LAYING OUT THE RED (ORANGE & YELLOW) CARPET...

Hard as it may be for some of you less ancient readers

to believe, fitted carpets in houses were not always the norm

back in the 1960s and '70s - at least, they weren't in my house.

We didn't get our first fitted living-room carpet 'til 1972, when
we first moved into the very house in which I now reside
as I type this strange, but hopefully interesting post.

Until then, we'd just used the same carpet from one

house to another, quite regardless of whether it adequately

fitted the floor space or not.  Any recesses along the sides, or
extra space at the back of the room were filled with linoleum,
providing a flat, smooth area on which to play with wind-up
robots, DALEK Rolykins, or toy cars by CORGI,
DINKY, TRIANG, and MATCHBOX.

Regular readers will be fed-up hearing how my family

moved to another house in 1983, but 'though it was a much

larger house, it had a smaller living-room, so our fitted carpet
from '72 was cut down to meet the dimensions of our new liv-
ing-room.  Regular readers will be equally fed-up hearing how,
in 1987, we moved back to our former home.  We got a new
fitted carpet for the living-room, and our old one was
used for the hallway and staircase.

Until then, our staircase carpet, as was common at

one time, ran down the middle of the stairs and was held

in place by sliding clamps, embedded in the painted wooden

margins on either side of the carpet.  No doubt the concept of

carpets that don't fit from wall-to-wall will seem like a sign of
poverty or deprivation to anyone under 30, but it was once
quite standard in British homes, regardless of a family's
income or perceived social status.

Now, if you're a mere youngster, the dates I listed

will seem like prehistory to you, but, to someone my age,

they won't seem like that long ago.  So, to recap:  First fitted

living-room carpet in 1972, and first fitted stair carpet in 1987.

(And just to complete the picture, we didn't get our first colour

TV until 1975 or '76.)  If you're a similar age to me, does this

match your experience of growing up, or did you live in

opulent splendour, with fitted carpets and colour TVs

in every room?  Do tell.

What I find hard to get my mind around is that our

old living-room carpet served that purpose for 15 years,

before changing careers and becoming a hall and staircase

carpet, a position it's fulfilled for nearly 29 years now.  Yet

it seems like only a few short years ago that it was cover-
  ing our living-room floor.  How time flies, eh?   

Posted in: Cartoons