When I was a teenager in the mid 1960s my friends and I were all caught up in the fashions and music of the times. We lived in a remote area, money wasn’t plentiful and as we were still at school we didn’t have spending money apart from a bit of pocket money.
The latest single (known as a 45) was saved up for or, if you had a birthday coming, up you might be bought it as a present. At home, my dad bought a reel to reel tape recorder, I remember it was a Grundig TK14. We used to tape pop songs from the radio (I believe it was illegal but we didn’t know that) by holding the microphone near to the speaker of the transistor radio. The quality must have been terrible but we were happy! You had to be smart on the record button to make sure you didn’t get the presenter’s voice at the beginning and end of the song.
My brother, sister and I used to have fun pretending to be radio presenters and putting our own commentary on the tape in between songs.
I loved Honey magazine and used to read each issue cover to cover many times. My mum was an excellent knitter and sewer and made most of our dresses, jumpers and cardigans. Once I spotted a delightful green dress in my magazine and showed it to my mum. She copied it for me by combining three different dress patterns and I was SO proud of it! I think I wore it all the parties and dances I went to that year. The picture and the patterns aren’t the actual ones but similar.
I had a lovely pair of cream T-Bar shoes for best which I wore throughout one year with a camel coloured A-line dress. The following year camel was out and turquoise was big so I bought a Lady Esquire shoe dye and dyed the shoes turquoise. My sister and I also used to use Dylon dyes to give clothes a new look.
One winter, when capes were in fashion, I longed for one. My mum had an old policeman’s cape which had belonged to my dad’s policeman brother. She cut it down for me, put new fastenings on it and lined it with emerald green satin from one of her old dance dresses. I thought it was fabulous!
Childhood Memories of growing up in the 1950s and 1960s. 
Honey magazine! I remember that. I also liked Petticoat, even though it was aimed at a slightly younger age group. And I used to enjoy Woman. Out here we called it English Woman, as there were other magazines with the same title. I often remember how positive and practical it was, with an emphasis on making yourself look affordably good by choosing what suited you, regardless of whether you were tall, short, slim, plump, fair or dark. Plus nice knitting patterns, good recipes (I learnt to cook by trying them) and a real variety of articles and fiction. A far cry from todays’ mags, which seem to be mostly about celebs.
The most popular magazine here was the NZ Women’s Weekly; the Australian Women’s Weekly was well-read too, and still exists as a monthly magazine.
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I love to hear about how things were half way across the world – a lot of similarities although we didn’t have Petticoat. My mum used to get some great knitting patterns from Women’s Weekly. Thanks for sharing. Meryl
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Such great memories.
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Thanks!
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I used to get Honey, too. Though probably not regularly. Did you get into Fab and the other teen magazines, later?
I also used to dye my shoes (sandals or boots, usually. While I wore them, I hated shoes.) But my mum wasn’t good at sewing, best she could turn her hand to was hemming. My grandmother was a seamstress but I don’t recall her making anything for me.
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Yes! I’d forgotten about Fab! My sister used to like Jackie magazine. Meryl
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