Nostalgia

[PieFan]

 

[Jonathan123]

My goodness. One shilling! Now that takes me back. Although decimalisation has its merits we always got on quite well with our old LSD. Change is not always for the good. It is many years ago that the then government in the UK wanted us to go metric in all things including mileage, but the resistance has been so great we are still able to use inches and miles. Imagine changing all the signposts to metric, what would that cost? Leave well alone if it works well.
'If it ain't broke don't fix it'.

 

[PieFan]

I like the metric system @Jonathan123 It's a lot easier for non-math people like me...

But you are right, miles, it makes no difference and we think in 'miles per gallon' for example. I'm in the US now, though, our gallon here= 1.2 Imperial gallons!

I still think of human weight in stones, pounds and ounces. I've ordered many a 'quarter' of boiled sweets, there was a nearby small store we called 'Skiddies' where they had about 100 jars of various sweets, including butterscotch, cola cubes, midget gems, licorice tablets, cop-cops, toffee nuggets, bonfire toffee, treacle toffees, various kinds of sherbet, bon bons, tutti-frutti, sugared almonds, humbugs, spearmint chews, licorice all-sorts, jelly babies, sports mixture, rhubarb and custard, Pontefract cakes, chocolate eclairs, pear drops, aniseed twist, jelly tots, fruit gums, herbal tablets, extra strong mints, peanut brittle, chocolate sprogs, coconut mushrooms, banana splits, wine gums, cherry drops, blackcurrant and licorice, cream rock, aniseed balls, chocolate limes, Uncle Joe's mint balls, sherbet pips, barley sugar, mint imperials, glacier fruits, Everton mints, white mice, cinder toffee, rum balls, coconut tobacco, milk bottles, fried eggs, comfits, sprogs, fruit salad, mintoes, black jacks, candy shrimps, marshmallows, raspberry ruffle, cough candy, sherbet lemons, bulls eyes, Victory V, mint creams, cherry lips, floral gums, fudge, sweet cigarettes, spangles, fruit pastilles, coltsfoot rock, chocolate brazils, nougat and chewing nuts (which were toffee covered in chocolate, not nuts!) I can still get some of them on Amazon.

: )

 

[Jonathan123]

I like the metric system @Jonathan123 It's a lot easier for non-math people like me...

But you are right, miles, it makes no difference and we think in 'miles per gallon' for example. I'm in the US now, though, our gallon here= 1.2 Imperial gallons!

I still think of human weight in stones, pounds and ounces. I've ordered many a 'quarter' of boiled sweets, there was a nearby small store we called 'Skiddies' where they had about 100 jars of various sweets, including butterscotch, cola cubes, midget gems, licorice tablets, cop-cops, toffee nuggets, bonfire toffee, treacle toffees, various kinds of sherbet, bon bons, tutti-frutti, sugared almonds, humbugs, spearmint chews, licorice all-sorts, jelly babies, sports mixture, rhubarb and custard, Pontefract cakes, chocolate eclairs, pear drops, aniseed twist, jelly tots, fruit gums, herbal tablets, extra strong mints, peanut brittle, chocolate sprogs, coconut mushrooms, banana splits, wine gums, cherry drops, blackcurrant and licorice, cream rock, aniseed balls, chocolate limes, Uncle Joe's mint balls, sherbet pips, barley sugar, mint imperials, glacier fruits, Everton mints, white mice, cinder toffee, rum balls, coconut tobacco, milk bottles, fried eggs, comfits, sprogs, fruit salad, mintoes, black jacks, candy shrimps, marshmallows, raspberry ruffle, cough candy, sherbet lemons, bulls eyes, Victory V, mint creams, cherry lips, floral gums, fudge, sweet cigarettes, spangles, fruit pastilles, coltsfoot rock, chocolate brazils, nougat and chewing nuts (which were toffee covered in chocolate, not nuts!) I can still get some of them on Amazon.

Now that's not fair! Naming all those things that we used to get and I can no longer eat.
I remember as a kid in the UK getting bags of 'chuckouts'. Those were chocolates and other sweete that did not conform to the makers standards although still edible. I loved sherbet! Those dips into a bag of sherbet were sheer delight. It does bring up the question of why we are not as satisfied as we used to be with simple things.
But I suppose if one has not experienced anything different one will never know. To me it is still the simple things that attract. How on earth did you remember all those things?

 

[PieFan]

' How on earth did you remember all those things?'

@Jonathan123 I wrote about them a few years ago, a nostalgia piece for a writing conference, and periodically I will look for something from the list on Amazon or at British store, or look up a recipe and attempt it.

Occasionally I have ordered the licorice (I think we spelled that differently in UK?) sticks filled with sherbet, 'flyers' they call them now, though they are no longer a penny each!

One by one many of them have disappeared from the shelves as big companies bought up small companies and only kept producing the most profitable handful of products.

It's fun to look back, one day this week I think I'll make a trifle!