The 70’s into late 80’s was a dark, dreary, sustained period of austerity, poverty and hardship.
The crash in 08 and following recession was terrible, but actually growing up in Ireland in 70’s and 80’s had a profound effect on us.
Undoubtedly it’s harder to get on the housing ladder today than it was back then, but that aside I don’t think many younger people nowadays realise just how grim and austere the 70s and 80s were.
It was just bonus cheap butter due to surplus supply thanks to EEC farming interventions. Not a special one off Christmas treat of butter. People had butter all the time in the 70s. And while yes, people had a lot less in the 70s and 80s it wasn’t as grim as is made out either. The things is, no one in the 70s and 80s was looking back from 2022 and thinking about everything we didn’t have that we do now.
Financially things were harder for my parents than they are for me. They literally budgeted down to the last penny and made more sacrifices than I have to. But there are plenty of people like that now too. Things like going to the cinema was quite literally never an option for my family, trips to the beach meant bringing a picnic as we wouldn’t be buying chips or ice-cream, etc. Again, that’s reality for lots of people now but it’s made all the harder by that being less the norm. There were certain, branded, toys I really wanted but never got to have because they were too expensive but I still had rooms full of toys.
And a lot of stuff that seems weird now was actually pretty cool. There were guys that would go around all the bakeries and buy their leftover cakes at a low price then drive around the housing estates selling them at knock off prices. The pirate video guys who’d drive around renting knock off videos and then everyone would go to the house of the family with a video player to watch it. We used to have a lemonade man in the 80s, who would deliver glass bottles of lemonade from their small lemonade factory to your door. You’d make you order for the next week, from white/red lemonade, raspberryade, limeade, cream soda and cola. They’d collect your old bottles and deliver the new. It’s odd to look back on but it was pretty great. Kids also had way more freedom to roam and play.
I love those RTE archive videos, makes me realise how grim we used to have it. Crazy how backward we were compared to the rest fof Europe.
The EU gave Ireland 53 tonnes of free cheese for Christmas in 2010 cause we were bankrupt. I’m still waiting for my share….
The intervention beef used to be handed out to SW recipients – it came stewed in tins and was delicious! 😂
Used to get butter vouchers with the dole. The local corner shop refused them with a sneer. To this day, I scarcely ever go into that shop.
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>[the 70’s were grim]
You butter believe it..
The 70’s into late 80’s was a dark, dreary, sustained period of austerity, poverty and hardship.
The crash in 08 and following recession was terrible, but actually growing up in Ireland in 70’s and 80’s had a profound effect on us.
Undoubtedly it’s harder to get on the housing ladder today than it was back then, but that aside I don’t think many younger people nowadays realise just how grim and austere the 70s and 80s were.
It was just bonus cheap butter due to surplus supply thanks to EEC farming interventions. Not a special one off Christmas treat of butter. People had butter all the time in the 70s. And while yes, people had a lot less in the 70s and 80s it wasn’t as grim as is made out either. The things is, no one in the 70s and 80s was looking back from 2022 and thinking about everything we didn’t have that we do now.
Financially things were harder for my parents than they are for me. They literally budgeted down to the last penny and made more sacrifices than I have to. But there are plenty of people like that now too. Things like going to the cinema was quite literally never an option for my family, trips to the beach meant bringing a picnic as we wouldn’t be buying chips or ice-cream, etc. Again, that’s reality for lots of people now but it’s made all the harder by that being less the norm. There were certain, branded, toys I really wanted but never got to have because they were too expensive but I still had rooms full of toys.
And a lot of stuff that seems weird now was actually pretty cool. There were guys that would go around all the bakeries and buy their leftover cakes at a low price then drive around the housing estates selling them at knock off prices. The pirate video guys who’d drive around renting knock off videos and then everyone would go to the house of the family with a video player to watch it. We used to have a lemonade man in the 80s, who would deliver glass bottles of lemonade from their small lemonade factory to your door. You’d make you order for the next week, from white/red lemonade, raspberryade, limeade, cream soda and cola. They’d collect your old bottles and deliver the new. It’s odd to look back on but it was pretty great. Kids also had way more freedom to roam and play.
I love those RTE archive videos, makes me realise how grim we used to have it. Crazy how backward we were compared to the rest fof Europe.
The EU gave Ireland 53 tonnes of free cheese for Christmas in 2010 cause we were bankrupt. I’m still waiting for my share….
The intervention beef used to be handed out to SW recipients – it came stewed in tins and was delicious! 😂
Used to get butter vouchers with the dole. The local corner shop refused them with a sneer. To this day, I scarcely ever go into that shop.
Grim looking Mercedes alright.
An unfortunate churn of events