As part of the party, we had a sort of "This is your life" presentation, with speeches and pictures, charting the last 90 years, lots to drink, lots to eat and lots of catching up with old friends and members of the family we hadn't seen for
90 years ago takes us back to 1922, of course. Here's some of the things which have changed since then.
In 1922 petrol (not that many people had cars) was 2 shillings a gallon, a bottle of Scotch was 12 shillings and sixpence and a pint of bitter was 5 old pennies. That's 10 pence, 63 pence and 2 pence respectively.
The average wage - here's the rub - was £2.95 for men and £1.42 for women. Talking of working women, the first woman solicitor was admitted to practice in 1922. Footballers were well paid, even if they didn't have the superstar salaries of today, with a maximum wage of £8 a week agreed.
In the news was Howard Carter, who discovered the tomb of King Tut, and diabetes sufferers were relieved by the introduction of insulin. Cheese sandwiches became tastier with Branston pickle available for the first time
For entertainment, the evenings were enlightened by broadcasts from 2LO, as the BBC was first known and in the cinema the top films were Nanook of the North and the Last of the Mohicans. Just William topped the books of the year (quite rightly - William is brilliant) and, on the newly invented radio, the top songs were Jeannie with the light brown hair and Toot Toot Tootsie.
It's been an interesting 90 years!
90 years ago takes us back to 1922, of course. Here's some of the things which have changed since then.
In 1922 petrol (not that many people had cars) was 2 shillings a gallon, a bottle of Scotch was 12 shillings and sixpence and a pint of bitter was 5 old pennies. That's 10 pence, 63 pence and 2 pence respectively.
The average wage - here's the rub - was £2.95 for men and £1.42 for women. Talking of working women, the first woman solicitor was admitted to practice in 1922. Footballers were well paid, even if they didn't have the superstar salaries of today, with a maximum wage of £8 a week agreed.
In the news was Howard Carter, who discovered the tomb of King Tut, and diabetes sufferers were relieved by the introduction of insulin. Cheese sandwiches became tastier with Branston pickle available for the first time
For entertainment, the evenings were enlightened by broadcasts from 2LO, as the BBC was first known and in the cinema the top films were Nanook of the North and the Last of the Mohicans. Just William topped the books of the year (quite rightly - William is brilliant) and, on the newly invented radio, the top songs were Jeannie with the light brown hair and Toot Toot Tootsie.
It's been an interesting 90 years!htffgfhhhhhhhhjgjgjjyjyjyjyjyjjjjjnnnnn
Congratulations to your father! He certainly has seen many changes.
ReplyDeleteMy dad turned 96 this summer and, while not in the best of shape, he has kept his sense of humor. We had just a small family party, but he received lots of cards and good wishes.
The year he was born, we had not yet entered World War I, but you were deep into it. Amazing to think that war was still recent enough that some of the babies born then are still here!
I met you at Crimefest 2011 and hope all is well with you and yours. We're going to Bloody Scotland this year.
Hi Carol,
ReplyDeleteLovely to hear from you! I passed your congratulations onto Dad and he was delighted that you, in to what to him is far away Maryland, should wish him a happy birthday! He sends you his thanks and best wishes to your Dad. Thanks again for a really nice message
I'd like to add my congrtulations, Dolores and Carol, for your 90+ dads. May they both make their centuries! Your parties sound wonderful, Dolores, and - having met your dad - I'm sure he enjoyed them thoroughly. My own dad would have been 103 now had he lived, and could have told us lots about life in the early 20th century. I expect he did tell more than I can remember; like all children I tended not to listen much to reminiscences from the "aged p's", and I regret my inattention now that it's too late. As Douglas Adams put it in "Hitchhiker": "I wish I'd listened to what my mother told me." "Why, what did she tell you?" "I don't know. I wasn't listening..."
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