Who can remember the day's that if you went onto a bus, with a 10bob note (10shillings)
or very rarely but the odd-time with a £1note, (i.e. it was only about threehappence half-fare)
and I think either thruppence or four pence (full-fare into town) and as there was 240pennies in a £1 at that time, I got a look aff the bus lassie that would have changed Hitler's mind about trying too conquer Britain. Then she to get her own back at you, would give you your change in as many pennies that she could muster, once you had that lot of penniesin your pocket (mind a lot of guy's wore elasticised trouser braces in those day's, so you ended up looking like you where wearing LONG SHORTS,) changed day's right enough as far as I last heard you daren't go on a bus now unless you have at least £1. But in saying that most of the crew on them buses were very good with the public, some o,they bus lassies had great patter, and had a lot to put up with,aff the cheeky weans and the drunk's but they soon put them in their place. One thing I could ever understand though, was the famous shout of the bus lassies, was c'mon get aff the bus coz we'ar noo leavin, till ye dae.
I'll end this by saying and i'm sure for all who remember those day's, thank god that we had those buses, drivers and the clippies, as they were to my mind the hub of the wheel, as we depended on them all so much, to get to school, also to get to work, and for getting us to and from our socializing.
So three cheers for the DOUBLE DECKER BRIGADE.

Another wee earner was also going round the doors asking for any beer bottles[I think it was thuppence for an empty big bottle and one penny for the dump size[small] and a tanner for an empty cider bottle[2pints] I can assure you it was heavy work, as when after a few days or so when the sacks eventually got filled, it was a case of either getting the sack onto your back for the walk down into the town, we where fortunate to get hold of an old pram to use as a barrow, then there was the one's who made a boggie [a go-cart] there was no money for the bus, at least until you got your emptys cashed in I should state all or most of the bottles had a stamp on them determining which licenced-grocer or pub they came from, so you had to put them in their categories. If an establishment took an unstamped bottle from you it was at a reduced rate. Bearing in mind the ages of the collectors where maybe 8--14yrs old its true to say that many the dreg in a bottle that got finished off [I mean why carry all the extra weight in the sack[ha ha] I personally was not guilty of that, but in later years----oh well that is another story.

Looking at some of the old pictures brought back a few memories.

I don't know if you already are aware, there used to be a farm just up from the Dubbs Road shop's it was owned by people called Campbell [adjacent to Dunn's farm] every so often the farmer or his son [Ian] would run around the schemes with the tractor and trailer, and collect the [brock] this was old vegetables, and give the householder's a few eggs or potatoes, the brock was for the animal's.
The truth is there was not very much if anything thrown away in the 50,s as people burnt their own rubbish in the coal-fires I'm sure anybody who worked on the midden motor's in those days would verify that it was more or less only ash that they collected. They carried a huge basket on their back and went round to the back garden where the big metal bin was so as to empty the ash into it, that was heavy graft those guys done. Even that ash wasn't wasted as it was used for snow and ice purposes in the winter also garden levelling. There were of course bottles and cans in the bins but an awful lot of household rubbish was burned by the householders, it fairly saved on the coal.
One last thing as it is the port-fair im sure many people will remember
going into the modern cafe [where the blindmans garden is now bottom of Princess Street.] It was great going in there for the plates of hot-peas and vinegar, I mind it was Mary Hunter was the manageress. Later to work in Amadi,s over in Bridgend Avenue.
My apologies as I said at the top just a wee note, but once the old memory gets rattled, a note turn's into a novel so to speak.

Written by P O'Hagan

What I remember

I thought you may be interested to know that, as a wee money earner,we used to go around the houses asking for any hard breid as we called it. It was either an old shopping bag or preferrable a sack
and as they kept pigs I believe it was in that corral just to the right of the house, I remember after our hours of slogging about to collect the breid, we would be hoping it was the old lady[mrs Hogg ]who would answer the door as she would give you a bigger price for the weight, the man was more strict and stingy, it was ie: thruppence say for old white bried and maybe a tanner for ie: old rolls or brown breid, this all too place in the 1950's I can tell you truly the contents of the bags where well searched by the kids before going to the house , and sometimes if we where lucky there would be a lump of cake or dumpling, sad to say some of it would be blue-moulded, the bad bits broken off then eaten, many an arguement took place among the kids shouting the likes of " I should get that as Mrs So and So gave it to me.

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