Category: Pre-WW2

Snobbery & Transport In the 30’s the middle class had aspirations of, if perhaps not ‘ectually’ moving up a class; perhaps being accepted as an appendage to the upper classes. This involved display, like a cock pheasant in the spring, only it was even more prevalent among the females who were the prime movers, having… Continue reading Pre WW2, 1930 to39, in order,I write You Compare Part 3

Through the 30’s habits started to change at a snail’s pace, but it was so smooth one wasn’t aware of it. In the bigger shops they had those lovely wooden balls containing money or receipts, rising the full height of the shop at a twitch of a string, then rolling gently along metal tracks, with… Continue reading Pre WW2, 1930 to ’39, The 30s, I write, You Compare, Part 1

When we first heard the King’s speech on the wireless, it was really a celebration of the Empire and its reinforcement, tightening the ties. My first recollection of Empire Day, although I know it was celebrated in most schools in England, was when it was celebrated in Livingstone. Unsurprisingly it was a ‘great day’, which… Continue reading Pre WW2, 1930 to ’39, in order, Empire Day and Royal Occasions

In the ’30s, youngsters thought they were being terribly secretive , and of course, clever, by talking a simple ‘back slang’. I haven’t heard it for years, but perhaps I now move in the wrong circles. It was simple enough, you took the last letter or syllable of a word, made it the first, added… Continue reading Pre WW2, 1930, in order, Butchers’ Slang

A Comparison – The 30’s and Now A little history gives a slant on what people say. We thought we were Middle Class, we had the social graces, the accent, the interests, but not the cash. We, my mother, brother and I, had just returned from Africa under the British Raj, where we had lived… Continue reading Pre WW2, 1930 to 39, in order

Existing posts, The Toboggan Run (Frivolity) Willie and the Suitcase(General) The Very Poor And The Not So Poor I would like to relate the story of me and the beef dripping. Not far from my Grandmother’s house was a Victorian slum building known locally as ‘The buildings’. It was not unlike a poor version of… Continue reading Pre WW2, 1930 to ’39, in order, Beef Dripping

Livingstone, N. Rhodesia I write this to draw conclusions about psychological reactions in children, they and their adults are not aware of, but which have damaging long term consequences; not making a criminal, but disadvantaging and imprinting a permanent lack of self-respect on the child. The final paragraphs are extracts from a previous, general comment… Continue reading Results of African Experience,1928 to 30

The day came to leave and we, my mother and I, caught the train which would ultimately take us to Capetown, a train where one booked a compartment in which one read, ate, slept and washed for tedious days on end. The hand-basin was on the door and one tipped it up to empty it… Continue reading The African Experience, The Journey Home

Existing Posts in the order, under Pre-WW2 . Childish Adventures, A Small Boy’s Introduction To Killing, Life as We Lived It In Livingstone In the then Northern Rhodesia. On film today it is certainly majestic, but to see the immensity, the rush of water, hear the noise and feel the constant rain of the spray… Continue reading Victoria Falls and Other Things

Author’s Note, in setting up the list chronologically, Word Press has retained so many items that I propose only to mention those already available in the various categories, and post those not available. Previous, under Pre-WW2, African Experience Arrival, Rugby And The Surgical Saw THE CAR AS A BOY-CARRIER Brought up in the British Raj… Continue reading The Car As A Boy Carrier