Before the project started Danvan helped hand out invites at Nerina Gardens, a complex for the elderly next door to our school.
Before the tea Danvan baked some delicious treats for the senior citizens.
Danvan’s senior citizen was his granny Elizabeth. This is what Danvan found out about his Senior Citizen, Elizabeth.
Elizabeth as a small child
I`m Elizabeth and I had one sister. I lived in Plumstead. My dad was an Insurance Manager and my mom was a short-hand typist. In those days most people were hairdressers, teachers, shop assistants and office workers. I played with tricycles and dolls, and I loved to play make-believe games..We had no computers. My mother was very strict.
Elizabeth’s Primary School Days
When I was at Primary School our desks were always in rows. The teacher wrote on the blackboard with chalk and we had no computers. I went to Rustenberg Girls’ School by train. We had very similar subjects to you – English, Afrikaans, History, geography, Science, Scripture and Arithmetic. We wrote in pencil up to Standard Four using print until Standard 2. Then we changed to cursive in pencil till Standard Four. After that we used dip pens. Computers had not been invented. If we were naughty at school we got a dsicpline mark. We had detention on Fridays or we were sent to the principal’s office. We had homework nearly every day. I liked break when we played skipping games, and a game called 5 stones.
Elizabeth as a teenager
When I was a teenager girls wore blouses and skirts with stiff petticoats. We didn’t have cell phones. In my spare time I played the piano, sang, or knitted. My family liked to listen to the radio in thevenings. In those days women loved knitting. If you wanted to visit a friend you didn’t phone them. You wrote to them or you just took a chance and visited them. I went on my first date when I was in Standard 6. I loved to go to the movies or to parties. A perfect date when you were a teenager was when your date brought you chocolate. I loved listening to music and my favourite singers were Pat Boone, Elvis Presley and Cliff Richard. I liked going to musicals especially if they starred my favourite pop singers. On Sundays we always had a roast, and on Mondays we had left overs. We had a ‘char’ to help us clean our house. I met my husband at our church.
How has South Africa changed since Elizabeth was a child?
South Africa has got very big. The towns and cities are bigger and there are more cars.
Does Elizabeth have any interesting information about his or her own grandparents?
My grandparents lived with us. My grandmother was very strict as well.
What advice can Elizabeth give to help us in our lives?
I say – don’t get involved with something that you don’t believe in.
Any herbs and remedies that were popular when Elizabeth was a child?
We used to use butter and sugar for cough mixtures. We also put camphor oil on our chests for colds.
Any other interesting stories you could tell us?
I remember that whenever we swam at Fish Hoek beach we always bought a yellow tail fish from the fishermen to cook at home. In those days very few people took their children to school by car. We would walk, or ride, or catch a bus or a tram.
We made autocollages about our senior citizens today using a programme called Microsoft Autocollage. Here is mine.
