Clifton Hill late 1940s

Anne Huxley (2)

Making Do

“I went to evening classes to learn to make clothes, how to make patterns for clothes, too that was very interesting, then you make your own pattern just for you, they taught you how to do that. This was at the boys schools, Quinton and the other one, and I went to a quilting class once, I made clothes for the girls and myself. Everybody made clothes and things you know, it wasn’t anything. And hand kitted jerseys and cardigans and socks. I turned sheets, sides to middles, yes, not unless I had to, we had very little money and you didn’t have the coupons to buy the things you see, so you got round it this way.”

Jumble Sales

“Anthony made a lovely engine for the girls, we had a big biscuit tin full of Bath Olivers or something like that and that was its body, he gave it wheels and everything, that was very nice. He also made a lovely little push toy of a zebra, that was nice too, he was good with toys. I went to the jumble sale at St Marks where you bought cashmere sweaters and things like that. For £5 that was the thing, we all used to go, we all used to get something really nice from them. How the rich live you know.”

Rationing

“I went to the butcher and the grocer in Abbey Road where I was registered for rationing. I went with a list once a week and it was delivered by a boy on a bicycle who came to the backdoor and delivered the goods, yes, that’s what happened. The butcher didn’t deliver because it was very small you see, it was one and tuppence a week or some nonsense wasn’t it? So it wasn’t very much, two chops probably that was all I guess, so I brought it back.”

 

Collecting the Coal

“It would take half an hour to boil the kettle.

The milk was delivered and the coal, and that was very dodgy, the coal. When we had the ’47 the bad winter, Anthony went down to the coal place in Lisson Grove, that’s right, with a pram, and filled the pram with coal, that’s the only way we could get it and brought it back. We had an awful winter, it was six weeks long, easily, terrible, terrible. The lavatory upstairs didn’t work because there was no water. It was a terrible business getting the water hot, because the gas was so tiny and if you turned on the gas, you could only have one gas ring at a time, the others just went out you see, and it would take half an hour to boil the kettle, it was just awful, just awful.”

This page was added on 04/04/2011.

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