Things in living memory which seem very anachronistic now

[Silent]

And finding your offspring had taped an episode of Neighbours over your cherished concert recording.

That must’ve been annoying

 

[philjo]

Shops closing early on Good Friday.
When I was young most small shops would close around lunchtime on Good Friday or were closed all day.

 

[ChiefPlanner]

We still have one, used almost daily, but it contains lard, not oil!

We still have one - 90% olive oil though - used maybe once a week !

 

[Merle Haggard]

Northampton boot & shoe factories (there were many - components and machinery manufacture as well as the end product ) worked normally on Good Friday but took the next Tuesday off instead. The GPO followed this and delivered post as normal on Friday but not on the Tuesday.

 

[WesternLancer]

Northampton boot & shoe factories (there were many - components and machinery manufacture as well as the end product ) worked normally on Good Friday but took the next Tuesday off instead. The GPO followed this and delivered post as normal on Friday but not on the Tuesday.

Any reason for this? I’m assuming Easter Saturday isn’t the start of the show buying season or something like that.

 

[Merle Haggard]

Any reason for this? I’m assuming Easter Saturday isn’t the start of the show buying season or something like that.

I really don't know, although all of my relatives worked in the industry (and that made sure I didn't!).
But my theory was that it dated back to Cromwell, who banned Easter - the town fared badly when the monarchy was restored.

 

[RT4038]

Any reason for this? I’m assuming Easter Saturday isn’t the start of the show buying season or something like that.

I would guess from the time that most factories worked Saturday mornings - if the Good Friday holiday was moved to the Tuesday then there was three and a half straight days off.....

 

[Merle Haggard]

I would guess from the time that most factories worked Saturday mornings - if the Good Friday holiday was moved to the Tuesday then there was three and a half straight days off.....

Thanks, that explains it. Shoe factories here all worked Saturday mornings.
Surprised that it didn't happen elsewhere, though - I don't think working Saturday mornings was unusual

 

[WesternLancer]

I really don't know, although all of my relatives worked in the industry (and that made sure I didn't!).
But my theory was that it dated back to Cromwell, who banned Easter - the town fared badly when the monarchy was restored.

Interesting theory. I’m not sure I’d discount it.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 6 Apr 2026 ==

I would guess from the time that most factories worked Saturday mornings - if the Good Friday holiday was moved to the Tuesday then there was three and a half straight days off.....

Seems highly possible tho as Merle says lots of even white collar jobs worked Saturday mornings and well into twentieth century I think.

 

[Jimini]

Thanks, that explains it. Shoe factories here all worked Saturday mornings.
Surprised that it didn't happen elsewhere, though - I don't think working Saturday mornings was unusual

I can vaguely remember "Factory Fortnight" from back in those days (one set of grandparents lived in Moulton). Was that a boot and shoe factory specific thing, or more widespread I wonder?

 

[Merle Haggard]

I can vaguely remember "Factory Fortnight" from back in those days (one set of grandparents lived in Moulton). Was that a boot and shoe factory specific thing, or more widespread I wonder?

The boot & shoe trade all had a holiday at the same time - as you remember, the 'Factory Fortnight'. The reason was the industry was very inter-connected with the boot & shoe factories using components and leather supplied by other specialist ones. `There was a lot of machinery involved, sold and maintained by other companies, too.

But I wonder if it was any different from a town's factories complete closures in for instance East Lancashire and called 'Wakes Weeks'.

Seems highly possible tho as Merle says lots of even white collar jobs worked Saturday mornings and well into twentieth century I think.

Certainly my father, who was a floor foreman, worked Saturdays mornings on through the 1960s.
Possibly why football matches started about 2.30 pm then.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

We still have one - 90% olive oil though - used maybe once a week !

Olive oil has a flash point of 210°C compared to the 315°C of most cooking oils... and, @Barnsley , lard has a flash point of about 300°C so there's not really any difference between lard and cooking oil from a safety point of view - but olive oil is actually somewhat more dangerous!!

 

[Jimini]

The boot & shoe trade all had a holiday at the same time - as you remember, the 'Factory Fortnight'. The reason was the industry was very inter-connected with the boot & shoe factories using components and leather supplied by other specialist ones. `There was a lot of machinery involved, sold and maintained by other companies, too.

But I wonder if it was any different from a town's factories complete closures in for instance East Lancashire and called 'Wakes Weeks'.

Interesting stuff -- thanks!

 

[The exile]

The boot & shoe trade all had a holiday at the same time - as you remember, the 'Factory Fortnight'. The reason was the industry was very inter-connected with the boot & shoe factories using components and leather supplied by other specialist ones. `There was a lot of machinery involved, sold and maintained by other companies, too.

But I wonder if it was any different from a town's factories complete closures in for instance East Lancashire and called 'Wakes Weeks'.

When so much of a supply chain was very local and interdependent, it made sense to coordinate. I suspect the “local fortnight” was a feature of most larger industrialised areas. The central Scotland ones (Glasgow Fair and Edinburgh Trades ) were certainly still a feature well into the 1980s, though Edinburgh was never dominated by a single industry in the way that many other places were.

 

[JamesT]

Olive oil has a flash point of 210°C compared to the 315°C of most cooking oils... and, @Barnsley , lard has a flash point of about 300°C so there's not really any difference between lard and cooking oil from a safety point of view - but olive oil is actually somewhat more dangerous!!

No, 210C is the smoke point of olive oil, compared to around 230C for the usual cooking oils. Getting it beyond that point is dangerous from a health point of view, as that’s when it starts breaking down and releasing potentially toxic compounds.
The flash point will be a little lower than the cooking oils, but still in a similar range.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

No, 210C is the smoke point of olive oil, compared to around 230C for the usual cooking oils. Getting it beyond that point is dangerous from a health point of view, as that’s when it starts breaking down and releasing potentially toxic compounds.
The flash point will be a little lower than the cooking oils, but still in a similar range.

Oops, yes - I have jumped columns in the chart!! Apologies.

 

[GordonT]

Are there folk around who still use Letraset?

 

[BeeBus]

Huddersfield used to do the same thing as Northampton in treating Good Friday as a working day and taking the Tuesday after Easter Monday off. This led to an interesting situation arising on the bus service from Oldham to Huddersfield. The normal weekday service was commercially-operated from Huddersfield and the Sunday/Bank Holiday service was subsidised by Greater Manchester PTE and one Good Friday the inevitable happened where Huddersfield worked their normal Friday service and the subsidised service ran as well!

 

[WesternLancer]

Are there folk around who still use Letraset?

Doing those punk rock style flyers?

 

[DelW]

Northampton boot & shoe factories (there were many - components and machinery manufacture as well as the end product ) worked normally on Good Friday but took the next Tuesday off instead. The GPO followed this and delivered post as normal on Friday but not on the Tuesday.

Thanks, that explains it. Shoe factories here all worked Saturday mornings.
Surprised that it didn't happen elsewhere, though - I don't think working Saturday mornings was unusual

In the 1960s (and possibly much later) car factories and engineering companies around Birmingham worked normally on Good Friday but closed on the following Tuesday, too. Most local businesses followed suit. I always understood it was so that only one week's production was affected by the shutdown.

I moved to the south-east in 1971 and was surprised at Good Friday being such a quiet day, with shops closed and much reduced bus services.

 

[75A]

Here in Northern Ireland Good Friday is by and large a 'normal' day and places are shut tomorrow, like Doctor's Surgeries.

 

[Silent]

Phone tree diagrams, the internet has made them unnecessary in most cases.

 

[SargeNpton]

On the football field, match officials dressed in black, both goalkeepers wearing green jerseys, and players on both teams numbered from 1 to 11.

 

[gg1]

On the football field, match officials dressed in black, both goalkeepers wearing green jerseys, and players on both teams numbered from 1 to 11.

As an aside, since the move to squad numbering, has that ever happened? Most clubs will have players assigned shirt numbers 1 to 11, often (but not always) playing in positions traditionally associated with the numbers so it's theoretically possible.

 

[contrex]

Are there folk around who still use Letraset?

It's no longer made, but enthusiasts buy and sell it on eBay, a few quid a sheet mostly.

 

[JamesT]

As an aside, since the move to squad numbering, has that ever happened? Most clubs will have players assigned shirt numbers 1 to 11, often (but not always) playing in positions traditionally associated with the numbers so it's theoretically possible.

It happens very rarely, https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/15927863/burnley-liverpool-starting-eleven-squad-numbers/

BURNLEY boss Sean Dyche got footie fans wagging their tongues by naming an extremely-rare perfect starting XI for his side’s clash with Liverpool.

Dyche’s naming of his 1-11 starting XI was the first time in 22 years a Premier League time has fielded a perfect eleven when Charlton last did it.

I know there's life outside the Premier League, but that doesn't get reported on so much.

I suspect with the churn in squads plus some players attachment to particular numbers make it unlikely that 1-11 would necessarily be a first choice team to pick.

 

[Statto]

On the football field, match officials dressed in black, both goalkeepers wearing green jerseys, and players on both teams numbered from 1 to 11.

The rules that only match officials could wear black changed in the 90s, which meant that teams could wear black & dark (such as navy blue) away & 3rd kits.

Not sure when the goalkeeper wearing green shirts changed, but keepers can go out of there goal & attack set pieces such as corners (Jimmy Glass goal for Carlisle being the famous one) so they need to wear different kits. Quite often goalkeepers changed to yellow shirts for some matches including Internationals.

 

[GordonT]

On the football field, match officials dressed in black, both goalkeepers wearing green jerseys, and players on both teams numbered from 1 to 11.

Lots of things have changed in football over the years. Few of which I seem to approve of! Mascots! All-seater stadiums! Goal "celebrations" (rather than a manly handshake)! Some things have improved: toilet facilities (for women, too!) Some may miss the miasma of stale beer fumes and urine. Not me.

 

[Jimini]

Some things have improved: toilet facilities (for women, too!) Some may miss the miasma of stale beer fumes and urine. Not me.

You should see the state of the bogs in the Hammersmith End at Craven Cottage -- like stepping back in time, and not in a good way!

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Some things have improved: toilet facilities (for women, too!) Some may miss the miasma of stale beer fumes and urine. Not me.

Old Wembley Stadium was never the best! Wellies were usually required.