Everyday Life in the 30's

The memories of my youth are still vivid, and are forever rotating in my mind. My family would spend the evening in our small living room listening to the radio. There was only two choices to listen to "Home" and "Light " programmes and depending on reception, radio Luxemburg. Having no electricity the radio needed batteries, a high voltage one, a low voltage ‘grid bias' and a wet cell accumulator for the valve heaters, which had to be recharged weekly.

 

"Home "was mostly boring talks and serious music. "Light " was more topical , (plays, popular topic series, comedy and variety shows) but very little pop music. Sunday on the radio was on the whole pretty boring. Apart from a variety show, and probably a play. The church played a big part in every day life and an example was it's influence on the content of the B.B.C. broadcasts.

 

For us young ones our play time was on the whole in the street ,with a varied amount of traditional games. We were in our own way quite enterprising a scooter made with wood 4 screw eyes a coach bolt and two large ball bearings obtained (with luck) from a local garage.

 

Money, or the lack of it was a challenge to overcome. The horse & cart was still one of the main means of transport, which meant there was plenty of “droppings” in the roads. On seeing a fresh pile I would dash indoors collect a bucket and the coal shovel (much to mum’s dismay).  I would then collect  a bucket full and knock at a few doors until I sold my fertilizer for 3d (just over 1p in today’s money).

 

Although i had many friends i was at times a loner. One of my outings was to catch a steam train from Dalston  junction station to Homerton  (1d return), walk down the hill to the river Lea and in a small ditch next to it, hunt for newts.  

As we moved on in the 30s’things were changing fast. The film industry was expanding and the new Odeon cinema was near completion at Dalston. This meant there were nine cinemas within walking distance of each other, plus the two music halls (Hackney Empire and Alexander palace).

This also heralded the start of the changeover of the tram to the new trolleybuses. It was an exciting time for us watching all the work progressing. As the first of the new buses appeared a new source of income emerged The typical road layout for the trams was 2 triple tracks (the centre one being a conductor via a slot in the middle). There was usually  enough room between the tram and the pavement for a vehicle to pass,but getting on and off the tram could be a little hairy. The road surface on the local tram route was in two parts ,on either side of the  tracks consisted of stone cobbles,and the tracks were set in treated bricksize hardwood blocks.

When the work to remove the tracks began the wood became scrap, and was fair game for me and my scavenging mates. These blocks had been impregnated with a flammable liquid and coated with a thick coating of bitumen. We would collect them by the armful dodging the workmen and then using my dad’s chopper to cut our “tarry blocks“ in half. The fact that they burnt fiercely on open fires made them good sellers.