Judy & Rob Rudham

Life in Coronation Year – 1952

Coronation Day itself consisted of being clustered around the television in the company of neighbours who had been invited in because they weren’t yet in possession of a TV. It was a momentous occasion, to a great extent because with the young age of the new Queen, middle-aged people realized they probably wouldn’t be witnessing another coronation in the lifetimes. The only TV available was from a single BBC channel and their sole commentator for such events was Richard Dimbleby, father of David and Jonathon, the present broadcasters. Richard Dimbleby prided himself on his graphic descriptions of the scene which would be seen today as consisting of a series of cliches, nevertheless he was very popular. The audience in our sitting room would be provided with refreshments by mother.

Perhaps it’s worth describing televisions of that time. They were very expensive in the values of the day, typically costing a couple of months of a working mans take home pay. We had a console set, i.e., floor standing, with a nine-inch screen. Inside the cabinet it was packed with the ‘works’ wires everywhere and about two dozen valves, devices like a large lamp bulb which emitted a gentle glow.

Money values were very different at the time, for example a clerical officer in the civil service earned a maximum salary of £250 per year after 20 years’ service, and he would be considered well off. A humble school leaver with good ‘O-levels’ joining the service started on £150 per year.

Shopping was very different as well. There were no supermarkets so all groceries were fetched by the assistant across the counter, a time-consuming business. Milk was almost universally delivered and was rarely found in a shop. Milk bottle tops were children’s collection items because they were made of cardboard and were the ideal shape to wrap wool around to make pompoms, a great pastime.

Plastic was just beginning to appear but mostly we used enamel washing up bowls, galvanized buckets, watering cans etc; no plastic toys, bottles, toothbrushes, kitchen utensils or containers. The first ballpoint pen arrived in our house in 1949, specially ordered, it came in a presentation box from the United States.

Tights hadn’t been thought of so all ladies wore stockings which entailed having a suspender belt or a roll-on, an elasticized tube with suspenders attached, into which ladies squeezed themselves. The older generation continued to wear boned corsets.

Communications were interesting. Letter postage was tuppence half-penny, which is 1p in todays money. Post was collected every day, including Sunday, and deliveries made twice a day – except for Sunday. If you decided you could afford a telephone the waiting list was 18 months and then it would be a party line you shared with a neighbour. If you lifted the receiver and heard someone talking you replaced it and waited your turn, if you were polite that is, otherwise you could listen in the hope of hearing some interesting gossip!

Food was still rationed in 1952 and luxuries were rare. Clothing was drab by today’s standards although the ‘new look’ was sweeping over from France with long voluminous skirts and nipped in waists, so uplifting after years of austerity.

Big news items apart from the Coronation were the floods in East Anglia and smog in London, which claimed some 4000 lives – mainly the elderly.

But to end on a more cheerful note we thoroughly enjoyed Coronation Day, all the more so because it was a great social occasion with the neighbours.