Before I went to school on winter mornings I had a big spoonful of Cod Liver Oil and Malt, it sounds revolting, but I rather liked it! It was part of an effort by my Mum to make me fatter, I was a very skinny child and in those days it was the aim of most mothers to have a fat child. It was probably a harking back to Victorian times when so many children were thin through lack of food. I’m afraid I defied all efforts to make me fat, which was not surprising as neither of my parents were fat. There were doses for everything. If I appeared to be getting a cold when I went to school, sure enough when I returned at teatime there would be a pot of Linseed tea brewing on the hob at the side of the fire, next to that would be a bottle of Camphorated oil warming. The oil to be rubbed on the chest and the Linseed to be drunk, it was pretty horrible too. In the spring, Brimstone and Treacle was another dose to be endured, it was flowers of sulphur mixed with black treacle, to be taken daily for a week. It was supposed to clear the system of ‘impurities’ at about the same time as all the curtains came down to be washed and the general upheaval known as ‘Spring Cleaning’ took place. Mum also made Nettle Beer at that time, and that was lovely, but the very worst dose of all, and one that I recall with utter nausea, even now, was Senna Tea! A widely held theory was that all children needed to be given some form of aperient every Friday night. The ritual was unchanging, first hair washed in the sink, while this was going on a large saucepan and kettle would be on the fire to provide hot water for a bath. I sat on a low stool while dad dried my hair, he was very gentle, and this part of the proceedings was very pleasant, but my eyes kept straying to the cup with three Senna Pods covered with hot water brewing on the hob. That had to be drunk before the bath, and there was no getting out of it. Mum was a very strong willed woman and she was also a slavish follower of tradition regarding the adequate dosing of children!
Then came the bath, Dad brought it in, an oval Zinc one, it hung on a nail in the coal house when not in use. When I had my bath in front of the fire, Dad emptied it and another lot of water from the fire was put in so that he could have his bath while Mum took me upstairs to bed. Then the performance was repeated, and Dad went to bed or in the front room while Mum had her bath. This mammoth operation took up the whole of Friday evening and was repeated in countless homes throughout the land. Very few houses had bathrooms, apart from the very big ones, and, of course, those just being built. On Saturday morning the bath was hung up for another week.
I will tell you how we were dressed in the summer. Mild sunny weather always seemed to start just after Easter, and as the days grew warmer you were allowed to discard the winter layers gradually. First to go was the flannelette petticoat, replaced by a white cotton one. A few days later (if a chill had not been caught) the liberty bodice, then if the weather was still warm, the woolly jumpers and winter skirts were put away and out came the summer dresses. These needed the hems let down, among many cries of “my goodness how you’ve grown since last year”. The long stockings were replaced by three quarter socks, and some children were even allowed to leave off their ‘combs’ and vests. My Mum was never rash enough for that! Easter Sunday was usually too chilly to wear anything really summery, but on the other hand, tradition decreed that something new must be worn on that day. A few weeks before Easter Mum would go to Crewe or Sandbach market and buy material for summer clothes. Remnants of cotton or rayon cost about sixpence, enough to make a dress for me, silky bits were maybe a shilling. For a few shillings she could get a piece of coat material and lining. Then, for days, whenever she had a spare half hour, she would be treadling away on the sewing machine. So long as the coat was finished for Easter Sunday she would be happy.
At Whit week we went to Manchester, the weather was always hot, and although we stayed a few days and made a holiday of it, the real reason for the trip was to buy a Panama hat for me to wear on Sundays! They were the same style as the winter felt, round with a large brim, but made from cream panama straw. They cost three shillings and elevenpence. I loved the trip to Manchester, and the visit to ‘Lewis’s which I thought was like a fairyland. (Lewis’s department store was not in Hanley then). I didn’t much care for the panama and wanted a yellow straw with pink ribbons, a lot of the girls had these but Mum thought that they were common! Then, one summer, Joan Nicholls and Irene Clegg, two girls whom Mum approved of, had these yellow straw hats, so, for once, I was allowed to have one, but Mum never liked it and every Sunday said “a Panama looks much nicer than this”, but I loved it.