Wealth As A Kid ……

charry

charry

Well-known Member
Location
UK
What was something , that you thought was an indicator of wealth , when you were a kid……..

Having a TV and ..A house phone ,
we had a back Loo, but also an inside Loo…….😵‍💫so wealthy there lol…
 

I never thought about it. I grew up in a pretty homogeneous small town, and I guess the question didn't exist for me.

"Rich" people on TV seemed like everyone else. I only knew they were rich because they, or someone, said they were.

I remember a high school classmate mentioned that her house had 17 rooms. I couldn't believe it.
 
Every Saturday I use to see my friend at the bakers with her mum and they would buy four big meringe cakes carefully placed in a pink box, I thought my friend's family must be ever so posh in comparison to us because my mum would just buy these little cakes (French Fancies).
 
I lived a very isolated life and really had no concept of rich vs poor. I do remember when my older brother came home from Vietnam, I was 11 or 12, he purchased a TV/record player/radio console for my mom, it was the first luxury I remember(and about the only) I thought that was very cool, but, well it was moms so not really for me to use. lol
 
Trish said:
Every Saturday I use to see my friend at the bakers with her mum and they would buy four big meringe cakes carefully placed in a pink box, I thought my friend's family must be ever so posh in comparison to us because my mum would just buy these little cakes (French Fancies).
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ha ! I used to think the same about people who bought cakes at the bakers, because my mum could never afford real cakes.. she could only afford to buy day old Tea-bread.. which had been reduced in price..

I knew we were richer than people who lives in the slums of our city.. because they had to share outside toilets in old slum tenements.. but we didn't have to do that, we had an inside bathroom.. even tho' I knew we were poor, we were still richer than many people..
 
When I was a teenager Mouton jackets (anyone old enough to remember these?) were the rage...I knew my parents could not afford to buy me one....my mother worked at a sewing factory and she eventually did surprised me with one, no telling how many hours she had to work to pay for it.
 
Pappy said:
I think anyone who had a new car. We always had clunkers, most of them with 6 volt systems that never started in the cold weather.
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same with us... my father had 2 cars when I was little, neither lasted longer than when they needed a repair because he couldn't afford to have them fixed..

We didn't have central heating.. nor did we have carpets on our floors at home either.. and I was 14 before we had a fridge ( except for the built in fridge we had in a Prefab house) ..never had a freezer..
 
I am sure I never thought much about it as a kid. Average home, average neighborhood with lots of neighbors and kids my age, safe to play outside until Dad called us in for the night. I did know I had to babysit, take in ironing, or do odd jobs to earn my spending money. Also, if I wanted anything extra at all, I had to work to earn the cash for it.
Looking back, we didn't have much money, but both parents worked, and we always had essentials and our home was comfortable.
 
Wealth as a kid for me was that entertainment console that my parents bought. A combination of radio, TV, and record player. Relatives or friends would come over with their records and we would listen to them, and they could listen to our records. Relatives would come over and we would listen to the Grand Old Opera on the radio. The TV we all watched was like family time watching “The Wonderful World of Disney”.
 
When I was really little I was impressed by moms that had a car (my mom had a bicycle). Then in elementary/middle school, the rich people were the ones with houses in the newer suburb that had slightly bigger homes with brick facades.

In High School I was only impressed by people who lived in very expensive large homes. I remember going to a party at one guy's house and they had artwork all around the rooms and the paintings had their own lighting. All we had at home was one painting (which I eventually learned was just a cheap print). Also he had really good grammar -- I asked 'Can I use the phone' and he replied 'Yes, you may' - I was so impressed (and embarrassed).
 

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