The good old days?

Abstract

A significant body of written work was produced by older people in the 1970s and 1980s reflecting back on the early twentieth century. Through the individual voice, wider social contexts were explored. Writers focused upon some key themes in order to achieve this, including childhood, work, family, the individual and politics to achieve this. The insistent belief in care and community in times of hardship is understood as a contradictory structure of feeling which spread widely during this time. Contrary to ideal type definitions of community, a close reading of texts reveals actual meanings and practices which have often been ignored in the historical record. Silences and tensions are also explored.