#and bridesmaid dresses for her and patch's wedding at my grandparent's house

[firealder2005]

Infodump, infodump, infodump!

If yes or used to please say in the tags whats it's name,what animal it is and how old it is"

[katherinehillbcu]

Mum

In order for me to find out more about Mum and help me understand her, I composed questions which I put to my dad, his brother and sister. This gave me a further insight into the person she was.

Mum saw the best in everyone, she was friendly and homely and hated confrontation.

She had a sense of humour, was honest and had a good relationship with her elder sister, Mary and her family. She also maintained her friendships with a few, very good, long-standing friends.  As a family they would often spend Sundays together visiting family and friends.

When the Second World War broke out Mum was 11, and it then greatly effected her teen life. Her family had to move our of their urban house in Birmingham to more rural location, to avoid the expected bombing raids on the city. Due to war time rationing, her family, like everyone, had to make the most of what provisions, including food were available. Although her family weren’t majorly affected by the war at the time, it was clear in later years, the affects of it. She therefore grew up to be fairly frugal and tired to make the most of what she had. She didn’t like to waste food and would ensure that as a household they didn’t throw things away unnecessarily. This lead to being resourceful and making the most of what was available, including making and adapting her own clothes. Her ability to make clothes came primarily from Make Do and Mend. Both Mum and her sister learnt how to make make the best of what they had and how to create new things from clothes they already had or no longer wanted. 

Make do and Mend was a pamphlet issued by the British Ministry of Information. It was created to provide women and housewives with useful tips on how to be resourceful but also stylish in times of rationing. It allowed women to be creative with what they had. It showed them how to make mens clothing into women's, how to create patches that were both practical and decorative and how to protect their clothing from moths.  These were all things that Mum was taught and as a result of it made many clothes for herself, including her wedding dress.  I hope to take inspiration from the Make Do and Mend culture within my dress. I want to incorporate fabrics that will be reused and up cycled. I have lace curtains I have been given which I feel tie in nicely to convey how Mum learnt to make her clothes through Make Do and Mend.      

During the war time years her father died due to poor health. Her mother remarried and she became very fond of her stepfather and two elder stepbrothers. Mum went to King Edwards Grammar School for girls in Birmingham. It was at this school where she met one of her longest standing friends, Joyce.The were both awarded the Creak Memorial Prize for being good students, and represented the school at tennis. After school she went on to study physiotherapy in Birmingham and worked full time at Wordsley Hospital.  

Mum got married to my Grandad (know as Pop) on 5th September 1953. They married in Hagley church and had their reception in the back garden of her family home. Both of her parents had died, so her stepfather gave her away and she had her oldest friend and husband’s niece as her bridesmaids.

Mum made her wedding dress and I remember as a child, her telling me stories about it and being fascinated at the fact she’d made her dress. One story that stuck with me was when she lost the fabric for her dress in a toilet. She’d travelled to London with her sister to buy the fabric. She bought it on the roll ands had to manoeuvre it back to the midlands. They were getting the train home  from Marylebone station and it was only when they’d found their seats did she realised she had left the roll of fabric in the toilets.  I remember her recalling the panic she had and laughing, when she then had to run back to rescue it. 

My grandparents went to Cornwall for their honeymoon, a destination they continued to go too for many years on family holidays and where all their children and family’s (including my own) have been on holidays regularly. On the way back they brought a cocker spaniel. They continued to have cocker spaniels throughout Mums lifetime.  

Her relationship with my Grandad (Pop) was close. They depended on each other and wanted to make each other happy. She was very supportive of Pop. They both took a great interest in their children’s hobbies and worked hard to make them the best experiences for their children. Pop had a great interest in sailing, which he particularly enjoyed on holidays.  

As a younger woman, before she had her children, Mum played a lot of tennis. However after she had her children, she didn’t keep up this as a hobby but very much still enjoyed watching it, and Wimbledon was one go the highlights of her year. The only time the family were allowed to eat tea in the lounge, was when se was watching the tennis. She enjoyed sewing, gardening and walking the dogs, and took up evening classes to learn how to flower arrange.

As a parent Mum was kind, trusting and loving. She was rarely stern and avoided raising her voice. My dad said that as a child he would be more scared of his dad than he was of his mum. My auntie said 'We always had clean clothes, were well fed and she was happy to ferry us about to school, matches, etc. She was fair, loving and I think proud of our achievements’. She would put her family first and made sure they were well provided for.

Mum was not influenced at all by the celebrity culture of the time. Celebrities in the 50’s weren’t seen as they are now. There was nowhere near as much media coverage and no such thing as social media.  There was limited television, with what there was being focused on providing information rather than entertainment. Newspapers more concerned with reporting facts and stories rather that promoting celebrity culture. Mum saw fame as  nothing more than a side affect of a persons job. However, Mum did enjoy watching light entertainment shows on television including  Morecambe and Wise and comedies with her favourite actress June Whitfield.

In the late 50’s when she had my auntie she gave up work to raise her children. This was common in the 50’s as any women were housewives. She worked a lot to ensure her family had what they needed.

She went back to work part time in the late 60’s, once her children were at school. The fact she worked part time meant that she was she was always there for her children when they came home from school.

I asked both my dad, auntie and uncle if they felt they had a close relationship to Mum. My dad and auntie said they felt they were problem children to her when they were teenagers and they became closer to her in later years. Whereas my uncle said he felt he was closer  to her as a child. My auntie said ‘My relationship with her was best after I had had David and Heather (my cousins)’. She loved having them to stay and taught them useful skills like baking and also taught heather to sew.

In her later years, Mum depended on my Dad for support, both practically and emotionally. This was easier as, my family lived close and were more accessible to her. However she also saw many of the Pop’s characteristics in my father.

All in all she lived a very happy and contented life, centred largely around her family.