Remember when

I remember when you only had a bath once a week and then what I used to call birdie baths in between.  The bath water was heated by a chip heater.  A little later we had penny in the slot gas so had a bath when we could afford it.  There was no shampoo just the bath soap and as Mum hated to wash her hair because it was fluffy so I didn't get to wash mine either.  We had no toothpaste but I was encouraged to use salt by my school teacher.  We also did not have deodorant but used metho and a little powder.  I imagaine we must have stunk.  When I was about sixteen one of the neighbours gave me a bottle of shampoo called White Rain and I loved it.  Although sanitary pads were available, Mum made pads with some kind of flannel material.  This was a curse because I couldn't change half way through the day.  She used to put the pads into a bucket of water and soap powder the wash them every couple of days.    When I began to work we moved into a flat that had its own bathroom.  Mum couldn't understand why I had to shower every day.  It was sheer heaven.  I got to go to work after using proper deodorant, nice shampoo and toothpaste.  Although all this sounds dreadful, Mum was brought up in the Victorinan Era where this was common.  Although personal cleanliness was not foremost in many people's lives it was also the time when Mum used an iron that heated up on the stove.  This was a step up from irons that had hot coals in them.  There was an ice-chest instead of a fridge, and a coppper, mangle and washboard and knobs of bluo,  instead of a washing machine.  Washing by hand was labour intensive but really as I remember it, the sheets were so lovely and white after being boiled in the copper, and rinsed in water with bluo in it.  I also remember how mad the washers would get if the clothes prop slipped and the washing dragged in the dirt.  Some of the places where Mum worked they had no electricity at all and we had to used kerosene lamps.  These lamps are sought after and valued now but at the time they cast a dim light and the houses never seemed to have enough for each room.  While I was still in primary school Mum couldn't afford to used the penny in the slot light so we used the tiny nursery lamp filled with metho.  If I wanted to read, I read by the light of this lamp.  As I read this over, it sounds so dreadful but at the time it was common to many people.  I didn't know we were poor as everyone that I knew had the same things.  I was always amazed when I found out that some of the girls at my school had their hair done at the hairdressers every week and that they got their school tunics dry cleaned.  That was just so far from my understanding.  There were actually people who had fridges and phones and nice clothes that were bought new.  When people say now they are living under the poverty level, I simply remember when I was growing up and even after being good all year I would get a little doll that cost two shillings when I asked for a walking doll.  We did have a radio though even if Mum did have to pay for a licence.  When television came in we had to have a licence for that as well.  Do we live under the poverty level now, no we don't.  I have my Housing Trust unit, a car, matching furniture and clothes that are not half worn out.  I feel absolutely rich when I look around and see my things.  I am rich, I have a lovely daughter and pets and friends and I never ever feel that I lack for anything.  Poverty level; rubbish.