Working Class Life in the 1930's

The 1930s in England was a time when the Government rode roughshod over the already impoverished working class. Birkenhead where my mum and grandparents lived in the 1930s had the workers and the unemployed marching in protest because of the more and more harsh reductions that they were experiencing in their living standards. During this period wages were reduced and the already miserably low benefits for the unemployed were slashed even further driving millions of the working class into the most appalling conditions of poverty and deprivation imaginable.

The Government carried out these attacks all in the name of National Economic measures. It was felt by the working class as a vicious attack on their lives and livelihoods and all the while these massive reductions are taking place the Government continues to spend millions of pounds on armaments and preparation for war that will involve the slaughter of millions of workers in other countries and all in the interest of capitalism.

The Working class felt that the Government and Employers had no idea what the reductions meant to the hard working families that had to live with effects of less money coming into the home, nor did they think that they cared!

This was the background of the thirties that my mum who was born in 1919 was experiencing as an eleven year old at the beginning of the 1930’s. The question then of ‘How did people in your family save money in the 1930’s?’ is easily answered in two words ‘They didn’t’

My mum was the eldest of 10 children and they lived in a small two up and two down terraced house. The girls slept in one bedroom and boys in the other and my grandparents had a bed that converted into a settee downstairs in the front room.

My grandfather worked in the shipyards most of his working life and even though he had a job times were very hard. In the shipyards jobs were beginning to be automated resulting in fewer workers being needed for some of the jobs so many people were losing their jobs.

Three of my mum’s siblings died in infancy because this was the time before Britain had the National Health Service and it cost 2/6d ( I suppose about 15 to 18 cents depending on the exchange rate you use) to see a doctor. This sound like a ridiculously small amount today but back then even when it was a matter of life and death the lack of 2/6d meant that you didn’t see a doctor. As a result it was not uncommon for people to lose a child in infancy due to such things as Pneumonia which was what two of my grandmothers children died from.

Even when the necessary 2/6d was found often the medicine needed would be an additional expense that just could not be found. Penicillin was not readily available in those days and quite commonplace illness that today are treated with antibiotics were fatal. In 1948 the National Health Service was born and everyone in Britain could then go and see a doctor for free and they could have an operation or a stay in hospital for free and if needs be see a specialist. I think that prescriptions were also free back then and at last medical care was free and based on need rather than on ability to pay.

I think that it is terrible when people who need medical treatment cannot get it because they cannot afford it, it seems so wrong that you can die just for lack of money, when there are treatments available that would save you if you had the money.

Like so many of that generation you only bought what you could pay for, neither my grandparents or my parents ever had anything on credit and both lived in rented accommodation all their lives. This was the time before plastic bags and things were often sold lose in the shops weighed out to be put lose into your shopping bag or wrapped in brown paper bags or newspaper.

When you got home the stuff that had been put in the paper bags would be taken out of the bags and put in their containers, like the biscuits would be put into the biscuit barrel and then the bag that they come in would be straightened out and folded up and put away ready to be used to wrapped something else up in it.

Nothing absolutely nothing was wasted. Potatoes in the greengrocers were sold from Hessian sacks that contained 56lbs of potatoes. Because everything that you bought was a necessity nothing was wasted and items were often used more than once and by more than one person. In the case of the Hessian sacks that the potatoes were stored in at the greengrocers I remember going to our greengrocer and asking for one of the empty sacks which was then used to make a Peg Rug that was placed in front of the fireplace.

When things came tied up with string the string would be untied not cut and the string would then be wound up and put away to use again.

Jumpers and cardigans would be hand knitted not shop bought and when they got too worn to be handed down then the garment would be unpicked and the wool re-used to knit a new jumper or cardigan this resulted in many a striped garment as wool that had been unpicked from several garments would be used to knit a new one. Everything that could be recycled or repaired would be, socks would be darned as would any woollen garment.

All kinds of garments would be re-used worn out adult clothing would be cut down to make children’s clothing buttons and elastic would be taken off and re-used. When items could no longer be reused as clothing then they would be used for other things such as cleaning rags or cut up to make Peg rugs. Shoes were mended at home most houses had a cobblers last.

I can remember my dad had a sheet of leather from which he would cut soles or heels to mend our shoes and would fix the new sole or heel using the cobbles last to hold the shoe in place while he hammered in the tiny nails that held them in place. I remember the excitement when the rubber stick on soles came out these were so much less trouble than having to fashion soles from leather and of course they either came with glue or were already coated with adhesive.

Clothing and footwear were made to last and had to be looked after properly often being handed down to the next person in line. My mum was lucky in this respect being the eldest of the ten children she often was the first one to wear an item before it began its journey down through the family.

It was not unusual for outer garments such as overcoats to be worn indoors in the wintertime as often fuel for the fire could not be afforded. The inside of a house could be as cold as the outside, with ice building up on the inside of the windows. They had a penny in the slot gas meter for the gas which was used for lighting and the gas stove. If you didn’t have a penny for the meter then you didn’t get any gas.

There is a saying that I think dates back to this time and it is ‘First up best dressed’ which means if there were four girls in the family and only three pairs of knickers (panties) the first three to get up and dressed would be the ones to wear the knickers that day.

Although they never had HP (not Hubpages lol Hire Purchase) when there was not enough money to meet the necessities of life one resource that was commonly used was that of the Pawn Shop also known as uncles or the pop shop. The symbol for a Pawn Brokers was three balls hanging outside the shop I am not sure where the symbol came from or why it was used to designate a Pawn Brokers but there is an old joke about what the three balls signified “Two to one, you won't get your stuff back".

Items of value would be taken to the Pawn Brokers who would give you a loan for a fixed rate of interest and if you paid back the loan and the interest in the time agreed you could redeem the item. All kinds of articles were Pawned to raise the much needed cash some of which were destined never to be redeemed and which were later sold off by the Pawn Broker to get his money back. My first pair of Ice Skates came from a local Pawn Brokers you could often get a bargain in the Pawn Shops. I use to love looking in the Pawn Shop windows as there was so much interesting stuff on view in the windows.

Food was often scarce and often it would be my grandmother that would go without so that my granddad or her children would get enough to eat. My great grandmother who lived round the corner from my grandmother had a chicken run in her back yard which provided a steady stream of eggs. I don’t know whether it was in spite of going without or because of this that my grandmother lived to be in her nineties. This way of life and living made them very tough people. In this photograph you can see my Gran, my mum, me and my daughter.

Another thing that I noticed about my grandparent’s generation and my parent’s generation is that they knew their place and had expectations accordingly. They never thought to own a home or a motor car nor have children go to university these were for people of another class. Their hardships were endured because that was the way of things everything and everyone had their place. Not that this is right but I am sure that many people were happier because they didn’t focus on what they didn’t have because no one in their circle had it either.

I remember when my dad’s younger brother bought his own home my parents thought he was mad and that it would be a mill stone around his neck. If you tried to better yourself you were thought to be a bit of a class traitor and thought to be ashamed of your origins.

I hope you enjoyed this brief look at our family's way of life in the 1930's there was a very strong sense of family which which meant in spite of the hardships of the time the memories that my mum had of this time were mostly happy.

If you enjoyed this hub I have put links to some of my other hubs that deal with similar material in the blue box alongside this text.

All these Hubs have the common theme of coming from a Working Class perspective which differs quite a lot from that of the Middle Class and which has virtually nothing in common with the Upper Class perspective.

There is one period in modern times when all three classes had experiences in common and that was during the second world war.

I hope that enjoyed your foray into Working Class England if you did please leave a comment perhaps some feed back or if I didn't cover what you were looking for let me know and perhaps I can do another hub about that,