大象传媒

This story was submitted to the Peoples War website by gmractiondesk on behalf of Pam Winter and has been added with her permission. When we knew that the war was over, the community spirit still prevailed. All the women took out their most precious provisions and contributed to street parties. Everybody rejoiced and everything was red white and blue. I remember having a necklace with red, white and blue beads. It wasn't like the Jubilee. People just found red, white and blue. It was a luxury because there was a paper shortage so everything was home made. The weather was glorious. There was no shortage of food although rationing was still on, there was so much food because everyone contributed, people ate all day. There was homebrews too; ginger beers, sasberellas.
The men started to come home; and unfortunately some men and women didn't come. The men were demobbed and given a suit, a trilby, shoes, a raincoat and about 拢50 each. This was enough for a deposit on a house. We were very fortunate; all my relatives returned even though they had been all over the world. Homelessness was a serios problem in the big cities and many men returned home to find families and homes destroyed.
There was no counsilling services then for all the children with no fathers. We had German prisoners billeted too, girls that became friendly with them were ostricised. People of German origin in the Second World War changed their names. There was a huge relief in the community that people no longer had to be secretive of their origins, there was a spirit of openness after the war. There was evidence of mass immigration, there was nowhere you could go without finding someone of different races. There was such a demand for teachers so colleges were opened up to different skin colours. There was greater integration of races. To see black people here in such numbers was very different. Racism was ubiquitous now. The churches welcomed black people but there were areas in Manchester that remained predominantly white. We were aware of ethnic minority children entering the schools, they would learn English from comics: Rover, Beano, Dandy, Hotspur, Wizard, Boy Zone, Girl's Friend and the Children's Newspaper (Like a printed version of Blue Peter). In the fifties sweets were the last thing to be taken off rations so we had good teeth. All the medecines contained iron so this rotted your teeth.
When people came back from the war everything changed-you could use transport and could travel more so could meet my relatives. At school this was the time of powercuts because we didn't have electricity and there was a great demand for electricity from the factories. Every day there was three or four hours with no power so you had to prepare for that.
After the war there were lots of weddings. When someone was married everyone would contribute thier clothing coupons. School uniforms were passed down amongst siblings so all clothes had to be looked after.
The Cinemas! Each cinema had its own young peoples club, you had to pay sixpence to see cartoons. I remember Dick Parton on the radio, quarter to seven every night. Enid Blyton books were prized possession. When plastic was developed for general use after the war and everyone had their teeth replaced with plastic ones. Rolinx pencil cases were also prized, biros came along too.
The family reunion had a big impact on people. It could create conflicts and as a result divorce became more common place; it wasn't all happy by all means. The men when they returned were so different so these social consequences were to be expected.
The eleven plus came back in, it had changed to the prewar version. According to when your birthday fell you could take it up to three times! You could take eleven plus then re-sits and then a third try when you were thirteen. You could sit the exams as an independent school. There was more chances but a lot of snobbery in selection. In contrast, my father won the Lancashire boy's scholarship to go to university but he couldn't go because his family could'nt afford it. Schools were clean now, they smelt of carbolic. The form masters would check how well you presented yourself, you stood in military line and everything was inspected. We no longer had to share books, paper was no longer rationed. Coloured crayons came these were another luxury. The furniture was utilitive.
The furniture in the homes changed too; there was kitchen cabinets, fridges and therefore it was much better for staying healthy.
There were so many new inventions that are still used nowadays. I remember watching the T.V. in 1953 but not everyone had a television. People would get dressed up to watch the television, it was a big event. Most terraced houses had only cold water so they had the Ascot heater to produce hot water.
There was community spirit everywhere; including the opening of holiday camps.
When men came back from the war they were promised jobs and homes, but it wasn't like that. Housing was in shortage and there were no jobs because the women were reluctant to give up their jobs. There was problems in industrial labour relations; women would not give up their new opportunities.

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