We are the Survivors

This is an article for those born before 1940… We were born before television, penicillin, polio-shots, frozen foods, Xerox, contact lenses, videos, Frisbees and the pill. We lived before radar, credit cards, split atoms, laser beams and ball point pens: before dishwashers, tumble driers, electric blankets, air conditioners, drip-dry clothes and before man walked on the moon. We got married first and then lived together- how quaint can you be? We thought "fast food" was what you ate in lent. A " Big Mac" was an oversized raincoat and crumpets we had for tea. We existed before househusbands, computer-dating and dual careers: when a meaningful relationship meant getting along with your cousins and sheltered accommodation was where you waited for a bus. We were before day centers, group homes and disposable nappies. We had never heard of FM radio, tape decks, electric typewriters, artificial hearts, word processors, yogurt and men wearing earrings. For us "time sharing" meant togetherness, a chip was a piece of wood or a fried potato, hardware meant nuts and bolts and software wasn't a word. Before 1940 "Made In Japan" meant junk: the term " making out" referred to how you did in your exams: a stud was something that fastened a collar on a shirt and "going all the way" meant staying on a double Decker bus until it reached the depot. Pizzas, McDonalds and instant coffee were unheard of. In our day cigarette smoking was fashionable: grass was mown: coke was kept in a coalhouse: a joint was a piece of meat you had on Sundays and pot was something you cooked it in. Rock music was a grand mother's lullaby: El Dorado was an ice cream: a gay was the life and soul of the Party. There were four grades of toilet paper- Radio Times, Daily Dispatch, Daily Herald and the Manchester Evening Chronicle. A moneybox was called a penny gas meter. People had the toilet outside the home and ate their meals inside the home. A porn shop was a pawnshop; a handkerchief was a coat sleeve. Footwear was constructed of leather, iron and wood. A disc jockey was a National Hunt rider with a back injury. The recycling unit was known as the rag and bone man. An alarm was known as a knocker up. The NHS was known as the doctor's bill =6d a week. Debt and illegitimacy were secret: MacDonald was only a farm; Central heating was an oven plate or a firebrick wrapped in a blanket. A duvet was your dad's overcoat. A kitchen unit was known as a slop stone. The Top-Ten used to be the Ten Commandments. We, who were born before 1940, must be a hardy bunch when you think of the ways in which the world has changed and the adjustments we have had to make. No wonder we are so confused and there is a generation gap. But we have survived. Hallelujah!