Bombsites and Lollipops - My 1950s East End Childhood : My 1950s East End Childhood

World War Two Is Finally Over. Millions All Over The Country Are Starting To Wonder If Peacetime Really Is Much Of An Improvement On The War. Food Shortages, Endless Queues, Power Cuts, Rationing And Freezing Winters Make It Extremely Difficult To Make Ends Meet As Husbands Return From Battlefields To Families They Hardly Know. Yet Some East Enders Are Living Large...in A Bombed Out Damp And Squalid Hackney Slum, One Family Are Leading A Life Of Luxury, A Loadsamoney World Funded By Illegal Betting, Where Virtually Everything Is Available, Thanks To A Thriving Black Market. The Hyams Family Has A Retinue Of Unofficial Servants: A Chauffeur, A Cleaner And An Army Of Delivery Men. They Take Seaside Holidays In Posh Hotels And Dine On The Finest Foods And Delicacies Money Can Buy...but At The Core Of Their Daily Life, An Ever-growing Nightmare Lurks, Threatening To Wreck Their Luxurious Existence. In This Honest And Sincere Memoir, Jacky Hyams Revisits The 'live For Today' World Of Her Childhood, A World Where Money Was No Object, Growing Up In A Household Underpinned By Betting, Booze And Bribes. From Stories Of Her Parents Partying With The Krays In The East End Of Old, To The Optimistic Swinging Sixties Of London's West End, This Is The Intimate Story Of A Unique Childhood, Set Against The Backdrop Of Squalid, Post-war Hackney. "World War Two is finally over. Millions all over the country are starting to wonder if peacetime really is much of an improvement on the War. Food shortages, endless queues, power cuts, rationing and freezing winters make it extremely difficult to make ends meet as husbands return from battlefields to families they hardly know. Yet some East Enders are living large...in a bombed out damp and squalid Hackney slum, one family are leading a life of luxury, a loadsamoney world funded by illegal betting, where virtually everything is available, thanks to a thriving black market. The Hyams family has a retinue of unofficial servants: a chauffeur, a cleaner and an army of delivery men. They take seaside holidays in posh hotels and dine on the finest foods and delicacies money can buy...but at the core of their daily life, an ever-growing nightmare lurks, threatening to wreck their luxurious existence. In this honest and sincere memoir, Jacky Hyams revisits the 'live for today' world of her childhood, a world where money was no object, growing up in a household underpinned by betting, booze and bribes."--Publisher's description World War Two is finally over. Millions all over the country are starting to wonder if peacetime really is much of an improvement on the War. Food shortages, endless queues, power cuts, rationing and freezing winters make it extremely difficult to make ends meet as husbands return from battlefields to families they hardly know. Yet some East Enders are living large ... in a bombed out damp and squalid Hackney slum, one family are leading a life of luxury, a loadsamoney world funded by illegal betting, where virtually everything is available, thanks to a thriving black market Jackie, the spoiled only child of Jewish parents, tells about her growing years in the East End of London. Her dad is an illegal bookie with no idea of how to save money, only how to spend it. He keeps a tight control on Jackie and her mom, which in turns causes Jackie to rebel and go out on her own. White Boots and Miniskirts is a down to earth, honest perspective of a fast changing world, told with wry humour by a woman in search of love and success in the most exciting city on the planet...