A journey into the past

If we start from the top and go down the list of what we used when we were young, it would be an interesting compilation. Some groomed their hair with Brylcreem others used Yardley which was a little more expensive. Both these hair creams had the same effect in that the hair never got disheveled. In some ways it helped to make you look like Keith Miller! At that time I remember an advertisement for Brylcreem starring Dennis Compton, the then famous England cricketer. Yet others used castor oil as it was stickier than most other oils. King coconut oil was the choice of many.

The shirts worn by schoolboys were those stitched by the tailor with no brand name. Later the famous brand of shirts was Docoma. Followed by Dia and Hentley. There were imported Arrow shirts available too, but at an exorbitant price at that time. Many people in rural areas as well as in towns used to wear a white shirt without a collar and a slit on one shoulder to tie up with two cloth strings.

The short trousers of schoolboys and long trousers of bigger boys did not have zips. They had button holes on both sides of the fly and studs were available in plastic, metal and even wood to close both sides of the fly. They usually had to be tied together with a string so that one would not lose them.

All long and short trousers were made to measure by one’s tailor. The most popular sarong at that time was the Palyakat with checks and in a few colours such as black, blue, brown and red. Some of the village folk who used to wear this type of sarong had a black leather belt with two pockets to keep their money.

The shoe that schoolboys and also schoolgirls used to wear were Clarke shoes from England. They were of two types, closed shoes with laces or sandals with buckles. The latter was for the girls. Older people used to wear John White shoes. All these shoes were imported. There were open woven rubber shoes which some boys used to wear to school. At home they did not have rubber slippers or flip flops. Many used to wear wooden clogs with leather straps holding them to the feet. They made quite a noise when people walked in them.

At that time there were many who used to smoke. The earliest brand of cigarettes I remember were the Elephant cigarettes which came in tins of fifty and packets of ten. Along with Elephant, the other popular brand was the more expensive 555 State Express, which brand also was available in tins and packets as in the case of Elephant. Those who smoked the pipe had Island Pride tobacco in small round tins. For the cigar smokers, the Kanagalingam brand was the most popular. A few smoked beedis especially the villagers and daily wage earners. Only one local brand of matches were available for those who wished to carry their own, which was the Two Elephants brand of the Ceylon Match Company. Others used the small lamp which was always kept lighted in the boutiques where there were cigarettes for sale or a thick coir rope with a burning end alight throughout the day to light cigarettes, cigars and beedis.

Once schoolboys reached the age when they had to shave, they acquired metal razors where the handle unscrewed to allow the blades to be inserted between two flaps that fitted into each other. The popular razors were Gillette, and the blades were either Gillette or 7 O’Clock. Some used to get Wilkinson Sword Edge blades from abroad. Many people, especially those in the villages used to go to the barber’s shop to get their beard shaved or hair cut.

I remember the popular SR toothpaste widely used. There was also Pepsodent, Kolynos, Macleans, Colgate and Prodent. The most popular toothbrush was Colgate.

There were many people, both affluent as well as not, who were addicted to chewing betel. The affluent males used to carry the betel, arecanut and tobacco in a pouch along with a small silver-coloured container for the chunam which was know as the killote’. This habit resulted in many betel chewers cleaning their fingers on lampposts to get rid of the remaining chunam and spitting red betel juice at various places.

The gentlemen who worked in administrative positions in the government ministries and departments and some of the schoolmasters wore full suit and a few of them also wore hats, felt as well as the hard khaki ‘pith helmets’ (which we used to call gal thoppi) . Very few wore the national dress. Most ladies wore sarees draped in the Kandyan or Indian style while a few wore dresses to work as well as to school.

We had persons who held positions such as Muhandirams in the Low Country areas and Korale Mahattayas in the Kandyan areas. Muhandirams used to wear tweed sarong with a sort of a decorated black coat with a sash and a black and white hat. The Korale Mahattayas wore tweed sarong and black coat with silver hawadiya round the waist and with their hair tied in a konde with a horse shoe shaped comb made out of tortoise shell. There were others who wore a tweed sarong over a pair of long trousers called Redda yata mahattaya.

People who were addicted to liquor had to purchase their arrack from the arrack taverns and those who drank toddy had to go to the toddy tavern. Distilling arrack was a government monopoly.

A few houses had a radio, either Phillips or Telfunken to listen to music and other programmes broadcast including commentaries on cricket, especially the Test matches between Australia and England for the Ashes. As the transmission was from one country to another and Sri Lanka being in between we were able to hear the commentaries which were quite clear unlike at present as there were only a few radio stations then. Later some houses received radio programmes through Rediffusion fed through cables. I thought it worthwhile recollecting some of the things from the forgotten and enjoyable past.

HM NISSANKA WARAKAULLE