# Eating in the UK in the Fifties



## Bubblehead (Mar 5, 2007)

* Pasta had not been invented.

* Curry was a surname.

* Olive oil was kept in the medicine cabinet

* Spices came from the Middle East where they were used for embalming

* Herbs were used to make rather dodgy medicine.

* A takeaway was a mathematical problem.

* A pizza was something to do with a leaning tower.

* Bananas and oranges only appeared at Christmas time.

* The only vegetables known to us were spuds, peas, carrots and cabbage,

* All crisps were plain; the only choice we had was whether to put the salt on or not.

* Condiments consisted of salt, pepper, vinegar and brown sauce if we were lucky.

* Soft drinks were called pop.

* Coke was something that we put on the fire.

* A Chinese chippy was a foreign carpenter.

* Rice was a milk pudding, and never, ever part of our dinner.

* A Big Mac was what we wore when it was raining.

* A Pizza Hut was an Italian shed.

* A microwave was something out of a science fiction movie.

* Brown bread was something only poor people ate.

* Oil was for lubricating, fat was for cooking

* Bread and jam was a treat.

* Tea was made in a teapot using tea leaves and never green.

* Coffee was Camp, and came in a bottle.

* Cubed sugar was regarded as posh.

* Figs and dates appeared every Christmas, but no one ever ate them.

* Coconuts only appeared when the fair came to town.

* Jellied eels were peculiar to Londoners.

* Salad cream was a dressing for salads, mayonnaise did not exist

* Hors d'oeuvre was a spelling mistake.

* The starter was our main meal. Soup was a main meal.

* Only Heinz made beans.

* Leftovers went in the dog.

* Special food for dogs and cats was unheard of.

* Fish was only eaten on Fridays.

* Fish didn't have fingers in those days.

* Eating raw fish was called poverty, not sushi.

* Ready meals only came from the fish and chip shop.

* For the best taste fish and chips had to be eaten out of old newspapers.

* Frozen food was called ice cream.

* Nothing ever went off in the fridge because we never had one.

* Ice cream only came in one colour and one flavour.

* None of us had ever heard of yoghurt.

* Jelly and blancmange was only eaten at parties.

* If we said that we were on a diet, we simply got less.

* Healthy food consisted of anything edible.

* People who didn't peel potatoes were regarded as lazy.

* Indian restaurants were only found in India .

* Brunch was not a meal.

* If we had eaten bacon lettuce and tomato in the same sandwich we would have been certified

* A bun was a small cake back then.

* The word" Barbie" was not associated with anything to do with food.

* Eating outside was a picnic.

* Cooking outside was called camping.

* Seaweed was not a recognised food.

* Pancakes were only eaten on Pancake Tuesday

* "Kebab" was not even a word never mind a food.

* Hot dogs were a type of sausage that only the Americans ate.

* Cornflakes had arrived from America but it was obvious they would never catch on.

* The phrase "boil in the bag" would have been beyond
comprehension.

* The idea of "oven chips" would not have made any sense at all to us.

* The world had not heard of Pot Noodles, Instant Mash and Pop Tarts.

* Sugar enjoyed a good press in those days, and was regarded as being white gold.

* Lettuce and tomatoes in winter were only found abroad.

* Prunes were medicinal.

* Surprisingly muesli was readily available in those days, it was called cattle feed.

* Turkeys were definitely seasonal.

* Pineapples came in chunks in a tin; we had only ever seen a picture of a real one.

* We never heard of Croissants we certainly couldn't pronounce it,

* We thought that Baguettes were a problem the French needed to deal with.

* Garlic was used to ward off vampires, but never used to flavour food.

* Water came out of the tap, if someone had suggested bottling it and charging more than petrol for it they would have become a laughing stock.

* Food hygiene was all about washing your hands before meals.

* Campylobacter, Salmonella, E.coli, Listeria, and Botulism were all called "food poisoning."

* The one thing that we never ever had on our table in the fifties were elbows.


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## tonyt (May 25, 2005)

...................and

* Spam came out of a tin, not out of your inbox.


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## Camdoon (Sep 21, 2012)

The only blue cheese was when Cheddar went mouldy.


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## Pard (May 1, 2005)

Food was made in a kitchen, not a factory.


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## ChrisandJohn (Feb 3, 2008)

Normally I don't like the nostalgic 'wasn't it great in the 40s, 50s, 60s etc.' posts. I could however relate to this one as it's pretty factual and not hankering after a golden age.  

Chris


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## nicholsong (May 26, 2009)

All so true  

And.....the 'Long life' of milk was 2 days, especially the Jersey and Guernsey Gold-top.

Geoff


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## ExAviator (Mar 20, 2011)

In my girl friends relatively 'posh' house plain yoghurt was on the table in about 1955/6. I can remember pretending that I really liked it. Now I do!

However, long life milk was widely available in the forties in special returnable bottles. It was called sterilised milk and many companies existed such as the Surrey Sterilised Milk Company located in Morden Surrey.


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## Gary1944 (Feb 21, 2009)

Took until the 60's to get the first Chinese Restaurant in Norwich. Have vivid memories of this strange new, to us, type of food. Especially the sweet & sour pork balls in batter. Wouldn't eat them now as our tastes have changed/improved. Now love Dim Sum when we get the chance. Nearest good one is in Worthing. Not too far from Brighton, so nice on a Sunday for lunch.

Gary


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## tonyt (May 25, 2005)

Do you remember how big Wagon Wheels were? 4d or 6d, I can't remember.
They're much smaller now and just as 'orrible.


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## wizzardi (Apr 2, 2011)

bubblehead, for a man of 48, your recollection of the fifties is outstanding.


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## teljoy (Jul 4, 2005)

tonyt said:


> Do you remember how big Wagon Wheels were? 4d or 6d, I can't remember.
> They're much smaller now and just as 'orrible.


Oi!! I used to love them. I remember standing in a pub garden in Bermondsey when I was about eleven years old with my special treat a glass of lemonade and a wagon wheel. They were ginormous.!!!

Terry


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## tonyt (May 25, 2005)

teljoy said:


> Oi!! I used to love them. I remember standing in a pub garden in Bermondsey when I was about eleven years old with my special treat a glass of lemonade and a wagon wheel. They were ginormous.!!!
> 
> Terry


You must've been in a very rich family Terry!

I only got an Arrowroot biscuit with my lemonade - Wagon Wheels were strictly Christmas treats!


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## teljoy (Jul 4, 2005)

tonyt said:


> teljoy said:
> 
> 
> > Oi!! I used to love them. I remember standing in a pub garden in Bermondsey when I was about eleven years old with my special treat a glass of lemonade and a wagon wheel. They were ginormous.!!!
> ...


I think I'm getting old timers disease. Of course they were arrowroot biscuits. I must have saved my pocket money for the wagon wheels. Things always seemed bigger in those days!

Terry


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## ChrisandJohn (Feb 3, 2008)

teljoy said:


> tonyt said:
> 
> 
> > Do you remember how big Wagon Wheels were? 4d or 6d, I can't remember.
> ...


Which pub in Bermondsey had a garden, then?

Chris


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## H1-GBV (Feb 28, 2006)

Foreign food existed in the 60s - it was called "Vesta" :lol:


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## tonyt (May 25, 2005)

H1-GBV said:


> Foreign food existed in the 60s - it was called "Vesta" :lol:


Our family was really cool in those days - we had Vesta Prawn Curry on Friday nights and thought is was something really exotic.


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## teljoy (Jul 4, 2005)

ChrisandJohn said:


> teljoy said:
> 
> 
> > tonyt said:
> ...


I knew you would ask that. I thought I'd dignify it by calling it a garden. It was a pub called 'The Horns" (now renamed something trendy) on the corner of the Grange Road and another road I can't remember the name of. It was down the side of the pub and was a sort of concrete/paved area with a couple of tables. I think the pub had a jellied eel stall outside where my uncle (gawd rest 'im) tried to make me eat a live one.

Terry


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## rosalan (Aug 24, 2009)

Kayli? was a favourite with me and for a liquorice stick I would go to the Chemist, they were made of wood which I chewed.
Lametta on the Christmas tree that was left over 'windows' from the war.
I too hate nostalgia and loath ageist jokes that began arriving when I was 70 or perhaps I did not notice them before but I enjoyed this set
Alan


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## joedenise (Jul 20, 2007)

I remember my nan taking grandad's Sunday dinner up the pub because he didn't come home in time. She took no stick from anybody and he only took it from her. 

I think Wagon Wheels were 6d when I was a kid. Trouble was I always bought fruit with my pocket money. 

Denise used to buy her dad pontefract cakes for Christmas which was where he got his licquorice kick. 

Joe


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## Bubblehead (Mar 5, 2007)

wizzardi said:


> bubblehead, for a man of 48, your recollection of the fifties is outstanding.


Must have been hanging around with you lot to much 8O :lol:


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