Some things from the past are worth losing, some aren’t.
I can remember….
Smoking in restaurants, book shops, pubs, everywhere.
It was cool to smoke. Smoking companies financed sports games
Soldiers were given cigarettes as part of their rations
I’m glad those days are gone.
Comedians made fun of drunks, fat people and those with a physical disability.
I’m glad that’s not funny anymore.
Pub crawls — drinking and driving from one to the other.
Did we really do this? Yes. Horrors! So glad that drinkers are more responsible these days.
The girls in children’s stories were always white with golden curls and blue eyes
….which meant that I wasn’t beautiful.
I’m glad that children’s literature offers a widened variety of humanity these days.
My friend, a woman manager, was paid less than the men she supervised.
I’m glad that’s no longer acceptable.
Women could become teachers, librarians, engineers, technicians, doctors, lawyers, rabbis but never Anglican priests.
I’m pleased, for the Church’s sake, that this is no longer true.
Bullying and racism in professional sports was not talked about.
I’m glad it’s now acknowledged and brought to account.
Absolutely everything that came out of the washing machine needed ironing. And there were no steam irons.
Whew! I’m glad that’s changed.
Insects above the river, thousands of bugs splattered the windscreens on a summer evening’s drive. No longer.
That’s what worries me. They’re extinct.
COP26 – a symbol of desperate hope? May we all take responsibility.
Snickerdoodles
Butter, sugar, eggs, flour, leavening cinnamon, these crunchy-crisp, cookies have special meaning for past occasions with friends. (Taken from my elderly Betty Crocker cookbook. Photo by J.K. Rickwood.
Cream together 8 ozs (1 cup, 225g) butter, 10 ozs (1 ½ cups 290 g) sugar, 2 eggs, 10 ozs (2 ¾ cups 290 g) plain flour, 2 teaspoon cream of tartar, and 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda together to make a stiffish dough. Prepare a plate with 3 tablespoons sugar and 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon and roll each ball of dough in it. Place on baking paper or ungreased pan. Bake in moderately hot oven (200C, 400F). 8 – 10 minutes. Mine took 8 minutes. Yield: 6 dozen cookies. My recipe made 51.
Notes: 1. these cookies just love to cuddle up with each other. I wonder if I chilled the formed cookies before baking, if that would keep them independent?
2. They are quite sweet. Try reducing sugar 4 or 5 tablespoons or so.
Looking forward to hearing from you in things of the past that should be lost. Or any other comments on the “Comments” page.
food that builds community 
That’s true 💕
LikeLike
Thanks for commenting! It makes us into a mini Commenting Community. Judy
LikeLike
Thanks for responding — I value those who make contact.
Judy
LikeLike
Great recollections and an encouragement at this crucial time that we can and do move on to better ways, though so much more awareness of the work still to be done. I remember when seat belts were optional. Glad that has changed! Thank you for this blog! ❤️
LikeLike
And thanks for the comments….forgot about the seat belts! Love,
LikeLike
I remember it well –
Paper boys whistling as they delivered the news;
Pop songs we could sing and play;
Playing football & cricket in the road – few cars;
Looking up at aircraft – “is it one of ours?”
Butterflies on all the flowers;
Radio, not television;
Records, tapes, CDs not chips;
Travelling abroad in ships;
Folk & protest songs to sing;
Sadly they didn’t change a thing.
Have we advanced or gone down hill?
Keep on learning – don’t stand still.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Excellent, Ian! And a great message to hang onto. Thanks, Judy
LikeLike
Wonderful – Philip McEldowney
LikeLike
Thanks, Phil.
LikeLike
Thanks, Phil. I value your messages.
Judy
LikeLike
I’m glad God is no longer white.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Wow, isn’t that the truth! Thanks.
LikeLike
Me too. Whew!
Judy
LikeLike
Outside toilets that needed emptying every week – used on the gardens to fetilize the soil.
Having a bath in front of the kitchen fire in a big tin bath.
Having to heat the water on the stove.
Ice on the bedroom windows on frosty mornings or cold weather.
No fridges – meat put in meat safes.
Ordering food and thinking how long it would last.
Milk bottles put in cold water a couple of times a day in hot weather to stop it going off.
How ‘old’ old people seemed. How they carried their hardship as physical emblems of survival
Childrens hour on the radio
Listen with Mother
How endless summers seemed to be, always full of sunlight abd warm days
Collecting cobwebs on a loop of twig in the autumn
The excitement at snowfall.
Gaining knowledge from my Encyclopaedia –
Using my bif tome sized dictionary to check on words I did not know, and making pencil notes in the margins of my books.
Reading reading reading –
Above all wide eyed innocence
LikeLike
Thanks for your reply to the blog — so many many memories, and such a rich picture of the past. Love, Judy
LikeLike
Brilliant, Michael. A great list! Judy
LikeLike
Judy, did you get my email in response to your note? It was to say you’d missed off the first part of my email address, the @ and the bit before it.
LikeLike
Yes, Jenny. Today I answered it, and you will soon get an invitation to the November blog as well!” Anyone else want to be on the Celebrity Reader List? Just let me know. Judy
LikeLike