#548619
Postby jfgw » November 21st, 2022, 8:04 pm
They were always called dustmen. They came around to the backs of the houses where the dustbins were kept, and carried the bins out to the dust cart where they were emptied into the back. The dustmen then carried the dustbins to the backs of the houses again. They would also take other rubbish if it was placed next to the bin. The dust carts had what I remember was like a big, slow moving fan at the back of the hopper, although it was probably more like an auger.
Many households would need only one bin, but I remember my parents buying a second one. There was no council recycling, just a compost heap and the occasional bonfire in the back garden. Everything-else, such as No. 800 bicycle lamp batteries (like two "U2" batteries side-by-side but slightly taller) went in the dustbin.
Bin bags were introduced later, and this saved the dustmen the job of having to return empty bins.
Coal men too, which operated from the coal yards which I remember seeing from the bus. We needed coal to heat the living-room in winter; the rest of the house was cold.
If you burn coal, you need the services of a chimney sweep. These are still around but I have not seen one in action since I was a child. He had a big bin-type vacuum cleaner and a cloth that covered the fireplace while he fed the rods, through a hole in the cloth, up the chimney. I would be taken outside to see the brush pop up through the chimney pot. At my grandparents', the chimney sweep would come back later with some sacks of soot for the garden.
BBC1 and ITV, 405 lines black and white via the big (VHF) aerial on the roof. It would take a while for the TV to warm up when it was switched on, and the picture would shrink to a little dot when it was switched off. If the TV was left on after close-down (after the national anthem), there would be a high-pitched tone to tell you that programs had finished for the night. The TV repair man was a regular visitor in those days. If there was a thunderstorm, my grandparents would switch off the TV and unplug the two-pin mains plug and aerial lead.
Almost everyone had a milkman. Ours was the Co-op. Pint and half-pint bottles were delivered early each morning. If we ran out of milk, we would go to what we called the "cow" outside a local shop. This was a vending machine for cartons of milk. The cartons were triangular pyramid shaped and we would cut two corners off, one to let the air in while we poured the milk out of the other one. The "Cow" met its demise when the milk cartons were no longer available. At school, we had third-pint bottles until these were discontinued. We then had cartons, the same shape as the ones from the "Cow" but smaller.
You needed a can opener if you had a can of drink. This would be used to pierce a triangular hole in the lid to drink from, and one opposite to let the air in.
This is making me feel old!
Julian F. G. W.