 |  | | | Edinburgh Childhood in the 1950s | There are 3 messages in this section. |
Liz Butchart from Edinburgh. Posted 30 Apr 2002.
I was born in 1953 in Simpson's Memorial, Edinburgh. Because I was born the week before the Queen was crowned (26th May) I and all the other babies born then were given a 'Coronation' Baby Book and card with their names etched out in gold.
Apparently those lucky babies born on the day of the Coronation got a silver mug or something similar. I was called Elizabeth after my newly deceased Granny and NOT the Queen!! - unlike loads of other girls. At the age of four, we moved out of the house, which with my parents and sister we shared with half my Mother's family, into a newly built ' six in the block' in the Edinburgh suburbs. I can remember the milk being delivered by horse and cart ( the store milk ), buying a forpit' of tatties from ' the van' and the store 'Divi' number. Then it was off to school and on our way we passed 'Jennie Wren's' - the sweetie shop. There we bought penny dainties, lucky tatties and black jacks. Bubble gum was forbidden!! Oh, and threepenny lucky bags! The girls wore brown Clarks 'Everywhens'? and black 'Burberry' coats and everyone had hand-knitted cardies, often knitted by a Granny or an Auntie. In the summer days all the mothers would sit out and knit!! Some with their rollers in, no doubt covered by the obligatory chiffon scarf!
Games were played in the backgreen and were usually something like skipping, peevies, White Horse, Hide and Seek or exchanging scraps. Simple stuff compared to today!!
Most of the houses had linoleum floorcovering with large rugs and I remember my Mum 'polishing her surrounds'! Few had TV. We were the first family in our stair to get a fridge and my Mum promised to make us all ice-cream. We rushed home from school to get our treat, however it was like a brick and we had to wait for ages until it had melted sufficiently for us to get a spoon in!! We also had the first telephone in the stair and if anyone had an urgent phonecall to make they often came to us rather than walk up the road to the public call box. I remember being scared of the 'phone (I bet my husband wishes that was still the case!! ).
The next innovation was fibreglass curtains - yuck!! - but they were all the rage - and the wee record player for the new music - the Beatles etc. Hogmanays were never the same after that, when each person had their own party 'piece' which was trotted out year after year and the party goers were never satisfied until everyone had done their bit. It was often after six in the morning when 'the stair' retired on New Year's Day - and that was only on whisky and sherry with some export and lagers for the men. Oh, or advocaat and cherry brandy!!
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|  | Marypaule. Posted 4 Oct 2002.
I'm French, thank you for sharing those memories.
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| | Edith Cavanagh from Toronto, Canada. Posted 13 Mar 2006.
I was born just after WW2 at 24 Castle Steet Edinburgh, We had 1 single room and shared a kitchen and bathroom with 2 other families. Chldhood was great - we played ball on the walls of the buildings on Rose Street. Guy Fawkes night we had a huge bonfire right in the middle of Castle Street. Christmas was magical, the big tree on the Mound, my sister and I would go to Princes Street and look in the store windows. I got a beautiful china doll from the Singers store one year. Spent a lot of time in Princes Street Gardens and climbing the Castle Rock, used to walk to St Mary's RC Primary at York Lane...loved that school!
Stopped in at the Edinburgh Portrait Gallery and just wandered around looking at the huge pictures on the walls, some times they had to tell me to leave as it was closing 5pm, they must have thought what is a little kid doing all by herself in here, but no one had to worry much then. Fantastic memories beautiful city, will always be home to me. if you have any memories lived in the neighbourhood or went to the same school around that time please post on this page.
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