Thora Hird's Book of Bygones

by Thora Hird

Overview

Did you ever wonder what has happened to gas mantles and chimney pieces, or why people don't go 'courting' anymore? In her new book, Thora Hird takes us on a trip down memory lane to the world as it was before the Second World War. In her usual warm, chatty and anecdotal style, she reminds us of all those words, objects and expressions that have gone out of modern usage and illustrates them with a plethora of funny stories from her own early years. Thora looks back at domestic life, the theatre, going to church, growing up before the war, working in shops, and, never forgetting her true Morecambe roots, the hustle and bustle of the northern seaside town.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780006280682
Publisher:	Zondervan
Publication date:	08/01/1998
Pages:	200
Product dimensions:	4.95(w) x 7.00(h) x 0.75(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

Read an Excerpt

Thora Hird's Book of Bygones

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By Thora Hird

Zondervan

Copyright © 1998 Zondervan
All right reserved.
ISBN: 0-006-28068-4

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Introduction

I had just been speaking at a luncheon at an hotel in Park Lane, when it happened. A smart young man aged about twenty, accompanied by an equally smartly dressed young lady, approached me and said, 'Excuse me, Dame Thora, but what does that word you used just now - "courting" - mean?'

I said, 'Courting?'

He said, 'Yes. In your speech just now, you mentioned the word "courting" and we were wondering what it meant.

I said, 'You're not pulling my leg, are you?' and he said, 'No. We just want to know.' His girlfriend stood beside him, nodding perfectly seriously in agreement.

Now, this was no ignoramus. This was a well-educated, well-spoken young man. I said, 'Well, are you and this young lady going out together regularly?'

'Oh yes. We're getting engaged next year.'

'Well then, you've clicked ... and now you're courting. I don't think I left them very much the wiser.

When I was in the car going home, I began to think to myself, 'That word is dying. Isn't it sad for an intelligent young man like that never to have heard the word courting before, and not to even know what it means?' So I started thinking of words I hadn't heard lately ... and so you might know, that's what this book is about. It's nearly a history book in its funny little way.

We know about all the wonderful, marvellous new things that have been invented during this century and are still being invented - things we would never have dreamed possible when I was growing up - but I don't think I had realized before how many familiar things were rapidly disappearing. I can remember so many words from when I was a child, words and expressions my mother used all the time, but it dawned on me, for the first time that day, that I haven't heard many of them for years. Words like mardy - 'Oh don't be so mardy!' if somebody's guerning - another good word. And kistey. If we left a bit of food on our plate, she would say, 'Oh don't be so kistey.'

Will there soon be nobody left who knows how to use a rubbing stone or a dolly-tub? How to black-lead a coal-hole or make a goose-grease vest? Play with a whip and top or dance the fox-trot?

It's a different world, but I hadn't noticed it altering. If you're as old as I am, I hope you'll enjoy being reminded of a bygone age, days of farthings and silver threepenny bits and florins, and that this little book will bring you a few happy memories. If you're still young, like the couple who set me off thinking about these things in the first place - please read on - this will be an education!

To show you just how different everything was in my young day, I have also included advertisements taken from a collection of contemporary weekly magazines and theatre programmes. I am confident they will astound you!

(Continues...)

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Excerpted from Thora Hird's Book of Bygones by Thora Hird Copyright © 1998 by Zondervan. Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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