I can see that writing runs in the family! This has brought back some memories for me. My late brother, John, apparently sang My Old Man's a Dustman at a school concert, and he used to help Jim-the-milkman from a young age. I remember the washer with the rotating spindle in the middle. We were quite free range children in the 60s.
Free range is a perfect way of putting it, Maria! Touching that your late brother had similar experiences to my brother. Think I could still sing along to My Old Man’s A Dustman if I heard it now.
Wendy, it’s clear where your writing talent comes from. What a brilliant insight into a bygone era - although tough times, they seemed more carefree and happy. I remember having a toy gun with a roll of bangers, or caps as we called them. They came in a small round cardboard box and smelt fantastic once fired!
I also remember vividly watching Harry Worth doing his silly stunt on the plate glass window.
Thank you, Rosy. Glad we have these memories in common! We have Blackgang Chine theme park down the road, with its Cowboy Village and the kids still go mad for cap guns!
Mum was ‘glass half full’ in her letters. A stoic. And I remember my childhood freedoms fondly, though there were definitely some tough times.
What a lovely stash to find! It's great to see all the crafts you were doing and also that your brother was being taught to sew. But then, wasn't it taught to all children to aid dexterity? I don't know if it still is! And I love how your mum wasn't angry about naughtiness, just charmed by it, like when you were eating the sugar and looked really cute!
Thanks Helen. Yes, at my primary school we were all taught sewing, but at secondary we had the sexist split into Needlework and Cookery (girls) and Metalwork and Woodwork (boys).
It was great to find those affectionate details of infancy and toddlerhood recorded, as obviously my pretty good memory doesn’t go THAT far back!
We are the same age, how cool! Loved reading your mom’s letters, seeing that motherhood in England is pretty close to motherhood in early United States. My memory is shot, but I do remember my mom going to the beauty shop, taking me along and us watching the soaps while her hair dried. She always shared a Tab and bought me a moon pie, lol.
How very special to have those letters. I laughed at the "doesn't like liver yet". Did you ever? I spent Saturday afternoons as a child sitting in front of a plate of concealing liver and gravy, point blank refusing to eat it.
Also a "three piano lessons and out" child. Strangely I don't remember being asked if I wanted to stop - it was just decided for me. Which was the theme of a 1960s childhood!
Ha! I did like liver later on, Linda - it was a cheap cut, so we had it weekly. But not keen on it now!
My favorite baby food was Heinz Chocolate Pudding. I actually remember being in my high chair eating that!
I’m grateful for the three piano lessons as I always remembered how to read music thanks to that, and taught myself from ´learn to play’ books as an adult. Still very much a beginner, but nothing was wasted!
How about you, did you pick it up again later?
So true about things being decided for you being the theme of a 1960s childhood!
Absolutely classic! Watch With Mother! Liver !! The wonderful social history, making a child's trousers out of a skirt - two pairs! - is like a dandelion seed floating in the air, it's the sort of thing which doesn't normally get written down but is such a powerful delivery of what life was like. Thank you so much for sharing. What a lovely woman your mother was.
Thanks, Rosie. Make do and mend personified! Reading those letters transported me back to how mum was when I was little and yes, she really was lovely. And loving. Faced a lot of difficulties, but she was so stoical, resilient and observant.
How utterly delightful. Such a brilliant record. There’s so much wonderful imagery in here Wendy. The magic flute, the home help, your dislike of liver, love of dancing and your mum getting a quiet moment. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks, Margaret. I loved the Magic Flute, too. I wonder whether her own parents had “magicked” things for her or if she came up with it. The incidental social history is a reminder of how few “mod cons” we had back then, how much effort was involved on a wash day, and why children were sent out to play all day!
Thanks, Jo. Exactly. The immediacy gives it life. Some of mum’s letters were epic and written over several days (and nights), with multiple PSs. She always put a positive spin on things, I guess because the audience was her parents. But she still tells them about my brother being hit by a brick! Feral!
So lovely (and funny!) to read these snippets of your Mum's letters. How wonderful that the letters survived, giving you the opportunity to connect with her younger self.
What an absolute gift! Thank you for sharing with us. I would’ve LOVED to read my grandmother or mother’s letters talking about family life in this much detail. What an amazing time capsule.
It reminds me of “The Letters of Shirley Jackson.” She wrote to her parents a lot while raising her children and I found so much enjoyment reading them. Seeing as she died in her 40s in 1965, the time period was pretty similar!
Thanks, Paige. They really are a gift. There was something very healing about reading them and picking out the nuggets.
I’ve read and loved Shirley Jackson’s books on family life (Life Among the Savages and Raising Demons), but not her letters. I’ll have to look those up, thank you for the tip!
I ended up writing about it after I finished. Would you believe the book is almost 600 pages and I still was left wanting more?! I felt the same reading your mother's letters. "Something very healing about reading them" ... I can only imagine 💛
Haha! Snap! I was just thinking there was something very familiar about you mentioning Shirley Jackson's letters and just checked and realised the same thing! I have a feeling your piece last June might have been how we first crossed paths, Paige! Full circle! And a bit of a poor memory on my part for where I've read what. Now I really must order Shirley Jackson's letters before it slips my mind again!
Lovely Wendy. All very recognisable. All sounds like good healthy fun apart from brick incident. "Wendy posting this for me." is being applied a second time! Amazing you only recently found them.
Born in 1957, reading those letters brought back that lost world. The very few toys, the mending and altering, lack of household appliances we now take for granted. Simpler times, no central heating, freezing cold mornings and practically no cars! Sounds delightful in many ways but it was hard and dreadfully hard work for mother.
Glad it resonated, Helen. Spot on! Some apects of it seem idyllic looking back, but the work involved was gruelling and relentless. I have to bear in mind that mum’s audience was her parents and she was putting a brave face on it. She usually did, she was incredibly stoical. But I can’t pretend it was a golden age!
Delightful reading and prompting some many wonderful memories of my own childhood. I especially like the picture of the three of you in the paddle boat and shock horror ...no life jackets!!!
We lived opposite The Grange in Wallington and would spend hours either playing in the River Wandle at the bottom of our garden or over in the park on the boating lake, also without life jackets. I got huge blisters on my hands learning to row. Imagine it now.
Thank you for sharing your own memories, Grace. I'm not sure how deep that paddle boat lake was. We read so many books about children having adventures in boats – Enid Blyton's young protagonists were often sailing off somewhere – so it was a thrill. Good to know you had plenty of watery adventures of your own.
Oh Wendy, you have found treasure. I’m happy to know you have these. I especially love the image of you in the sugar, cherub faced and all. Warmest hello from the other side of the pond.
Thanks so much for reading, Andrea. I loved that image too! There was something very life-affirming about reading my mum's accounts of little me – and of my brother and sister, too. It took me back to the secure feelings of the very early years and is so evocative of that place and that era. Treasure indeed!
I can see that writing runs in the family! This has brought back some memories for me. My late brother, John, apparently sang My Old Man's a Dustman at a school concert, and he used to help Jim-the-milkman from a young age. I remember the washer with the rotating spindle in the middle. We were quite free range children in the 60s.
Free range is a perfect way of putting it, Maria! Touching that your late brother had similar experiences to my brother. Think I could still sing along to My Old Man’s A Dustman if I heard it now.
Wendy, it’s clear where your writing talent comes from. What a brilliant insight into a bygone era - although tough times, they seemed more carefree and happy. I remember having a toy gun with a roll of bangers, or caps as we called them. They came in a small round cardboard box and smelt fantastic once fired!
I also remember vividly watching Harry Worth doing his silly stunt on the plate glass window.
A wonderful trip down memory lane!
Thank you, Rosy. Glad we have these memories in common! We have Blackgang Chine theme park down the road, with its Cowboy Village and the kids still go mad for cap guns!
Mum was ‘glass half full’ in her letters. A stoic. And I remember my childhood freedoms fondly, though there were definitely some tough times.
What a lovely stash to find! It's great to see all the crafts you were doing and also that your brother was being taught to sew. But then, wasn't it taught to all children to aid dexterity? I don't know if it still is! And I love how your mum wasn't angry about naughtiness, just charmed by it, like when you were eating the sugar and looked really cute!
Thanks Helen. Yes, at my primary school we were all taught sewing, but at secondary we had the sexist split into Needlework and Cookery (girls) and Metalwork and Woodwork (boys).
It was great to find those affectionate details of infancy and toddlerhood recorded, as obviously my pretty good memory doesn’t go THAT far back!
We are the same age, how cool! Loved reading your mom’s letters, seeing that motherhood in England is pretty close to motherhood in early United States. My memory is shot, but I do remember my mom going to the beauty shop, taking me along and us watching the soaps while her hair dried. She always shared a Tab and bought me a moon pie, lol.
Thanks, Kim. Good to know our experiences weren’t so very different on opposite sides of the pond!
How very special to have those letters. I laughed at the "doesn't like liver yet". Did you ever? I spent Saturday afternoons as a child sitting in front of a plate of concealing liver and gravy, point blank refusing to eat it.
Also a "three piano lessons and out" child. Strangely I don't remember being asked if I wanted to stop - it was just decided for me. Which was the theme of a 1960s childhood!
Ha! I did like liver later on, Linda - it was a cheap cut, so we had it weekly. But not keen on it now!
My favorite baby food was Heinz Chocolate Pudding. I actually remember being in my high chair eating that!
I’m grateful for the three piano lessons as I always remembered how to read music thanks to that, and taught myself from ´learn to play’ books as an adult. Still very much a beginner, but nothing was wasted!
How about you, did you pick it up again later?
So true about things being decided for you being the theme of a 1960s childhood!
Absolutely classic! Watch With Mother! Liver !! The wonderful social history, making a child's trousers out of a skirt - two pairs! - is like a dandelion seed floating in the air, it's the sort of thing which doesn't normally get written down but is such a powerful delivery of what life was like. Thank you so much for sharing. What a lovely woman your mother was.
Thanks, Rosie. Make do and mend personified! Reading those letters transported me back to how mum was when I was little and yes, she really was lovely. And loving. Faced a lot of difficulties, but she was so stoical, resilient and observant.
How utterly delightful. Such a brilliant record. There’s so much wonderful imagery in here Wendy. The magic flute, the home help, your dislike of liver, love of dancing and your mum getting a quiet moment. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks, Margaret. I loved the Magic Flute, too. I wonder whether her own parents had “magicked” things for her or if she came up with it. The incidental social history is a reminder of how few “mod cons” we had back then, how much effort was involved on a wash day, and why children were sent out to play all day!
I love this post. Diaries and letters provide such rich memories as they are written in the moment 😘
Thanks, Jo. Exactly. The immediacy gives it life. Some of mum’s letters were epic and written over several days (and nights), with multiple PSs. She always put a positive spin on things, I guess because the audience was her parents. But she still tells them about my brother being hit by a brick! Feral!
How delightful. More than imagining the places in seasons, I could send the feel of regular people living good and decent lives.
Thank you. Glad you enjoyed it, and thanks for restacking. I appreciate it.
So lovely (and funny!) to read these snippets of your Mum's letters. How wonderful that the letters survived, giving you the opportunity to connect with her younger self.
Thanks, Ofifoto. They were a magical find and did reconnect me with my very earliest fond memories of her.
What an absolute gift! Thank you for sharing with us. I would’ve LOVED to read my grandmother or mother’s letters talking about family life in this much detail. What an amazing time capsule.
It reminds me of “The Letters of Shirley Jackson.” She wrote to her parents a lot while raising her children and I found so much enjoyment reading them. Seeing as she died in her 40s in 1965, the time period was pretty similar!
Thanks, Paige. They really are a gift. There was something very healing about reading them and picking out the nuggets.
I’ve read and loved Shirley Jackson’s books on family life (Life Among the Savages and Raising Demons), but not her letters. I’ll have to look those up, thank you for the tip!
I ended up writing about it after I finished. Would you believe the book is almost 600 pages and I still was left wanting more?! I felt the same reading your mother's letters. "Something very healing about reading them" ... I can only imagine 💛
Link to my post about Shirley Jackson's book: https://paigegardner.substack.com/p/the-lost-art-and-the-one-who-perfected
Omg Wendy, I see you had commented on this post back last summer! LOL! We have officially come full circle :)
Haha! Snap! I was just thinking there was something very familiar about you mentioning Shirley Jackson's letters and just checked and realised the same thing! I have a feeling your piece last June might have been how we first crossed paths, Paige! Full circle! And a bit of a poor memory on my part for where I've read what. Now I really must order Shirley Jackson's letters before it slips my mind again!
😂😂😂😂😂 it's okay... if you don't get to it this summer, I'll give you another (accidental) reminder a year from now, haha!!
Added to my Kindle this instant!
Lovely Wendy. All very recognisable. All sounds like good healthy fun apart from brick incident. "Wendy posting this for me." is being applied a second time! Amazing you only recently found them.
Haha! That is a good point, Seb - “Wendy posting this for me”! (Again, 60 years later!) Thanks for reading - lovely to hear from you.
Yes, it was wonderful to discover these letters when clearing (more like excavating!) the house and to finally get time to read and transcribe them.
Wonderful stuff Wendy! Thanks for that window into the past :)
Ta! Glad you enjoyed!
Born in 1957, reading those letters brought back that lost world. The very few toys, the mending and altering, lack of household appliances we now take for granted. Simpler times, no central heating, freezing cold mornings and practically no cars! Sounds delightful in many ways but it was hard and dreadfully hard work for mother.
Glad it resonated, Helen. Spot on! Some apects of it seem idyllic looking back, but the work involved was gruelling and relentless. I have to bear in mind that mum’s audience was her parents and she was putting a brave face on it. She usually did, she was incredibly stoical. But I can’t pretend it was a golden age!
Delightful reading and prompting some many wonderful memories of my own childhood. I especially like the picture of the three of you in the paddle boat and shock horror ...no life jackets!!!
We lived opposite The Grange in Wallington and would spend hours either playing in the River Wandle at the bottom of our garden or over in the park on the boating lake, also without life jackets. I got huge blisters on my hands learning to row. Imagine it now.
Thank you for sharing your own memories, Grace. I'm not sure how deep that paddle boat lake was. We read so many books about children having adventures in boats – Enid Blyton's young protagonists were often sailing off somewhere – so it was a thrill. Good to know you had plenty of watery adventures of your own.
Oh Wendy, you have found treasure. I’m happy to know you have these. I especially love the image of you in the sugar, cherub faced and all. Warmest hello from the other side of the pond.
Thanks so much for reading, Andrea. I loved that image too! There was something very life-affirming about reading my mum's accounts of little me – and of my brother and sister, too. It took me back to the secure feelings of the very early years and is so evocative of that place and that era. Treasure indeed!