Terrible Times for Children during Bradford's Textile Revolution
The Cost of Living
The panels in the Terrible Times for Children display introduce children to pre-decimal currency, which was in use until 1971:
20 shillings (s) in a pound - the decimal equivalent of a shilling is 5p.
12 pennies (d) in a shilling
240 pennies (d) in a pre-decimal pound
By 1945, a fourteen year old mill-worker’s weekly wage would have been 14 shillings, 1½ pence. Child workers would have been expected to give most of their pay to the family. This was called ‘tipping up’. The display in the Weaving Gallery shows children what groceries they could have bought with their wage in 1945. A selection of prices is given below:
Pint of milk…………………….2d
Loaf of bread…………………..4d
Dozen large eggs…....................1s 6d
1lb Pork sausages……………...1s 3d
Small tube of toothpaste……….6d
Toothbrush…………………….1s 3d
Bar of Soap…………………….4d
Mars Bar……………………….6d
Kit Kat……………....................2d
“I actually got 11 shillings a week, of which I was allowed to keep a shilling for myself and ten shillings went in the home, which was a Godsend.”
“I tipped up my wage to my mother until I got married when I was 22.”
Learning article provided by:
Bradford Industrial Museum, Home of Horses at Work |
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