Pure Necessity when we were poor, but an extravagance now

Chuck Stone · 15-08-2012 12:48PM

Kitchen Roll was met with whispers and viewed as sign of a money squanderer.

Sea Filly · 15-08-2012 12:50PM

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.

My family got our first microwave in 2000 and our first VCR in 2001.

Sea Filly · 15-08-2012 12:51PM

fishy fishy wrote: »

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.

Anytime I see lamb shank on more upmarket menus, it's usually around 20-25 euro.

Duggy747 · 15-08-2012 12:51PM

Sea Filly wrote: »

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

My parents have always had a gas cooker in their house, I prefer it to an electric one ten-fold. I find that you can cook food a lot better with one.

Only problem being that during the tough winters you have to keep the line from freezing over or else it's useless to you. Which is what happened Xmas day when we were cooking the turkey so kept having to go outside with the kettle. :pac:

Sea Filly · 15-08-2012 12:52PM

Cienciano wrote: »

:eek:

Actually did just LOL in work.

Where To · 15-08-2012 12:55PM

A milk room or pantry for keeping things cool in.

Now people think you are la di da if you have a pantry.

Sea Filly · 15-08-2012 12:56PM

Duggy747 wrote: »

My parents have always had a gas cooker in their house, I prefer it to an electric one ten-fold. I find that you can cook food a lot better with one.

Yup, I find on a leccy one, you have to use loads of hobs to have one at boiling, and one at simmer etc.

My parents recently replaced their cooker. They got an combi electric oven with gas hob, no way would my mother have an electric hob.

JohnMarston · 15-08-2012 12:59PM

Duggy747 wrote: »

My parents have always had a gas cooker in their house, I prefer it to an electric one ten-fold. I find that you can cook food a lot better with one.

Only problem being that during the tough winters you have to keep the line from freezing over or else it's useless to you. Which is what happened Xmas day when we were cooking the turkey so kept having to go outside with the kettle. :pac:

I agree 100% I'm currently renting a place with an electric cooker and hate it. :mad:

Also remember growing up and have a gas cooker in the house. When the line froze we would be doing the same thing to thaw it out a bit. We also had to shake the tank to see how much is left and when the flame died down on the cooker to flare it up again :pac:

Cienciano · 15-08-2012 12:59PM

fishy fishy wrote: »

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.

I hate poxy candles. When you go over to any couples or girls house they always light the "good" candles. Which are mostly scented, so the house is nauseating when you get there.
We have candles in our house for almost 6 years that have never been lit because they're "too good". When the wife is out next time i'm going to bin them all :mad: *

*i'm not

Father Damo · 15-08-2012 01:05PM

Cienciano wrote: »

:eek:

I had a choice between that or kissing her turkey neck :eek:

asherbassad · 15-08-2012 01:12PM

A lot of food that was essentially poor man's grub in the 70's and 80's seemed to have become trendy and overpriced in later years.

Back in the day only the unwashed masses ate coddle, champ, bubble & squeak, etc. Now you pay through the nose in some restaurant for a Cumberland and some spud puree masquerading as "bangers n mash".

Also I remember fresh cod being cheap and cheerful back in the 70's.....now it like friggin caviar.

Also duffel coats.

My ma still has the same gas oven that came with the house in 1972. Still cooks to perfection. Rashers are done under the grill in about 2 minutes. So toasted rasher sambo is made in the time it takes to boil the kettle.

shopaholic01 · 15-08-2012 01:14PM

Father Damo wrote: »

I had a choice between that or kissing her turkey neck :eek:

You chose wisely:D.

Noreen1 · 15-08-2012 01:22PM

Sea Filly wrote: »

My parents recently replaced their cooker. They got an combi electric oven with gas hob, no way would my mother have an electric hob.

That's what I have. I wouldn't cook on an electric hob, either - and there's the added benefit of at least being able to cook in the event of a power cut, and cook if you run out of gas! Win. Win.:D

Sea Filly · 15-08-2012 01:52PM

asherbassad wrote: »

Also I remember fresh cod being cheap and cheerful back in the 70's.....now it like friggin caviar.

That's because it was overfished and is therefore now scarce.

eth0 · 15-08-2012 01:55PM

JohnMarston wrote: »

I agree 100% I'm currently renting a place with an electric cooker and hate it. :mad:

Also remember growing up and have a gas cooker in the house. When the line froze we would be doing the same thing to thaw it out a bit. We also had to shake the tank to see how much is left and when the flame died down on the cooker to flare it up again :pac:

Horrible yokes. Thing boils over you switch it off and has absolutely no effect for 5 minutes. Ceramic ones slightly better, gas ftw. Induction don't work with the cheap aluminium pans from China

fishy fishy · 15-08-2012 02:01PM

asherbassad wrote: »

A lot of food that was essentially poor man's grub in the 70's and 80's seemed to have become trendy and overpriced in later years.

Back in the day only the unwashed masses ate coddle, champ, bubble & squeak, etc. Now you pay through the nose in some restaurant for a Cumberland and some spud puree masquerading as "bangers n mash".

Also I remember fresh cod being cheap and cheerful back in the 70's.....now it like friggin caviar.

Also duffel coats.

My ma still has the same gas oven that came with the house in 1972. Still cooks to perfection. Rashers are done under the grill in about 2 minutes. So toasted rasher sambo is made in the time it takes to boil the kettle.

ah duffle coats.

everyone had one - they were bought for you to last you for the next FIVE YEARS. First couple of years you were half killed from the weight of it, until you "grew" into it. Worn day in day out, year in year out and nobody batted an eyelid. :P

Sleepy · 15-08-2012 02:15PM

Shenshen wrote: »

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.

Definitely, my other half loves baking but the ingredients to bake most breads cost more than the end product in the shops!

fishy fishy · 15-08-2012 02:21PM

Sleepy wrote: »

Definitely, my other half loves baking but the ingredients to bake most breads cost more than the end product in the shops!

yes, and years ago you had that old fashioned bowl and a wooden spoon to "mix" ingredients, giving you a workout at the same time.

Now everyone needs a "kenwood mixer" in the range of 500 Euro to mix their bread ingredients and their cream.

Seaneh · 15-08-2012 05:42PM

fishy fishy wrote: »

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.

La de da.
It's a pub...

Actually, in defence of their burger, I think it's one of the better burgers in Galway.

Nevber tried the battered chicken, even the idea of battered chicken seem extremely wrong to me, never mind putting saffron into it to try ponce it up.

dan dan · 15-08-2012 06:01PM

JohnMarston wrote: »

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!

You were posh!!! We had to squeeze horse**** for moisture like Bear Grills.

Katgurl · 15-08-2012 06:12PM

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.

Ugh speak for yourself, no house I live in will ever have 4 or 5 consoles. I fail to see the need for more than one tv either or why they have to be size of the wall.

Shryke · 15-08-2012 06:13PM

Did Sea Filly just close her account?

shopaholic01 · 15-08-2012 06:17PM

Shryke wrote: »

Did Sea Filly just close her account?

Yes, wonder why?

mikemac1 · 15-08-2012 06:17PM

Ha, I remember those Deirdre glasses well

If you were paying you could have any frame you wanted but if the State was paying it was the massive rimmed frames for you
Cheap, ugly godawful things

Bad times

fishy fishy · 16-08-2012 09:30AM

Seaneh wrote: »

La de da.
It's a pub...

Actually, in defence of their burger, I think it's one of the better burgers in Galway.

Nevber tried the battered chicken, even the idea of battered chicken seem extremely wrong to me, never mind putting saffron into it to try ponce it up.

yes, Seaneh, I know it's a pub, and its a good job its a pub too, because their food wouldn't keep them afloat thats for sure.

Mr Benevolent · 16-08-2012 11:54AM

Chuck Stone wrote: »

Kitchen Roll was met with whispers and viewed as sign of a money squanderer.

People still think that now.

Cantona's Collars · 16-08-2012 11:56AM

Father Damo wrote: »

Prominently rimmed Deirdre from Coronation Street

I read the first bit & lol'd

paddyandy · 16-08-2012 12:12PM

Is the food rubbish or is it me ? Everything on a plate has a jacket and overcoat and blouses like a prostitute wears .New potatoes and chips needed nothing on them in the 1950s and i remember delicious apples that had nice smells off them .
Tomatoes are bags of water . I can remember the taste of a tomatoe from 1955 (deja vous flash backs i have from time to time) and only for Fatoil Dairy salt sugar or spices many foods would'nt sell .There is still nice food .Unfrozen Corn on the Cob from the US and honeydew melon and apricots from the correct source but a lot of our food is there in appearance only .What do yous think ?

bijapos · 16-08-2012 12:49PM

fishy fishy wrote: »

ah duffle coats.

everyone had one - they were bought for you to last you for the next FIVE YEARS. First couple of years you were half killed from the weight of it, until you "grew" into it. Worn day in day out, year in year out and nobody batted an eyelid. :P

Don't forget that the last 12 months it was too small for you, it only went down to about 2 inches above your wrists, and it was so tight that you couldn't put your arms by your sides, they stuck out and you looked like an angry Chimpanzee.

Lord Anthony Parkas were a common alternative too, only the well off could afford german army suplus parkas.

paddyandy wrote: »

Is the food rubbish or is it me ? Everything on a plate has a jacket and overcoat and blouses like a prostitute wears .New potatoes and chips needed nothing on them in the 1950s and i remember delicious apples that had nice smells off them .
Tomatoes are bags of water . I can remember the taste of a tomatoe from 1955 (deja vous flash backs i have from time to time) and only for Fatoil Dairy salt sugar or spices many foods would'nt sell .There is still nice food .Unfrozen Corn on the Cob from the US and honeydew melon and apricots from the correct source but a lot of our food is there in appearance only .What do yous think ?

Couldn't agree more with you, food tastes like bland sh1te these days. If you want good tomatos grow your own, get a small greenhouse or poly tunnnel and you can have them 12 months of the year.

fishy fishy · 16-08-2012 01:01PM

paddyandy wrote: »

Is the food rubbish or is it me ? Everything on a plate has a jacket and overcoat and blouses like a prostitute wears .New potatoes and chips needed nothing on them in the 1950s and i remember delicious apples that had nice smells off them .
Tomatoes are bags of water . I can remember the taste of a tomatoe from 1955 (deja vous flash backs i have from time to time) and only for Fatoil Dairy salt sugar or spices many foods would'nt sell .There is still nice food .Unfrozen Corn on the Cob from the US and honeydew melon and apricots from the correct source but a lot of our food is there in appearance only .What do yous think ?

i completely agree - I can taste the tomatoes also from years ago and my mouth starts watering - can't get anything resembling that taste since.

Fresh corn on the cob is to die for - this vacuum packed quartered corn is horrible.

and as for the fruit - I do have to say tho that the Irish strawberries and new spuds, when you get them at the right time, from the side of the road are amazing. Have to run out and get strawberries for lunch now. My mouth is sticking together thinking of them.

Pure Necessity when we were poor, but an extravagance now

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