A Day in the Life of a Ceylonese in the 60s

A DAY IN THE LIFE IN CEYLON IN THE 60s

Born at the St. ANNES NURSING HOME in Bambalapitiya, I was weened on LACTOGEN powdered milk when I was a baby, and given WOODWARDS GRIPE WATER, whenever I burped.

I used to sleep on a mattress made by ARPICO and listened to Reddifusion, because our GRUNDIG radio was broken. Later we brought a MARCONI which was wonderful and topped it up with a RADIOGRAM which had a PHILIPS record player too that played 45 and 33 rpms.

I woke up in the morning and washed my face with RANI SANDALWOOD SOAP. The servants used SUNLIGHT SOAP and the laundry was done by hand in the back of the house using those long rectangular shaped BAR SOAP. I brushed my teeth with PEPSODENT, used BRYLCREAM and combed my hair nice and greasy. I put a dab of CUTICURA powder on my face and put on my VELONA banian, with my TULANE shirt over it since the BROADWAY shirt was being dry cleaned at SITLANIS in Bambalapitiya. Later we also wore MANHATTAN DOCOMA and MAXIM shirts to school and work, which were the best in town. I then put on my BATA tennis shoes and walked through the hall where the floor was being made to shine like a mittot using CARDINAL POLISH.

I enjoyed breakfast of toast with an HALF BOILED EGG, CHIVERS MARMALADE and another slice with LYLE'S GOLDEN SYRUP and washed it down with HORLICKS. I took a tablespoon of RADIO MALT followed by another teaspoonful of FERADOL.

If I cut my finger, I had to put some DETTOL on the wound which I bought at the CITY DISPENSARY. While I was there, I also got some PERTUSSIN for my cough and also PHILIPS MILK OF MAGNESIA for my stomach ache. Mum also used to give me the sparkling and bubbly ANDREWS LIVER SALT to cleanse my bowels from time to time. Whenever I had a headache, I rubbed on some 4711 EAU DE COLOGNE on my forehead and took an ASPRO to relieve the pain.

I rode my RALEIGH sports bicycle and went to SENEVIRATNAS in PETTAH to buy toys. While there, I stopped at the FIREWORKS PALACE and bought some sky rockets to light up the night sky. I also went to the RUPEE STORE and F.X. PEREIRAS AND did some shopping there. They used to sell those gummy ROWNTREES FRUIT GUMS. At lunch time I enjoyed a great feast of BURIYANI at PILAWOOS and on the way back home got some house paint at D.L.M.MOHAMEDS. I then went to the FOUNTAIN CAFE and enjoyed a super KNICKERBOCKER GLORY.

Whenever I was planning to have some friends over for a party, I ordered the ice cream from ELEPHANT HOUSE and the short eats from PERERA AND SONS and GREEN CABIN. I also had the servant go to the market and buy some UNDERCUT beef. They also got some great slices of THORA MALU for frying from the fishmonger.

I smoked CAPSTAN NAVY CUT cigarette and went to ALERICS at Wellawatte for more ice cream. I parked my bike and got on my VESPA scooter and bought some flowers from BOWERS FLORIST.

The sewing lady who used to visit our home regularly always used our new SINGER PEDAL SEWING MACHINE while enjoying the coolness under an USHA ceiling fan. I drank ORANGE BARLEY, whenever there was no LANKA LIME in the FRIDGIDAIRE and listened to SUNDAY CHOICE on RADIO CEYLON.

While the servant was fixing an OSRAM light bulb hanging on the rafters, I poured some hot tea and chewed on some HUNTLEY & PALMERS CHEESELETS. I also enjoyed PEAK FREAN after tea biscuits with some KRAFT cheese.

Whenever I suffered a cold so I always took a whiff off my VICKS inhaler. I always wore my new suit from SHEWAKRAMS with great pride and went to the EIGHTY CLUB and met some friends there who took me to the GALLE FACE HOTEL where we enjoyed the view of the sea sipping LION LAGER. Another place for super cut wedding suits was MARIKAR BAWA's in the FORT.

We often went to the balcony of the SAVOY THEARE where they were showing great movies like THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH. We ended up at LION HOUSE for egg hoppers later that evening. I finally went home and rubbed some TIGER BALM on my body and drank a cup of BOVRIL and went to sleep.

I dreamed of travelling to America, where there are none of these things mentioned above! That was life in Ceylon in the 60s!