BBC WW2 Memoirs

Well, of course, I was born long after 1940 but can identify with some of the following:

"We were born before TV, penicillin, polio shots, frozen foods, Xerox, contact lenses, videos and the pill. We were before radar, credit cards, split atoms, laser beams and ballpoint pens, before dishwashers, tumble driers, electric blankets, air conditioners, drip-dry clothes…and before man walked on the moon.
"We got married first and then lived together (how quaint can you be?) We thought fast food was what you ate in Lent, a Big Mac was an oversized raincoat. We were before disposable nappies. We had never heard of FM radio, artificial hearts, word processors, or young men wearing earrings. For us time sharing meant togetherness, a chip was a piece of wood or fried potato, hardware meant nuts and bolts, and software wasn’t a word.
"In our day, cigarette smoking was fashionable, grass was mown, coke was kept in the coalhouse, a joint was a piece of meat you ate on Sundays and pot was something you cooked it in.

Those born before 1940 must be a hardy bunch when you think of the way in which the world has changed and the adjustments we have had to make. No wonder there is a generation gap today — but, by the Grace of God, we have survived!"
(Abridged from Mr. Bridge’s Tea Towel)

'WW2 People's War is an online archive of wartime memories contributed by members of the public and gathered by the BBC. The above is accredited to Joyce Gibson.

I didn't realise that penicillin wasn't in use before the war. I hadn't really given much thought as to when radar was invented either. But yes, in my youth smoking cigarettes was deeply fashionable, oh dear.