In the 1950s, housewives (and the very occasional househusband!) in Scotland would write into The Sunday Post with tips on running a household. Some of those inventive, sometimes baffling tips were collated into a series of books and now a podcast which asks: are these tips useful to today’s householders?
Pass It On: funny, fascinating and useful retro household tips from the 1950s
Household tips from the 1950s – often funny, sometimes delightfully dated and dubious, occasionally even useful! Always fascinating.
Listen on:
Episodes
Wednesday Jan 01, 2020
Wednesday Jan 01, 2020
If you’re feeling a little delicate today after the Hogmanay revels, let us share with you some medical advice from the pages of The Sunday Post. Get yourself a bacon roll and some Irn Bro, and play it nice and quietly…
There are far more tips in the Pass It On books than we can cover in the podcast, but remember, you can get 20% off the books this show is based on at dcthomsonshop.co.uk, using the discount code ‘thrifty’ at checkout; that code is valid till 12 Feb 2020! Let us know what you think of the show at twitter.com/ThePassItOnPod or facebook.com/PassItOnTips, and if you know anyone who’d enjoy the podcast as much as you do – pass it on!
Wednesday Dec 25, 2019
Wednesday Dec 25, 2019
Merry Christmas, if you celebrate it, from Connie, Steve and Chris! We returned to Tenement House in Glasgow recently to record a special Christmassy episode for you, in front of an audience – just the thing to enjoy when you’re lying catatonic on the sofa, up to your eyeballs in turkey and sprouts.
And if Santa didn’t bring you a Pass It On book, remember that you can get 20% off them at dcthomsonshop.co.uk, using the discount code ‘thrifty’ at checkout; that code is valid till 12 Feb 2020! Let us know what you think of the show at twitter.com/ThePassItOnPod or facebook.com/PassItOnTips, and if you know anyone who’d enjoy the podcast as much as you do – pass it on!
Wednesday Dec 18, 2019
Wednesday Dec 18, 2019
It’s nearly the end of the year, and so Connie and Chris allow Steve an even more than usual licence to wallow in nostalgia. We’re looking forward to next week’s special show, recorded live in front of an audience, but for now, for this week, let us look back!
There are far more tips in the Pass It On books than we can cover in the podcast, but remember, you can get 20% off the books this show is based on at dcthomsonshop.co.uk, using the discount code ‘thrifty’ at checkout; that code is valid till 12 Feb 2020! Let us know what you think of the show at twitter.com/ThePassItOnPod or facebook.com/PassItOnTips, and if you know anyone who’d enjoy the podcast as much as you do – pass it on!
Wednesday Dec 11, 2019
Wednesday Dec 11, 2019
We’re thrilled to welcome Becky – the person behind the cleaning phenomenon that is Clean Mama – to the podcast for this very special episode, not least because Becky actually knows what she’s talking about! Connie, Steve and Chris put some of the Pass It On cleaning tips to Becky for her verdict, and discover to their delight that she’s doing exactly the same kind of inventive work in the US, with a simple store cupboard of ingredients, that the Pass It On housewives were doing in Scotland in the 1950s!
There are far more tips in the Pass It On books than we can cover in the podcast, but remember, you can get 20% off the books this show is based on at dcthomsonshop.co.uk, using the discount code ‘thrifty’ at checkout; that code is valid till 12 Feb 2020! Let us know what you think of the show at twitter.com/ThePassItOnPod or facebook.com/PassItOnTips, and if you know anyone who’d enjoy the podcast as much as you do – pass it on!
Tuesday Dec 03, 2019
Tuesday Dec 03, 2019
The gang are talking nylons in today’s episode – stockings that make a certain type of man blush, and which were such a feature of American GIs’ time in the UK. Plus there’s talk of how they don’t make umbrellas like they used to, and a throwback to Connie’s beloved meat stilts from right at the start of the podcast!
There are far more tips in the Pass It On books than we can cover in the podcast, but remember, you can get 20% off the books this show is based on at dcthomsonshop.co.uk, using the discount code ‘thrifty’ at checkout; that code is valid till 12 Feb 2020! Let us know what you think of the show at twitter.com/ThePassItOnPod or facebook.com/PassItOnTips, and if you know anyone who’d enjoy the podcast as much as you do – pass it on!
Wednesday Nov 27, 2019
Wednesday Nov 27, 2019
In the second of our two-parter on staying cosy and dry, Chris remembers freestanding gas heaters with terror, Connie tries to convince the boys that ‘woggles’ are a thing everyone knows, and we ask Steve what he thinks of Starbucks. Oh, and there are some handy tips from the 1950s as well!
There are far more tips in the Pass It On books than we can cover in the podcast, but remember, you can get 20% off the books this show is based on at dcthomsonshop.co.uk, using the discount code ‘thrifty’ at checkout; that code is valid till 12 Feb 2020! Let us know what you think of the show at twitter.com/ThePassItOnPod or facebook.com/PassItOnTips, and if you know anyone who’d enjoy the podcast as much as you do – pass it on!
Wednesday Nov 20, 2019
Wednesday Nov 20, 2019
As the cold weather starts to bite, join Connie, Steve and Chris for the first of a two-part episode on keeping cosy and dry. Steve shares a tip that reminds him of his grandmother (and makes us yearn for stoneware hot water bottles!), Connie is forced to confront the reality of Steve’s underwear, and Chris is clearly in the pocket of Big Duvet as he shills hard for electric blankets.
There are far more tips in the Pass It On books than we can cover in the podcast, but remember, you can get 20% off the books this show is based on at dcthomsonshop.co.uk, using the discount code ‘thrifty’ at checkout; that code is valid till 12 Feb 2020! Let us know what you think of the show at twitter.com/ThePassItOnPod or facebook.com/PassItOnTips, and if you know anyone who’d enjoy the podcast as much as you do – pass it on!
Wednesday Nov 13, 2019
Wednesday Nov 13, 2019
Steve promises ‘a Connie episode’ this time round, as he rifles through the Pass It On books to find tips about personal grooming. But it soon becomes clear just how ignorant the boys are of a modern woman’s beauty regime, and frankly, it’s just a ruse for him to quiz the poor girl about her acrylic nails.
There are far more tips in the Pass It On books than we can cover in the podcast, but remember, you can get 20% off the books this show is based on at dcthomsonshop.co.uk, using the discount code ‘thrifty’ at checkout; that code is valid till 12 Feb 2020! Let us know what you think of the show at twitter.com/ThePassItOnPod or facebook.com/PassItOnTips, and if you know anyone who’d enjoy the podcast as much as you do – pass it on!
Wednesday Nov 06, 2019
Wednesday Nov 06, 2019
It’s back tae al’ claes and purrich today, as the gang convenes for a regular episode after the excitement of our Tenement House special. All the usual good stuff is here – excellent tips, some personal revelations, and Connie having a go at Steve’s height – in this episode all about furniture. Plus, Chris ‘sings’, and… was Mrs Hinch inspired by Pass It On?
You can get 20% off the Pass It On books themselves – 🎁 as a gift for a friend or even yourself! – at dcthomsonshop.co.uk, using the discount code ‘vinegar’ at checkout; that code is valid till 20 November 2019! Let us know what you think of the show at twitter.com/ThePassItOnPod or facebook.com/PassItOnTips, and if you know anyone who’d enjoy the podcast as much as you do – pass it on!
Wednesday Oct 30, 2019
Wednesday Oct 30, 2019
In this very special extended edition of Pass It On, we visit the Glasgow home of Miss Agnes Toward, now a National Trust for Scotland property called The Tenement House. Miss Toward lived there from 1911 to 1965, and her lifestyle and that of her neighbours was exactly the sort of thing we have been discussing in looking at The Sunday Post’s Pass It On tips. How do we know? Because she herself clipped Pass It On from the paper, and they’re still in her archive today!
In this episode, Connie, Steve and Chris record on location in Tenement House, and we're joined by Rachel Campbell, Visitor Services Assistant at the property, to truly immerse ourselves in the lives of Pass It On-ers.
Remember, listeners old and new can get 20% off the original Pass It On books this podcast is based on – as a gift for a friend or even yourself! – at dcthomsonshop.co.uk, using the discount code ‘vinegar’ at checkout; that code is valid till 20 November 2019! Let us know what you think of the show at twitter.com/ThePassItOnPod or facebook.com/PassItOnTips, and if you know anyone who’d enjoy the podcast as much as you do – pass it on!