Pie 'n' Mash and Prefabs - My 1950s Childhood

Norman Jacobs

• Publisher: John Blake
• Year: 2015
• Topic: History
• eBook ISBN:
  9781784183578
• Subtopic: Historical Biographies
• Index: History

The Blitz had made many families in the East End of London homeless. One solution was to erect prefabs on fields and open spaces to give temporary accommodation to those who had been bombed out. It was in one of these 'modern' boxes that young Norman Jacobs grew up through the 1950s and 1960s. In a lively, detailed and humorous picture of a postwar Hackney childhood, Norman takes us back to an age of rationing, bomb sites, street markets, colourful characters and camaraderie. And in reminiscing about stodgy school food, jumpers for goalposts, Listen with Mother, greyhound racing, pie 'n' mash, holiday camps, and the advent of American-style burger bars, he provides a glimpse into a way of life that has vanished for ever.Set against a backdrop of Rock 'n' Roll, the Cuban Missile Crisis and the assassination of President Kennedy, funny, poignant and sometimes sad, Norman's is a story full of innocence and happiness that will take you back to the best of times - the days we thought would never end.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• CONTENTS
• ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
• CHAPTER ONE: WELFARE ORANGE AND MALT
• CHAPTER TWO: MARBLES, CONKERS AND ‘BASH-UPS’
• CHAPTER THREE: RADIO FUN, CASEY JONES AND JACKETS FOR GOALPOSTS
• CHAPTER FOUR: RATIONING, EEL PIES AND MUFFIN THE MULE
• CHAPTER FIVE: HAMPSTEAD HEATH, DODGEMS AND THE FOUR-MINUTE MILE
• CHAPTER SIX: BUTLIN’S, WARNER’S AND CLACTON PIER
• CHAPTER SEVEN: JELLY AND ICE CREAM
• CHAPTER EIGHT: KNOCK KNEES, LAUGHING GAS AND NITS
• CHAPTER NINE: CROSS-COUNTRY RUNNING AND GANGS
• CHAPTER TEN: MICK MCMANUS, JUKE BOX JURY AND BREAKING THE LAW
• CHAPTER ELEVEN: THE COLDEST WINTER, GREEN SHIELD STAMPS AND DOUBLE DIAMOND
• CHAPTER TWELVE: MILITARY PICKLE AND THE MOULIN ROUGE
• CHAPTER THIRTEEN: PROFUMO, KENNEDY AND THE CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS
• CHAPTER FOURTEEN: BEATLEMANIA, READY STEADY GO! AND PIRATE RADIO
• CHAPTER FIFTEEN: GOODBYE
• Plates
• Copyright