**EATING IN THE UK IN THE FIFTIES** * Pasta had not been invented. * Curry was a surname. * Olive oil was kept in the medicine cabinet * Spices came from the Middle East where they were used for embalming * Herbs were used to make rather dodgy medicine. * A takeaway was a mathematical problem. * A pizza was something to do with a leaning tower. * Bananas and oranges only appeared at Christmas time. * The only vegetables known to us were spuds, peas, carrots and cabbage, * All crisps were plain; the only choice we had was whether to put the salt on or not. * Condiments consisted of salt, pepper, vinegar and brown sauce if we were lucky. * Soft drinks were called pop. * Coke was something that we put on the fire. * 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. * A Pizza Hut was an Italian shed. * A microwave was something out of a science fiction movie. * Brown bread was something only poor people ate. * Oil was for lubricating, fat was for cooking * Bread and jam was a treat. * 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. * Figs and dates appeared every Christmas, but no one ever ate them. * Coconuts only appeared when the fair came to town. * Jellied eels were peculiar to Londoners. * Salad cream was a dressing for salads, mayonnaise did not exist * Hors d'oeuvre was a spelling mistake. * The starter was our main meal. Soup was a main meal. * Only Heinz made beans. * Leftovers went in the dog. * Special food for dogs and cats was unheard of. * Fish was only eaten on Fridays. * Fish didn't have fingers in those days. * Eating raw fish was called poverty, not sushi. * Ready meals only came from the fish and chip shop. * For the best taste fish and chips had to be eaten out of old newspapers. * Frozen food was called ice cream. * Nothing ever went off in the fridge because we never had one. * Ice cream only came in one colour and one flavour. * None of us had ever heard of yoghurt. * Jelly and blancmange was only eaten at parties. * If we said that we were on a diet, we simply got less. * Healthy food consisted of anything edible. * People who didn't peel potatoes were regarded as lazy. * Indian restaurants were only found in India . * Brunch was not a meal. * If we had eaten bacon lettuce and tomato in the same sandwich we would have been certified * A bun was a small cake back then. * The word" Barbie" was not associated with anything to do with food. * Eating outside was a picnic. * Cooking outside was called camping. * Seaweed was not a recognised food. * Pancakes were only eaten on Pancake Tuesday * "Kebab" was not even a word never mind a food. * Hot dogs were a type of sausage that only the Americans ate. * Cornflakes had arrived from America but it was obvious they would never catch on. * The phrase "boil in the bag" would have been beyond comprehension. * The idea of "oven chips" would not have made any sense at all to us. * The world had not heard of Pot Noodles, Instant Mash and Pop Tarts. * Sugar enjoyed a good press in those days, and was regarded as being white gold. * Lettuce and tomatoes in winter were only found abroad. * Prunes were medicinal. * Surprisingly muesli was readily available in those days, it was called cattle feed. * Turkeys were definitely seasonal. * Pineapples came in chunks in a tin; we had only ever seen a picture of a real one. * We never heard of Croissants we certainly couldn't pronounce it, * We thought that Baguettes were a problem the French needed to deal with. * Garlic was used to ward off vampires, but never used to flavour food. * 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. * Food hygiene was all about washing your hands before meals. * Campylobacter, Salmonella, E.coli, Listeria, and Botulism were all called "food poisoning." * The one thing that we never ever had on our table in the fifties .... Elbows.
Made me laugh, thanks
Jen x
Thanks for that it made me laugh. I wasn’t there then either but loved it as it was so true.
Enjoy your weekend x
Haha, a good read, and a lot of ot still applied in the early 80’s still Love the one about olive oil, my mum n dad had a bottle of it about 4" high with a sprig of something in it. They kept it in the 'china cabinet" on display!!! I presume they ditched it at the same time as the cabinet 
Oh I needed that… thanks… brilliant and all very true!!!
I would add one more… bread and dripping sprinkled with salt was a huge treat & usually reserved for the man of the family!
Pat x
I sometimes post stuff that our good friend Fran sends,and even though it is all quality, you might not be old enough to understand some of it,or the language.I’m not calling any of our superb Mods old(I value some bits of my anatomy more than others),but nobody wants anybody led astray and they understand all of everything.
Thanks Fran,
Wb xx
I was a child of the 50s and can remember cooking a Vesta curry with my dad (who had been in India during the war) For you youngsters Vesta meals were little boxes of dried goo – Oh so exotic!
I was in my early 20s before I had a pizza!
Laughed a lot – thanks Wobbly.
Jane
Olive oil in the medicine cabinet was to warm up and put in the ears of children with earache.
Much later than the 50’s!!
My father was American and did cook with both garlic and olive oil… when he first came to live here in 1950 he had to buy both from the chemist… garlic was also used in medicines.
When Italian immigrants started to move to our town in 50’s he was overjoyed as Italian shops started to open.
We must have been about the only non-Italian family in England who did actually eat spaghetti and meatballs! (and the leftovers were given to the cats!)
Pat x
tripe! my nan used to eat tripe with vinegar and white pepper.
she kept on telling me to try some and it was good but i hid under the table.
Brilliant!! I was a child in the 50’s (born in 1948), and everything I’ve just read was so true. What a simpler way of life it was. I remember the ‘pop’ bottles with the stoppers held on with a metal hinge thing - and we got money from the corner shop when we took them back. Brilliant way to recycle them as we all wanted to get those pennies and then buy some sweets! I really love a bit of nostalgia, and that really took me back to being a kid. Thanks so much x
[quote=“woblyboy”]
I sometimes post stuff that our good friend Fran sends,and even though it is all quality, you might not be old enough to understand some of it,or the language.I’m not calling any of our superb Mods old(I value some bits of my anatomy more than others),but nobody wants anybody led astray and they understand all of everything.
Thanks Fran,
Wb xx
[/quote] Wb, Well l was there - and remember my gran telling us to keep ‘All uncooked joints off the table’ [thats elbows].
We ate all meals at the table - no tv - and we were expected to eat all our food. Eating in between meals was a no no. So was eating in the street. Now people can’t go anywhere with out bags of food and cartons of coffee or bottled water.
And we had to ask permission to get down from the table.
Every day - without fail - when out on my Tramper with the dogs - l pick up Pizza boxes/ Southern fried chicken/ McDonalds
all the detritus of folk who buy rubbishy take-aways - eat it in the car - and chuck it out when they drive down pretty country lanes. l have given up trying to lift up mattresses that get left at the roadside - l leave that to the council - who will come out if you ring them.
Moan over for the day.
Glad you don’t post the rude emails l send you. And thanks for the ones you send me.
FX