The way we were

Having just given a presentation to the local History Group it has made me think about how things have changed. I was mainly talking about our book which is mainly concerned with the 20^th century. The book gives accounts of two villagers lives; one 1915-1935 and the other 1910 -1982. I view these refracted to my own life 1942 – present day.

One thing which leaps out is the change in dress. When I was young girls wore dresses and boys short trousers. This lasted for boys until 12 or so. Things were starting to change and long trousers became the norm for both sexes. This is far more practical. Annette often bemoans the scars on her knees from childhood incidents while wearing dresses.. The actual material has changed. Nowadays denim is near universal for casual dress. I recall in my industrial year in 1964 thinking a colleague was completely mad to import Levi’s from the USA. This was not just for material but the aura of the brand. I didn’t realise he was a leader of a trend which became universal.

When I was small I wore boots, miniatures of my father footwear. They were stout, hardwearing and reasonably cheap. I didn’t wear shoes until secondary school when inside the building  we had to change into plimsolls. At that time trainers were unknown. I’m not quite sure when trainers became commonplace; I don’t recall buying any for our children in the 70’s and 80’s ( but then they were probably rather deprived ).

It is commonplace to say dress has become more casual. For men wearing a suit has for most become reserved for formal occasions. When I started work it was quite normal to wear a suit, white shirt and tie. This slowly changed so that even in my later managerial position I only wore a suit for important events. Curiously although I wore a cardigan around the office and lab I always changed into a jacket for lunch.

Work has changed completely, especially in location. Up until the fifties most people worked very near where they lived. Jobs in mining or agriculture sufficed in both the village I was brought up and the one I live in now. It is a source of resentment that where I live now has become a dormitory village albeit with lots of retired people. The house prices have become prohibitive for the children of villagers as they reach adulthood.

The nature of work has changed. When I watch quiz shows such as Pointless I am struck by how many have occupations unknown when I was young. It isn’t just the type of work but there is a continual flux of employer. My father always had the same employer all his life after he reached adulthood; it is few who can say the same  nowadays.

Education has also changed. Universal secondary education only dates from 1948. When I started school in 1947 children were still completing their education up to age 14 in the village school. Higher education was very unusual in the village. I became only the second in our family to go to university with the predecessor my cousin only 4 years older. In those days of the  early sixties probably less than 5% had a university education while now it has reached nearly 50%. Where I was brought up I would think only the vicar had a degree. Even teachers had, at best, a teachers certificate. It is only fairly recently that teaching has become an all graduate profession. Indeed a degree has gone from being prestigious to a minimum requirement for many jobs.

Travelling has changed completely. Just after the war when I was a child there were very few private cars. I used to happily play in the road and a vehicle would pass maybe every quarter hour. Country roads were surfaced but edging came later. Even by the forties roads had advanced from tracks to metalled surfaces through the early years of the century. The big increase in car ownership came in the fifties through the eighties. The increase was accompanied by big increases in reliability and reduction in costs.

There has been a reduction in truly communal activities. I see this clearly running down in our present village. It is predominantly older people who go to church, join the Women’s Institute and participate in gardening clubs, book clubs and the like. This has been the subject of a study by Robert Puttnam, an American academic in a book called Bowling Alone.( a refence of US bowling leagues ). He finds that for a vast range of communal activities membership peaked in the sixties and has been falling ever since. He has no explanation for this atomisation of society although TV and the internet must play a part.

Just to mention the internet is to show it is so ubiquitous that it has changed society completely. I have always been in highly technical jobs but microelectronics only started to intrude in the late 70’s. Even a technically advanced company like Castrol didn’t embrace the internet before I left in 1996 although by then I was used to a networked computer on my desk plus a portable for life away from the office. However by the time I retired in 2007 even a small company where I spent my final working life was starting to embrace the internet and mobile phones were then used for communication. I have to confess I haven’t really caught up with the smartphone revolution of recent years..