May 2015

This month we were transported back to the 1950s for an afternoon of music and memories!

A ‘trivia quiz’ on that era invited our members’ memories of those times and led to much chatter and laughter – talk of schooldays, first jobs, holidays, fashion and many other topics brought the decade to life, especially when photographs of some of our members and helpers taken at that time were passed around.

Everyone joined in the ‘singalong’ sessions, before and after a suitably 1950s tea break which included a cheese and pineapple ‘hedgehog’ and sausages on sticks (very trendy at the time!).  Music included songs by the stars of the day – Elvis, Cliff, Bill Haley, Ruby Murray, Alma Cogan and the Beverley Sisters, and of course we all remembered the words!

With a bit of tuition we attempted a handjive and gave a performance to the accompaniment of ‘Peggy Sue’ by Buddy Holly - a song from 1958.

Along with our usual fascinating selection of books, our display boards and puzzles the afternoon passed quickly and proved to be a great success.

The following poem, brought along and narrated by one of our members, perfectly caught the spirit of the times and gave us all food for thought:

The Way We Were

Sunday suits and hobnail boots

Shillings, pounds and pence

Reapers, binders, window winders,

Washing on the fence.

Cold stone floors and open doors

Shirts that reached our knees

Horses straining, teachers caning

Conkers from the trees.

Corn in shocks, white ankle-socks

Lime washed pantry walls

Tinkers, hikers, sidecar-bikers

Calf length overalls.

Rationed sweets, third class seats

Trains that ran on steam

Eleven pluses, country buses

Morris Minor green.

Trolleys, trams and telegrams

Propelling pencil sets

Saying graces, buttons, braces

Park Drive cigarettes.

Trilby hats, pink-ribboned plaits

Paraffin in lamps

Cut-throat razors, navy blazers

Saving foreign stamps.

Aertex vests and T.B. tests

Cigarette card swaps.

Trouser turn-ups, push bike burn-ups

Bald Kleen-eze mops

Acne, boils, cod liver oils.

Mother darning socks.

Aesop fables, twelve times tables

Girls in Dirndl frocks.

We said our prayers to kings and heirs

As old gave way to new

And bells were rung when we were young

In 1952.

Following on from this nostalgic verse we returned to the present day with some reluctance, but perhaps we’ll revisit the 1950s another time – there’s still much more to rediscover.

Our next meeting takes place on Monday 1st June from 2pm to 4pm at Crantock Village Hall. This will be followed up by an additional session on the third Monday of the month, i.e. Monday 15th June at the same time and venue. This is a direct response to our members’ request that we meet more often and we are delighted to provide another afternoon of social activities.

We are always pleased to welcome new members so should you need further information about our Memory Cafe  please contact Di on 01637 830544 or Joan on 01637 831347.