7 chores and errands you'll probably remember doing if you grew up in the 60s and 70s

• Children often had lots of chores to complete in the 60s and 70s
• While youngsters still help out, less seems to be expected of them these days
• There are some tasks you’ll only remember doing if you grew up back then

If you grew up in the 60s or 70s, there are some chores and errands you probably remember doing.

Every household was different, but most children were expected to pull their weight to a certain extent.

Some people remember most of the weekend being taken up with various duties, and only getting to go out and play once they had finished their tasks for the day, while others got off much more lightly.

If you were lucky, your parents rewarded you with the money to go and watch a film or buy some sweets, but in many households the chores were simply what you were expected to do.

While many children still have to do chores, there are some tasks that no longer exist in the modern household.

How many of the chores and errands below do you remember doing as a child?

Washing the dishes

Before dishwashers, everything had to be washed by hand.

That task often fell to the children, with one sibling expected to wash the dishes and the other to dry them.

You had to do it properly too. As one person recalled: “If mum pronounced the dishes not washed properly, they all went back in the sink for a do-over.”

Buying cigarettes for your parents

Children were often given money and a shopping list and sent out to get the groceries back in the 60s and 70s.

Many were even expected to pick up cigarettes for their mum and dad. Sometimes they were given a note, but often the shopkeeper knew the family and would be happy to sell them.

While it was illegal to sell cigarettes to children, this was poorly enforced in the 60s and 70s, unlike today, when test purchase operations are often carried out to catch shopkeepers selling to underage customers.

Fetching in the coal

Many households still relied on coal fires to heat the house in the 60s and even the 70s, before central heating became the norm.

Children would often be given the dirty task of taking the scuttle and fetching in the coal. They might also have to empty out the ash pan if they were unlucky.

Folding the laundry

Back in the 60s and 70s, the dirty tasks like bringing in the coal were often left to the boys, while the girls would be expected to help with the laundry.

That meant hanging the clothes out, ironing them, if you were old enough, and folding them ready to be put away.

Back then, people tended to be more meticulous when it came to ironing and folding clothes, too, with many families ironing even their underwear and hankies.

Polishing your school shoes

Parents and teachers used to be much stricter when it came to the state of your shoes.

Many children were expected to take responsibility for keeping their shoes shining, and they would often polish them on a Sunday, ready for the new week.

Putting out the empties

Most households still got their milk delivered in the 60s and 70s, and that meant bringing the milk in and putting out the empty bottles.

This task was often left to the children.

What household chores do you remember doing as a child in the 60s and 70s, and did you get paid for them?

If you’re after more 60s and 70s nostalgia, you might like this look back at the things anyone who went to school then will remember.