Monday 26 March 2012

Bringing up baby

About 30 years ago, a push chair something like this was the one to choose for baby...


... now they are all like this one.


The fashionable car for young mothers was this one...


... and now it is more likely to be this one.

I wonder what that says about lifestyle aspirations, and I wonder how those aspirations are going to be knocked about by the growing rich/poor divide in Britain.

The push chair at the top is - in fact - a copy of a French design which was popular at the time (forgotten the name), and even in those days, they cost so much to buy new that they usually had to be bought by the grandparents - I know ours did.

It's a case of 'no expense spared for new baby', and although his parents would be quite happy using one that has been grown out of by a friend's kid, Grandad would not hear of it. This is how Mothercare made so much money.

As far as the cars go, the French pulled off their usual stunt in selling crap products to their traditional enemies by supplying millions of almost undrivable 2CVs to us at grossly inflated prices, and thousands of young mothers who had just passed their driving tests desired nothing more than to acquire the most difficult car to drive for a beginner ever designed.

I used to drive 2CVs quite a lot, and on more than one occasion, I failed to notice that at least one tyre was completely flat for about 5 miles - such was their handling. Grossly inflated prices with grossly under-inflated tyres. Bad combination.

They are still selling massive, brand-new 4X4s to young mothers today despite petrol prices, but you can get hold of a second-hand Range Rover with 40,000 miles on it for about £2000 now - a saving of about £33,000, but - only the best will do for new baby!

22 comments:

  1. A 2CV in the UK is regarded as rubbish, and as such demands a price of about £400. Here they are regarded as collectors cars, and sell for £4,000.

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    1. It is now impossible for me to delete any comments, including my own. Make the most of it.

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  3. I do like the Range Rovers - one of the best cars round for years. Expensive to maintain, mind you, whereas the Defenders are much more manageable. I've been looking for a white automatic one for ages.

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    1. You can get white ones with attractive rust-red spots for not much money.

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  4. the 4 x 4 s at the village school lumber past the cottage from 8.30 in the morning.... I hate them because the yummy mommies inside are so high up on the road they can peer into our kitchen when I am sipping my coffee in my undies

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  5. The pushchair was the McClaren wasn't it Tom ? We had one for our children and, I remember going to Spain, and the wheels were hopeless on the stony, sandy pavements.
    ...... and,4x4's seem to be getting bigger and bigger by the day.

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    1. That's the one - same name as the racing car. The racing cars came to a dead stop on gravel too.

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  6. I drive a min-van with four kids and a dog stuffed in it. A 2CV would be a step up!
    m.

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  7. You see I like the 2cv's which either makes me a fucking idiot or a total Francophile, or both.

    I've noticed that since petrol prices have reached all time highs and we are all doomed to spending the rest of our lives in a double, no triple dip recession, (cheerful ain't I) the number of 4x4's and huge pic-up's (driving over and recycling 2cv's) has increased enormously. What's that all about?

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  8. What I loved about the McClaren was that it was so light and folded up so easily. It was actually possible to hold the baby with one arm and have the buggy over the other. Necessary when climbing aboard the number 30 bus in Washington, DC!

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  9. My babies had a 'push chair" for about 9 months. Once they learned to walk it was their turn to push me. We don't believe in babying our babies on this farm!!

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  10. My car was a Renault 4 with the gear handle on the dashboard - I never did really master changing gear in it.

    As for the push chair - a hand-me-down.

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    1. I had one of those too - I much preferred it to Citroens.

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  11. As soon as a woman finds out that she is pregnant, the couple feel it is necessary to buy that 4x4 or mini van. Don't understand it. Even though I had four children, I would rather be crowded in a sedan than drive those tanks.

    My daughter had one of those big carriages for her girls, and at one time had a double one. The damn thing was so hard to maneuver and drove me crazy when we had to shop together. Many times she borrowed the umbrella stollers that I kept at my house and shopping was much faster.

    Simple is better.

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    1. Quite right Weaver - and another thing: Whatever happened to suitcases? Everyone now uses those things on wheels with extendable handles that you don't have to actually LIFT and produce all that ghastly clatter as they trundle down the street.

      Sometimes the noise is appalling here in Bath, and all those young tourists are losing the little strength they ever had in their arms. PICK THE BLOODY THINGS UP!

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    2. Sorry - I meant 'Starting' - of course! (I'm tired and I'm going to bed now...)

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