1970s
Introduction
The Travels of Rabble starts in January 1968 and finishes in 1980. Those twelve years seem so far away they may well have only existed on another planet in an alternative galaxy. Even if you weren’t there all those years ago you can know a lot about it. There are plenty of records of the period, you can see films, TV programmes, photographs, books, your grandparents cine film and if you look in their kitchen cupboard, some old tin of custard that has survived the intervening years.
Here we will look at some of the differences between then and now. Let’s take a trip back to living in the 1970s, it’s so different you will hardly believe some it but you may also wish you could go back in time…..
Approaches to life
Being a teenager in the 1970s meant that your parents were probably born during or just either side of the Second World War, it also meant that your grandfather, uncles and other men in your life could have fought in the first and or the second world war , many had done National Service, been in the home guard or had to stay and undertake reserved occupation jobs.
The women like grandmas, aunties etc were holding the fort – working as engineers, making munitions, living difficult and dangerous lives bringing up children, digging for victory and basically doing everything.
In other words, children born in the 1960s carried the inheritance of difficult lives – they had direct contact to people who had lost loved ones, whose homes and work places had been bombed out of existence, who had to lived on rations and had little or no modern medicines – indeed the NHS did not begin until 1948.
When Lil was at school many of the older male teachers had served in the Armed Forces and some showed the injuries – mental and physical of their service.
If you have read The Travels of Rabble you will know that Lil suggests that we learn about saucy stuff by using our senses. It is not only the sauce that is learnt by taking stock of the perceptions given to us by some inner cosmos, it is all aspects of our life.
But before we begin… General Notes on the Era
This book is set in the period from 1964 until 1981. To me it seems like not long ago but to some of you, it may be history. Things are very different now and there may be things that need a little explanation.
Lifestyles
Communications
The first and most important things to remind you, is that there was absolutely no digital communication- no mobile phones, computers, Wi-Fi, Social media or any other digital communication platforms.
I was twelve years old when we had our first telephone installed in the house. It was (like everyone else’s phone) wired into a phone network and you could call the operator and ask her/him to connect you if you wanted. The first phone we had in our house was what was called a Party Line, this meant that the phone line was shared with our neighbours. In other words, if you wanted to call someone you had to ensure that your neighbour was not already on a call, you also had to remember that anything you said could be heard by them if they picked their phone up. Of course it was handy if you wanted to make a prank call, because you could blame it on the person next door.
Another wonder was the telephone box. If you didn’t have any money with you, you could call the Operator on 100 and ask them to make a reverse charge call – very handy !
So no mobiles- we relied on making a plan and keeping to it. Just turning up somewhere and hoping for the best. Or standing there for ages waiting for someone who wasn’t coming…
Houses Lil lived in a one bedroom flat (family of 5) outside loo, until she was five years old. Then terraced house – outside loo to start off, and then semi-detached. Completely normal and most of my friends lived in the local council estates like my maternal grandparents – warm, cosy and community minded – now mostly all sold off.
No Ensuite B & Bs had shared landing bathrooms. Never heard of it – apart from those who’d been to the Costa Del Sol.
Showers Lil had not really seen a shower in a home until she was about secondary school age. Apart from at swimming club, she does not remember using one until she left home. We washed and had baths possibly using a rubber shower connection on the taps.
Car ownership – not every family had a car and it would have been very rare to have two cars in one family.