THE PEN - JANET PRINCE’S MEMORIES

I came from a large family of seven I was the eldest girl in the family. However, I had two brothers older than me. Education was not encouraged; my mother had the only writing implement in the house which was a biro, mother, guarded it religiously.  

The biro was kept on the mantelpiece above the fireplace, which did as mother’s office.  We were not allowed to touch the biro as biro’s were very expensive in those days, costing about a shilling, mother was afraid that it may get lost.

The mantelpiece consisted of a pair of black horses one on either end; these were a wedding present to my mother from my mother’s grandmother.  

A large French Napoleonic bronze clock in the centre, it had to be wound up every day with a key; above the face of the clock was trellis covered in roses and a young girl with long hair and a spaniel dog with a snake in his mouth.  There was so much stuff behind the clock, it consisted of all letters and bills of any importance and writing pad that set the clock forward precariously by 2 inches.

To the left side of the clock was a pack of 20 Woodbines, a box of Swan matches, as both my mother and father smoked 20 a day each.  So we children were passively smoking 40 cigarettes a day, to the right side of the clock was the biro and my mother’s false teeth.   (My brother would often put a fag in between the teeth)

If my brothers or I ran errands to the local shops, we were always told by my mother to check the change especially if she gave us a ten bob note or a pound note.  We were given a coin which was called a threepenny bit to buy some sweets for going. I would always buy my favourite, which were coconut mushrooms. 

Janet age 13 picking blackcurrants

If we ran out of coal my brother and I sometimes had to go to the farm, to collect extra coal in an old pram to make do until the coalman called on a Friday morning.  

We did not have central heating in those days. The winters, were really cold so when we went to bed we had a house brick that had been put in the hot oven to keep us warm, my mother wrapped the brick in an old sheet.  I slept in a double bed with my two younger sisters.  I suppose we kept each other warm, instead of blankets we had very heavy ex army overcoats on the bed.

When I was seven, my mother gave me an important job I had to tear up the old newspapers into squares and put a piece of wire through the corner’s to keep them together, then my mother would hang them up on a nail in the outside toilet.

The Pen indicated authority in our household, Mother being able to run the household efficiently. 

Offices don’t have to be filled with typewriters, but a modest shelf above a fireplace, that was mother’s office and it worked very well.   Mother encouraged us to count the change when shopping.  This was our maths education. We had a lot of practice at everyday way of life, especially working in a team with my brothers.  We had good food and were clean and tidy and were disciplined to do what we were told, which we all adhered too without complaining.

Janet Price