human brain works, i can remember all those flights as if they were only a year or two ago.

 

yes it was noisy but nothing like flying in a york or lancastrian.

however on this flight i well recall at some point between shannon and goose bay we were next to be served dinner when we hit an air pocket and  the dinner cart went up and hit the ceiling did a 180 and deposited all its hot contents over my mother and near bye seats. it took ages to clean up and sadly we all went hungry.

to add insult to injury the goose bay stop was just for refuelling  so no- one was allowed off , well there was bugger all there back then just a tower and a big hangar, so we hoped to eat when we got to new york. This thought was foiled when we were escorted into a transit lounge and left there under an armed guard for a few hours. I swear to this day these guys were all hand chosen from what was left of the Hitler youth at the end of the war, they were so impolite to my mother i was going to bite his kneecap off. happily the stewies on the flight to Nassau knew what had happened and made us comfortable again

[ddavid 149]

Great photo's, Mr P. - and, as usual, your accompanying narrative is amazingly apt. BTW, I thought a '180' was a body boarding term - but it suits what happened to the food trolley. And 'stewies' - you'll have to wash your mouth out with soapy water, young man or the PC police will 'ave ya!

Thanks for sharing.

Cheers - Dai.

[allardjd 1,853]

...we got to new york...

 

...and left there under an armed guard for a few hours. I swear to this day these guys were all hand chosen from what was left of the Hitler youth at the end of the war, they were so impolite to my mother...

 

 

Cause and effect, Nigel.  New York and New Jersey are not known for politeness.

 

John

[britfrog 180]

Dai, just call me old fashioned PC doesnt exist in my house   and never will

Looking again at these pics i find it interesting to note we are just disembarking and yet the engineer is already on the wing with his long guage to dip the oil tanks, the a/c unit is getting hooked up and the baggage cars are in place. I suppose the two white capped guys are the pilots supervising  the loading and saying goodbye to the customers

very sociable, not like today where they are standing in the aisles before the a/c has come to a stop

 

here are a few pics of the downstairs "lounge/bar"  i recall on one flight going down there to fetch my dad to come and have a meal , to be met upon arriving at the bottom step by the steward who told me "little boys are not allowed down here"

 

 

[J G 927]

There is a Viscount at the Brooklands museum which I once was a volunteer guide for.   At the rear of the aircraft was a small galley where they actually cooked your meal. None of this warmed up or microwaved crap, you could ordered a steak and have it cooked how you liked it.

 

I don't know about BOAC, but BEA had a dress code for their customers, I expect BOAC was even more rigorous in this area.  No flying in comfort the. Oh no, starched collars, prickly tweed, shiny shoes and a stiff upper lip, don't you know, what what! 

[hifly 925]

Back in the 80s it sometimes paid to dress respectably. Smile at the check in staff, say something about the travel agent getting economy instead of business class tickets and ask for an upgrade to business. If you looked the part and there was room it often worked and all for free.

[mike H 456]

Hi Nigel great story, as my father worked for BOAC in the 50s/60s at Heathrow I got to go in the hangars as a boy and also go inside some of their a/c, but sadly never flew in them. Those pic's of the Strat. took me right back. Just think I could have seen your plane taking off while I was plane spotting. Small world.

[goosenka 9]

I recall back in 1984 when I was 10 flying from Shangai on some internal flight on a Vickers Viscount run by CAAC. Only about 10 of us on the flight. If I remember correctly all the seats were folded forward, food was a cardboard sandwich. What still sticks in my mind was that my Dad and I went mid flight for a wander towards the cockpit and saw the captain sat down having a smoke break. We asked who was flying the plane and he replied 'Student'.