1. 'The pea soupers': walking home from school, breathing in thick yellow smog and coughing continuously, unable to see my gloved mitten in front of my face as the evil stuff soaked the hand knit scarf wrapped around my head.
2. Being given a purple wooden spill to light the lowest of the Christmas candles at my grandparents home. Fastened with a clip, tiny fluted holders adorned the branches of a giant fir whose fairy touched the ceiling: when the lamp was dimmed, the room shone with a magical flickering glow.
3. Laced into a calico 'liberty bodice', I also had to wear a pale yellow bunny wool bolero and long brown socks held up with elastic garters.
4. Eating sugar sandwiches while Mummy had a Camp Coffee as she leafed through the red Ration Book to see what she could afford for us.
5. At bedtime, Syrup of Figs and Liquid Paraffin, and in the morning Radio Malt to help us thrive according to 'Dr. Spock'.
6. Cranking the handle of the His Masters Voice record player then replacing the blunt brass pin with a new one by twiddling a tiny screw. Poorer children used a rose thorn to run around the groove. Our first record was very floppy, later they were made of Bakelite : my first buy was ' North to Alaska' by Johnny Horton, with the picture of the little dog peering into the trumpet-like speaker.
7. Wearing a horrible pink elastic sanitary towel belt, with two suspenders for the bulky 'Dr. Whites', then being presented with an almost as disgusting beige elastic tube with four stocking-suspenders, called a corset. Rinsing a net petticoat with sugar-water to make it stiff.
8. Ballroom dancing lessons, where boy met girl under the eagle eye of a married couple who taught only what you needed to know.