Being without heating makes me wonder how on earth we coped years ago as children when the only heating in the house was a coal fire in the front room and a Raeburn in the dining room. Goodness, so much rubbish was disposed of on the fires and my father even had his own set of brushes to sweep the chimney - a very messy laborious job with smuts of soot everywhere which annoyed my mother but it was good fun for me to stand in the garden waiting for the brush to appear from the top of the chimney and then shout to Dad that I could see it! Yipeeeee! There was no heating in the kitchen, bathroom or bedrooms and the only conclusion I can reach is the fact that we dressed for the cold! Picture the scene. First there was the vest, followed by the liberty bodice with rubber buttons that eventually perished, got sticky and then squashed when forced through the mangle! On top of the liberty bodice was the underskirt (full length) and then a dress and cardigan (or skirt and jumper). Long socks completed the outfit with elastic garters around the top which held them up (hopefully without cutting off the blood supply to the lower limbs). Off course, a good winter coat was essential for outdoors and my favourite footwear were sheepskin boots – dark brown with a zip up the front. Oh they were so lovely and warm in the winter!..... I also had mittens which were attached to each other on a long length of tape which ran up one sleeve, across the back, and down the other, simple but genius really – no fear of losing them. Needless to say, a hat was also essential, as was a scarf. So there we have it, a typical 1950s child dressed for winter.
Writing about all these layers of clothes has done nothing to make me feel any warmer so, hurry up Mr Boiler Engineer or I may have to resort to 1950s tactics. Anybody know where I can buy a liberty bodice with rubber buttons?.........
