Food in the 50's

[richard]

Cochineal is also wild here in Texas. It is a scale insect that grows on prickly pears, and is the main reason prickly pears were introduced to the Old World - to farm cochineal.

It makes a very good and vivid demonstration in a wildlife walk: Take some white fuzz from a prickly pear, crush it against your palm with the back of a pen knife (or similar object), and a vivid red pigment is produced. Surprises the urban students every time!

I'm not sure how eating cochineal is that different to eating crustaceans (prawns, lobster) or any other creature for that matter.

If anything, eating the tunas (prickly pear fruit) is more dangerous as they can still harbour the odd hair if you are not careful. Cacti hairs are far worse than their spines - similar to glass fibre in how they feel...
I have yet to try them, but the pads can also be chopped and fried (after the spines and hairs have been burnt off!) - making the prickly pear a very useful plant!

[mr B]

well we've had the food , creepy crawly's , now its time for .....

us oldies must remember the bucket that would show up after the cat/dog had just had their litter ?


mr B

[locojoe]

well we've had the food , creepy crawly's , now its time for ..... us oldies must remember the bucket that would show up after the cat/dog had just had their litter ? mr B

I remember the loco bucket, used for having a footplate type wash and brush up.

[silverfox]

Re local produce.

Live in Berkshire now and haven't bought, eggs,bacon, or meat from a superstore for 4yrs now.
The egg place does 20 jumbos ( mostly double yolks for £6.50 and are that fresh i had to wait one visit for them to get them from under the hens and all free range, yolks are like small suns
The sausages and bacon come from a village butcher, the bacon can be cooked from frozen, with none of that horrible white stuff emerging.
The meat is from a small farm shop, who when asked where they source it, just looked over their shoulder, and the mince is to die for.
There is also a fresh fish supplier at Wokingham market on Fridays, nice stuff

The jubblys were made in White Hart Lane Wood Green. Wagon Wheels were bigger, i think they are selling the front ones now as they have run out of the back ones!
Spangles
and those wonderful sweet shops that sold flying saucers, shrimps, licquorice pipes, sherbet fountains. black jacks. sometimes they are found at the open air museums like Beamish, and Dudley
Lived in Edmonton in the 50's and remember several ice cream vans in the street at once. Road sweepers with the handcart
Rag and bone men,Gas lamps, The Coop milk horse, the 'modern' milk float that was pulled by the milkman. Sat morn pictures (6d) High streets shops that had those sun blinds, proper Wicksteed playgound equipment,Witches hats etc

[Blink Bonny]

Ay up!

Not grub, I know but related.

When I was little, many of the houses on our estate still had coal fires and there were two coalmen. One had a lorry and made a living, no more. The other had two gorgeous matching black horses, with black harness enhanced by shiny brasses. It was strange how all the old boys would get their coal off the "horse man" having a natter, petting the horses and they all had a couple of apples for them.

I believe he also had a hearse that he hired out for funerals but that's a bit hazy.

When the old man retired and his son took over, he sold the horses and bought a lorry. He went out of business very quickly after that.

[earlswood nob]

Morning all
I also buy meat from a local butcher. It has such better taste. His sausages are renowned and the only ones I will eat. He gets deer carcases from most of local marksmen and as its Roe deer, its a sweeter softer meat than the Red deer venison sold by supermarkets and cheaper. There is other game when its in season, and its always of good quality.
Eggs come from a local farm, where it's help yourself to a tray and put your money in a honesty box.
Is it a wonder that I'm interested in steam trains?
Earlswood Nob

[KX6465]

Have not read all the posts on this but couple of things I remember.

I was born in Mile End, East London.

I lived in Lichfield Road and at the bottom of our garden was the Liverpool St toi Southend line on a brick embankment, we also had the steelwork for the overhead line equipment.

Down our street we used have deliveries by :- Corona soft drink lorry, very distinctive as the bottles were in crates that sat at an angle to the flatbed.
Coalman, coal delivered by the sack load that was emptied down the "coalhole" in front of our front door straight into the cellar.
Milkman, who also delivered the most delicious tasting fresh orange juice in small bottles that I have ever tasted, this was only allowed as a treat if I'd behaved myself so did'nt have that often!
Walls ice cream by a guy on a three wheeled pedal driven cart, very rare that my mother would buy from him, I think it was something to do with a polio outbreak but don't know how they were linked.
Also the rag and bone man would come round with his horse and cart, always remember his cries at the top of his voice " Old iron an Lummberrr"

At the end of the road was Grove Road and this was the site of the first doodlebug landing on London, my pal and I used to play on the bombsites adjacent to this. Visited my old stamping grounds recently and there is now a blue plaque on the bridge.

[Mickey]

Deleted

[manna]

G'Day Gents

Like most other people living in North London in the 50's we had the regulars, rag and bone men on horse drawn carts, dustmen with horses, and on Sundays a fella' with a push cart, selling shellfish, dad would sometimes buy a mug of cooked cockles, I would sometimes get a taste, years later, living in Southend, a visit to Leigh-on-Sea was always welcome, as a plate of cockles and 5mins watching the EMU's whining passed always made me think of Wood Green on a Sunday afternoon

manna

[PGBerrie]

There were two horses where I lived. The Coop horse lived in a field down the ginnel and pulled a covered wagon with green groceries, I think, not milk. Then there was Mr Crowe, a local farmer, who delivered his milk in churns with a pony and trap. You were posh if you had him. We also had a one-armed (at least that's what I remember) window cleaner who came round regularly. If you asked nicely, he would retrieve our tennis balls from the gutters - he always told you he wasn't insured for it though. Throwing a ball over the house to a mate on the other side was one of the major milestones of growing up.

Peter

[KX6465]

G'Day Gents

Like most other people living in North London in the 50's we had the regulars, rag and bone men on horse drawn carts, dustmen with horses, and on Sundays a fella' with a push cart, selling shellfish, dad would sometimes buy a mug of cooked cockles, I would sometimes get a taste, years later, living in Southend, a visit to Leigh-on-Sea was always welcome, as a plate of cockles and 5mins watching the EMU's whining passed always made me think of Wood Green on a Sunday afternoon

manna

I had completely forgotten about the cockle man and his cart! My mum and dad were great winkle lovers. Many's the time they would have winkles for tea on a Sunday afternoon. They would both be sitting at the table with the bowl of winkles in the middle and each of them would have a small side plate and a needle in front of them. They would then pick of the little membrane that each winkle had ,put it on the plate, then pull out the winkle with the needle.

There was never any shortage of needles in our house as my mother used to make umbrellas at home, most times as many as six dozen a week, all sewn together by hand.
First a rossette would be sewn over the ferral where the ribs joined the base, then a small oval piece of material would sown over each joint half way up the rib where the sliding rib attached to the main rib, then the cover would be sewn on to the rosette and the cover would be stretched and sewn to the tip of each individual rib, after this the cover would be sewn to the small oval piece of material on each individual rib, the final operation was to sew on the elasticated strap that keeps the umbrella furled when closed. I always remember that she prefered to make ladies umbrellas rather than gents as the gents unbrellas were so much bigger and cumbersome to make.

I am amazed that even after all these years (60+) that I can remember this in such detail. As I've written this its as if I was back in the house in Lichfield road when I was a boy.

[Blink Bonny]

Ay up, KX!

What a fascinating story, thanks. I'd always assumed that brollies would be made in huge factories.

[KX6465]

Thanks Blink Bonny,

The times I speak of regarding the umbrellas would have been in the early to middle 1950's.

Once I went to secondary school my mother then went to work at the small factory that made the umbrellas which was in Borough High St, London bridge. I believe the the name was Emmet & Haywood.

[52D]

A4 link to Brollies, Samuel Fox near Sheffield had brolly ribs as part of his range of steel products, Silver Fox had a stainless fox on its side from Samuel Fox.

[mr B]

Buddy Holly , The BIG Bopper , Ritchie Valens and Rodger Peterson .

44 year ago to-day ....


mr B