The (Not Very) Notorious 1976 Breakfast Diaries

Hey! Didn't you use the same picture last time?

Some more, ahem, "highlights" from my 1976 diary...

At the beginning of the diary were a few pages dedicated to personal statistics - a mixture of indisputable fact, e.g. name of school - and opinion. It's the lines of opinion which are most interesting now. From the School Statistics page come the following titbits:

Favourite subject: Games
Most ghastly subject: English
Proudest moment: Being in the football team for the first time
Worst disaster: Losing 6-3 at home against Cowplain*

* This is still my worst disaster, 35 years on.

Some more daily entries:

Tuesday 20th January

Queen are still number 1 after 9 weeks.We had no games today because Mr Perkins must've thought that it's too wet. I don't think so.
Brekky: Rice Krispies
Lunch: Bacon & egg sandwiches
Dinner: Lamb stew

Well, I certainly liked Games. Also a spark of rebelliousness showing in the year that punk first appeared, disagreeing with the teacher. He just didn't want us to catch a chill, I suppose.

Wednesday 21st January


Today we had Pottery for the first time this year. I made 5 little Whimsy figures - 2 snails, 1 rabbit, 1 mouse & 1 either pig or hippopotamus.
Brekky: Grapefruit & Golden Nuggets
Lunch: Marmite sandwiches
Dins: Salad & chips

Five Whimsy figures in less than an hour? That was good going, even if I wasn't sure if I'd made a pig or a hippo. These would have ended up as grandparents' Christmas or birthday presents later in the year.

Right, does anyone want to know my most popular meals from early 1976? I've made a top ten table...

The Notorious 1976 Breakfast Diaries

The breakfast diary, 1976.

We all have diaries for Christmas. Or at least, we all have done at one time or another. I've never kept one beyond January. The only exception to this was my 1976 Puffin Reader's Diary, which I wrote in every day up until, er, let me see...February 5th.

Okay, not very impressive. However, looking back on it now, the most interesting aspect is that I wrote down what I had to eat every day for a month. I feel I must share this information with the world, so here goes...

Two typical days in the life of an 11-year-old in 1976:

Thursday 15th January


Err...What happened today? Oh yes! I remember! Our class had a sudden craze for Kinger in the playground. I did some painting. A Lowry type, Mr Perkins says. 17 days since the Berge Istra sank.
Breakfast: Rice Krispies
Lunch: Salad
Dinner: Beefburgers and spaghetti.

Friday 16th January


Had a bomb scare at our school. But it turned out to be a hoax. The police came, searched all our bags and confirmed it to be a hoax.
Brekky: G.N.* & grapefruit
Lunch: Spaghetti on toast
Dinner: Chips, pork rashers, bacon, p. egg
* = Golden Nuggets

Our class had sudden crazes most days. I think Kinger was a form of British bulldog. I was never quick enough to reach the other end of the playground without being caught. We seemed to have a bomb scare most weeks as well. I suspect it was just a ruse by one of the teachers to get outside and have a break from teaching the smelly children for 20 minutes.

My next task is to gather all the meal information together and present it in the form of a pie chart.