Pocket money memories
Remember the excitement of receiving the week’s pocket money? How much did you used to be given?
When Boom Radio – the radio station just for baby boomers – asked the question, clear memories flooded back. Listener Alison said she got sixpence every Saturday but jobs had to be done in return:
“I had to share the washing and drying up with my brother every evening. I hated Sundays when there was so much washing up to do.
My sister got a shilling for making a pot of tea every evening and my other sister got half a crown for Hoovering the house every Saturday morning. There were ten of us children and the eldest four did these chores. As one left school, we all moved up one place!”
Bren faced the same when she sought to boost her 2 shillings a week:
“When I asked my Dad ‘could I please have a little more?’ He said, ‘of course you can chuck ‘. Then pointed me in the direction of the nearest paper shop. So, there I was – 13 years old – morning and evening paper round, six days a week.”
Boom listener Marilyn told of the weekly ceremony as the treasure was handed over:
“I remember it was 3 shillings when I was 13. My siblings, being younger, got a half crown. Dad laid it out on the kitchen windowsill every Monday before he went to work”.
Early lessons on budgeting were quickly learnt, as Kev recalled: “A shilling a week, of which I spent 6d at the ABC Minors, 3d packet of poppets and 3d on a rocket lolly. But I had to walk to the cinema as the bus was 2d each way!”.
The money was all too easily spent, as Jenny in Hexham said: “It started out at 1/6d and increased slightly over the years. I’m ashamed to say it all went on sweets! My dad used to get annoyed and said money burned a hole in my pocket!”.
Wise spending was rewarded for Diane: “2/6 a week in 1963. It was increased to ten bob so I could buy a set of encyclopaedias weekly”.
Other priorities were a little more common, as Dauna illustrated: “When I was 10, in 1968, I saved up to buy my first record – a Cliff Richard album”.
Many Boom listeners confessed to a welcome bonus from beloved grandparents – sometimes pushed discreetly into a sweaty little palm accompanied by the look that said ‘don’t tell your mum’. Pete was treated to a wonderful “Half a Crown when I visited Nan and Grandad”.
Nostalgia is certainly a key part of Boom Radio, and the ‘60s and ‘70s music played by the station day and night certainly helps to evoke the memories – not least because the average age of the presenters playing the music is 70.
You can hear Boom on your DAB+ radio, just scroll through the stations and find it by its name – or ask ‘Alexa Play Boom Radio’.
Click here for how to listen to Boom Radio.
