For those of us who were born in the years immediately post World War 2, the pace of life and change in our society are akin to having been on a helter skelter.
Some examples;
If you were born prior to the start of the National Health Service in July 1948, it meant that your parents were having to pay something like 5 shillings (25p in today's money) for hospital treatment for the birth of their child. Thanks to a Welshman from Tredegar, Aneurin "Nye" Bevan we had the miracle of the National Health Service introduced which meant that your health care was free at the point of need.
This year sees the 75th birthday of the greatest institution Western society has ever known and yet unbelievably, it is under attack by grasping capitalism with their puerile attempts to privatise it. The fact remains that the population is living longer, getting older and requiring increased health care and this needs financial aid from the state without profit being the prime aim.
Looking back over my life thusfar, it brings to mind the differences in society and the lives of the citizens therein.
- In the immediate post war tenement housing we only had outside toilets with torn up bits of newspapers stuck on a nail inside instead of loo rolls.
- Tin baths in front of the range/fire. Today we can have power showers, jacuzzi baths and for most of the Western World instant hot water which is clean.
- Telephones were rare and only relatively wealthy families had one in the house. There were red telephone kiosks for the general public at strategic points in almost every town. Now you can have a little thing in your pocket which you could call someone on the opposite side of the world on and additionally see them at the same time. You can use it to make films, take pictures, watch television/films on and give you directions too!
- We only two real radio stations in the U.K. (both run by the BBC) with wireless sets and a variety of valves which had to heat up in them prior to listening to anything - The Light Programme and the Home Service;
- Very few people had television, but those that did (predominantly the wealthy in the home counties of England) had to wait until June of 1946 for the resumption of the BBC Television programmes after the war. There was only one channel for entertainment and obviously only in black and white with limited broadcasting time and it wasn't until 1952 that television was broadcast to Scotland. BBC2 didn't air until 1964 (by which time I'd joined up and was serving in the RAF) and my parents still didn't have one. ITV came into being in 1955, but as usual the regions were much later and ITV only came to Scotland in the Central Belt in 1957 and later still, 1960 for the Highlands/Grampian regions. Today we have literally hundreds of stations (a lot of which are absolute dross) nonetheless, you can view this multitude of channels on flat screens that are verging on cinemas in your own room.
- The use of ration books in which the shopkeeper had to sign for what you'd purchased only ended in 1950. Restrictions were only gradually lifted for example; flour in 1948, clothes in 1949, canned and dried fruit in 1950 with of all things, chocolate biscuits, treacle, syrup and jelly with petrol and soap then too.
- Needless to say that with most work being physically demanding and limited facilities for cleaning and personal hygiene and only very basic soap the vast majority of the population may have been a tad smelly.
