Childhood Memories. . . . . . . . . . . .

As a much-needed change from ice and wildlife, today's post is about my childhood. Growing up in England following WWII was so different from today - perhaps you'll enjoy hearing bits of it now and then. We're trying to find more history on Bob's paternal grandparents who were from Ireland - we're hoping to visit there soon - digging into a family's history is always interesting.

The coronation of Queen Elizabeth II took place on June 2, 1953. I was nine and can recall some of the celebration in our town. Each neighborhood had a block party on the streets with long tables laden with homemade cakes and such, lots of bunting was waving in the Spring breeze, and it was sunny and warm. I'd never been to London but later that same year I was taken to the city to visit an aunt and uncle. Their neighbor had a daughter and we became friends for a few days. Although she obviously was much younger than me I remember us having fun and her name was Jacqueline. I vaguely recall this visit to the famous Trafalgar Square, a large public space with Lord Nelson's Column at it's center, a well known tourist attraction in central London.

I recently learned that feeding the famous feral pigeons, a flock of 35,000 at their peak, was banned by the city in 2003 as they had become a health hazard. As you can see from this one old, stained photo I found tucked away, we girls were obviously enjoying ourselves helping with the feeding - and yes, I'm still feeding birds here at the cottage eons later!

My mum, an accomplished dressmaker, made my beautiful coat for the big city trip. I remember the fabric was a deep petrel blue wool with a waffled texture. Although you can't see it well, the brooch on my coat was a coronation souvenir, a miniature metal book which opened to expose a pullout folder of tiny photos of The Queen on that special day. How I wish I still had it. Note our footwear, the same basic, comfortable Clarks leather T-strap, with a crepe rubber sole that every girl and boy in England wore in those days. Funny to think how limited the choices for footwear and clothing were back then compared to the massive amount of stuff kids have to pick from now. It was definitely much easier to get dressed in those days with so little to choose from!

via Wikipedia

Clarks popular 'Joyance'  T-bar children's sandals for girls and boys - launched

 in 1933 and in production until 1972.

A couple of years later, I remember taking a school trip to London - most likely still wearing Clarks sandals! This educational visit included a Thames River trip to Runnymede near Windsor Castle where King John signed the historic 'great charter', the Magna Carta on June 15, 1215. I wish so much I had photos from that London visit. These days with us photographing just about everything, it makes me realize how few we took back then with those little box film cameras! Hopefully our memories will keep going for some time yet - meanwhile don't forget to write family histories down, and put names and dates on the backs of your photos for the future generations of your family. They will thank you for that.

This post really came about due to things mentioned by two blogging friends last week - childhood photos, and what we British children wore when growing up - including Clarks sandals for both girls and boys, and those awful baggy elastic waist knickers we girls had to wear under our dresses and school uniform skirts. Remember, most girls never wore jeans or trousers in the early fifties in the UK, but I recall seeing American girls in the movies wearing trousers  - I'm guessing good legs were definitely a plus at that time. At age 12 I became the proud owner of my first 'two-wheeler', a shiny black bicycle to peddle back and forth to school in the Winter uniform of navy gym slip, blazer, and the always necessary 'mac' (raincoat), or green and white striped dresses in Summer - no slacks, pants, leggings in those days. BUT, it was around then girls started wearing plaid 'trews' - slim fitted ankle length trousers often in Scottish tartans - followed soon by the first casual jeans, mostly colored denim, blue jeans arrived later. 

I truly think casual life changed once girls could toss aside those skirts and silly knickers (of course we did eventually get to wear much cuter knickers!!!) pull on our trousers or jeans, hop on our bikes. . . . . . and experience a bit more freedom at long last!