Pure Necessity when we were poor, but an extravagance now

fishy fishy · 15-08-2012 11:41AM #1

Can anyone remember any items we had out of necessity,when we were poor and broke in the 70's and 80's, but that we use now for pure pleasure or extravagance. I have two that always stick out.

Candles - remember when there was a power cut (which seemed fairly often) and everyone would run to find a candle. Usually there were the long cream ones that got thrown in the back of a press. They would be hauled out (filthy) and lit on top of a saucer). When the lights came back on they would never be thrown out - they would be thrown back into the back of the press. Candles were bought for power cuts, wakes and christenings only.

These days you need your fancy candles in your bedroom, bathroom, sitting room, dining room - in fact you can't go five feet without bumping into a candle and they are the first item to think for presents for those that are hard to buy for.

Lamb Shanks - one of the cheapest meats to purchase in the 70's and 80's and was regularly on the tables of those who couldn't afford much.

Nowadays you will pay up to 30 Euro for the same item in a restaurant and is considered "trendy"

LOL

Anyone else?

15-08-2012 11:45AM

Ridiculous woolly jumpers.

Seaneh · 15-08-2012 11:46AM

fishy fishy wrote: »

Can anyone remember any items we had out of necessity,when we were poor and broke in the 70's and 80's, but that we use now for pure pleasure or extravagance. I have two that always stick out.

Candles - remember when there was a power cut (which seemed fairly often) and everyone would run to find a candle. Usually there were the long cream ones that got thrown in the back of a press. They would be hauled out (filthy) and lit on top of a saucer). When the lights came back on they would never be thrown out - they would be thrown back into the back of the press. Candles were bought for power cuts, wakes and christenings only.

These days you need your fancy candles in your bedroom, bathroom, sitting room, dining room - in fact you can't go five feet without bumping into a candle and they are the first item to think for presents for those that are hard to buy for.

Lamb Shanks - one of the cheapest meats to purchase in the 70's and 80's and was regularly on the tables of those who couldn't afford much.

Nowadays you will pay up to 30 Euro for the same item in a restaurant and is considered "trendy"

LOL

Anyone else?

Where the hell charged you €30 for lamb shanks?

They are still less than two euro each in a butcher ffs!

Some places take the piss altogether!

Duggy747 · 15-08-2012 11:46AM

Gas cookers.

When the electricity went out you could rely on ol' gassy to boil a kettle for ya, have a nice cup of tea and wait for ESB to sort it out.

Larbre34 · 15-08-2012 11:48AM

Condoms

Father Damo · 15-08-2012 11:54AM

Prominently rimmed Deirdre from Coronation Street glasses medical card kids used to end up lumbered with.

These days hipsters with no actual eyesight problem will pay 500 odd for a pair with a thick black rim just in case you didnt already know they were a twat.

washiskin · 15-08-2012 11:56AM

Rabbit - frequently on the table in our house in the '70's & '80's when the wages ran out, now another top-end restaurant menu favourite.
Mind you they do a better job of it than the Mammy did.....

al28283 · 15-08-2012 11:57AM

fishy fishy wrote: »

They would be hauled out (filthy) and lit on top of a saucer).

saucer? well, la dee da Mr. French Man

fishy fishy · 15-08-2012 11:57AM

Seaneh wrote: »

Where the hell charged you €30 for lamb shanks?

They are still less than two euro each in a butcher ffs!

Some places take the piss altogether!

i see you haven't been out to many restaurants in the last two years Seanah.

:D

Poxyshamrock · 15-08-2012 11:58AM

Vinyl and record players.

Shenshen · 15-08-2012 11:59AM

Homemade bread, preserves, pickles, etc.

My gran and mom would make these to save money, these days people will spend a fortune on a bread maker, and making your own jams and things is just soooo trendy.

davet82 · 15-08-2012 12:01PM

al28283 wrote: »

saucer? well, la dee da Mr. French Man

saucer :pac:

we call them 'small plates for cups' in our house for short :rolleyes:

mikom · 15-08-2012 12:02PM

Dumpers for goalposts.

On the building site during the Celtic tiger.

Smcgie · 15-08-2012 12:02PM

Water - would be lucky to have running water back in the 70s, today idiots pay €1.50 for a small bottle of it.

Father Damo · 15-08-2012 12:07PM

Home births would be another one. Birthing pools and all that crap. My granny reckons anyone in the modern era wanting one is frankly an idiot due to the tragedies she saw with family/ neighbours who had no choice back in the old days.

JohnMarston · 15-08-2012 12:10PM

davet82 wrote: »

saucer :pac:

we call them 'small plates for cups' in our house for short :rolleyes:

You were lucky to have small plates! Best we could do was suck on a piece of damp cloth

davet82 · 15-08-2012 12:13PM

JohnMarston wrote: »

You were lucky to have small plates! Best we could do was suck on a piece of damp cloth

were you the guy who'd rob our teabags off the washing line!?! :pac:

al28283 · 15-08-2012 12:13PM

JohnMarston wrote: »

You were lucky to have small plates! Best we could do was suck on a piece of damp cloth

you were lucky to have a damp cloth, all we had was a concrete slab

Seaneh · 15-08-2012 12:16PM

fishy fishy wrote: »

i see you haven't been out to many restaurants in the last two years Seanah. :D

I had lamb shank for €13 a few weeks ago :P

Sea Filly · 15-08-2012 12:16PM

Duggy747 wrote: »

Gas cookers.

When the electricity went out you could rely on ol' gassy to boil a kettle for ya, have a nice cup of tea and wait for ESB to sort it out.

Lots of people still have them though. They'd be my preference.

Irish Guitarist · 15-08-2012 12:17PM

Years ago you would only wear jeans with rips in them because you couldn't afford a new pair. Now people pay €100 or more for jeans that look like they're falling apart and last about six months if you're lucky. It's hard to find a new pair of jeans that look new now.

Then there are the jeans with yellow stains. They look like the wearer has pissed on himself. Years ago you would be embarrassed to walk around with stains like that on your clothes.

Sea Filly · 15-08-2012 12:18PM

Father Damo wrote: »

Prominently rimmed Deirdre from Coronation Street glasses medical card kids used to end up lumbered with.

These days hipsters with no actual eyesight problem will pay 500 odd for a pair with a thick black rim just in case you didnt already know they were a twat.

"20-20 vision just a pair of empty frames/Dressing like a nerd although I never got the grades"

Seaneh · 15-08-2012 12:18PM

Sea Filly wrote: »

Lots of people still have them though. They'd be my preference.

I wish I had a gas cooker, I fecking hate electric cookers, gas is much easier to control heat.

fishy fishy · 15-08-2012 12:19PM

Seaneh wrote: »

I had lamb shank for €13 a few weeks ago :P

where

Seaneh · 15-08-2012 12:22PM

fishy fishy wrote: »

where

Massimo, t'was a special.
Well cooked, mash was a bit bland, sauce was nice, no veg served with it though, which really annoys me.

It was proably back in May now that I think of it :pac:

Greenduck · 15-08-2012 12:24PM

Even though we are still in 'recession' I look back on the 80's as being the time when people were the poorest.

Like then we didnt have things like Sky Digital, Laptops, Computers, Broadband, huge TVs, 4 or 5 games consoles etc. These items are probably common in most households today and its the norm to have them aswell.

I was lucky if we rented a video on a saturday night and got a pack of Smarties! I still dont think we are as badly off as we were in previous years and we probably take a lot things for granted still.

fishy fishy · 15-08-2012 12:29PM

Seaneh wrote: »

Massimo, t'was a special.
Well cooked, mash was a bit bland, sauce was nice, no veg served with it though, which really annoys me.

It was proably back in May now that I think of it :pac:

ah Massimo - not my cup of tea I'm afraid. Ate there twice and both times I felt sick after it, like as if my insides had a coat of grease on them. Had the burger once - horrible. Another time I had the chicken - it was actually floppy it was that greasy. I was thinking of the more upmarket places.

fishy fishy · 15-08-2012 12:30PM

Greenduck wrote: »

Even though we are still in 'recession' I look back on the 80's as being the time when people were the poorest.

Like then we didnt have things like Sky Digital, Laptops, Computers, Broadband, huge TVs, 4 or 5 games consoles etc. These items are probably common in most households today and its the norm to have them aswell.

I was lucky if we rented a video on a saturday night and got a pack of Smarties! I still dont think we are as badly off as we were in previous years and we probably take a lot things for granted still.

A VIDEO.......
we were lucky we had a tape recorder to tape the top 20 every sunday afternoon and nearly break our fingers trying to hit the "record" button and "play" button at the same time to tape our favorite songs, wishing the DJ would shut up.

JohnMarston · 15-08-2012 12:38PM

al28283 wrote: »

you were lucky to have a damp cloth, all we had was a concrete slab

Luxury. We had to siphon off freezing cold water from cement mixers to collect enough for a refreshing drink, and thats IF we were lucky!

Greenduck · 15-08-2012 12:41PM

fishy fishy wrote: »

A VIDEO.......
we were lucky we had a tape recorder to tape the top 20 every sunday afternoon and nearly break our fingers trying to hit the "record" button and "play" button at the same time to tape our favorite songs, wishing the DJ would shut up.

I painfully used to record series week by week on my video recorder/player to I'd have a full film at the end. Thought I was great that I could fast forward the ads.

My brothers made me a Kylie Minogue tape when I was 5 for Christmas, recorded from the radio. They must have got bored eventually as I just had one Kylie song, adverts and other random tunes on it.

Cienciano · 15-08-2012 12:42PM

Father Damo wrote: »

Prominently rimmed Deirdre from Coronation Street....

:eek:

Pure Necessity when we were poor, but an extravagance now

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