Memoirs of a London boy in the 50’s and 60’s (Book) - 2/8/2018 7:38:04 AM
Memoirs like this are so important for chronicling the way things were for ordinary people. Until Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, few books were written about ordinary people. Books were written about the wealthy, landed and famous. Almost none of Shakespeare's work are about ordinary people.
I grew up in the 40s (poor) and 50s (part of the growing middle-class) in America. As I read, even though we both spoke English, how much different common terms were. For example, I still don't know what "scrumping" is but I know what windfalls are (I think). Fags were cigarettes or cigs and faggots were food? But it was words like these in poverty that created the British invasion of wonderful and wild rock bands like the Beatles and the Stones. Making us dream about Abby Lane or the Ferry 'Cross the Mercy.
In so many ways, our paths were similar. The adventures in the woods getting very dirty and sometimes, being dirty. Arriving home and grabbing snacks and then listening to the radio or watching the telly.
Ron
