Front Parlour
 

As I now live in a 3-bedroomed semi box, just wondered if the people of Hyndburn still only open their front parlour on Sundays and special days when visitors come. Does seem sensible to utilize this room more to me, however, I always felt a little excitement and knew was going to be a special day when my dad made up the fire in the front.

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We never referred to our front room as a parlour and it wasn't kept "special". The piano was in there (both my parents played and my brothers and I had lessons) and so was the record player and a radio. It was, basically, just another sitting room and I used to do my homework there - accompanied by Radio Luxembourg and the "Goon Show". :)

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same as willow my grans was only used on special occasions,she called it the parlour! ours though was were the sideboard was- on which every friday evening was placed the club books ( sometimes with the money )lol but mam called ours the front room.:)

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I could never understand why people with small houses, two up, two down, didn't use one room most of the time. I think things changed when everybody got TVs - you couldn't fit it into the back kitchen, so it went in the front room.

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I remember my Nan's parlour being used for special occasions. We never went in there as kids as we would mess up, but it had a glass door and we used to peep through it regularly.

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As I recall, the front room was used at Christmas or when the chimney in the back room was being swept, rather a long messy process in the pre-vac days! Having to eke the coal out was a prime factor in the room not being used regularly, but it was such a treat when we had a fire in there, no furniture in it, mind you. Afraid it's a different world, as I have to remind myself several times each day - no-one thinks twice about heating now!! It was second nature in the forties and fifties.

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I Thought It Was Only Used For Laying Out Dead Boddies.

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The only time we were allowed into the front parlour was to polish tha brasses. Wouldn't want shares in Brasso these days . . .

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For the first 14 years of my life we lived with my Grandma who had very strict rules regarding "The Parlour". For most of the year it was a cold dimly lit place that smelled of mothballs, but at Christmas and special occaisions Gran used to take a shovel full of fire from the living room and place it in the grate in the parlour, which was quite a risky business but luckily there were no mishaps, you could smell the coal smoke for hours after the fire had been moved, but after the fire got established and the room warmed up it became rather cosy, I remember the winter evenings with the Christmas decorations reflecting the flickering firelight.

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Well, G-C .. this is quite true, was used for this purpose on many occasions and you could go and view the deceased over a couple of days. Not done though now, is it ?

In actual fact, my Grandma lived with us in the front until she died when I was 13 and the bed was taken out and the coffin placed in there with the curtains drawn. It was the first dead person I had seen and very impressionable >> wished I hadn't, this was my last sighting of my Grandma and left this image of her on my memory for quite some time. For about a year after this, used to scurry in and out of that room very quickly, as with no central heating, only added to the cold and sombre atmosphere.

Then, of course, became the 'best' room and much more cheerful, gas fire was installed so would become lovely and cosy within 5 minutes, but still only used for special occasions.

Lots of people had the lobby wall knocked down which made the room more accessible and used daily.

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I think my Grandma must have been the same as most of the ones previously written about...except we were allowed into the front room on a Sunday, because that is where the Bible was kept.....we were not really encouraged to play any games on a Sunday....and to play Cards was a cardinal sin....we were allowed to sit quietly and read books and of course we were steered towards the big family Bible.....I quite liked looking at the pictures......but to be honest it wasn't a comfortable room to be in...the sofa was a horsehair contraption and it used to prickle my legs. Goodness it sounds like a different world doesn't it?

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It WAS a different world, Margaret. We didn't have the disposable society - you got a cooker when you got married, and it saw you out! The furniture in the parlour was for best - these days people are trying to claim on their insurance for sofas that have been ruined because their children have jumped up and down on them - what would our Grannies have said?!

I can remember a shovel of coal being carried through at my Auntie Nellie's - I loved the smell it left behind!

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Oh Katex i am sorry, i diddent mean to bring back bad memories...its just how i remembered parlours......when your a child ,creepy places

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Pendy....was the smell from when a lump of coal dropped on the coco matting? And what about exploding coal....I think it used to be because there were pieces of slate in with the seam of coal....but once a bit of coal exploded and broke the mirror in the living room....gran was distraught and thought it was an omen that someone in the family was going to die!

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I think it was just the hot coal on the metal shovel, Margaret, lovely and whiffy. I loved baking days, too, and the smell of an apple dumpling steaming in its cloth - oooh, me back teeth are standing in water!

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Mine too Pendy...what did you have to go and do that for :) ?

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me gran had a thick green table cloth on the front room table, what was that stuff called? can,t for the life remember.

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me gran had a thick green table cloth on the front room table, what was that stuff called? can,t for the life remember.

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oops,lolllll

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Wasn't the baize, was it that is still used for covering tables for conferences ?

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not sure katex don,t ring a bell? but wouldn,t back against it, was very thick material was hoping i,d remember if somebody mentioned it? old age seems to be preventing this,lol:) :)

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No, I'm wrong Cashman .. that 'aint it. Know what you mean though .. was used when table not in use, sometimes had a fringe around the edge .. got me going now :confused:

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It was Chenille......they used to have door curtains made of similar stuff too...to keep the draughts down in winter.

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We must have been poor,i remember newspaper on the kitchen table/mangle....but the front room table was polished with bees wax

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Yes, we had newspaper during the week but a cloth on Sunday. I once got a thick ear off my dad for trying to read the News of the World (it was upside down...so I was struggling) while having my tea.
The newspaper was also re-cycled into toilet paper...OK, I know this has nothing to do with front rooms.

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Good old days, I used to get the job of tearing the newspaper into squares and threading them onto a piece of string with the biggest needle you ever saw for hanging on the back of the door of the outdoor lav, and when the paper was used the string had to be untied and the process started again, my Gran never wasted anything we should be millionaires by now but we aren't.

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oh i am glad that we were not the only ones....
did anyone else have an army coat on the bed because it was so,oo cold....

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Of course, you a star :e30:

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ooo yea i remember the army coat ....damm warm too.

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What !! Gawd G-C, that's extreme, but had wool blankets with the utility logo ...
summat like two pacman smilies, which doesn't translate on here for some reason, (turns into a sticking out tongue smiley.) Think my brother still got them somewhere.

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I had mi Dad's great coat on mi bed. Your right Mez it was nice n warm.
My nana had a big polished table it had a peace of felt underneath and newspaper on top unless it was a special occasion then she would put a white table cloth on it.
On special occasions out would come the china tea service, silver taypot n glass fruit bowls.
dose any body remember getting those plastic dishes free from daz soap powder that used to get full of water inside when they were washed.
They gave away plastic flowers has well.

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boddies? the cream of manchester.

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oh yes thats the best sort of boddies ,with a touch of lime..lol

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I remember those blankets Katex...they were grey and very rough...but warm..

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Ours were just the creamy ones. Think the label was summat to do with rationing, or the Co-op maybe ?

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oh my goodness, though it was only us used Dad's army great coat on the bed - so very heavy and of course very warm, espec when we had ice INSIDE the window pane.

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Tha label on the blankets was a utility mark...lots of things had them...wardrobes chests of drawers and it was to show that it was of reasonable quality, but not luxury standards...these items were prevalent after the war when resources were scarce.

I remember having Dad's army coat on the bed......four of us slept in a double bed in the back bedroom...two at the top and two at the bottom.
There were always squabbles about who had the most of the blankets and one harsh winter Ma put the greatcoat on the bed. She had a very snooty friend in our kitchen and was giving her a cup of tea when my brother shouted downstairs 'Mum, Peter has got all the overcoat and I'm cold'
Mum shouted back upstairs 'It isn't an overcoat, it is an eiderdown' - this was for the benefit of the snooty friend......further struggles ensued by my two brothers and eventually a sleeve was torn fron the overcoat......my brother got out of bed and stood on the landing and shouted downstairs 'Mum,Peter has pulled the sleeve off the eiderdown'

Yes, those were the days! We all got a clip round the ear for embarassing mum......she said we were all getting a slap so that she had 'copped the right one'.

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I remember the plastic roses with Daz......the cups and saucers with the labels from Black and green's tea.......fake pearls from Acdo soap powder.

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eh that Acdo soap powder was great... did any of you collect green shield stamps

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We had our front room a taboo area for 8 months of the year....then dad filled it with his chrysanthemums and tomatotes he grew on the allotment...was a fireplace in there...but never saw the fire lit....:( . and a wind up gramophone....HMV...with long needles you had to shove in and tighten up....dad used to play his joes loss 78,s......and us kids were playing......lipstick on yer collar......lol:)

Tal

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We had utility blankets, but I was very lucky, I had a room to myself from the age of 8. Isn't it funny, though, those utility items have lasted longer than a lot of so-called "better quality" blankets and sheets!

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They did, but remember my Mum had 'darned' them in a few places. People don't do this any more do they? Bet they don't even own a mushroom .. tee hee.

My mum cut down some of the flannelette sheets down to cot sheets for my daughter >>>> who would do that now ?