By KATE HENSHAW
Getting ready to board my flight to the United Kingdom last week, I struck up a conversation with a comedian friend  about the times when we were a lot younger, and some of the things I recalled prompted him to ask for my age which I told him. He did not believe me, but the names of things I mentioned and recalled proved that indeed, they were before his time.

There were beverages of course, that brought back fond memories of my childhood growing up. I grew up on chocolate drinks like Pronto, Vitalo, Holicks and Choco Milo. The adverts then about these products were quite captivating, and as a child I was drawn to them. Programmes like TALES BY MOONLIGHT, DANGER MOUSE, CAPTAIN CAVEMAN, VOLTRON (defender of the universe), JIMBO (the flying elephant aeroplane), HOUSE NO 10, THE BRAIDY BUNCH, Enid Blyon’s FAMOUS FIVE with a song that goes thus: “We are the famous five, Julian, Dick and Ann, George and Timmy the dog”, ICHEOKU, HOTEL DE  JORDAN, MIND YOUR LANGUAGE, etc.

Just writing about them brings them  back to me. The times the television station, NTA would start its transmission at about 4pm with a colour bar and some long -drawn- out whining technical sound and the dancing around a big drum with about four men beating out on the top of a big drum in a circle.

Polish

I wore Bata or Cortina to school. I remember polishing them with brown polish,and when I put on my  white socks I would  notice a brownish stain… . Those shoes  were quite solid then and lasted quite long.  I also had the rubber shoes too for the rainy season. At primary school we were served lunch in class after noon.

It consisted of a tray of whatever… meal  served  with a carton of Fan milk. In primary 4 or 5, with my lunch money tightly squeezed in my hand, I would sneak out to the Kingsway fast food for some snacks or I would buy myself a can of condensed milk or a frozen ice lollipop! I also loved Kuli  Kuli, Goody  Goody and Coconut Candy ; though I suspect my poor milk—almost formed teeth took a beating from all the sugar. There was so much of the ‘forbidden fruit’ available outside the school gates and its allure was such a hard pull.

My weekends as a child were full of activities.

On Saturday, we would either be taken to the Apapa Amusement Park, where we had all the rides, and have our lips smeared and sticky with cotton candy or, we would on Sunday be treated to lunch at the Federal Palace Hotel after we had been to service at St Saviours and stopped over at the Bar Beach for a dip in the water. Oh! those times were really precious to me. I have photos of me running around in my small briefs without a care in the world and splashing around with my brothers while my dad looked on. A far cry from the Bar Beach I see now which is filled with traders and all what not. Not such a relaxing place for me now.

Whenever there was a power outage and my mum had to get our school uniforms ready for us, the charcoal iron would be a life saving tool. It had an opening where hot coals would be piled into and then a towel on the side for wiping the underneath before ironing commenced. As I grew older and was in primary six or form one, I could be trusted to wander round the neighbourhood on my own and I got conversant with Iya Risi who sold hot rice with a  pepper sauce which included small pieces of meat in it or Iya Kemi who sold Amala which I could have with Ewedu and Ponmo.

Markets
Going to the market with my mum was not something I looked forward to. The markets were always so crowded and felt like one big maze to me. My mum walked really fast round the market and if I was not right behind her or fast enough, she would turn into a narrow lane and I would lose sight of her which I hated very much. I did enjoy watching her haggle with the market women.

She would offer a price and they would refuse, she would try at least twice or thrice and then in a kind of “is that your final answer” stance, would walk away, but then she would not have gone a few paces and the trader would call her back while mumbling that they had been short changed. I am smiling now just thinking of those moments. The first time I had my lovely long black hair hot ironed for one of my birthday parties would not be forgotten either.

I loved the feel of the straightened hair and kept on touching it and glancing in the mirror at every opportunity. I guess that was why I was in a hurry to have my hair “permed” or relaxed, using my Stella pomade or Ultra sheen hair cream or Dax cream on the scalp and on the hair to give it a lasting shine.

I look back on those years with nos-talgia and wonder where all the time has gone. I am ,however, grateful for the fond memories and I say thank you to my mum, dad and siblings for the unforgettable times.