The 70s

[Zoiderman]

While I agree with most of the sentiment there, the one thing that I will take issue with is that aspiring for better is not the same as being greedy.

Aspiring to be better is not a bad thing! Without that aspiration we'd all still be living in the trees.

I should have qualified it better, as it wasn't the sentiment I was trying to convey; I think people were happier with less. Aspiration, of course was there, but not in the avaricious way it seems to have changed to in the 80's and beyond. We had one TV that lasted a good 10 years, before we, needlessly, got rid of it. Now, I have had 4 TVs since 2004, each one, purportedly, bigger and better. At the end of the day, it's me just wanting something shinier and I'd like to get away from that.

[MrMark]

a pint if mild was two bob
bitter two and three
lager two and six

fish and chips one and six

two bob = 2 shillings = 10p
two and three = 2 shillings and thruppence = 11p
two and six = half a crown = half a dollar = two shillings and six pence = 13p



half a crown

Fish n chips cheaper than a pint!
Nearly double now, here in London

[BrilloPad]

I should have qualified it better, as it wasn't the sentiment I was trying to convey; I think people were happier with less.

They had more than every previous generation. The thing about the youngsters these days is they have more than ever - but still seem unhappy.

[Zoiderman]

They had more than every previous generation. The thing about the youngsters these days is they have more than ever - but still seem unhappy.

Do you know, I think knowing back then there was nothing, made us happier, as we couldn't want for anything; I coveted a scientific calculator in 1978, my kids now want ipods, phones, Lelly Kelly bloody shoes, tvs, computers, ipad, etc, etc.

I genuinely think, we were happier as kids. I had a bike, fishing rod, tent and the whole county to explore. A lot of that is down to us mind: I'd never lets my kids fook off for 3/4/5 days camping aged 8...

[Sysman]

The older people that I used to drink with were pretty complimentary about the 70s.

They would tell me that while there was a lot of tulip going on, they never had to worry about money.

There was nothing much to spend it on, but they didn't have to worry about where it was coming from, which was a total contrast to the 80s.

I was a student until 76 and those on full grants (not me unfortunately) could have a decent debt free lifestyle. Holiday jobs were easy to find as long as you didn't mind mucky or boring work.

It was a shock entering the real world. After tax and all that I didn't feel much better off than when I was a student.

However, the older generation I met years later had fond memories of plenty of money and cheap houses in the 70s. One local farmer said he did most of his business in the pub, so no auctions to keep records of how much he had earned, and business boomed

I always reckoned that had I left Uni a couple of years earlier I could have been nicely esconced on the property ladder with a nice low mortgage or even total ownership by the time I was about 25.

[Sysman]

a pint if mild was two bob
bitter two and three
lager two and six

fish and chips one and six

A bag chips with scraps after Cubs was threepence, going up to fourpence for a while when new spuds came on the market each year.

Post decimalisation, I remember it being 11p for bitter in the lounge, 10p for mild. A penny off those prices in the tap room.

If you were feeling flush, bitter in the lounge it was.
If you were feeling broke, mild in the tap room offered a significant saving.

Cheapest pint available in college days was 6p a pint. That bar was boring, but we'd use it to get started before going onto more expensive places.

Beer from a pub was generally cheaper than from supermarkets, so you rarely drank at home (unless it was wine with a meal).

[Sysman]

Do you know, I think knowing back then there was nothing, made us happier, as we couldn't want for anything; I coveted a scientific calculator in 1978, my kids now want ipods, phones, Lelly Kelly bloody shoes, tvs, computers, ipad, etc, etc.

I genuinely think, we were happier as kids. I had a bike, fishing rod, tent and the whole county to explore. A lot of that is down to us mind: I'd never lets my kids fook off for 3/4/5 days camping aged 8...

I never did the camping on my own at 8, but we too spent most of our holidays out of doors. In my teens I graduated to long hikes, camping etc, and thoroughly enjoyed it.

[Sysman]

Everything was stunningly expensive.

Colour tv: £350 - £500.

Video Recorder: £450 - £700.

Brand new mini: £600.

I sometimes think that electronics wasn't a brilliant choice of career.

Z80 (just the processor): $350.

I remember the advent of Comet. When I compared their prices to typical high street hi-fi shops there was no way those hi-fi shops were going to last.

My second hand colour telly cost £60 and failed within 6 months (3 month guarantee). I rented after that, and didn't even consider buying my own video until the mid-80s.

[Zoiderman]

I never did the camping on my own at 8, but we too spent most of our holidays out of doors. In my teens I graduated to long hikes, camping etc, and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Used to love it, to be frank, we only ever used to go home if we run out of food. Used to take a few tins of big soup, some bread and bait for fish, we'd jave some spam, meant for bait, but often would be eaten, whatever we could raid from the cupbaords. We'd eat most of what we caught and one friend even had a pot for crayfish which were incredibly rare back then, so the more delightful to eat if you got some.

The thing is, we think it was safer then, but it can't have been. The roads were quieter, but where I live, drinking and diving was accepted, socially, and pretty much by the local constabulary. I remember in the early 70's my dad being 5 parts to the moon and being advised to take it easy driving home by the copper in the pub.

We'd cycle miles and no one would really care too much.

As you said though, the outdoor lifestyle has stayed with me all my life, and now in my kids. Just not too sure I'd let them camp on their own until they were around 35

[Sysman]

The first colour tv I bought was a RBM Bush 20" or 22".

It lasted all of 15 minutes before it died.

I took it back & got a refund.

Was hastled by the tv licence goons for ages afterwards until they finally came in & looked at the ancient monochrome tv I was using.

Maybe that's why I remember the 1970s as being uniformly grey.

Apart, of course, from that singularly hideous beige suit.

Ah yes. When that telly broke I couldn't afford a replacement but the TV licence goons refused to believe me when I wrote to them saying I no longer had a TV. By the time I got around to renting one they'd been pestering me for months for a renewal and every time I replied saying I didn't have a telly.

Obviously I got a licence when I rented, and the goons back dated it. I still hate the thieving gits for that.

I don't remember any particularly bad suits, but I lived in a textile area where you could always find something pretty decent in the sales.

The appreciation of a nice cloth still lives with me. Given a row of suits or jackets I will invariably pick out the most expensive

A skilled worker in the mills could earn significantly more than a teacher back then.