Things We Take For Granted
By Jabo
@jaboUK (64354)
United Kingdom
March 13, 2019 2:01pm CST
We take toilet paper for granted nowadays, but it was very different when I was a child.
Any kind of paper was scarce in the 1940s due to WW2, so we didn't have the luxury of proper toilet paper. Instead we used newspaper cut into squares. These were hung on a hook in the outside toilet ( we didn't have an inside one).
We didn't know any different so didn't feel deprived, though the newsprint sometimes left marks on our bottoms!
Is there anything from your childhood that you took as the 'norm', but would be horrified if you had to use/eat now?
Picture is the kind of outside toilet we used to have.
67 people like this
65 responses
@noni1959 (10104)
• United States
13 Mar 19
@GardenGerty I can't imagine using them and they working well.
1 person likes this
@ptrikha_2 (47064)
• India
15 Mar 19
@DianneN we have marble flooring in our house.
1 person likes this
@allknowing (137566)
• India
14 Mar 19
There is a huge huge difference between my life as a child and now. In every sphere food, clothing, entertainment...........the works We walked miles and miles to go anywhere. But I was a happy child.
4 people like this
@ptrikha_2 (47064)
• India
15 Mar 19
@allknowing you liked batting or bowling when playing cricket.
1 person likes this
@allknowing (137566)
• India
14 Mar 19
@jaboUK We would play in the field close by which was empty in summer............I could go on and on The bat was improvised from a coconut frond (lol)
3 people like this
@LovingMyBabies (85288)
• Valdosta, Georgia
13 Mar 19
Well, not really. I have had a harder life in my adulthood than I ever had as a child. But I definitely appreciate my washing machine and dryer since I used to wash laundry in a bath tub and blow them all dry with a blow dryer! It was a lot of work for 7 people.
5 people like this
@RasmaSandra (80659)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
14 Mar 19
I have used outdoor toilets and always hated them. I cannot think of anything particularly since my childhood was in the 1960s.
4 people like this
@RasmaSandra (80659)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
16 Mar 19
@jaboUK things took a while to change when I first went to Latvia in the 1990s and there were outside toilets with holes in the ground you had to stand over. I usually avoided them like the plague and went outside in the bushes.
1 person likes this
@florelway (23286)
• Cagayan De Oro, Philippines
15 Mar 19
@jaboUK These are still found in my country. Some areas here do not even have toilets.
1 person likes this
@garymarsh6 (23404)
• United Kingdom
13 Mar 19
Fortunately we never had such a thing and we always had nice soft toilet paper although I dare say you remember Izal toilet paper they used in schools. Gosh that was awful stuff. Supposed to be antiseptic too with a shiny side and a dull side...Pretty vile wasn't it!
4 people like this
@Fleura (30539)
• United Kingdom
14 Mar 19
@garymarsh6 @jaboUK I remember the Izal too - it was in all public toilets such as in schools and department stores, I never worked out the point because it was essentially waterproof. We had some at home which we used as tracing paper!
3 people like this
@GardenGerty (160883)
• United States
13 Mar 19
I used one like that a number of times. That and a chamber pot in the middle of the night or if the weather was bad.
4 people like this
@1hopefulman (45120)
• Canada
13 Mar 19
I did not have a toilet, either inside or outside till I came to Canada when I was 10 yrs old.
4 people like this
@1hopefulman (45120)
• Canada
14 Mar 19
@jaboUK Somehow we managed! I came from a small village in Italy.
2 people like this
@Aquitaine24 (11813)
• San Jose, California
15 Mar 19
@1hopefulman What is the village called?is it still there?
1 person likes this
@vandana7 (100540)
• India
14 Mar 19
I surely love washing machine. I remember washing clothes and it was no fun. We had few fans when I was young, so our idea to keep cool was buy ice from a vendor on the street, place old towels on it, and when it was cool enough use it on fan guard. In nights, we carried our mattresses upstairs and made beds to sleep. Believe me that in itself was a luxury many did not enjoy.
4 people like this
@much2say (55905)
• Los Angeles, California
13 Mar 19
Newspaper squares - oh my 
! Well, my mom used to put tons of salt in her cooking (I remember her using the salt shaker - shake shake shake into the pot) . . . but on top of that she also used a shaker of this white stuff called ajinomoto - a kind of sweet salt - which was used for a lot of Japanese cooking. Down the line, we found out this stuff was NOT healthy at all . . .in fact now we know it as MSG. This would explain a lot of the big headaches that I had as a child . . . I don't dare use this in my cooking and avoid it as much as possible 
.
! Well, my mom used to put tons of salt in her cooking (I remember her using the salt shaker - shake shake shake into the pot) . . . but on top of that she also used a shaker of this white stuff called ajinomoto - a kind of sweet salt - which was used for a lot of Japanese cooking. Down the line, we found out this stuff was NOT healthy at all . . .in fact now we know it as MSG. This would explain a lot of the big headaches that I had as a child . . . I don't dare use this in my cooking and avoid it as much as possible .3 people like this
@rebelann (112962)
• El Paso, Texas
13 Mar 19
I don't remember too much from my really early days but I can remember when we first moved here (I was just about to turn 10) and dad got us some cots and wool blankets. I am allergic to wool so was dad so mom would put extra sheets under them so we wouldn't break out. I'm so grateful for my comfy bed even though I tend to complain about it now and then.
3 people like this
@LeaPea2417 (37369)
• Toccoa, Georgia
14 Mar 19
I was a baby right before disposable diapers became popular. My Mom told me stories of how she would wash and dry my sister's and my cloth diapers and hang them out to dry since she didn't have a dryer. She said in Winter, she would hang them up on a line in her attic to dry.
2 people like this
@BelleStarr (61102)
• United States
14 Mar 19
I slept in an upstairs bedroom with no heat, I do like to sleep in the cool but that was rather extreme and at the house in Canada, my aunt pumped water into the kitchen sink and it was warmed in a tank on the wood burning stove.
2 people like this
@WorDazza (15830)
• Manchester, England
13 Mar 19
There is a right of way across the gardens of the row of 4 houses ours is on. This dates back to when the toilets for all 4 houses were located at the bottom of the garden of one of the end houses.
I remember our first house phone being a party line we shared with one of our neighbours up the street. We just accepted the fact that sometimes when we picked up the phone to make a call our neighbour could well be having a conversation with someone on their phone.
2 people like this
@Poppylicious (11133)
•
14 Mar 19
Ah, a topic for conversation with my Mummy on Saturday! Thank you!
2 people like this
@Shiva49 (26765)
• Singapore
14 Mar 19
The one thing that comes readily to my mind is I used to walk without footwear till I was about ten years old!
Toilets were also not inside the homes when I was young.
I may add I am used to using water than toilet paper.
I had a British colleague in Indonesia who had worked in Nigeria, Iran, and Greece.
I was surprised when he said he used water to clean up.
I recall his words when I looked surprised "that is cleaner and more hygienic".
I agree in colder climate toilet paper is handy - siva
2 people like this
@acelawrites (19272)
• Philippines
13 Mar 19
We had that long, long ago and we do not have an indoor toilet. It was located some 10 meters away from our house so I was horrified going there at night, thinking of the snakes or other horrible creatures watching while am there! But we took with us a dipper with water for cleaning.
2 people like this
@jaboUK (64354)
• United Kingdom
13 Mar 19
@acelawrites Oh right - I thought that was for real!
2 people like this
@acelawrites (19272)
• Philippines
13 Mar 19
@jaboUK but that's only in my imagination! Am so afraid of snakes that I always think there could be one lurking in there!
2 people like this
@SophiaMorros (5044)
• Belews Creek, North Carolina
13 Mar 19
Aside from the plumbing and the toilet paper, there's a lot to be said for simpler times.
2 people like this
@SophiaMorros (5044)
• Belews Creek, North Carolina
13 Mar 19
@jaboUK and we weren't spending all our time focusing on electronic gadgets.
1 person likes this
@jaboUK (64354)
• United Kingdom
13 Mar 19
@SophiaMorros So true - we must have been pretty healthy as we played outside all day. Interacting face-to-face with friends too, we learnt social skills.
1 person likes this
