On Saturday morning I used to clean six doorsteps in our street and put rubbing stone on the edges.
I used to do errands for an elderly woman who lived near us. I had to go to the store and buy loose ‘tub’ butter – it had to be Danish, and sugar in thick blue 2lb bags. Every weekend she gave me threepence. It was a lot of money then.
On Saturday morning I used to clean six doorsteps in our street, and put rubbing stone on the edges. Everybody, except Mrs Harper, wanted white rubbing stone; Mrs Harper always wanted cream. We used to buy the rubbing stone from a man who pushed a cart round the streets. People paid me two pence for each set of steps. I took the money home to my mother. She used to give me a penny back to go to the matinee at the pictures.
In those days, at New Year, if you went to the shopkeepers and wished them a Happy New Year, they’d often give you something – an orange, or an apple, or a few sweets.