things we used to do : 11/19/2009
What happened to playing cricket with a rubber strand ball i remember taking the inner tube from my father,s bicycle and making these balls the red ones made the ball lift more and one had to play every ball off the back foot,we also had a ball call the rubber line compass that taught you how to play off your legs for if you miss your straight bone would hurt for weeks.Fireworks was also big in november we had Guy Fawkes day on the 5th that was replaced by Independence day, Jones on High Street was the place to buy them like starlights,sky rockets,romancandles,glitter fountains,bandits,knockouts,and bombs,sadly we had to stop those celebrations.What became of these sayings, Wah dah aint no big ting,Wha happun to yuh yuh panty to big for yuh,Wait till yuh trough put and then bubble,Yuh bread butter wid mongoose fat,Look monkey handlin gun,Yuh beak brek.And finally taking the cane arrows cutting them the lenght of cigarettes and rubbing the red bracts of the poinsettia plant while pretending that we smoking.MEMORIES GALORE HAPPY INDEPENDENCE BARBADOS. Mr WHITEHEAD

Limolene and Bay rum : 11/18/2009
What ever happened to limeoline and bay rum? These were used for refreshing the face and body when the days were very hot or when as children we got wet in the rain our mother would douse our heads and faces with limolene or bay rum; I believe that limocol has replaced these old time remedies. Come to think of it many other remedies have disappeared from view, e.g. Thermogene rub, Buckleys white rub, Sacrool linement, Canadian healing oil,Iodex ointment, firery jack and many more.

Movie Nights : 11/18/2009
Remember movie night on Googland pasture?
we would take sheet or blankets to sit on and
a goodtime was had by all watching Bud & lue in black/white.
And how about some Chocolate tea with dumplin in it or rice&milk?

Stick Licking : 11/15/2009
Elvis Gill of Bibby's Lane, St. Michael is still an avid stick fighter. Anyone wanting to learn this old bajan art form should contact him. he is always willing to teach.

Snuff, cigars, Toms and Saddle patches : 11/15/2009
When I was a lad it was a fairly common sight to see older people pushing tobacco snuff up their nostrils, both men and women used snuff. I remember trying it once and almost sneezed my head off. It was also a common sight to see men and some women smoking pipes, and some men, especially fisherman smoked toms or cigars while most other smokers smoked Trumpeter cigarettes. When the common means of transport was bicycles it was a fairly common sight to see men wearing large saddle patches on the back of their trousers; When I was at elementary school nearly all the male teachers rode bicycles and some of them wore saddle patches because the seats of the trousers got worned into a hole and rather than throw away the trousers (pants) it was nicely patched, some trousers were patched on the knees as well. People have become more affluent and proud to wear patches these days.

Memories : 11/13/2009
Wha happen to de old guys playing (wiss) cards at de rum shop then eating cornbeef and biscuits wid nuff pepper....while de white rum got them cussing like pirates.

flower garden : 11/12/2009
What ever happened to bordering your flower garden with some green and brown martineau bottles and 3-gill rum bottles? Indeed what ever happen to martineau drinks? What ever happend to little boys going to church in short pants? Well global warming just might bring it back. What ever happened to buying a nipple from teh country shop and putting it on a small coke bottle to feed the baby. and finally wha happent to playing 'dirty cuckoo"? boy that was fun. What happened to flying trashbone kite with onion bag cord. and saving your "pretty" kite for Easter. What happened to the singing angel with all those 'mad bulls'?

ol times : 11/12/2009
somebody remember lightning the bus driver i think it was first the St george bus comapny and G767. with a conductor name lil man Linton. 25 cents to go and see a John wayne movie at the olympic and the chinks biting u up. green Lynch school in Spry street. I was at school when the garage next door burned down a thursday afternoon. Fireworks on the fifth of novemeber and soaking a ham for 3 days and when it done boil it still salt. Jug jug at christmas and Corn Pone. De teacher that used to send me to the shop to buy cigarettes

kalyso kat : 11/11/2009
what ever happened to the calyso magazine and kalyso kat. Children playing at night when the moon is full. CLB & CGB. The little things that gave us joys as little kids growing up. Fresh food and raising chicken in the backyard fattening up the poultry for Christmas and other holidays. pitching marble oh God I can go on I do miss those days.

Carts : 11/10/2009
I remember the Mule carts, horse carts donkey carts and box carts very well, they were part of the main means of transport in Barbados in bygone years; freight carts were pulled by mules and horses to haul canes to the cane factories. They were made with four wheels and the two sides were shaped like a "V" to accommodate the canes. The ordinary carts were made like a box with two wheels and two shafts into which the animal backed into, the animal was harnessed into the shafts with chains and wore a collar around the neck, blinkers over its eye, and a bit in the mouth attached to the reins with which the animal was guided by the driver. Box carts came in varying sizes. The smaller carts were like a box on to wheels and two shafts which the user held on to to push the cart, these were used by ice cream and snow ball vendors . The wheels were made either from metal bands and wooden spokes or from rubber on rims similar to motor vehicles. The larger carts were similarly built and were used by people who sold bread etc. these were made with covers to protect the contents for health reasons. I believe that there are a few such carts in existence, but not as common a sight as in the old days; modern vendor cars are made in the form of tricycles and are ridden by the vendor.

Poison Casava & Mammy apples : 11/8/2009
Whatever happened to poison casava, and "old man's hat" that was made with casava flour. Do we still have people in Barbados extracting starch from the casava? I suppose the younger folks have lost the art of grating casava and wringing it in crocus bags to extract the starch.Even crocus bags seems to have disappeared. And what about the mammy apple fruit with its lovely aroma, I have not seen one in years, are there any mammy apple trees surviving in Barbados?

WHATEVER HAPPENED : 11/8/2009
the STEELDONKEY i remember everyday at 6pm sounds like people fighting and rocks flying round ya head and my Mom and Granny shouting at us 2 comein d house because d steeldonkey comeing HeHe REMEMBER the song d steeldonkey comeing down so clear out the way? HAHA

whatever happened : 11/7/2009
To sugar apples. and trees. They are a scarcity in BIM

Whatever happened...... : 11/7/2009
To the Liberty dance hall. I always heard it at night sometimes so loud it was as if it was across the street. I imagined growing up one day and maybe getting to see inside. It was also great having the chickens crowing in the morning. They were my alarm clock for most of my life.

WHATEVER HAPPENED : 11/7/2009
To the HEARTMAN when granny don't take shortcuts from school because the heartman is whaiteing in the canefields----

Thing we miss : 11/7/2009
Now that people are living in the developments, heights and terraces, don't they miss such simple things like the fowl cocks crowing early in the mornings (foreday morning, and what about the yard fowls yard fowl eggs and the chickens and nimbles, not to mention the fowl mess in the house and in the yard that you had to clean up daily. Also the flies and the old flit cans we had to pump up before they would spray. We hardly hear anything about DDT these days. I also remember the Guinea birds and that lovely sound they used to make; as children we put our own words to that sound which went something like this: "Joe clarke bring back ma eggs......" What ever did become of Guinea bird pumps? Talking about putting words to songs we also used to put words to the song the wood doves made: "Moses speaks God's word." I also miss the braying of donkeys and how they rolled about after being taken out of the shafts of the cart. Oh, I love Barbados, old and new.

Safety matches & conkies : 11/6/2009
Does anyone else remember when we used to call matches, frictions, and conkies, stew dumplings? Well that is also part of old Barbados, depending on where you lived.

Oil lamps, Coal pots etc. : 11/6/2009
What abou thoise oil lamps we all used because electricity was no available islandwide. We had to make sure that there was a good supply of kerosene oil, and everybody knew where to buy burners, wicks and chimneys. We had to keep the chimneys clean and many people did that buy using old news papers. As a child a weekly shore was to wash and dry the chimneys and you had to be very careful because they broke very easily,another shore was scrubbing the old flat irons for pressing clothes and when the coals got wet, fanning the cold pot was another shore. And what about the black lady with her hands in her kimber? that old cooking pot standing on three feet on bricke or rocks; what about gathering the wood for burning under those pots, the storing of the wood under the cellar to keep it dry from the rain.It is amazing that with all the wooden houses we had in those days and the widespread burning of oil lamps and cooking on open fires that there were not many more house fires. Speaking of open fires, they were good for roasting potatoes, salt fish, corn, breadfruit, nuts and a whole lot more. A trip down memory lane.

: 11/6/2009
How about Foster's Funland ?I remember going there on a bus excursion when I was younger!

Whatever Happened To? : 11/5/2009
Pulling canes from cane lorries, The lighter men who used to load those boats with the bags of sugar. the harbour police in those blue and white uniform, Mashing trash,Pitching marbles,kneeling down cricket,Walkers at funerals,Horse drawn hearse with the horses covered with a black veil,bringing water from the stand pipe,any body going to 9:30 at the Plaza or 1:30 at the Olympic?.All of 10 cents admission. Remember the chinks? Certainly you cannot forget when you got out off the theatre your bicycle, Generator, headlight, or rear lights stolen if not your whole bike. yeah those were the days. You go to the shop and get that half cent in soda Bic.buy fire wood or coals to cook that daily food. you might hop the bus to the next stop. or in the bus stand you had to fight to get on board the bus. And the big struggle to get a ticket to go into the theatre. Long walks to school all the time looking for the OUTMAN or the cane man. For toys you knit your own ball made your own toy truck or rollers.Listening to cricket on rediffusion ,Joe Tudor jokes like when the West Indies got beat in Australia it was because the australian team was used to playing in the dark.Talking about cricket what ever happened to good old time West Indies Cricket.remember that song [Cricket lovely cricket at Lords where i saw it.] Share the good old days.

The Tin smith : 11/4/2009
Whatever happened to the tin smiths, those chaps who made tots with handles for drinking; these tots were made from empty cocoa tins, condensed milk tins and large butter tins. The poor in our society could not afford to buy cups so the tin smiths were a God-send. Tin smiths also made graters for grating casava and coconut, sieves for sifting flour and corn meal and baking tins etc.These men were experts at riveting, they cut the heads off nails and used them for riveting; they also used solder for stopping leaks in utensels and soldering dripping pans.

Memory Lane : 11/4/2009
What happened to the smut lamp. The fish vendors boning their fish by the flickering light from the smut lamp. kids knocking the sour, young, green tamarinds out of the trees. Children making lorries out of polish cans for wheels and the milo can flattened to make the hood. The boxcat, the scooter with its ball-bearing wheels, the coalpot and most important what happened to the respect to our elders. To be disrepectful that meant a flogging from that person as well as when you got home. Although there were no telephones back then the news got home faster than you. Those good old days made a lot of us better men and women. Thank God for them and this trip down "Memory Lane." All smiles.

Creatures : 11/4/2009
What ever did happen to wild bees like jack-spaniards and mason bees. I do see the occasional black or brown cow bees, and drone bees, the relatives of the honey bee. Also gone missing are soldier crabs, a crab with a large shell in which it recoils if approached. as a child I had suffered many a painful sting from wild bees (jack-spaniards)while picking grapes at the sea side. They always seem to build their nests near the biggest bunch of grapes, and they always aimed for your forehead to place a lovely sting; this resulted in a swollen forehead which closed both your eyes for a day or two. I also recall the itching that occurred on your forehead when the swelling was receding. I was thinking that perhaps these bees have become extinct because of wide-spread spraying of insecticide.

elite buses : 11/4/2009
As I reminisce the elite buses were fun coming home from school i remember one bus driven by E Pilgrim M2541 I think was the number his nickname was lightning or flasher if you called him by that or pull the bell more than once it meant you would miss your stop and would have to walk back to your home he kept his food in an enamel flask underneath a green tarpaulin which covered the engine i guess that way it was kept hot and that man could curse you heard every hole when being driven by lightning,also the rediffusion was the box that rocks shows like top of the pops,kid grason rides the range,on the go,the world today,yours truly Olga,Weekly top ten on Saturday night,The Latin Scene,Sports life with Shell Harris & company,the quiet time at 2.45pm daily,Children,s party with Auntie Olga,listners trading posts,letter from america,dateline international,school,s broadcast,boy those where the days memories,

Board and Shingle buses : 11/2/2009
I remember the board and shingle buses as we used to call them before the introduction of the Mercedes Benz buses. In St Philip the red buses of the General Bus company were owned by H. A Dowding. The Crane to Bridgetown bus P148 was driven by Mr. Gibson. The Bayfield/Well House to Bridge town bus P205 was driven by a Mr. Williams, and the Marley Vale to Bridgetown bus P77 was driven by a Mr. Grafton Holder. The conductors travelled on the running board of the bus and was quite expert at moving along the running board form the front of the bus stretching over the back wheel to reach the passengers in the rear seats. When it rained, the tarpaulin sales came down both sides of the bus and it was quite difficult for passengers to see where they were going and to know when to press the button or pull the rope to trigger the bell or buzzer to stop the bus. I also recall how the conductor registered the number of passengers on board; there was a machine located at the front of the bus to the left of the driver Just over the windscreen, and there was a rope attached to the arm of the machine which ran, just below the ceiling of the bus to the rear of the bus. The conductor wold pull the rope to register each passenger and a bell would ring on the machine. So when a bus was about to leave the bus stand in Bridgetown and the conductor had collected all the fares he would pull the rope for each passenger and all you would hear is ding, ding, ding, ding until every passenger was registered. By the way, the conductor also issued tickets for fares collected, and if my memory serves me correctly, he also had a machine called a punch machine with which he punched tickets issued so that they could not be used again for another journey. Oh! the memories.

Pot Fishes : 10/30/2009
What ever happened to the old time pot fishes like chubs, mullets, barbas, rock hinds, yellow nannies, old wives (similar to terpets). In the earlier days we were able to buy these fishes by the strings, and slso plenty sea eggs, lobsters, crabs, sea cats (octopus) conchs and eels. The older folks used to say that fish is brain food.

Whatever happened to good old Rediffusion : 10/28/2009
Listening to the Request shows, serial soapsMlike Mary Lane/Aunt Mary, Dr. Paul, Life can be beautiful, Portia faces life, the Fire Fighters, Navy Lark, Journey into Space with Lemmie and Mitch, the Goon Show, A life of bliss with David Alexander Bliss. Life with the lyons, Flying high with Jim Kidd, Joe Tudor and the mighty Charmer. In the absence of Television, Rediffusion kept us alive. I can still remember the names of some of the old announcers/broadcasters: John Davey, Pat Carpenter, Drew Russell, Alfred Pragnell, Oswin Hill, Carolyn Barrow and of course O.S. Coppin on sports to name a few. The younger folks will have no idea about all this, which dates back to the 50's and early 60's.

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO? : 10/28/2009
WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THE "SNOWBALL MAN?" THAT WAS A TREAT ON SUNDAY AFTER EATING YOUR SUNDAY LUNCH, YOU WOULD WAIT TO HEAR THE BELL FROM THE CART, AND OFF WE WOULD GO FOR OUR "SNOWBALL WITH RED DYE". THOSE WERE THE GOOD OLD DAYS WHICH THE YOUNG GENERATION KNOWS NOTHING ABOUT.

3-wheel Hearse : 10/26/2009
Anyone remember being scared of the 3-wheel hearse. Back then the buses did not travel in to most villages, and every man use to hustle home, especially those folks living in Cherry Grove, and Todd's, and Woodland. It was enough to scare us school children and at 3.00 on afternoons it use to be long distance running from school to home. Many evenings I got left and cried all the way home. Our fear was seeing the 3-wheel garbage truck. It used to be jumping behind the bridge, or running across the caneground when the canes cut, or just hiding as far as you dare until you could hear the truck no more.

De-bushing by Prisoners : 10/26/2009
What happened to that exercise? The countryside used to look a lot better than it does now.

Whatever happened : 10/26/2009
Whatever happened to the Liberty buses, warry dug in the ground, marble cricket, Sunday cricket matches for sea eggs and rum.I miss these over the years.

Whatever happened : 10/25/2009
Whatever happen to the Elite buses.Oistins cinema,OR Flysticks,steel donkeys

Whatever happened : 10/25/2009
Whatever happen to the Elite buses.Oistins cinema?

What ever happened to.. : 10/25/2009
Bread carts? As children we were so excited when the 'bread cart man' arrived with jam puffs, raisin slices, etc.

Whatever Happened to? : 10/22/2009
What happened to the Wood Horse ? Man as a boy that was fun.I can remember behind Aberdeen Jones shop on bank holidays. Tuk Band, Wood Horse.Across the street he had Sticklicking.Greese Pole.Boxing.Once a man try to eat something like 20lbs.of sweet potatoes Two big sweet breads about 50lbs each and wash down with a big can of SWANK. I don't think that the kids today have any of this fun.How sad.

Whatever happened to Friendly Societies? : 10/21/2009
Friendly Society's also called lodges (not masonic lodges) but the precursors to credit unions. I remember the Buccaneer Friendly Society at Baywoods, the building is still there and is now a community center (nice) and the Mayflower Friendly Society. People paid in a little each week and then were able to withdraw some money for Christmas or getting the children into school or buying a ticket to England on the Suriento.

Whatever happened to down-falls? : 10/21/2009
Wait and what happened to "down-falls" constructed of cassava sticks and used to catch ground doves?

: 10/21/2009
I remember the Rocklyn buses. You had to remember to be smart and not sit in the back on Friday's because that is the day the hawkers went to town with big baskets of vegetables and provisions and you didn't want some no nonsense woman dropping a big basket on your foot. I remember the conductress we called "Baby Rock" she was a no nonsense woman who did not make any sport. You could't behave badly around her. She might tell your mother.I remember Gewn-Gwen, she was a softie. She is still living I believe and working fo the NCC when last I saw her. I remember the driver we called "Trini" He used to "juice" the bus when pulling up to the bus stop, that is he made a lot of noise with the engine and pulled up sharply. I suppose a kind of 1960's milkshake. We children liked it. I guess we were "bad" 1960'a kids.

images : 10/21/2009
nationnews.com...do you have pictures of these things as well? it would be good to see them

: 10/20/2009
Remember the Plaza Cinema?The first time I went there was to watch Star Wars as a 9.30am show one Saturday morning ..that one movie changed my cinema going life ..I became a Star Wars fan..I have the whole trilogy on DVD and I never tire of whatching them.The memory I have of travelling on a Rocklyn bus is the day I got soaked by the rainjust because the tarpaulian didn't come down fast enough..and I'm all of 44years old now!